Australian Technical Millers Association Inc.
ABN 52 031 313 481
PO Box 423, Buninyong, VIC, 3357 / E-mail:Telephone: 0409 337 221 / Website: www.atma.asn.au
nabim Distance Learning Program
COURSE GUIDE 2014 – 2015
Background
The National Association of British and Irish Millers (nabim) is the trade association and industry training organisation for the UK flour Milling Industry. Each year nabim runs a modular distance learning program that provides millers with an essential understanding and underpinning knowledge of the Flour Milling Industry. The Australian Technical Millers Association (ATMA) co-ordinates the program on behalf of nabim for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
nabim Certificates and Medals
Qualifications
nabim issues a Record of Achievement to students on passing individual modules. In addition, nabim awards two Certificates:
- The Intermediate Certificate on passing Modules 1, 2, 3, and 4.
- The Advanced Certificate on passing all 7 Modules.
The distance learning program student who scores the highest mark in each module examination is awarded a nabim Certificate of Achievement. In addition, two medals are available to all examination candidates, Silver and Bronze.
Silver Medal – Awarded to the candidate obtaining the Advanced Certificate with the best over all performance over all seven Modules. The Silver medalist is also invited to write a thesis on an agreed milling topic. If assessed worthy of the award, the nabim Gold Medal is presented.
Bronze Medal – Awarded to the runner-up to the Silver Medal.
Course Structure
The program is structured into seven modules, providing a flexible training package that covers the full spectrum of milling subjects:
Module 1 / Safety, Health and Hygiene / 4 lessonsModule 2 / Wheat and the Screenroom / 4 lessons
Module 3 / Mill Processes and Performance / 4 lessons
Module 4 / Product Handling, Storage & Distribution / 4 lessons
Module 5 / Flour / 4 lessons
Module 6 / Power and Automation / 4 lessons
Module 7 / Flour Milling Management / 4 lessons
A detailed description of each module is available on the ATMA website: http://www.atma.asn.au
Course and Fees
Students may enrol for any module and do as many modules as they wish in any one year. We would suggest that for students who intend to complete the whole course to Advanced Certificate that two (2) modules per year would be appropriate. Alternatively, there may be students who wish to study a module or modules applicable to their particular career stream.
As a guide approximately 12 hours minimum study time per module should be allowed for.
Each module comes as a "package" complete with learning materials - there are no extra textbooks to be purchased. Lessons are to be completed and sent to nominated tutors. Enrolment in the course provides students access to a nominated tutor to provide guidance on completed lessons.
Students should receive their lessons through the local Mill Coordinator in September / October, and if not received, ATMA should be contacted immediately. Please note that to photocopy the textbooks is a breach of nabim’s copyright. In such an event, nabim will consider taking legal action to gain compensation.
Fees are subject to annual review and are detailed on the enrolment form on the ATMA website.
Enrolments
Results from the May exams are made available in July. Students are advised to enrol for the next course year as if they had passed. Should you find later that this is not the case, the following options are available:
1. Notify this office immediately and the enrolment can be adjusted.
2. Register to re-sit the exam in the following year. In this case the student uses the previous year’s notes and lessons for revision. It should be noted that, should this option be taken up, no new learning materials or lessons nor tutor support will be available.
3. Re-enrol in the full course either this year or in a future year and do the lessons as usual.
Enrolments should be made on the Enrolment Form that is available on the ATMA website from late June. Please submit the enrolment form and correct fees. Mill Co-ordinators will be advised when the information for the program is available on the Australian Technical Millers Association (ATMA) website – www.atma.asn.au under the Training menu.
Contact Details are:
Melinda Stewart
Executive Assistant ATMA Inc.
PO Box 423
Buninyong,VIC 3357
Ph No. 0409 337 221
Email:
Web:www.atma.asn.au
ENROLMENTS BY FRIDAY 25th JULY 2014
Lesson Workbooks and Textbooks
The student lesson workbooks and textbooks are sent to Mill Co-ordinators late September, after the enrolment has been processed. If course materials have not been received by early October, ATMA should be contacted immediately.
Please note that photocopying of the textbooks is a breach of nabim’s copyright. In such an event, nabim will consider taking legal action to obtain compensation.
Examinations - Registration and Fees
Examinations
Each module will be examined in one written paper lasting between 2 to 3 hours. There will be no choice of questions.
Registering for the Examinations
Most students enrolling in nabim courses in 2014 will be working towards taking a nabim Examination in May 2015.
To take the examination students must be registered through ATMA the approved Examination Centre for students in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. The examination fee is included in the course fee. Students who studied in previous years may re-sit exams by submitting the exam application to the ATMA office in January / February 2014.
Tutors and Mentors
Tutors
For each module, students are allocated a Tutor to whom they may submit completed lessons by post. The Tutors are all experienced in the areas of operation and management of flourmills and this is reflected in the professional and specialist advice provided to the student.
Students will be informed of their tutor and contact detail when module lessons are sent out. Students should send off completed lessons for the module to the tutor who will mark and return them.
Mentors
It is strongly recommended that, for each student enrolled in the correspondence course, the mill appoints a suitable person to be responsible for assisting the student in their studies. This person is hereafter referred to as the mentor. Where a mill enrols more than one student, it may wish to allocate one mentor for all students.
The Role of the Mentor
The mentor should encourage the student to participate fully in the course.
For each lesson, the mentor should discuss the subject matter with the student; particularly where the lesson covers subjects outside their normal practical experience, the mentor may also arrange for the student to spend time in the relevant area of the mill and/or to speak to suitably qualified personnel on site.
Mentors should address any difficulties the students maybe having by discussing the returned lessons and the student’s answers.
The mentor should ensure that the student is registered to take their examination at an approved centre and that they are aware of the date and venue for the examination.