Attending a dog grooming course is in our opinion more than just teaching a learner a new skill, ‘it goes deeper, or it should’. A holistic approach with learners is needed to give them the best possible experience with an empathetic approach. The culture within an organisation can inspire or destroy growth and progression and will underpin all areas of that company. So, get this wrong at your peril as this will have a negative effect to all concerned not least the learners attending the school who have a right to a positive experience when learning.
It’s important that we connect with each learner and understand a little more about everyone without being intrusive. Understanding learners’ motivations and goals allows us to adopt our approach to suit each individual person as the same for all isn’t the best way to teach very different types of people, after all we don’t wear the same clothes or drive the same cars as we all have different needs and likes. We all have our unique personalities and learning styles so its important to us at BSG to learn a little about YOU, YOU are important.
We use the VARK model of learning which is a popular concept in psychology and education and is intended to identify how people learn best. This model suggests that there are 4 main types of learners – Visual; Auditory; Reading/writing; Kinaesthetic – VARK.
Understanding VARK and that some people learn best through ‘doing’ (Kinesthetic) or another person who is more visual are important factors to adjusting our approach and enables the learner to progress and feel better supported. We adapt our assessment styles to suit the individual. Education has changed and so has the approach to showing competence. When I was in school, we were all ‘tested’ in the same way on the same day and time. But not everyone was ready to show competence on that day and at that time but that wasn’t recognised so we were tested and graded. Everything evolves in life and as such education has adapted so if you’re not comfortable in completing a task by a certain time then that’s fine we adjust the process to move at a pace that suits you. We take a formative assessment approach which refers to a wide variety of methods that teachers use to conduct in-process evaluations of student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson, unit, or course. This simply means competence is evidenced as you make your way through the course and you’re not put under undue pressure to show your competence at one time. It’s more like completing a project and being supported as you make your way through at each stage so no one is deemed a ‘fail’ and left behind. We recognise that it might take some individuals a little longer than others to show us competence on a particular task, so no pressured, one only assessments. We also encourage you to be creative with your solutions to tasks, what’s considered wrong today is creative tomorrow so nothing you say or do is dismissed and everything is considered, you may be learning but that’s not to say you can’t teach us a thing or two about finding solutions to a task.
As an Accredited/Approved centre through an awarding body regulated by Ofqual it’s most important that our teaching meets the very best standards but teaching is very individual just like how we learn is very individual, so culture plays a big part of the environment. We know through experience that simple things make a big difference. Many of our learners only discovered us after looking for an alternative to the training school they have been in contact with or even have attended. Only this week we spoke to a lady who is attending another Grooming school for her training, but her experiences led her to look for an alternative for her colleague. It became apparent that her experiences did not meet her expectations, but often it’s the simple things that make a big difference like ‘communication’. It’s returning telephone calls, replying to e-mails, answering questions, or even anticipating some questions before the learners feel isolated. A lack of good communication is very frustrating and can lead to learners losing their motivation.
Our values underpin everything we do and shape our company culture through the core, they mean something to us, they are not just words! We consider these to be part of our professional & personal DNA.
Integrity – committed to ethical and sustainable business practices.
Clarity – a clear qualification offer supported by transparent processes;
Collaboration – working with customers and other stakeholders.
Aspiration – supporting individuals to fulfil their potential and progress
Excellence – committed to high quality;
Innovation – creating opportunities for learners, employers and communities;
Inclusion – celebrating diversity and respecting individuality.