Diagnosing Animal Diseases Learn about animal disease diagnoses. Learn the steps involved in examining sick or dead animals, and how to collect symptomatic information or tissue samples that will aid in making a diagnosis. The course will help you to recognise a disease and determine an appropriate course of action to initiate in order to obtain a diagnosis.

RHS level 2 Certificate - Principles of Garden Planning, Establishment and Maintenance

NEW CERTIFICATE      This course covers 4 units:

Unit 1 – Garden features, plant selection and planning.
Unit 2 – The choice, establishment and maintenance of garden plants and lawns.
Unit 3 – The production of outdoor vegetables and fruit.
Unit 4 – Protected environments and their use in plant cultivation.

RHS Level 2 Certificate - Principles of Plant Growth, Propagation and Development

NEW CERTIFICATE      This course covers 4 units:

• Unit 1 - The Plant Kingdom
• Unit 2 - Plant Nutrition, The Root Environment
• Unit 3 - Pests, Diseases and Weeds
• Unit 4 - Sexual and Asexual Propagation

These RHS courses are two of several new Qualifications being phased in to replace older RHS courses over the second half of 2010.

Sheep
Improve production by increasing your knowledge and skills.  This course examines: Selection and breeding of sheep, Improving nutrition, Sheep health, Management of the commercial flock, Wool, Lambs and much more.

Bed and Breakfast Management
Dreaming about running your own bed and breakfast business?
Make it true and set firm foundations to your business with this course full of practical advice and skills. The course has very recently been revised with much more up to date information added relating to running a bed and breakfast or guesthouse accommodation, no matter how small or large.

Computer Operations
Develop your ability to independently undertake routine maintenance and to analyse faults in personal computers.

J McLeod, Botany II

"I find the course quite interesting! At first glance the reading material
and questions look so simple, but they actually require quite a bit of
thinking and probing. The course is very well designed!"

To see more Student Testimonials, please click here.

Doing a course is not the same as reading a book or referencing a web site.
Books and web sites are courses that present you with information; but they don’t essentially change what you know, or how you think.
A course is far more sophisticated; not only presenting you with information, but engineering a learning experience that develops your perspective on things and your capacity to work and grow within the discipline that you study. A well constructed course provides each individual student with flexibility to move through their learning experience in a different way to the next, so that they emerge with a unique perspective, knowledge and skills set that provides a foundation to move forward as a unique individual throughout the rest of their life.
In order to gain the most from a course, you need to understand that this is what you are doing; and you need to place your trust in the knowledge and expertise of the teachers who are helping you along that learning pathway. Students who walk the path in the right frame of mind will discover much more about themselves, and the discipline they study, and emerge a more enriched and interesting person at the end of their course

Not all colleges see enducation this way; but this is certainly the way we approach things here at ACS.

By John Mason

Post secondary education has been in trouble for years. The politicians and bureaucrats who largely drive this industry have lost focus, and no longer seem to realize that education should be about learning. These days, senior educationists are more likely to be focussed on funding, compliance or politics than on optimising the learning of students.

I believe that the world of post secondary education is at the start of an international revolution - as significant to education as the industrial revolution was to commerce.
Current models for vocational and university education are being questioned, the world is changing rapidly, and I believe as a result the nature of the educational landscape that is likely to emerge in 5 or 10 years time will look very different than it does today.

Mainstream colleges are in serious trouble. More colleges are being restructured, closing down or going into receivership every week.Control over teaching is continually tightened, while there appears to be no control over bureaucratic costs; in particular, compliance. It seems OK to cut the hours in a course; but it’s not acceptable to cut the auditing that is carried out by compliance officers.

Enrolments have been shrinking in government institutions, numbers of students coming into Australia and the UK from other countries is decreasing, and colleges are being strangled by a lack of funds and crippling bureaucracy.

Indications from the new UK government are encouraging; pointing to dramatic changes in education policy – increasing focus on self funding, reduction of bureaucracy and a reduction in the importance placed upon accreditation of courses.

ACS heads an international network of colleges that is thriving: a remarkable situation, given that traditional colleges and universities in Australia, UK and elsewhere are in crisis.

New Business Advisory Service
ACS is now offering a free business advice service. You can now take advantage of years of business experience shared by ACS tutors. You may have an established business you would like advice about, or are just thinking of starting a business. Click here to send in your question!

John Mason met with the President of the Institute of Horticulture Heather Barrett-Mold in June to discuss many issues relating to horticultural education and our affiliates network.

New UK Affiliate launching all ACS Courses this September
Headed by Dr James Mac Askill (former vice principal, Writtle College)
Watch this space for more news on this exciting new affiliate!

Pershore College to launch ACS Horticulture courses in September
Click here to visit their website!

ADL launches new course Handbook – contact them for a copy
http://www.adlhomestudy.co.uk/

Warnborough Ireland is launching a NEW Professional Development website SOON   http://www.shortcourses.ie/

Study Garden Design with a French Twist

The Garden Design Academy offers courses by distance or face to face from the beautiful Loire Valley of central France.

Colin and Chantal Elliot moved to France after a successful 30-year career in the garden industry. Having created and run the Design and Landscape Centre for more than 15 years they're now passing on their knowledge, experience and passion through their college

They've combined the college with a cozy Bed and Breakfast, making it an attractive place to visit for study or leisure. Imagine studying in the heart of France - the chateaux and gardens of the Loire Valley on your doorstep, all within a day from the UK and most of Europe and in close proximity to high-speed rail links, an excellent motorway system and airports.