Welcome 2024/25 – PG Cert Chaplaincy

Our first weekend will be:

• Saturday 12th October (9:00 – 18:00)*
• Sunday 13th  October (9:.30 – 14:30)  

The subsequent weekend dates are:

• Saturday 30th November (10:00 – 18:00)
• Sunday 1st  December (9:30 – 14:30)
• Saturday 25th January (10:00 – 18:00)
• Sunday 26th January (9:30 – 14:30)
• Saturday 8th  March (10:00 – 18:00)
• Sunday 9th March (9:30 – 14:30)
• Saturday 17th May (10:00 – 18:00)
• Sunday 18th May (9:30- 14:30)

*Please note that weekend 1 Saturday is a 9:00 start and all others start at 10:00 

Before each weekend you will be expected to have engaged in the content and activities on Moodle (Newman’s Virtual Learning Environment), available to you after enrolment. Therefore, you need to make time before each weekend to watch the videos and complete the activities  

During the weekend we hope that you will be able to attend face-to-face sessions on the Saturday & Sunday at Newman.

At the end of the teaching there will be a mandatory individual tutorial which you can either chose to have on the Sunday or at some point over the following five days.

There will also be optional individual tutorial opportunities with the teaching team in between weekends.  

Digital Literacy & Study Check

As part of this course relies on access to resources, teaching content and live sessions over the internet we would like to find out how confident you are about your own digital literacy.

Your answers will help both you and us to navigate your way through the course.

Time Management

Being successful on the course will require you to manage your time well. Here we give you some tips on your own time management, as you will already be a busy person.

We haven’t met a chaplain that isn’t busy or needs to know when to stop! 

During this course we will be asking you to study and make time in between the weekends to complete activities and assignments and also attend additional tutorials.  

The video will get you to think about how, when and where you will carve out this time. 

 Succeeding in Postgraduate Study  

Whilst returning to study is exciting it can also be a shock to the system, especially for busy people, like Chaplains.

This Postgraduate course has been created to offer support along the way which includes individual tutorial sessions, input and sessions from Library colleagues and also from Learning Development.   

The Open University have a free online course entitled ‘Succeeding in postgraduate study’ it begins to help you understand what is required studying at this level and begins to help you consider helpful ways to   

• Research and work out what are reliable sources
• Develop your critical thinking
• Read and Write critically
• Reflect

Over the next few weeks, we advise you dip in and out of this course (the full course takes 24 hours and all of it is useful).  

Pre-reading for Weekend 1

There will be some reading that we will need you to complete before the weekend and you will be able to access it after the Welcome session on the 27^th as long as you have completed your online enrolment.    

Recommended Reading  

In the meantime these two books are good starting points. Both are available in our Library in hardcopy and as ebooks, which you will be able to access once you are enrolled. Should you wish to purchase them then the prices* are indicated below.

• Threlfall-Holmes, M. & Newitt, M (2011) Being a Chaplain London: SPCK  (Price – £10.15*)
• Cobb, M.; Swift, C. & Todd, A. (2015) A Handbook of Chaplaincy Studies: Understanding Spiritual Care in Public Places Farnham: Ashgate (Price – £36.57*) 

* prices for purchasing new taken from Amazon, correct on 29^th May 2024.  

Accommodation

For those of you who will be travelling and needing to stay in Birmingham for the weekend, please feel free to contact us if you’d like any advice or guidance on what’s available or the areas to consider.

Check list

• Completed your online enrolment by the end of September
• Attended the Online session on Wednesday 25^th September
• Received your ID card before the first weekend
• Filled in the Digital Literacy questionnaire
• Considered how you will manage your time
• If appropriate looked at aspects of the Open University Succeeding in Postgraduate Study course
• Take time to read, watch and reflect on the work we would you like to do on CHM701 Chaplaincy:
  • Principles and Practices Moodle Page. (available after the online meeting on 25^th September) You will need to have successfully enrolled to access this
• Familiarise yourself with the Chaplaincy Programme Page on the Newman Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) called Moodle. You will need to have successfully enrolled to access this

Online Welcome

• Wednesday 25^th September
• 19:00 – 20:00

The session will only be an hour and will give you the opportunity to meet us and those who you will studying alongside.

We hope that we will also have some former students who will provide some top tips and be available to answer any questions you may have.   

Details of how to join the Welcome session are below:

• Meeting ID: 355 271 435 280
• Passcode: JxCyGa