Dear Friends,

I hope you and your loved ones are keeping well. As I write, the world is still in the grip of a  terrible pandemic, the worst in 102 years.  The feeling of hope and elation that followed the news of the first vaccines being administered was dampened by  the experts telling us to keep a wary eye on this or that variant. It’s sometimes difficult to stay positive but one thing is certain: the virus will not win this war, science can keep up with the variants and will prevail in the end.

At Pilgrims, we are determined not to let the current climate deter us from doing what we have to do. We continue to ask ourselves how we can best serve the teachers’ community:  there’s no doubt that teacher leadership is now more important than ever and our mission is to empower teachers to step into leadership roles.

Here’s some news I’d like to share.

First of all: as a result of Brexit, our summer school, that is, our Teacher Development courses are relocating to the University of Limerick, Ireland. This is a historic move for us, as Pilgrims has always been associated with Canterbury and the Univeirty of Kent. We’re saying goodbye to Kent and we’re getting ready to embrace Limerick and its luscious campus.

Limerick is a vibrant little city, close to Kerry, Cork, and only 2 hours away from Dublin. You will find information about the cmapus faclities, directions,  on our website. We hope you will want to join us in Ireland this summer, COVID permitting, of course!

In the last issue of HLT we introduced the Pilgrims Café, a space where trainers and teachers meet up to talk shop, share ideas, and have diverse conversations around a variety of topics. I’m very pleased to say our first café was attended by more than 200 teachers from all corners of the world. Thank you!  If you missed it, no big deal. The café will run monthly, and our next one will take place Feb 13. Details will be posted here: www.pilgrims.co.uk, and on our Facebook page. So, don’t miss out, and remember, the event is free but you’ll need to register in advance.

Obviously Teacher Development has not been put on hold because of the pandemic.  Dedicated teachers want to keep learning and pursue their passion even as if they continue to rethink their practice for online and blended environments. To help teachers explore practical strategies, support them and help them achieve their aims, we have designed a series of exciting online live classes.  

Upcoming sessions will be run by Senior Faculty Hanna Kryszewska (on Mediation), Senior Faculty Judit Feher (on Developing Language Tasks online) and Senior faculty Peter Dyer (Improvisation for Speaking Practice).

We will also feature a four-session mini course run by NLP practitioner and coach Mike Shreeve and Educational Psychologist Alicja Galazka (Flourishing in Education). The sessions will focus on practical strategies to help teachers work on their EQ and thrive in difficult circumstances.

On top of all that, as we already announced a few months ago, we are reaching out to teachers of languages other than English, and in March we will be running our first workshop in Italian for teachers of Italian as a foreign language. This is the beginning of yet another exciting adventure.

Find out more here: https://www.pilgrims.co.uk/page/?title=Online+Classes&pid=132

Lastly, I’m pleased to welcome Phil Dexter as the new editor of The Teacher Trainer Journal. The journal has now moved online and the first issue will be coming out in February. If you ever wanted to contribute an article, please get in touch with Phil here: phil.dexter@pilgrims.co.uk

That’s all from me.

Stay safe, stay in touch and stay strong. Remember that as the song goes, there must be spring after winter, even the darkest of winters.

Till next time.

Chaz Pugliese

Director of Education,

Head of TT,  Pilgrims.