Organise an ATL lecture at your ITT

Why?
ATL – the education union - wants to support you and your fellow students while you're studying and throughout your career. Our expert advice and training give you an added extra when you go into the classroom.

You don't need to wait until you're working to get involved with your union. A lecture might provide a springboard to setting up an ATL Future group at your ITT, to access more training, explore educational issues, campaign or simply socialise. It could even lead to students electing an ATL student rep who can distribute helpful materials and information from ATL and liaise with tutors to address student concerns. It can also be great fun.

How?
Organising an ATL lecture is easy. Below are some of the things to think about, but feel free to do it your own way too.

1. Work with others
ATL organising team: email getinvolved@atl.org.uk and we'll put you in touch with an ATL organiser in your area. That means while you're planning the lecture, you'll have a contact at ATL who can help you.

Other students: Speak to other students on your course who might be interested in getting involved. That way, you can share the work and all benefit from the experience and skills that organising a lecture may add to your CV.

Your tutor: Your tutor might be able to help arrange a venue or even set aside some time during one of their lectures for an ATL speaker to attend and cover a topic relevant to students. Ask your tutor to find out what support they can offer.

2. Get thinking
Think about how you're going to make the lecture as effective as possible. How will it reach the most students? What would the most useful topic be?

Who? If you're at an ITT which offers several PGCE as well as BA courses, how will you reach as many students as possible? This could be by setting up a lecture in taught time with your tutors or several sessions of the same lecture for students on different courses, or by picking a time when most students will be on site.
What? You and your fellow students know best what lecture topics would be most useful to you. Have a look together at the list below and choose. You might decide a series of different lectures is what you need!
When? Pick a time when most students will be able to come along.
Where? Pick an accessible venue that students know and promote by email or posters at the university.
Why? Work out your aims for the session. As well as providing helpful information, you might want the lecture to serve as a chance to put together an email list for ATL members at your ITT to share ideas and concerns, or as an opportunity to elect your ATL course rep. Make sure you build these aims into the session.

3. Book a venue and the speaker; order any materials you need
When you've worked out the above logistics, book a venue with a PowerPoint projector and confirm that an ATL speaker will be able to come along. Most ITTs will be willing to offer the venue for free as ATL lectures are of benefit to their students. If there is a charge for the venue, get in touch with your ATL organiser to see if we can help with the costs.

Ask your ATL organsier to order the ATL materials you need for the event. This is likely to include student application forms, and free rucksacks and pens and copies of ATL publications.

4. Promote it
Think about what will appeal to people about the lecture and put together a blurb and a poster that puts this and the key information across clearly.

Put the blurb out to students on as many mailing lists and websites as possible:

• ATL's membership list – via the ATL organising team
• Through your ITT's admin department by email
• Your Student Union mailing list
• Set up a Facebook event
• In your student paper's events list
• On your ITT's website

Ask people to come along in person, do shout-outs at lectures, do a stall at lunchtime offering free ATL membership and promoting the lecture, and put up posters in your student union, common room and study buildings.

5. On the day
Bring your digital camera if you can or speak to the ATL organising team about recording the event so you can share photos with fellow students and maybe get them published by ATL.

Bring signs to point people to the lecture hall and the materials that you have ordered from ATL.

Make sure there's someone to meet the ATL speaker and that there's plenty of time to set the lecture room up.

Collect students' email addresses to let them know about future events and take a few pictures for ATL's new2teaching.org.uk magazine and website.

6. Follow-up
• Thank those who took part and who helped organise it
• Write up a story for ATL's new2teaching.org.uk website and magazine
• Work with other interested students and your ATL organiser to follow up any interest in further lectures, an ATL Future group or electing a student rep
• If there are costs work with your ATL organiser to ensure these are paid

Which lecture?
Pick one of ATL's wide range of lectures to suit the needs of students at your ITT:

• Apply yourself – the job-hunting process
• Induction - making it work for you
• Health & safety
• Teachers and the law
• Taking students off-site
• Why join a union?

You might have an idea for a session on a different topic that students at your ITT would find really useful. Let us know and ATL will do our best to meet your needs.

Get in touch
One of ATL's team of organisers will work with you to plan and promote the lecture. If you're interested in organising a lecture at your ITT then please get in touch: getinvolved@atl.org.uk.