The blazing sun did nothing to slow us – or our students – down this month. From celebrating Mandela Day to securing cultural partnerships within the city, there was lots going on across campus and beyond.
Read our highlights from the month below:
We marked #MandelaDay
On the 100th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s birth, we celebrated our partnership with the Nelson Mandela Museum in Qunu, South Africa.
Winchester is the first university in the UK to partner with the Museum and to collaborate on joint teaching and research activities, study visits and an exchange programme.
The Museum has invited the University to host an international conference to celebrate the life and work of the South African leader. Freedom in a Fractured World: Sustaining the Legacy of Nelson Mandela takes place on Wednesday 5 September 2018. Tickets are free and available online.
Celebrating student satisfaction
Winchester was ranked in the top 20 UK universities with 87% student satisfaction for ‘teaching on my course’ in the 2018 National Student Survey.
We also achieved 84% overall student satisfaction and ranked in the top quartile of UK universities for ‘academic support’ with 82% student satisfaction.
Our Education Studies, Education Studies (Early Childhood), English Language Studies, History and the Medieval World and Sports Coaching courses all achieved 100% overall satisfaction.
We secured two cultural partnerships within the city
We signed five-year agreements with Winchester Film Festival and The Point, an arts venue in Eastleigh.
Both partnerships will give Winchester students the opportunity to undertake work placements and go behind the scenes at the Festival and venue.
"It's wonderful to add The Point and Winchester Film Festival to our growing family of valued cultural partners," said Professor Alec Charles, Dean of the University's Faculty of Arts, "We look forward to extending our work together to enhance the creative experiences of both our students and our audiences."
We have also recently signed five-year agreements with Theatre Royal Winchester and Blue Apple Theatre.
We were longlisted for an environmental sustainability award
We were longlisted for the Business in the Community Responsible Business Awards in the Environmental Sustainability category for our carbon management programme.
The Award recognises businesses that are developing models of smart growth that lead to better use of resources, nurture healthy ecosystems and/or tackle climate change.
In the last 12 years, the University has expanded its campus size by 72% but we have achieved a 45% reduction in emissions during this time. We have delivered this by promoting energy awareness among our staff and students to increase our recycling rate and reduce carbon emissions, water usage and oil consumption.
The World Cup boosted ‘Englishness’
Pride in English identity rose after the recent World Cup, a survey for the University’s Centre for English Identity and Politics found.
Conducted after England lost their third-place play-off against Belgium, the survey repeated questions put to 20,000 people in a BBC/YouGov survey which the Centre carried out in March 2018. 61 per cent of people said they were ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ proud to be English after the World Cup, compared to 57 per cent in the earlier survey.
Read the BBC News article by Director of the Centre Professor John Denham here
A Winchester student heads to Uganda for sustainable resource summer school
Sarah Buck, a first-year student studying for an undergraduate degree in Animal Welfare and Society, won a prestigious grant from the Association of Commonwealth Universities (https://www.acu.ac.uk/) for a place on a natural resources and development summer school at Kyambogo University in Kampala, Uganda.
Sarah, who is currently in Uganda, is learning about sustainable use of available natural resources and is undertaking a number of visits to museums and sites. She is also taking a field trip to Lake Mburo National Park to put what she has learnt into practice.
Follow Sarah on her travels by visiting her on Twitter @WinchesterEnv
Winchester students celebrated Results Day
Congratulations to all students who collected results, especially those who have now completed their degree. We look forward to welcoming continuing students back to campus in September and marking our graduands achievements at Graduation later in October.
We helped A-level students develop their passion for teaching
We hosted a group of sixth-form students for a three-day residential event to help them explore teaching as a career option.
They found out what it was like to be a teacher, learnt about child psychology from University academics, and took part in several school placements. Staying in University accommodation, they also had the chance to experience university life and find out more about routes into teaching.
Helping individuals with autism reach their potential
Dominic Cairns, a Music and Sound Production student moving into his second year, discussed his experiences of growing up on the autistic spectrum at an event celebrating neurodiverse talent in London.
The event discussed the untapped potential of those on the autistic spectrum and presented a number of talks from industry-leading businesses who employ individuals with autism. It also welcomed medical professionals and occupational therapists who spoke about the importance of early years intervention to help autistic individuals reach their potential.
Acting as a live case study, Dominic described how he benefited from early years intervention and how this put him on the path to becoming a university student.
Blog highlight: Trans identities in the UK
Chair of the University of Winchester Spectrum LGBTQ+ student society and BA (Hons) Creative and Professional Writing Student, Lee Thair-White, discusses the recent law changes around gender identity, his own personal journey through medical transition, and how he feels accepted for who he is at the University.
Read now
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