General Courses

Brief Description:

This course offers a foundation in acting . Working through a variety of theatre games, improvisations and techniques, participants will be encouraged to explore their imaginations and gain confidence in vocal and physical skills.We will use both contemporary and classical text and progress to in-class presentations of scenes and monologues.

Previous Experience and Knowledge Needed?

None.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the course, you will have the opportunity to:
• strengthen ability to speak in public
• gain a basic understanding of a variety of acting techniques
• work on contemporary and classical scenes or monologues

Extra costs on the course for example text book, materials or equipment:

None

For the first session you will need to bring:

Wear comfortable clothing

On completion of this course, what might your next steps be?

A higher level acting course.

Adult Learn and Train offer courses through-out the year.
Try similar courses or maybe look at learning something completely new.
You will find provision on some Saturday and Sunday’s , you will also find courses available in the day and evening at different venues in Cambridge. Courses vary in length from one-off sessions to 10 weeks or more

Overcome the anxiety and overwhelm of uncertainty, so that you can feel happier and more focused.

Brief Description:

This Confidence Building course is designed to give you the mindset, knowledge, and confidence skills to that you can start enjoying life and gain certainty within yourself.

Sessions are fun, fast-paced, and interactive with the emphasis on moving you from where you are today to where you want to be tomorrow both through the work we do in the sessions, and your own personal action steps you set for yourself each week.

Previous Experience and Knowledge Needed?

No previous knowledge or experience is needed.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the course, you will have the opportunity to:

• Decrease stress, anxiety and overwhelm, feel a sense of calm and control amidst uncertainty.
• Feel more in control of your thoughts and emotions, decrease fear and anxiety over the future.
• Feel less tired and drained, regain your concentration and focus.
• Improve your mental and physical health, get back your motivation and zest for life.

Extra costs on the course for example textbook, materials or equipment:

There are no extra costs for the course. However, it is recommended that you invest in a notebook of your choosing so that you can keep your notes in one easy to access place.

The tutor can recommend some great books and resources during the course if learners are interested but these are not compulsory.

This course is fully funded if:
You are over 19 years old
You live within Cambridgeshire and Peterborough combined authority
and have lived in the UK / an EEA country for the last 3 years.

Contact the office if you would like to confirm your eligibility.

If you do not qualify for funding but would still like to attend contact the office for a price.

For the first session you will need to bring:

Just yourself and your pen and notebook.

On completion of this course, what might your next steps be?

To continue with the actions steps you set yourself during the 10 weeks to move you toward your personal outcomes.

Further courses or reading on the topics covered.

Brief Description:

The process of how to make bread dough can be a bit challenging. In this bread making day you will learn the basic steps of how to make bread dough. This general process is used for all yeast breads with slight variations for each type. The tutor will then demonstrate different shaping techniques for bread and rolls.

At the end of this workshop you will have a base knowledge of how to make yeast dough and non-yeast breads. You can then go on and experiment at home with this new knowledge and confidence of making breads.
On the day we will make:
An easy loaf
No yeast bread (chapatti or flatbreads)
Flavoured rolls of your choosing (olive or multi seeded)

Previous Experience and Knowledge Needed?

None

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• State the main Ingredients in basic bread
• Understand preparation methods: Weighing/measuring, fermenting, mixing, resting, kneading, knocking back, proving, portioning, addition of other ingredients, moulding.
• Explore and make a range of breads and rolls.
• Be able to understand and follow a recipe.
• Gain confidence to experiment further on your own using skills learnt in the lesson

Extra costs on the course for example text book, materials or equipment:

No extra costs. All costs for ingredients are covered in the price.

For this session you will need to bring:

• An apron, a dish cloth and teatowel
• A container to take your produced products home

On completion of this course, what might your next steps be?

The college offers lots of exciting cookery classes throughout the year.
Adult Learn and Train offer courses through-out the year.
Try similar courses or maybe look at learning something completely new.
You will find provision on some Saturday and Sunday’s, you will also find courses available in the day and evening at different venues in Cambridge. Courses vary in length from one-off sessions to 10 weeks or more

Brief description:

Have you ever tried Japanese bread?
Japanese bread is fluffy and moist because it contains a lot of water. This makes the baking process slightly different from that for UK bread.

