Opinion

I firmly believe there is more than one way to achieve any goal, writes Julie Richards, principal of Chesterfield College.

I was reminded of this at GCSE results day. I heard inspirational stories from students who had worked incredibly hard to re-sit their maths and English qualifications and were focussed on getting the grade they needed to help them progress to the next stage of their education or career.

English and maths are vital qualifications which open the door to many jobs and are required for most university programmes. The Government expects students to achieve at least a grade 4 in English and maths before they leave further education (equivalent to a grade C in the old format).

Many students are required to re-sit exams until they reach this standard. As a college, we are at the forefront of helping people of all ages to get to this expected level.

Traditional teaching and learning methods don’t always work for everyone. The process of sitting an exam could also be a barrier for many. Others may need more time to further develop their existing skills in preparation for the exam. Exploring what each individual student needs is the secret to success.

How we develop skills over the period of our lives and our time in education depends on a wide range of factors. Our learning style, our natural aptitude and our academic ability all play a part.

There isn’t one solution to suit everybody.

At Chesterfield College we are investing in specially designed classrooms and learning environments to provide an alternative space in which to learn. We also provide an excellent student support system to help people tackle study skills and overcome exam nerves.

We have a successful Maths Ambassador programme in place. Students with good maths and English skills volunteer to support their peers as mentors.

We have also adopted a Maths Mastery approach for teaching certain topics of the maths syllabus. This gives students the opportunity to learn maths in a more practical way. It encourages them to think differently about the subject and helps to increase their confidence.

Offering a different approach to teaching and learning is one of the ways we are supporting students to achieve the grades they need to pursue their career goals.

At the beginning of the year, I bravely ventured into the  attic, brushed away the cobwebs and found my crystal ball to take an alternative look at what would happen in 2019.

As I get older, I’m more and more reliant on my diary to let me know what day it is.

As I’m writing this, the sun is shining and the birds are chirping.

Several weeks back, I came across a highly emotive article which centred around the suicide of a father of one of the victims of the Sandyhook school shooting in Connecticut, writes Mansfield counsellor Jason Hanson.

I remember back in the day the TV was a massive unit that sat in the corner of the room and didn’t really do much, writes Steve N Allen.

I took last week off - which coincided with very little mention of ‘‘boring Bregsit” on TV.

A robust 19th century pinfire shotgun from Vienna is not something you would normally see in a workplace - but then life is never ordinary, nor typical at Hansons, writes Charles Hanson.

There’s a lot to be argued about in this world, but one thing’s for sure – everyone is outraged by cold calls.

You may have noticed I get angry about things which don’t matter in the main.

Wife’s sister come round other day. O were on ’er own on account of ’er ’usband bein’ dead. Mind, it were rate sad. Shid sent ’im up garden to cut a cabbage and ’e just dade. I said that were awful and what did o do. ’pparently shae oppened a tin o’ peas.

I bought a pair of trainers from a private seller on an online marketplace. The advert said they were Asics but when they arrived the branding said Basics. They are clearly not what was advertised and they are terrible quality. Do I have any rights? What can I do?

Most people know that councils have far less money to spend than they used to – but did you know that Derbyshire is facing an additional problem?

A few weeks ago I revealed that I had been test driving several cars because I was bored with my latest runaround.

Did you know that tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the world? Yes, the world. I doubt it would be legal if it were to be released onto the market today, writes John Sargeant, chairman of Community Pharmacy Derbyshire.

With the new season of hit TV series Game of Thrones soon to return after a two-year absence, many enthusiasts have spent hours attempting to predict how the epic drama could end - even drawing their conclusions from real-life history.

Chairman of Toyota’s European operations Didier Leroy told the Financial Times that a no-deal Brexit would make it “extremely complicated” to build new models at its British plants.