Learning to Learn

I attended a workshop on Saturday with 13 other new recruits, held at the university where I'll be based. I'd spoken to a mate in the job about the unusual request in the joining instructions to 'think of times when you have been curious, playful and filled with a sense of adventure'. He reckoned that, knowing who was leading the training, it would be lots of hand-holding and reassurance. He was right, but the day was enjoyable and useful, rather than a load of management-speak and new-age twaddle.

The day gave me some insight as to how the classroom-based learning would be conducted, and I was pleased with what I saw. It seems to have been very well thought out (and as they've spent two years preparing, I should hope so too). There will be lots of individual study, allowing students to work at their own pace, lots of assistance where needed and generally a lot more like the university experience, as opposed to the boot camp that is police training college.

Whilst discussing when and how we'd be issued our uniforms, I observed that when it comes to kit, the last person you can trust is a copper. The tutors were fretting that if the boxes of uniform for us new recruits turned up at the station we'd be training at, the contents would disappear in a flash. Quite why we can't make our way up to stores and collect it ourselves I don't know - we had to make our own way there for fitting. The sooner I get my gear the sooner I'll feel that this is all actually happening. It's been so long since I applied that the whole process has become rather abstract. I think the reality will finally hit home when I am attested (sworn in) as a PC, and my warrant card is issued. This is 30 days away.