Author Archives: Andy Goodwin

UPCOMING COURSES IN OCTOBER 2022

We have a selection of open courses planned to run in Chesterfield in October that you may be interested in:
    • G202 Foundations and Building Settlement – Principles and Practice on 20 October 2022: This course aims to develop the abilities of the delegates in the design of shallow foundations and the prediction of settlements. Cost £250 + VAT per delegate.
    • PR402 The ICE Professional Review – Preparing for the Interview (maximum of 4 delegates) on 25 October 202: This course is for ICE graduates preparing for their review; it is recommended that this course be taken prior to the submission of CPR/IPR report as following feedback delegates may wish to amend their report.  Cost £335 + VAT per delegate.
    • G102 Fundamentals of Geotechnical Engineering (1.5 days equivalent) on 27 October 2022: This ‘long day’ course is mainly for engineering geologists and civil engineers that do not specialise in geotechnical engineering, and aims to develop a core understanding of how soils behave in principle and applies it to some geotechnical problems such as foundations.  Cost £335 + VAT per delegate.
Please contact us for more information or to book a place on any of these courses. Details of courses in November and December can be seen in our calendar, downloadable using the link on the home page.      

WE ARE BACK!…. (NOT THAT WE HAVE BEEN AWAY)

The pandemic is now behind us we hope and we are delighted to be able to announce that we are back!  Many of you will be aware that we haven’t been away at all, rather we changed our focus to bespoke courses where HSW could be controlled better to protect our clients and ourselves.  We also developed our mentoring services substantially over the last few years, and we were inundated with design consultancy work. 

There are plenty of stories to share from the last couple of years, so watch out for some of them in the next issue of our newsletter which is coming shortly.  Our programme of courses for the rest of 2022 is downloadable from here too, so feel free to browse it and enquire about making bookings.  Looking ahead, the course calendar for 2023 is being finalised too in time for many of you to plan your training out for the new year. 

We look forward to seeing you all again!

NEW LIME/CEMENT COURSE – BACK BY DEMAND!

Our interactive lime and cement stabilisation courses have always been a great success and we are delighted to report it is back again after a pause due to the covid pandemic.  Though it has run on a bespoke basis this year, the first open course is running on 26 October 2022.  It is being held again at the award winning Ringwood Hotel and Spa in Chesterfield, with Dr Paul Beetham leading it as ever.  There are limited spaces left so contact us asap to book your place!  

ALMOST HERE – EXTRA LIME/CEMENT COURSE IN 2019 BY DEMAND

Following the success of our earlier courses on lime and cement stabilisation in 2019, this is just a reminder that running again on 12 November.  It is being held again at the award winning Ringwood Hotel and Spa in Chesterfield, with Dr Paul Beetham leading it as ever.  There are limited spaces left so contact us asap to book your place! Details of the course can be obtained by downloading the flyer here.  

BESPOKE GEO COURSE FOR EEG

We had a great day yesterday delivering a ‘fundamentals of geotechnics’ course to a great group in Earth Environmental & Geotechnical Ltd.  Delivered in Stockport, it was another of our ‘long day’ courses that fits 1.5 days of learning into a session that ran from 0830 to 1930.  There were regular breaks to keep everyone fresh, and this showed in the way the whole team stayed focused and met the challenges head on! Our thanks to Adam Czarnecki for inviting us in.  He has already posted about it himself on LinkedIn – which you can check out here. If you feel your organisation would benefit from a bespoke course then just call us to discuss your requirements and see how we could help you.

UPDATE TO 2019 COURSE CALENDAR

We are pleased to release ‘Issue 3’ of our course calendar for 2019, covering mid October to the end of the year with a look ahead to 2020.  The new calendar can be downloaded from here in a list format. If you are interested in any of the courses, just email us for more information or call to discuss your requirements.   As ever, discounts are available for group bookings or delegates attending more than one course. Remember too that all courses can be run bespoke for your company if there are sufficient numbers – just call us to see what we could do for you.  

PREPARATIONS FOR ICE PROFESSIONAL REVIEW IN SPRING 2020

With the application window for the Spring 2020 Professional Review session with the ICE opening in January, those planning to apply will no doubt be planning for it already.  This will include plenty of revision and refresher reading as well as preparing for your interview. As a long-standing reviewer for the ICE, our Dr Andy Goodwin reminds you of his 6 top tips to help you prepare below:
  • Read your draft Professional Report again and again, and get others to read it too (they will read what it actually says and read between the lines…)
  • Ensure your report addresses all of the required attributes in a well-balanced way; try marking in the margins of a draft which attribute each paragraph relates to and tally them up
  • Practice your presentation, to yourself and others, to ensure when under pressure you stay within the time limit
  • Read through your quarterly reports and other records of your experience, to refresh your memory and identify good examples of how you have achieved each sub-attribute
  • Revise your knowledge and understanding of all things civils related
  • Practice your interview skills
As you prepare you may find some gaps in your understanding, or feel you are in need of some refresher training.  If so, we offer a wide range of courses may assist you.  Our top recommendations are:
  • Two half-day courses on The ICE Professional Review – Overview and Preparation, and The Professional Report, on 15 October (discount for both courses) 
  • Commercial and Contractual Awareness on 19 November
  • Two half-day courses on the CDM Regulations 2015 on 3 December (discount for both courses) 
  • The ICE Professional Review – Preparing for the Written Exercise on 10 December
If any of these courses are of interest then please contact us for details or to make a booking.  Equally, if you want to know what other courses may assist you then feel free to contact us.

BESPOKE CDM COURSE FOR CAN

We had the pleasure earlier this month a running a bespoke version of our CDM course for CAN in Chesterfield.  It was tailored to deliver the core materials with group exercises, and incorporated too a workshop to review how the learning could be applied within the company to add to their existing health and safety culture. Feedback from the course was excellent.  Comments to date include “First rate” and “Really good course, plenty of coffee breaks so kept fresh!! :-)”.  If you feel your organisation would benefit from a bespoke course or series of half-day courses, then just call us to discuss your requirements and see how we could help you.

BACK AGAIN BY DEMAND – EXTRA LIME/CEMENT COURSE IN 2019

Following the success of our courses on lime and cement stabilisation in April and July 2019, we are pleased to announce that it is re-running again on 12 November.  We have booked the splendid Ringwood Hotel and Spa in Chesterfield as previously as the venue has received excellent feedback from past delegates. The course will be lead again by Dr Paul Beetham.  Early booking is advised as spaces are limited to just 15, and we already have some early registrants! Details of the course can be obtained by downloading the flyer here.