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ATC Training

A group blog by ATC Training in Division Updates

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Contributors to this blog

  • Daniel Crookes 35
  • Andy Ford 33
  • Adam Arkley 30
  • Samuel James 30
  • Adam Farquharson 17
  • Oliver Rhodes 16
  • Alex Beard 9
  • Will Jennings 4
  • George Wright 3
  • Fraser Cooper 3
  • Kieran Hardern 3
  • Nathan Donnelly 2
  • Sebastian Rekdal 2
  • Fergus Walsh 2
  • Chris Pawley 2
  • Jack Edwards 2
  • Craig Stewart 1
  • Simon Irvine 1
  • Kye Taylor 1
  • Reece Buckley 1

About this blog

Entries in this blog

ATC Training

OBS > S1 Mentoring Changes

Good evening, We've had really rather a lot of discussion during my tenure so far about the capability for S1s to mentor others hoping to achieve their S1 rating. Whilst we've allowed S1s to mentor at Gatwick Ground for some time and more recently expanded this to Heathrow, there have been two key impediments that have prevented us permitting S1s to mentor others on Sweatbox: On average, our S1 controllers - whilst competent - represent some of the least experienced controllers on V
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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ATC Training

Demand Review, Feedback and Training Initatives

Hello all, As ever, things have been changing within the ATC Training landscape and it's important to me that people remain informed of what's happening. All of us on the DSG are 'servant leaders', in that we volunteer our time to lead within VATSIM UK for the enjoyment of others and this is one of the driving factors behind my intention to be as open and transparent as possible - we have nothing to hide here! It's worth noting that much of the content of this blog entry follows on fro
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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ATC Training

ATC Training Department Opportunities - Moodle Team

All, The ATC Training Department is seeking motivated individuals to join our new Moodle Team. This team will support Training Group Instructors (TGIs) with the ongoing upgrade of existing Moodle courses and the development of new training resources. Reporting to the ATC Training Manager, ideal applicants should: Hold at least an S1 rating (We would ideally like a plethora of members across all rating levels) Have recent mentoring experience (Preferre
Will Jennings

Will Jennings in ATC Training

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ATC Training

S1 Mentors at Heathrow

All, We are now accepting applications from S1 rated members to mentor at Heathrow. Please see the following extract from the next update to the ATC Training Handbook: S1 rated members may also mentor at Heathrow, at the discretion of the TGI, if they: ●        Have no significant negative feedback; ●        Have previous Gatwick mentoring experience: ●        Have at least 20hrs on Heathrow GND/DEL positions post award of endorsement. There is a minor inconvenience
Will Jennings

Will Jennings in ATC Training

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ATC Training

Self-Service Waiting List Enrolment

Good evening, all, In my last blog post, I spoke about how I'd come to the epiphany that not everyone on our OBS > S1 waiting list was waiting for training. For reasons described in that blog post, many people were on our 'waiting' list that were not actually waiting. Many of you will know that I am a man of action and I promptly sought to remedy this. With thanks once again to the legendary @Callum Axon, we now have the capability for prospective controllers to self-enrol on the OB
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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ATC Training

ATC Training Q1 '25 Review

Well good morning! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Q1 flashed by in a heartbeat and as I start to write this, I have just finished and submitted my quarterly report to the Region. The report commonly provides a foundation for the basis of my quarterly updates to you, but this time, we have rather a lot to talk about. Strap in, this will be a long ride. Regular Statistics As ever, a quick overview of progress within the division. We are, of course, aware of the recent changes in a numbe
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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ATC Training

Mentor and Member Retention Surveys

Hello all, We are now well over a year into my minimum two year term and I concede that things are happening now at a reduced pace. Will and I have been able to introduce some meaningful changes with our colleagues across the department and we're beginning to see some real, tangible improvements to our training process. For example, the OBS > S1 waiting list went down in size for the first time in years and with the award of a batch of training places earlier this month, for the first ti
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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ATC Training

