wea.org.uk Course guide 2019-20 Wokingham & District Branch New courses for you. Enrol online at wea.org.uk or call 0300 303 3464 01 Wokingham & District Branch Course Venues Both venues have good disabled access and are located close to the town centre, within easy reach of places for lunch during Day Schools. Opposite the Cornerstone there is a small free car park and the Bradbury Centre is within easy walking distance of public (fee paying) car parks . The Cornerstone The Bradbury Centre Norreys Avenue Rose Street Wokingham RG40 1UE Wokingham RG40 1XS Contacts For further information, programme brochures or to receive notices of branch events by email, please contact us at: E. [email protected] T. Val 0118 467 1099 Enrol online at wea.org.uk or call 0300 303 3464 02 Enrolment and Support How do I enrol? You can enrol online via our website wea.org.uk Alternatively you can contact our Support team on 0300 303 3464. You will need your credit/debit card available as course fees (where applicable) are taken at the time of enrolling. Enrol today It is really quick and easy to enrol online. You will need to set up an online account for this which you can do very wea.org.uk quickly at the time you enrol, via our website which is safe and secure. or 0300 303 3464 We recommend you enrol early to avoid disappointment. Enrolment for our 2019/2020 Our courses are advertised on our website wea.org.uk. courses will open on 10 June More courses are added all through the year so it’s worth at 10.00am. checking regularly. Can I enrol in person? I’d love to do a course but I can’t Most courses will require you to enrol in afford it. Can you help? advance of the course. If there are still places We want our courses to be within reach of available on a course this will be shown all adults, so you may be eligible for financial in the course information on our website, support if you are on a low income or receive or alternatively you can ring and check income-related benefits. This could include beforehand. Some courses require you to help with childcare, travel costs, exam fees, attend an initial assessment session to ensure books, costs of field trips and tuition fees you are enrolling onto the most suitable under certain circumstances. course for you, but we’ll make that clear in the course details if this is the case. What if I have a disability, learning difficulty, health issue or other Are classes reliant on size? support needs? Yes. If numbers are too low the course may be cancelled or re-arranged to another time. If there is anything you think you may need support with you can indicate this when you I have some questions. Who do I ask? enrol. Take a look at our website wea.org.uk or give us a call on 0300 303 3464. Do you choose accessible venues? Information on the course venue is available We offer information and in the course details on our website. advice about: I might need help with my maths Choosing the right course Fees and financial support and/or English? Is that ok? Learning support If you would like support with English and/or Progression maths you can indicate this when you enrol. About the WEA Please visit our website wea.org.uk to find out more. Enrol online at wea.org.uk or call 0300 303 3464 03 Course Fees and Support How are courses funded? What does a course cost? The WEA receives public funding from the For students who are required to pay a fee Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) for their courses, fees are shown against for the majority of our courses. This funding each course or on the page where the course supplements the fees paid by students and appears. All students will be asked to provide sponsors. For most of our courses, this funding their date of birth at the time they enrol. This is only available for people who are 19 or over. information is required by our funders. Are some courses free? What if I’m new to the UK? For ESFA funded courses, you are entitled Students who have not been resident in the to free tuition if you receive certain benefits, UK/EU for the last 3 years will be required as listed below (or if you are dependent on to complete a Student Eligibility Form and someone who receives those benefits). You provide appropriate evidence. may be asked for evidence of your benefit status such as a letter from Job Centre Plus. Can I apply for a loan? Yes. There are Advanced Learning Loans available for all students aged 19 and Job Seekers Allowance above studying vocational, technical and Employment and Support professional qualifications at Level 3 and Allowance (ESA - work above. related) Can I cancel my course? Universal Credit and earn less than £330 per month You can cancel a course booking at any time by informing the WEA in writing. To find out Income Support, Housing more about our Course Cancellations policy Benefit, Council Tax Reduction and Course Refunds policy please visit our (not single occupancy discount) website wea.org.uk or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) support group Can I pay by instalment? Working Tax Credit An option to pay WEA course fees by instalments may be available on WEA courses Pension Guarantee Credit which are 40 hours or more long. Please visit Asylum Seeker our website wea.org.uk to find out more Please note these may be subject to about our Instalments policy. change due to funding requirements. The information in this brochure is correct at time of going to print, but may be subject to government funding changes. Enrol online at wea.org.uk or call 0300 303 3464 04 Wokingham & District Branch Notices Please book your courses early to avoid disappointment. Bookings can now only be made online at wea.org.uk or by telephoning the WEA central booking line 0300 303 3464. Places on courses can no longer be reserved. NB. Priority course booking for WEA members will start 10.00am 3rd June 2019 and is only by telephone 0300 303 3464. Course booking is open to everyone on 10th June 2019 from 10am by telephone 0300 303 3464 or online at wea.org.uk After this date the telephone line is open from 8.00am to 8.00pm on weekdays and 8.00am to 1.00pm on Saturdays. Your 2019/20 Programme Social Evening will take place on May 29th 7.30 to 9.30pm at the Cornerstone. Tickets £2.00 at the door. For catering purposes, please let Val know if you intend to be there on 0118 467 1099 or email [email protected] The 2019 Wokingham & District Branch AGM is on October 30th 2.00 to 4.00pm at the Cornerstone. Everyone is welcome to attend. Your volunteer committee is keen to meet new members who might join them and, indeed, anyone prepared to assist with our courses. Please let us know if you are able to help us at any level. Contact our Branch Chairman, Dave, to discuss. [email protected] or telephone 0118 467 1099. Enrol online at wea.org.uk or call 0300 303 3464 05 Berlin and Vienna – Glorious Art and Architecture, Tragic History with Mike Grundy Ten weekly meetings, Monday 2.00- 4.00pm Starting 16 September 2019 Course Fee: £90.00 Venue: The Cornerstone Half term: 28 October 2019 This course is a journey of discovery through the turbulent history and glorious culture of Berlin and Vienna. The course shows how German art and Berlin’s architecture reflected the dramatic fortunes of this city, at times leading the world (romantic art, anti-war art, the Bauhaus) at others mired in tragedy. Over the same period, we review how Vienna and its cultural output declined from the world pre- eminence of such as Mozart, Mahler and Klimt as it fell from being a capital of a vast European empire. Mike Grundy has been lecturing across the Thames Valley for 6 years now, initially on the art, architecture and history of London and more recently on the great cities of continental Europe. He enriches his programmes with a broad knowledge of European history and culture and a mischievous sense of humour. Enrol online at wea.org.uk or call 0300 303 3464 06 The Art of Photography with Sandra Smith Eight weekly meetings, Thursdays 10.00- 12.00noon Starting 19 September 2019 Course Fee: £72.00 Venue: The Cornerstone Half term: 31 October Photography was invented in the 1840s but it was never intended specifically as an art form. In this course we will examine the development of photography from the invention of the medium in the 1840s to the present day. Many photographers used prevailing art forms, notably painting, to inform the subjects and composition of their pictures, but it eventually gained its own language, exploiting the changing technical aspects of the medium. We will study a number of great photographers such as Henry Fox Talbot, Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, Robert Capa, Henri Cartier Bresson, Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and more recent examples from Diane Arbus, David Bailey and Don McCullin. Sandra Smith has a BA and MA in Art History and a Diploma in Archaeology. She has taught for the WEA and for the Universities of Reading and Oxford for many years.