In this class, you will learn how to bake Japanese bread using ingredients available in the UK.
Let’s enjoy baking tasty, gorgeous Japanese bread! On the day we will bake:
Caffe latte patisserie(with chocolate chips) and Edamame Cheese Bread

Previous experience and knowledge needed?

None. This course is suitable for beginners or anyone interested in making Japanese style bread

Learning outcomes:

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Learn the basics of kneading bread dough
• Learn the appropriate amount of ingredients
• Learn how to bake various variations of bread
• Learn Japanese culture

Extra cost on the course

Ingredients included.

For this session you will need to bring:

・An apron, a dish cloth and tea towel
・A bag or a container to take your bread home

Brief description:

Have you ever tried Japanese bread?
Japanese bread is fluffy and moist because it contains a lot of water. This makes the baking process slightly different from that for UK bread.

In this class, you will learn how to bake Japanese bread using ingredients available in the UK.
Let’s enjoy baking tasty, gorgeous Japanese bread! On the day we will bake:
Curry Cheese Sausage Bread and Milk Bread topped with sugar

Previous experience and knowledge needed?

None. This course is suitable for beginners or anyone interested in making Japanese style bread

Learning outcomes:

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Learn the basics of kneading bread dough
• Learn the appropriate amount of ingredients
• Learn how to bake various variations of bread
• Learn Japanese culture

Extra cost on the course

Ingredients  included.

For this session you will need to bring:

・An apron, a dish cloth and tea towel
・A bag or a container to take your bread home

Brief description:

Have you ever tried Japanese bread?
Japanese bread is fluffy and moist because it contains a lot of water. This makes the baking process slightly different from that for UK bread.

In this class, you will learn how to bake Japanese bread using ingredients available in the UK.
Let’s enjoy baking tasty, gorgeous Japanese bread! On the day we will bake:
Curry Cheese Sausage Bread and Milk Bread topped with sugar

Previous experience and knowledge needed?

None. This course is suitable for beginners or anyone interested in making Japanese style bread

Learning outcomes:

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Learn the basics of kneading bread dough
• Learn the appropriate amount of ingredients
• Learn how to bake various variations of bread
• Learn Japanese culture

Extra cost on the course

Ingredients included.

For this session you will need to bring:

・An apron, a dish cloth and tea towel
・A bag or a container to take your bread home

Brief Description

How about cooking some Malaysian Chinese Street food, such as Bao (steamed buns) with pork and curry puffs (deep-fried pastry with a curry filling).  You will be provided with recipes and all the ingredients for the day.

Please let the office know in advance if you would like a vegetarian filling.

Previous Experience and Knowledge Needed?

No previous experience required.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the course participants will have the opportunity to:
• To learn and improve practical skills
• Develop an understanding of steam cooking of dough used in Chinese cooking
• To help confidence and enjoyment in cooking and tasting Bao
• Develop a better understanding of street food of Malaysia

Extra costs on the course for example text book, materials or equipment:

All ingredients will be provided.

For the session you will need to bring:

An apron, tea towel, dishcloth, a steamer if you have one, sharp knife a food processor if you have one you prefer to use (the college will have knives and food processors available), containers to take cooked food away.
A light lunch.

On completion of this course, what might your next steps be?

Adult Learn and Train offer courses through-out the year.
Try similar courses or maybe look at learning something completely new.
You will find provision on some Saturday and Sunday’s , you will also find courses available in the day and evening at different venues in Cambridge. Courses vary in length from one-off sessions to 10 weeks or more

Brief Description:

Creative Writing for Improvers is an 8-week course focusing on deepening and broadening the skills required for successful storytelling. Whether you are crafting fiction for personal pleasure and achievement or with the desire to share your work with others, the more you can write with confidence and authority the more engaging your story will be. Creative Writing for Improvers will give you the opportunity to try different techniques and approaches to hone your writing style or maybe try a different method of storytelling. The current pandemic has caused many of us to seek out purposeful activities that feed the soul and promote good mental health by providing a focus for concentrated thought. Engaging in writing is to discover the long-lasting well-being benefits that come from harnessing creative energy to work on something that is both stimulating and results in a sense of satisfaction of a job done to the best of your ability.  

