WELS news

Twelve young people (aged 14-16) in Aruba recently developed a sex-education e-zine in partnership with Elizabeth Ascroft, a PhD student in the Centre for the Study of Global Development and Famia Planea Aruba. 

Researchers from the OU's Faculty of WELS are investigating how self-managed abortions relate to social connectedness and issues of reproductive control and autonomy. A new paper examines the experiences of self-managed abortion during the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to support available from professionals, family and friends. 

The Centre for the Study of Global Development (CSGD), has been awarded a research grant of £108,000 by the mc2h foundation to explore what activities parents, caregivers, and community groups do to engage children's interest in reading in Nigeria and Ghana. 

Two OU nursing students, Abbey Williams and Amy Graham, have been nominated in the prestigious Student Nursing Times Awards, in the Student Innovation in Practice category. The winner will be announced in late April.

The Open University (OU) has embarked on a groundbreaking study examining the impact of the Medical Examiners Service on families coping with loss.

Research at the OU finds that online dancing for unpaid adult carers proves beneficial to their mental and physical health.

Latin America is well-known for its extensive social protection programmes, supporting poor and vulnerable populations with cash transfers and other initiatives. While these have protected families from poverty and resulted in positive outcomes for children, existing programmes have been less successful in promoting economic resilience.

The OU’s tutors provide essential support and guidance that enable students to succeed. Every year the Faculty of WELS celebrates those tutors that have gone above and beyond what is expected of them, via the WELS Tutor Awards, which give students the opportunity to recognise the dedication and skill of their tutors. This year fourteen tutors received awards in two categories, from nearly 400 nominations.

A new three-part series co-produced by the OU and BBC will follow writer and rapper Darren McGarvey as he takes an unflinching look at the UK’s public services. Darren McGarvey: The State We’re In follows Darren as he explores the state of the UK’s classrooms, the heroic efforts of an NHS workforce battling rising patient numbers, and the UK’s justice system through the eyes of the people who live and work in it.

For the first time in the history of Scottish education, there is now a professional learning course for teachers on how to include and embed Scots language and culture in their classrooms, delivered in partnership with the OU in Scotland and Education Scotland.