As one of the largest providers of adult education in the UK we take the health and well-being of our learners very seriously.A large number of the adults on our courses are learning English as a second language or have low levels of literacy. During the COVID-19 pandemic we have wanted to make sure that our learners were able to access trustw...

Our ESOL Entry 2 learners at Sparkhill Centre decided to arrange a charity event for Acacia Family Support who are based in Sutton Coldfield. They chose this charity because it fitted in well with mental health awareness week and was also a good way to raise awareness of Postnatal & Prenatal depression. This type of depression is eith...

'Never Give Up' is the motto for Sparkhill computers student and budding designer-clothing entrepreneur Shaila. Shaila is very much enjoying her computer course but knows what it is like to struggle, having failed to achieve L2 Functional Skills English at her first attempt. However, she eventually overcame her obstacles, particularl...

Many parents have safely seen their children off to university over the years – but how many would then consider doing the same thing themselves?  Well, former BAES learner Shamim has just done that, signing up for a four-year Sports and Exercise Science degree at Derby University. Shamim had done small, intense personal training courses befor...

After a long career as an electrical technician in the West Midlands motor industry, Niall is swapping circuit boards and lasers for hearts and minds, as he embarks on a new life as a Teaching Assistant. While many people approaching the end of their career might be thinking about retirement plans, Niall has a different approach – he has begun a Su...

​GCSE success is worth the wait for Michael! Many BAES learners inspire us with their determination to achieve against the odds, but not many have had as long a wait as Michael to achieve their dreams. Michael Clements has had a fairtytale ending to 60 years of hurt, achieving GCSE success with BAES - in the same building where he failed his Englis...

At Birmingham Adult Education Service, we know how the love of reading can change lives, and we want our students to experience that joy. That's why we introduced the Reading Ahead challenge last year in some of our English classes. Did you know one in six people struggles to read? However, research shows that when people are inspired to read for p...

In a rapidly-changing jobs environment, it's vital to be flexible, have a range of different talents and be determined to make things happen. Robert's example shows that perseverance also pays off, having spent a number of years struggling to find the right education and employment opportunities. And now, thanks to his get up and go attitude h...

Photo - Lokman entertains fellow learners and tutors at the end-of-term performance As much as we love Birmingham, sometimes it takes a fresh pair of eyes to give a different perspective. We've got a brilliant variety of things to see and do in the city, and new learners can show us how to engage with what's out there and bring that energy back to ...

We worked hard to prepare for the day. However, the event itself exceeded all that we hoped for and more. The turnout was overwhelming, the comments we have received from people that attended touched all of our hearts and the amount of money we hoped to raise surpassed our expectations. The preparations began at lunchtime. We set the tables, exhibi...

Hi Everyone Well done to Saiqa and Barry for writing our previous blog post.  We are pleased to announce that our Trittibank project is now live thanks to the efforts of the Level 2 English group at Trittiford. Check out the pictures below with captions written by Barry Sinclair.

​Welcome to Trittibank Hi everyone, We're from Trittiford Centre and we're doing an amazing project for our local food bank run by Malachi Family Support Group and situated at the Ark Centre on Yardley Wood Road, Billesley. We want this Christmas to be a memorable season of joy for our community. We will get the whole centre involved in this marvel...

Week 2 - what needs to be done? This week, the class was excited as we were putting together our poster advertising the event.​ We got into two groups and came up with two drafts. Our IT skills were truly tested! We were also able to put our persuasive techniques into practice, and we were glad we revised our apostrophes! After some careful debate,...

We are a group of enthusiastic, passionate and outgoing students attending the Level 2 Functional Skills English course at the Erdington Adult Education Centre. We love studying English, but we also love putting our skills into practice! This week, we got together and had a chat about some different charities that we could support. When we heard Sa...