Annual General Meetings

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Annual General Meetings Archives

Welcome to the ABSLTA AGMs Archives Page where you can source for information and photographs on ABSLTA previous AGMs. The archives are listed according to the year dates:-

AGM April 2008 - Luton

The AGM of the Association took place at the Alban Neve Deaf Association [Luton Deaf Club] on Saturday, 5 April 2008.

There were 30 members present at the start of the AGM, opened by the Chair, Melinda Napier.

The meeting went smoothly and the following were elected to the Executive Committee for the year 2008/9.

Chair: Melinda Napier
Secretary/Treasurer: Charles Herd
Committee: Shirley Farthing
Joanne Thomson
Aileen Cranwell
Gillian Stringer
Robert Adam

After the AGM business had been concluded, Olga Braund, a trainer from the City Lit, gave a talk and answered questions on the new qualifications that are compulsory for teachers in Adult Education.

After lunch, Clark Denmark, from the University of Lancashire, gave a talk and answered questions on the new Teacher Training Initiative for BSL teachers that is being developed at the University.

Following this, Penny Beschizza, an ABSLTA member who has strong links with the NATFHE union, gave a talk on how the union is trying to support teachers whose teaching language is BSL and what the members of ABSLTA can do to support them.

All three speakers were very clear on the point that Deaf teachers need to gain the new qualifications to be accepted on level terms with their hearing colleagues.

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AGM May 2007 - Luton

The ABSLTA Annual General Meeting was held at The Alban Neve Centre, 49 Old Bedford Road, Luton, on the weekend of 5/6 May 2007.

Programme was as follows:-

Saturday [am] Annual General Meeting.
Saturday [pm] Workshop on "Differentiation" led by Melinda Napier.

Sunday Shirley Farthing and Jo Thomson lead the workshops on the new CACDP BSL Level 1 specifications and assessment procedures. The workshops included mock examinations and practise marking - using the new mark sheet. Read more >>

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AGM April 2006 - Luton

The Association held its Annual General Meeting at the Alban Neve Centre [Luton Deaf Club] Luton, Beds, on the weekend of Saturday/Sunday, 29/30 April 2006.

The AGM went off smoothly and, no new names having been nominated, the previous committee were re-elected “en bloc”.


The committee for the year 2006/07 will be:
Melinda Napier - Chair
Charles Herd - Secretary/Treasurer
Jo Thomson - Editor and website co-ordinator
Shirley Farthing
Aileen Cranwell
Gillian Stringer
Jane Foulston

Any one of the above will be happy to give you information about the aims of the Association and membership.

In the afternoon Val Pigg and Jacqueline Swinbourne from the CACDP gave presentations covering the specifications [a new name for curriculum] of CACDP Levels 1 and 3, which members found very interesting and informative. Read more >>

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AGM June 2005 - Nottingham

The AGM of the Association was held at Nottingham Deaf Club on Saturday, 18th June.

Two members of the committee, Jacqueline Swinbourne and Jill Arnold stepped down due to other commitments; Jane Foulston and Gillian Stringer were elected in their places. The rest of the committee were re-elected.

Jacqueline Swinbourne was presented with a bouquet of flowers from June Cauldwell, on behalf of the ABSLT committee, to thank her for her hard work over the last 10 years. Jacqueline has kindly submitted a report on her involvement with the ABSLT, this makes an interesting read. >> Click here to open Jacqueline's Report <<

After the AGM we held an open forum, which proved very interesting. Many members contributed their opinions on the teaching of BSL, the future of the qualifications, teachers training and also giving their experiences. Melinda and Jacqueline answered many questions. Read more >>

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AGM 2004 - Birmingham

The AGM of the Association at the Birmingham Institute for the Deaf on Saturday, 12th went smoothly. Perhaps because it was the weekend when England played France in the European Football Championship only 23 members attended.

All the committee were re-elected except for Jonathan Farthing who stepped down to concentrate on the running of our website. Aileen Cranwell was elected in his place.

In recognition of their work and dedication to the Association honorary lifetime memberships were awarded to Charles Herd - the Associations current Treasurer - and Desi Gabriel - who was formerly the Editor of the Associations newsletter. Pat and Sheila Cubis were also awarded life membership for their long association and loyalty to ABSLT.

On the Saturday afternoon, Clark Denmark gave a presentation on the B.D.A.’s version of the future for the teaching and assessment of BSL. On the Sunday, Robert Adam conducted a workshop on the linguistics of BSL, which was fascinating, informative and, thoroughly enjoyed by all. Read more >>

Everyone who was there agreed that it was a weekend well spent. Report by Jill Arnold

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