SSTCourseBrochure - School of Stitched Textiles

Distance learningCourses

about us.......Hello and thank you so much for taking the time to enquireabout our textile courses. We will do our very best to give youall the information you need over the next few pages.We are the largest distance learning provider in textile relatedsubjects in the UK and have been supporting studentsundertaking textile and City & Guilds courses for the last 10years.Situated in the Lancashire countryside in a converted barn,the School of Stitched Textiles deals solely with the delivery ofdistance learning. At any one time we have in excess of 1,000students studying with us from all corners of the globe.During the time that we have been supporting students on ourcourses and producing our own distance learning materials wehave found that students like to know all about their coursesbefore starting - the ins and outs are so important in allowingthem to decide if distance learning is right for them and, if so,which course they should pursue.We have therefore produced this brochure to help you makethat decision. We’ve included links for pricing and in-depthcourse details.We hope to give you a flavour of what studying with us willinvolve, how we can support you whilst you study and whatsort of career this could lead to for you after you complete yourcourse.If you have any further questions we’d be delighted to answerthem, so please contact us either by phone or email.Best WishesThe Office Team and TutorsThe School of Stitched Textiles (SST) Ltd

how it works.......The most popular way that students study with us is via TEL(Technology Enhanced Learning), which means you receivelearning materials and send digital presentations of your workto us through the internet, although we do still offer a postalservice if you prefer.From a student’s point of view, you can enrol at any time duringthe year and will receive your course details by email a fewdays later. You’ll need a computer, internet connection andalso a digital camera. We also send links to access your coursemodules, which you can easily and quickly download from theinternet and print out or store to disc if you prefer. This makes itmuch quicker and easier for you to obtain your course materialsas rapidly as possible, even if you live on the other side of theworld.You’ll have a course tutor who will get in touch with you arounda week after your course materials have arrived, so you have achance to read through them and raise any questions you mayhave. The course materials you receive give you very preciseinstructions on what you need to do and what you need to sendback to us. You’ll photograph your work using a digital camera asyou progress through your module.When you’re ready to send work back to your tutor forassessment, you make it up into a digital presentation usingPower Point or another free package and then upload it to ourdrop box online - this system can hold and handle very large files(the speed at which they up and download is dependent uponyour internet connection) so you don’t have to worry that it willbe too big to travel as an email attachment. If you haven’t usedPower Point before, don’t worry - we give a mini tutorial on howto compile your presentation and return it to us. Your tutor willthen send you written feedback in around a week, depending ontheir commitments at that moment. We are very conscious thatyou want your feedback quickly and do everything in our powerto meet the 1 week deadline.This system works brilliantly for those studying abroad as well asin the UK and has been tried and tested by our students for thelast 5 years. It cuts down on postage time and costs as well ashelping to cut your carbon footprint. However most importantlywe know you find it easy to use, as it’s a very simple processwithout any convoluted processes involved which can befrustrating or time consuming.

the tutors.......We have lots of tutors who assess either part-time or full time forSST - some of them are lined up to the right!This means that, unlike some smaller providers, we always haveplenty of scope for making sure that you received exactly theright advice and help as you progress with your studies and that,even if the worse should happen and your tutor should becomeill or leave, there will always be someone who can take over ifnecessary.It’s very important to us that all our tutors are trained insupporting students at a distance, as this is a very differentskill from classroom teaching. We have a training programmewhich is delivered in-house for this and we are at the forefrontof research into supporting students at a distance by utilizingsocial networking and some country specific support groupsto enable students to help and support each other at the verybeginning of courses, which is the most likely time for them toexperience problems or worries.career options.......Not everyone wants to make a career in textiles after theycomplete their course. However many do consider it (that’show SST was initially set up!) and we’re often asked what sortof careers are possible after completion, so we’ve listed a fewbelow for you to consider:• Teaching in further and adult education• Designing of kits or selling designs to companies• Authoring of books/courses• Working to commission• Making to sell• Work in theatre, film or TV• Giving talks• Running workshopsOf course, the above does depend to an extent on the level andsubject you’re studying and who you’re considering working forafter your graduation. If you’d like further details on prospectsfor particular qualifications please contact us and we’ll do ourbest to help.

