It’s that time of year again… Christmas!
Here are the arrangements for Silver Surfers sessions:
The final Silver Surfers Session of 2011 will take place on Wednesday 14th December.
The first Silver Surfers Session of 2012 will take place on Wednesday 11th January.
Don’t forget that Moodle is available 24/7 (including Christmas Day!!) should you wish to use the e-Resources to brush up on your IT over the festive period.
The Silver Surfers Team wishes you a Merry Christmas, and we look forward to welcoming you back in the New Year!
There will be no session on Wednesday, 30 November 2011 due to strike action across Neath Port Talbot.
Sorry for any inconvenience, and we look forward to seeing you on Wednesday, 7 December 2011.
Silver Surfers Team
Return of the ‘Silver Surfers’
Glan Afan Comprehensive School in Port Talbot, which has been providing free Silver Surfers classes for the past five years, is set to commence its sessions next week.
The Silver Surfers project at the school, which has been on a break for the summer period, encourages the young and older generations to interact and learn new skills. Pupils from the school have voluntarily given up their time to take on the role of ‘teacher’ one evening a week, since the project began in 2006.
During the sessions, the Silver Surfers are taught how to use the mouse and keyboard, create greetings cards, send e-mails, chat to family and friends across the world on Skype, find old friends through Facebook, shop on the web, and use BBC iPlayer.
Last September, the project launched its online learning environment, which has enhanced the learning experience for the Silver Surfers, and allowed them to access resources from home, should they wish to gain further information on the topic covered in the session.
Four out of five internet users aged over 55 have said that having access to computers and the web has improved their lives, in new research carried out by Digital Unite, one of the UK’s main providers of digital skills learning.
Luke Jenkins, who is Project Co-ordinator, and now a student at Neath Port Talbot College said, “We know that a relatively small percentage of senior citizens in Neath Port Talbot use the internet, and that it is becoming more and more important in everyday life.”
“We want to encourage older residents of the county to explore the world of the internet. By attending our weekly sessions, senior citizens are able to gain the skills and confidence they need to be able to surf the web alone.”
The sessions will resume on Wednesday 14th September at 3:30pm, and anyone aged 50 or above is welcome to come along. If you require further information, please contact Luke Jenkins on 01639 618334 or Steve Turner on 01639 883964.
Notes for Editors
- Glan Afan Comprehensive School is based in Port Talbot. The full address is:
Glan Afan Comprehensive School, Station Road, Port Talbot, SA13 1LZ
- ‘Glan Afan Silver Surfers’ is the full name of the project, and its slogan is ‘Increasing Skills and Creativity in the Community.’
- The website of the project is www.glanafansilversurfers.org.uk
For more information about this press release, please contact
Luke Jenkins, Project Co-ordinator on 01639 618334 or Luke.Jenkins@glanafansilversurfers.org.uk
It has now come to the end of a very busy term for Glan Afan Silver Surfers!
We would like to thank our members for helping make our sessions the massive success they are!
In January, we shall be starting courses in Photography and Family History, as well as Computer Literacy.
Sessions will resume after the Christmas break on Wednesday 5th January at 3:30pm.
We look forward to seeing you then!
Don’t forget to check out Moodle over the Christmas break to find useful guides and exercises when using your computer.
A Very Merry Christmas, and a Happy Healthy New Year from the Team at Glan Afan Silver Surfers
Glan Afan Silver Surfers will be hosting a ‘Coffee Morning’ event in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. The event will take place during the Silver Surfers sessions on Wednesday (22nd September).
Senior Citizens will be asked to make a contribution for a cup of tea or coffee, and there will be various other activities taking place to help raise money for this worthy cause.
Senior citizens in Port Talbot will once again have the opportunity to join the thousands of ‘Silver Surfers’ already online!
Glan Afan Comprehensive School in the town, has been providing free Silver Surfers sessions to senior citizens in the community since 2007, which have been a massive success, and the group have even won numerous awards for all their hard work!
The Silver Surfers project at the school encourages the young and older generations to interact and learn new skills – Pupils from the school give up their own time to volunteer with the group and teach new things to the senior citizens.
During the sessions, the ‘Silver Surfers’ are taught how to use the mouse and keyboard, how to write letters, create greetings cards, send e-mails, find old friends on Facebook, shop on the web, read the news, and gain confidence in using the computer alone.
The Silver Surfers sessions will resume on Wednesday 15th September 2010 from 3:30pm – 5:00pm, and anyone over the age of 50 is welcome to come along and learn something new – whatever their current knowledge of computers is!
According to Ofcom, around a third of parents and grandparents have been tought or encouraged to surf the internet by a child aged 13-16 and Silver Surfers spend more time online than any other age group. So why not join them?
Check out www.glanafansilversurfers.org.uk for more information on the group and its work.