Creative Writing for Improvers will give you the opportunity to experiment with new skills or techniques by working on a writing project under the guidance of an experienced writing tutor and published novelist. You may want to start a new short story or novel or perhaps revive a work that has languished in the bottom drawer for far too long, either way this course will help make the resulting storytelling the best it can possibly be. Crafting fiction is not concerned with striving for unobtainable perfection but is about practising the skills required whilst developing an understanding of how you can shape your story into the vision of your imagination.  

As the ethos of Creative Writing for Improvers is to use active storytelling as a vehicle for learning it is necessary for participants to embark upon or resume a piece of fiction and to be prepared to progress the writing project between classes. Some prior experience in writing fiction / storytelling is required as a bedrock to build on but as plenty of opportunity will be given to recap the skills and craft of creative writing it doesn’t matter how rusty that experience has become. For every writer the foundations of a successful story well told have always been a pinch of inspiration, a bucketful of enthusiasm to learn, and barrowloads of motivation. So bring those along with you and unlock your storytelling potential.  

Previous Experience and Knowledge Needed?

Some prior experience in writing fiction / storytelling is required as a foundation to build on.   

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the course, you will have the opportunity to: 

• Identify writing goals and ways of working to achieve them. 

• Differentiate the elements required in successful storytelling. 
• Give and receive targeted feedback. 
• Identify strengths and areas for improvement in the skills and craft of creative writing. 
• Formulate a strategy for progressing the writing project. 

Extra costs on the course for example text book, materials or equipment:

None 

For the first session you will need to bring:

Writing materials (pen / pencil and paper / notebook).  

On completion of this course, what might your next steps be?   

Creative Writing: Advanced Storytelling 

Writing Life Stories  

Brief Description:

A course centered around working with timber. You will be learning and practicing the following joints: Half Lap, Mortice and Tenon, Dove Tail, T Halving, Bridal and Dowel Joint. Once you are confident with the individual joints, you can extend your learning by producing a five joint frame using all the skills learned constructing the individual joints. These joints are used in every day joinery projects. Once you have mastered these you can go on to make individual projects.
You will be shown how to use the tools correctly and how to sharpen/maintain carpentry hand tools.

Previous Experience and Knowledge Needed?

This is a course for beginners. No previous experience is necessary.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the course you will have the opportunity to:
• Identify and name common carpentry tools
• Know how to maintain carpentry tools
• Learn how to use them safely
• Produce woodwork joints

Extra costs on the course for example text book, materials or equipment:

If you choose to wear Steel Toe Capped Boots (which we recommend), costs start at approx. £20 from hardware stores.
The wood for the joint practice and 6 joint frame will be provided.

For the first session you will need to bring:

A pencil and notepad. No sandals, or open-toed shoes are allowed in a workshop setting. Hair must also be tied back. You are advised to wear steel toe cap boots in the workshop. Wood for the joints and frame project will be provided.

On completion of this course, what might your next steps be?

DIY Improvers, Make a planter in a day, upholstery or similar.
The Adult Learn and Train office is also able to give course information or search for alternative courses for you.

Adult Learn and Train offer courses through-out the year.
Try similar courses or maybe look at learning something completely new.
You will find provision on some Saturday and Sunday’s, you will also find courses available in the day and evening at different venues in Cambridge. Courses vary in length from one-off sessions to 10 weeks or more.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION:

A DIY course centred on working with timber. You will have the opportunity to learn and practice the following joints: Single dovetail Half Lap, Double Mortice and Tenon, Impossible Dovetail and Japanese Joint. Once you are confident with the individual joints, you can consolidate your learning by producing a fifth joint using all the skills you have learned. Once you have mastered these, you can go on to make your individual projects.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE NEEDED?

This course is NOT suitable for beginners. Previous experience essential.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

By the end of the course, you will have the opportunity to:

• Identify and name Carpentry Tools
• Know how to maintain carpentry tools
• Learn how to use machines and tools safely
• Produce woodwork joints (wood provided)
• Produce your own project (wood not provided)

EXTRA COSTS ON THE COURSE FOR EXAMPLE TEXT BOOK, MATERIALS OR EQUIPMENT:

You are advised to wear steel toecap boots in the workshop these will cost approx. £20 from hardware stores.

FOR THE FIRST SESSION YOU WILL NEED TO BRING:

A pencil and notepad. Please note: NO sandals, or open-toed shoes are allowed in a workshop setting.

