College interim principal “delighted to congratulate” staff and students

North Highland College UHI students and staff have been congratulated on how they have coped over the past year during challenging circumstances.

With issues around teaching, engagement and interaction in many of their course programmes during the pandemic they have proven themselves to be a malleable bunch.

Education systems throughout the world have been tested to their limits throughout the pandemic with students and staff having to adapt to a new way of learning. This has been no different at North Highland College UHI, but interim principal Debbie Murray is very proud of how the Thurso, Dornoch and Alness based College has adapted over the last year.

She said: “It has been a very difficult 12 months, but as we come to the end of the academic year I am delighted to congratulate all our students who are completing their programme of studies.

"It is not what happens to an organisation, but what an organisation does with what happens to it that really matters, and despite a disrupted and very challenging learning experience our students and our staff have shown great adaptability, flexibility and innovation. They are all to be commended."

The college adapted to online technologies like Microsoft Teams and their own online learning system, Brightspace, to help with these challenges, and for many, these proved to be invaluable. Theory based courses have been taught online throughout the UHI partnership for many years, giving the universities 13 partner colleges a clear advantage in student engagement.

Practical classes such as professional cookery, hair and beauty, engineering and construction have also been able to continue, with the college making sure their health and safety procedures were providing a safe learning environment for these students.

Mrs Murray concluded: “Some of our students have continued to benefit from access to the campuses for practical aspects of their programmes where we have been able to provide a very safe environment for all. As we start to move out of lockdown we are now receiving high interest for retraining, reskilling and continuing journeys into further and higher education.

"So I would urge anyone still thinking about embarking on a journey of self-transformation to submit an application and join us for the coming academic year, as we trust that government guidelines will continue to allow us to fully open up our campuses."

For more information on any of the college’s courses, please visit www.northhighland.uhi.ac.uk

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