Welcome to the stakeholder newsletter from The Open University in Scotland
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Dear 

Our economy, our studies and indeed our daily lives have been turned upside down in the past twelve months. Yet I’m proud of how we in the OU have responded to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

While our student numbers are increasing significantly, we are continuing to provide enhanced support to our students, as well as accessible learning and upskilling to individuals, businesses, and communities across Scotland. As our new short film highlights, delivering remotely has never stopped us, and we continue to help people achieve their ambitions.

We were proud this month to launch our new prospectus for the next Scottish Parliament. As we all look to a post-pandemic future, this document sets out our vision for how Scotland can achieve an inclusive economic recovery.

Best wishes
Susan Stewart, Director, The Open University in Scotland

Latest news

A vision for Scotland is launched by the OU

The OU in Scotland has launched its vision for the next term of the Scottish Parliament.

'Skills+ Scotland' covers four themes: economic recovery, widening access, supporting part-time students, and lifelong learning commitment. It will be used as part of our influencing work with the MSPs elected to the 2021-2016 session of the parliament. 

Read more

New Skills for Work portal supports young people and job seekers

Young people and job seekers in communities across Scotland can access free training to support work skills and career prospects through a new OU portal.

The Skills for Work portal has been developed in partnership with the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and all 32 Scottish local authorities.

Read more

Training launched for Scottish small and medium businesses

Businesses in Scotland with fewer than 250 employees can benefit from up to £5,000 of online training through a new programme launched by the OU.

The initiative, part of the Scottish Government’s Flexible Workforce Development Fund, supports training to help boost productivity and growth.

Read more

New module for Scottish unis supports student carers

Staff and students at all universities in Scotland can benefit from new training to help university staff to better support their students who are also carers. 

'Carer Aware at University' is an online module developed by Carers Trust Scotland and the OU in Scotland.

Read more

TV series explores goldmining in the Highlands

For almost 40 years, it has been known that there is gold in the hills just outside the village of Tyndrum in the Highlands. A new Open University/BBC Scotland documentary, Gold Town, follows the fortunes of a band of miners as they attempt to extract it and establish Scotland’s very first commercial gold mine.

Read more

Learning supports wellbeing

The pandemic is such a challenging time for everyone, impacting health and economies globally. While we've been focussing on looking after ourselves and each other, there has been a renewed interest in learning. You can learn something new, develop your skills or even advance your career prospects through the OU's free learning site OpenLearn. 

Read more

Celebrating success

Care experienced students celebrated on Care Day

The world's biggest annual celebration of people with care experience, Care Day, took place on 19 February. As proud corporate parents to over 160 care experienced students in Scotland - including Carol Hunter, who shares her story in the video above - we offer a wide range of support to our care experienced students, such as a new bursary to help with study related costs. 

There's also a free one-hour OU course in 'Corporate Parenting in Higher Education', to help staff at all universities in Scotland to support their care experienced students. 

Read more

Spotlight

New podcast series with Gemma Cairney and the OU goes live

'Life…On Our Terms' is the new OU podcast that shines a light on amazing individuals who’ve rewritten the rules and forged their own successful paths.

Presented by Gemma Cairney, this series features remarkable guests, such as Zara Dyer from Glasgow who was told she had ‘no prospects’ at school, but is now studying for an OU degree, and former Hearts player Bobby Burns, who is balancing his football career with his OU degree studies. 

Listen here

Event highlights

A Perfect Planet: Behind The Scenes

“It's a celebration of the planet - a series that shows how the forces of nature shape the great diversity of life on our planet” said Huw Cordey, BBC Producer of 'A Perfect Planet', at an event looking behind the scenes of the ground-breaking OU/BBC co-produced series. 

The free online event was open to everyone. It featured OU academic consultants and BBC producers who worked on the series. The OU's Prof Mark Brandon shared what it was like filming with OU honorary graduate Sir David Attenborough next to a glacier.

Watch now

Exploring Scotland's need for an inclusive economic recovery

Ahead of the Scottish election on Thursday 6 May, the OU in Scotland was delighted to co-host a webinar with Holyrood Communications on ‘Building an Inclusive Economic Recovery’. 

The case for building an inclusive recovery post-pandemic was also explored by our Director Susan Stewart, in the latest issue of Scotland's political and current affairs journal, Holyrood Magazine. 

Read more

Students join a big blether

Open University students joined representatives from the OU Students Association and OU in Scotland staff for a blether via a video call.

The Big Blether Spring 2021 started with tips from OU public health expert Dr Jitka Vseteckova, from her studies on ageing well. This was followed by students asking Jitka questions about wellbeing, as well as posing general questions to OU staff and Students Association reps.

Read more

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