Lewis Secretarial and Computer College
How We Teach
On-line Learning - the easy way to learn!
Although we may be a few miles apart this does not mean we still cannot teach you individually and at a pace that fits in with your commitments.
We have taken a lot of care and put a lot of thought into how we teach our students as well as regularly reviewing our teaching style to make our teaching methods effective and enjoyable.
Our courses are tutor led and for those studying regularly, we are in daily contact with our students - sometimes several times a day.
The pace of the course is up to you. Some students manage just a few hours a week, whilst others are studying almost full time and we send and receive work several times a day - running the course almost on a "chat room" basis.
Our main aim is to ensure you gain the qualifications you have booked to achieve with the course you are studying.
We limit the number of students studying with us at any one time to ensure we can look after our current students and ensure our service is maintained to a good standard. We therefore have start dates for new students with limited availability.
We are like a normal College - but instead of coming in for lessons - you study at home and at times to suit you. You still have personal tutors/lecturers looking after you and teaching you just as if you were in the classroom!
Studying
You will receive your lessons via email. You will have a range of exercises to complete, guiding you through the new learning to help build your knowledge and understanding.
You will also complete a range of assignments, which enable you to apply what you have learnt to develop your skills further.
Feedback is provided by the tutors and further explanation provided or exercises if required. The tutors will "sign off" your work as you achieve each step in the course, before moving onto the next step.
You can study at a time that suits you and during office hours we are dealing with live enquiries and in some cases communicating with students throughout the day.
You can have more than one module to study at a time, providing more variety to your course and the option to complete the course more quickly.
If you have a problem in completing an exercise, you can email your tutor and explain, or telephone the college within normal office hours.
When we receive your completed exercises, your personal tutor will mark this and provide relevant feedback via email. Feedback and marked work is provided within 24 hours 80% of the time - and for quick queries we usually reply within a couple of hours during office hours. This helps to keep the course buoyant and flowing well - which is important to ensure continuity and effective learning.
At times we can receive more than the usual volume of work for marking and feedback - usually on a Monday, and it therefore may take a little longer than 24 hours to reply.
The College is open Monday to Friday from 9 am until 5 pm.
Preparing for Assessments and Exams
As part of your course, once you have completed the theory lessons, you will either start on your assessment portfolio, or complete some mock exams, depending on the qualification you are working towards.
The IT and Administration Diplomas are examined through completion of Assessments, and you will submit your completed Assessments via email for checking by the Centre Assessor. You may need to make amendments to your Assessment before it is ready to be sent to OCR for verification and then have your entry re-assessed.
It can take 3-4 days for an Assessment to be marked by the Centre Assessor as it takes time to check everything carefully.
Those studying for a Text Processing Diploma will sit timed exams at a local OCR test centre.
Over 90% of students sit their exams at a test centre within an hour's travel from home.
The OCR Text Processing exams are available most months of the year, but times will vary from centre to centre. Some centres also provide evening and Saturday exam sessions which may be beneficial to some students who are working full time.
We shall provide you with details of the test centre where you will be able to sit your exams.
Prior to sitting the exams, you will complete several mock exams and you will need to pass these mocks before you are ready to sit the exams.
Career and Job Seeking Support
As part of your course, extensive careers counselling and development of job seeking skills can be provided.
Penny Lewis has been providing careers advice and support for over 25 years and used to run her own Employment Agency for several years.
Career ideas and suggestions can be talked through as well as helping to develop and design a professional CV.
Preparation of answers to interview questions typically asked at an interview - enabling students to prepare a script to ensure they present well at the interview stage.
On-going support is also provided - to help students decide on job applications, accepting job offers etc.
Careers and job seeking support can be built into any course, from early on so students can start applying for jobs even when only part way through a course.