Last weekend I attended by first ever OU residential school – for B690 as part of gaining my Professional Certificate in Management.

I was apprehensive, wondering what it was going to be like, whether I would enjoy it, or whether it would be like an Apprentice-style free-for-all with everyone aggressively shouting over each other.

I’m happy to say the experience exceeded my expectations in every way, and I thoroughly enjoyed the school. Everyone was civilised (except those who spent too long at the bar in the evenings!), and there was no gung-ho competitive behaviour at all. The weekend was very much about teamwork.

The rooms at the Manchester MacDonald hotel were great too. I was very impressed with the huge window that offered me a spectacular view across the city.

None of my future planned courses involve residential schools, and I’m a little bit sorry about that. I would love to do something similar again.