TGI Heathrow - Appointment

Good afternoon, It is with great pleasure that I announce that @John Batten is returning to the ATC Training department, this time in the post of Heathrow Training Group Instructor. John is no stranger to the division, having held posts as both TGI New Controller and Member Services Director for a time. John's tenure within TGNC came to a somewhat premature end, having faced an increase in demands for his time within the workplace. Thankfully, John has more availability now and makes a welc
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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ATC Training

[VACANCY] Training Group Instructor - TG Approach

The department is pleased to accept applications for the role of Training Group Instructor - TG Approach. As you will no doubt be aware, VATSIM UK is a highly-demanded division for ATC training, providing thousands of mentoring sessions per year and hundreds of rating upgrades. Globally, we are renowned for providing high quality training and providing a high standard of service in some of the most densely populated and complicated airspace in the world. Our ethos is to provide pragmat
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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ATC Training

Changes in TG App

Good morning, all, It is with much sadness that I announce that Sam Lefevre has left his role within TG APP, effective immediately. Sam has held post within the training group since Feb 2023 and has been subject to incredible pressure in that time. His contributions have been significant within the department in those two years. We've seen some great numbers passing through the training group during Sam's tenure, coupled with the introduction of some great resources and a revision to the sy
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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ATC Training

[VACANCY] Training Group Instructor - TG Heathrow

The department is pleased to accept applications for the role of Training Group Instructor - TG Heathrow. As you will no doubt be aware, VATSIM UK is a highly-demanded division for ATC training, providing thousands of mentoring sessions per year and hundreds of rating upgrades. Globally, we are renowned for providing high quality training and providing a high standard of service in some of the most densely populated and complicated airspace in the world. Our ethos is to provide pragmat
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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ATC Training

New ATC Training Documentation

Good morning, I'm pleased to finally be able to announce the publication of new documentation for the department. These documents have both been arduous work, solidifying over a year of changes to how we run training within VATSIM UK whilst also ensuring that our policies and procedures are GCAP compliant. The documents have seen rounds of iterative feedback, both within my teams and within the DSG. We started working on these documents in late Spring last year, reviewing what existed, writ
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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ATC Training

Resignation - Fraser Cooper

Good day, It is with tremendous regret that I announce the unfortunate and unexpected resignation of Fraser Cooper from his post as Heathrow TGI. Fraser has been in post since April 2023 and has worked for a long time for the benefit of Heathrow on VATSIM, overseeing some fantastic changes within the TG and pushing Heathrow training to ensure that we consistently deliver prompt and high quality training to those who seek it. Fraser's contributions include overseeing the provision of tr
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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ATC Training

2024 - A Year in Review

Hello everyone! I've been sort of quiet with updates as life has gripped what little precious time I have and summarily taken it away from me, but I promised transparency and it wouldn't be the advent of a new year without a blog post now, would it!? Firstly, as ever, we need to recognise the contributions of our mentors, examiners and staff. Our department is one the most highly demanding across VATSIM and we deal with people from all walks of life, from all situations and with variou
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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ATC Training

ATC Training Appointments

Good evening, It gives me great pleasure, this evening, to make not one, but two appointments - for the same person! Over a month ago, we advertised for applications for the En-Route Training Group lead. I am pleased to say that we had more than one applicant and accordingly, we were able to conduct a proper process. Competition was genuinely strong and I welcome that we've had multiple applicants. I'm pleased to say that Kye Taylor has been offered and has accepted the post of TG ENR
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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ATC Training

2024 Christmas Closure

Good morning, all, As is tradition, to remove any burden of expectation on either our mentors, staff or students, the ATC Training Department will be closed between the 23rd December and 2nd January. During this period, there is no expectation of any mentoring or examinations taking place, but of course, if mentors and students find themselves with time and wanting to take part then we will, of course, not stop them! To this effect, between the 23rd December and 2nd January, no ATC Tra
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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ATC Training