community.......We have given lots of thought to the best ways of keepingstudents in touch with each other, because we know fromchatting to lots of students over the years that it is reallyimportant to them personally and also to their eventualcourse success to have a feeling of community, which helps toreplace the camaraderie that would normally be present whenattending a local class.We have a very active Facebook group and page. You can checkout the general discussion one by clicking HERE.In the UK, a sister company runs Inspire Creative Textile Retreatswhich incorporate an SST evening on each of the three yearlyevents, allowing you to meet others studying with us and alsoyour tutors. Of course, you can also study with some of thebest tutors in the business if you wish to stay at the venue hoteland participate in the event. You can find out more about theInspire Retreats and costs by clicking HERE.There are also competitions, events and galleries of otherstudent’s work being regularly brought online by SST’s teamin order to make everyone feel part of the SST ‘family’ even ifyou’re actually on the other side of the world. For instance, weare currently piloting a support group in New Zealand to allowstudents to meet up for exhibitions or other textile relatedevents, network and give feedback to each other on theircurrent projects.We have a regular newsletter which has lots of topicalinformation for students, interesting snippets about what’shappening at the school, upcoming events , book reviews,suppliers information and details about current and upcomingexhibitions, talks and events. The latest copy of this is availablefor download from our site or by clicking HERE.You can follow us on Twitter as well by clicking HERE, and wehave a blog that details what happens ‘Behind the Scenes’ atthe School of Stitched Textiles, which takes a slightly wry look atthe day to day happenings in and around the school, written byGail Cowley which is available HERE.If you’d like to know what we’re up to throughout the year atthe school, our ongoing events calendar is online for your todownload by clicking HERE,

courses and enrolment.....We know you’ll want to check the contents of your coursecarefully before enrolling and maybe even compare one coursewith another, so we’ve collected the links to our site for youwhere each course is documented in detail, listing the contents ofeach of the course modules.You can view details on our individual courses on our site ordownload a PDF by clicking your mouse on the name of thecourse you’re interested in.City & Guilds CertificateLEVEL 3 EMBROIDERYLEVEL 3 PATCHWORK AND QUILTINGLEVEL 3 MACHINE EMBROIDERYCity & Guilds DiplomaEMBROIDERY DIPLOMAPATCHWORK AND QUILTING DIPLOMAMACHINE EMBROIDERY DIPLOMACity & Guilds Design AwardCREATIVE COMPUTING INTO STITCHED TEXTILESCity & Guilds Level 1LEVEL 1 STUMPWORKSST Beginners CoursesHAND EMBROIDERYMACHINE EMBROIDERYPATCHWORKFELTSST Master Practitioner CoursesEMBROIDERYPATCHWORK AND QUILTINGPricing and EnrolmentPRICING*ENROLMENT* our courses, with the exception of the short Level 1 orBeginner’s delivery, have a variety of payment options availablesuch as a single module, 3 modules together or in full. The moremodules you pay for at once the better the price, but if you’remore cautious and only want to try out one module to beginwith, that’s fine - you’re not obligated to take any others in thecourse if you don’t want to.

try us out.......We know you’ll want to try us out before making a purchasefor course modules, so you can download a taster course forus for free which helps you assess how you’d fare studyingat a distance. The Taster Course also supplies you with aquestionnaire to help you decide how well you’d do studyingfrom home and helps you to decide on the best level of study foryou by clicking HEREYou may also wish to view our online galleries of previousstudent’s work by clicking HERE or even look at our YouTube areato see some of the newer student work which has been madeinto short visual presentations by clicking HEREIf you’d like to try out the drop box system we use for sendingwork to us you can LAUNCH it here - you don’t need to havepre-registered, as all you need to do to send a test file to us is toenter your email address in the box, browse for a file on yourPC and press send. If you’d like to check that the file has arrivedwith us, enter TEST and your name in the message title box andwe’ll drop you a confirmation that it has arrived.get in touch .......We’re always delighted to hear from you and to try to answerany questions you may have regarding our courses .Sometimes, of course, it’s best to ring to speak to someone inthe office, but if you have very in depth questions which only atutor could answer it’s probably best to drop us an email. We willthen pass on your enquiry to one of our specialised tutors, whowill get back to you as soon as possible, so we’re certain you getexactly the right answer to your question.Our full contact details are on the back page of this brochure,but if you need to ring us it’s+44 1257 463163 from outside the UK01257 463163 from inside the UKand info@sofst.org for email.We’ll very much look forward to hearing from you !

contact detailsSchool of Stitched Textiles (SST) LtdEccles FarmEccles LaneBispham GreenOrmskirkLancashireL40 3SD.t: 01257 463163 (Enquiries)e: info@sofst.orgw: www.sofst.orgRegistered in England and Wales No. 5935078