ON COMPLETION OF THIS COURSE, WHAT MIGHT YOUR NEXT STEPS BE?

Your tutor will advise on future DIY carpentry courses and day schools.
The Adult Learn and Train office is also able to give course information or search for alternative courses for you.

Adult Learn and Train offer courses through-out the year.
Try similar courses or maybe look at learning something completely new.
You will find provision on some Saturday and Sunday’s , you will also find courses available in the day and evening at different venues in Cambridge. Courses vary in length from one-off sessions to 10 weeks or more.

DIY: WOODEN PLANTER

Brief Description:

A wooden planter workshop focuses on learning how to create your own wooden planter using different materials and technique with different wooden tools such as a mallet, mortice chisel, tenon saw and coping saw. You will learn how to produce a planter in different sizes and how to personally style it. The wood for the course is provided.

Previous Experience and Knowledge Needed?

No previous knowledge is required

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the course, you will have the opportunity to:

· Learn how to use different woodwork tools

· Learn how to keep and maintain woodwork tools (sharpened included)

· Make your own wooden planter potter

Extra costs on the course for example text book, materials or equipment

You will need to wear safety boots

For the first session you will need to bring:

A pencil, a sketch book, safety boots and notebook.

On completion of this course, what might your next steps be?

Adult learn and train can advise you about more courses available

Brief Description

This course is suitable for you if you are a beginner with little musical knowledge or experience. Techniques and skills will be aimed at preparing you to play any style of guitar music. The course will provide an introduction to reading music and tablature, successful tuning and replacing strings, playing/performance techniques and building a repertoire of songs and exercises. You will need to bring your own guitar to classes.

Previous Experience and Knowledge Needed?

Skills attained in Guitar Beginners 1

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of this course the participants will be able to:
• To read music to the 2nd level/reading music with two voices
• To play barre chords and learn how to find inversions of major, minor and 7th chords
• To increase repertoire of tablature riffs and songs
• Play chord progressions to well-known songs
• Develop skills in picking and strumming techniques
• Play major and minor scales with a mind to improvise.

Extra costs on the course for example text book, materials or equipment:

Cost of a method book available from the tutor at the first session. Approximate cost £6.00

For the first session you will need to bring:

One working guitar; acoustic, classical or steel string.

On completion of this course, what might your next steps be?

Guitar Beginners 3.
The Adult Learn and Train office is able to give course information or search for alternative courses for you.

Click here to view all courses available

Brief description:

This course is aimed at anyone who has an interest in, or wants to know about current issues in geopolitics aka International Relations.

Keys topics are:

• Introduction; what is International Relations and how are global events analysed and interpreted using the main schools of thought of IR which are Realism, Constructivism and Neoliberal Institutionalism?
• How will Britain navigate the hostile waters of the current geopolitical environment?
• Potential conflict in the Asia-Pacific region between a rising superpower in China versus the current world superpower – the United States.
• The rise of global terror.

These issues will be analysed through the lens of realism.

Previous experience and Knowledge needed:

None.

Learning outcomes:

• Ability to understand and analyse key geopolitical events both present and future.
• Understanding of how the international political system works between states.
• Understanding of the hierarchical nature of the international system and how it favours the great powers of the day.

The course will have an emphasis on interactivity with the using of learning aids such as short quizzes (a general introductory ‘what do you know already?’ and one per topic) and classroom discussions.

ON COMPLETION OF THIS COURSE, WHAT MIGHT YOUR NEXT STEPS BE?

Adult Learn and Train offer courses through-out the year.
Try similar courses or maybe look at learning something completely new.
You will find provision on some Saturday and Sunday’s , you will also find courses available in the day and evening at different venues in Cambridge. Courses vary in length from one-off sessions to 10 weeks or more.

Brief Description

Writing life stories is about capturing personal experiences in a way that can be understood and enjoyed by others. Everyone has a story to tell because every one of us has lived a life unique to us. Some people want to set down their journey through life to pass on to children or grandchildren whilst others may want to write an account of their family history. Perhaps you have a diary written by a relative or letters or recordings of the stories told down through the generations that you would like to pull together in a way that can give others a glimpse into what it might’ve been like to be that person. Writing life stories always starts with the desire to explore what the intensely personal experience of living might be like from someone else’s perspective and sharing in that perspective can enrich our own lives. 