[VACANCY] Training Group Instructor - TG Enroute

The department is pleased to accept applications for the role of Training Group Instructor - TG Enroute. As you will no doubt be aware, VATSIM UK is a highly-demanded division for ATC training, providing thousands of mentoring sessions per year and hundreds of rating upgrades. Globally, we are renowned for providing high quality training and providing a high standard of service in some of the most densely populated and complicated airspace in the world. Our ethos is to provide pragmati
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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ATC Training

TGI Tower - Appointment

Good morning, It's with great pleasure that I welcome @Reece Buckleyback to the ATC Training team, this time in the role of Training Group Instructor - TG Tower. Reece is no stranger to the ATC Training Team, having previously held a post as TGI APP and his familiarity with the department makes his return to the team most welcome. I was pleased to hear that Reece brought several ideas to the table during interview and have every faith that he'll continue to build upon the solid foundation i
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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ATC Training

Changes to our OBS > S1 Process

Dear all, Since the beginning of my tenure, I have been discussing the OBS > S1 process with our New Controller Training Group leads in order to discuss potential improvement in that process. At present, we run a seminar roughly monthly - although these are typically delayed at times like summer and Christmas - in which we invite 30 people to join a seminar. Those 30 people are made up of batches of invitations that are sent out in groups to people at or near the top of the waiting list,
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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ATC Training

[VACANCY] Training Group Instructor - TG TWR

The department is pleased to accept applications for the Training Group Instructor - TG TWR. As you will no doubt be aware, VATSIM UK is a highly-demanded division for ATC training, providing thousands of mentoring sessions per year and hundreds of rating upgrades. Globally, we are renowned for providing high quality training and providing a high standard of service in some of the most densely populated and complicated airspace in the world. Our ethos is to provide pragmatic, high-qual
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

0
ATC Training

Changes in TG TWR

Good morning, all, It is with much sadness that I announce that Will Hinshaw has left his role within TG TWR, effective immediately. Will has held post within the training group since June 2023 and has been subject to incredible pressure in that time. TG TWR is a very difficult place in which to work, subject to high training delays, a challenging teaching environment and significant drop-out rates as people bed into their VATSIM controlling careers. Will has made great progress in reducing
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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ATC Training

Q2 2024 Review

Good morning, all! When I took this role, I had planned to provide quarterly updates for visibility; certainly I provide a quarterly update to the region to provide them with some oversight and to facilitate governance and, in the spirit of openness and transparency, it's only appropriate that I do the same with all of you. I had intended to write something a little closer to the end of Q2, rather than 1/3 of the way through Q3, but Real Life has conspired against me and I have been delayed
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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ATC Training

S3 Syllabus

In our quest to create a holistic ATC Training Syllabus and overhaul documentation associated with ATC Training, I am pleased to announce the next training syllabi as now been released - the S3 Syllabus. The new S3 Syllabus has been formatted similarly to the recent S2 Syllabus and is detailed below: Block 1 - Fundamental Approach/Radar Competencies: Block 1 aims to take students from zero experience to a solid understanding of S3 fundamental competencies. This includes Euroscope
Will Jennings

Will Jennings in ATC Training

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ATC Training

Resignation - John Batten

Dear all, It's with some regret that I announce that @John Battenis standing down from his post as Training Group Instructor within our New Controller training group. John was appointed in March 2022 and in the 27 months that he's been in post, he's been instrumental in the success of TGNC, leading the delivery of quality training to new members of our community whilst also juggling his tenure as Member Services Director. In recent times, the training group has seen record numbers of e
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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ATC Training

GCAP Update 3: Effect of Change

Good morning all, Yesterday, we processed the first roster update since GCAP went live on the 1st March. On the 1st March, we retained on the roster anyone who had controlled at all within the preceding 12 months, from the 1st March 2023 to the 1st March 2024. Thereafter, currency requirements dictate that to remain on the roster, a controller must control three hours within every fixed quarter; three hours between the 1st Jan and the 1st April, three hours between the 1st April and the 1st
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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