International Partnership Celebrated

On Tuesday 17th March, the Mayor of Walsall, Councillor Tom Ansell formally welcomed a group of students and teachers from both Germany and Finland to the town by inviting them for afternoon tea in the Mayor’s Parlour.

Walsall College is currently playing host to a number of Finnish teachers and students as part of a wider partnership with Oulu College in the North of Finland.

Four teachers have been undergoing professional development for two weeks, enjoying a full programme of work shadowing and meeting key academic and senior managers to gain an insight into the UK educational system.

During their stay, the Finnish teachers have been developing a partnership strategy for the future to allow the two colleges to develop their collaborative work further and share best practice on an ongoing basis.

Petri Pyykkonen teaches IT at Oulu College said “We have enjoyed our visit to Walsall College and the opportunity to have a tour of their excellent facilities. We were particularly impressed with the Microsoft IT Academy and are considering developing something similar for our students in Finland. There is a great deal of scope for us to develop this partnership further and we have started the first steps in developing a joint project with Walsall College’s Enterprise Academy to develop our students’ skills in business creation and eBusiness”.

Martin Rennison, Enterprise Academy Manager at Walsall College said “I jumped at the opportunity to share ideas and knowledge with our Finnish counterparts and I found the experience fascinating. This visit has been mutually beneficial for staff from both colleges and I am look forward to developing a close working relationship in the future”.

It is hoped that part of the future collaboration will also involve a student exchange scheme, where students have the opportunity to visit each other’s college to study and gain work experience. Walsall College currently has 3 Finnish students 8 German students currently learning English at the College, whilst being based with local companies for work placements.

Anniina Antti-Roiko, student from Oulu College in Finland said, “It’s been great – the International Team at Walsall College are really nice. It’s a whole different culture here so there’s always something new to see and learn”.

Karen Young, International Coordinator at Walsall College said, “Forming and developing strong links with international colleges is a fantastic way to enrich the student experience and share best practice. Our visitors were delighted with the gift presented by the Mayor and were honoured that the Mayor gave up some of his valuable time to make our international guests feel welcome and give them an insight into some of the town’s history”.

Walsall College is always appealing for new host families to step forward. Those with a spare room and an interest in people from other countries have the potential to earn £100 week for full board. To find out more, please contact the International Office on 01922 651120 or e-mail international@walsallcollege.ac.uk