Our recent personal and community experience of the COVID pandemic has led many of us to want to capture what we and others have been through in a way that means our memories of it can be revisited and never be forgotten. Memories that are shared remain relevant, teach us something about the past and present and, most importantly of all, are not lost as time moves on and the world changes around us. 

So if you want to share memories of a loved one or tell your story to others or spark new interest in the experiences of a family member from the past, a short course of Writing Life Stories will lead you through how to go about getting started. If you know the skills required and the various ways of tackling and presenting a life story project your enjoyment of writing one will be enhanced, and the finished result will be something others will want to read. 

This course is funded by Cambridgeshire Skills, so full attendance is required; you will also need to complete an enrolment form so that the office can apply for the funding and complete an individual learning plan weekly with your tutor.

This course is fully funded if:
You are over 19 years old
You live within Cambridgeshire and Peterborough combined authority
and have lived in the UK / an EEA country for the last 3 years.

Contact the office if you would like to confirm your eligibility.

If you do not qualify for funding but would still like to attend contact the office for a price.

Previous Experience and Knowledge Needed?

None.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the course, you will have the opportunity to:

• Identify the different ways a life story can be told.
• Recognise what makes a life story interesting and compelling.
• Formulate a plan to organise material and any necessary research.
• Write a short piece of memoir.

Extra costs on the course for example text book, materials or equipment:

None

For the first session you will need to bring:

Paper and pen/pencil.

On completion of this course, what might your next steps be?

Writing Short Stories
Flash Fiction workshop
Next Steps in Creative Writing.
The Adult Learn and Train office is able to give course information or search for alternative courses for you.

Adult Learn and Train offer courses through-out the year.
Try similar courses or maybe look at learning something completely new.
You will find provision on some Saturday and Sunday’s , you will also find courses available in the day and evening at different venues in Cambridge. Courses vary in length from one-off sessions to 10 weeks or more.

Brief Description

Writing life stories is about capturing personal experiences in a way that can be understood and enjoyed by others. Everyone has a story to tell because every one of us has lived a life unique to us. Some people want to set down their journey through life to pass on to children or grandchildren whilst others may want to write an account of their family history. Perhaps you have a diary written by a relative or letters or recordings of the stories told down through the generations that you would like to pull together in a way that can give others a glimpse into what it might’ve been like to be that person. Writing life stories always starts with the desire to explore what the intensely personal experience of living might be like from someone else’s perspective and sharing in that perspective can enrich our own lives. 

Our recent personal and community experience of the COVID pandemic has led many of us to want to capture what we and others have been through in a way that means our memories of it can be revisited and never be forgotten. Memories that are shared remain relevant, teach us something about the past and present and, most importantly of all, are not lost as time moves on and the world changes around us. 

So if you want to share memories of a loved one or tell your story to others or spark new interest in the experiences of a family member from the past, a short course of Writing Life Stories will lead you through how to go about getting started. If you know the skills required and the various ways of tackling and presenting a life story project your enjoyment of writing one will be enhanced, and the finished result will be something others will want to read. 

This course is funded by Cambridgeshire Skills, so full attendance is required; you will also need to complete an enrolment form so that the office can apply for the funding and complete an individual learning plan weekly with your tutor.

This course is fully funded if:
You are over 19 years old
You live within Cambridgeshire and Peterborough combined authority
and have lived in the UK / an EEA country for the last 3 years.

Contact the office if you would like to confirm your eligibility.

If you do not qualify for funding but would still like to attend contact the office for a price.

Previous Experience and Knowledge Needed?

None.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the course, you will have the opportunity to:

• Identify the different ways a life story can be told.
• Recognise what makes a life story interesting and compelling.
• Formulate a plan to organise material and any necessary research.
• Write a short piece of memoir.

Extra costs on the course for example text book, materials or equipment:

None

For the first session you will need to bring:

Paper and pen/pencil.

On completion of this course, what might your next steps be?

Writing Short Stories
Flash Fiction workshop
Next Steps in Creative Writing.
The Adult Learn and Train office is able to give course information or search for alternative courses for you.

Adult Learn and Train offer courses through-out the year.
Try similar courses or maybe look at learning something completely new.
You will find provision on some Saturday and Sunday’s , you will also find courses available in the day and evening at different venues in Cambridge. Courses vary in length from one-off sessions to 10 weeks or more.