T HE O FFICIAL STUDENT M AG AZI NE
FRESHERS EDITION
20 21
WEL COME
to
The Northern School of Art! It has been a long year but now the time has finally come for you to join us here, and all of us at The Northern Student Union can’t wait to meet you!
The Student Union is ran by students, for students. We have lots of events up our sleeves ready for you when we can all be together again. Alternatively, if you have any ideas for an event you’d like us to run whether it be a sip and social or LGBTQ+ Pride party, drink and draw or zombie apocalypse, let us know via our social media accounts or simply come find us on campus. We are really open to hearing your ideas and creating the best student experience for you, this also includes in tailoring the best clubs and societies for students at the school. Once here we encourage everyone to have their say and help change the school for the better, we do this by speaking to the school for you and through our representation system. This includes through student assemblies ran by 2 student reps from each class. Being a student rep allows your peers to have someone to talk to before talking to your tutor, find out more about being a rep later in the guide. Me and the rest of the SU executives always encourage trying everything you can at the school and taking any opportunities presented as you never know what skills you might pick up along the way! We can’t wait to get started! Gemma Blake The Northern SU President SU.President@northernart.ac.uk @thenorthernsu
Gemma Blake SU President/Student Governor
YOUR STUDENTS’ UNION
Meet the Team
Tara McBride Vice President (Society)
Eve Robertson Vice President (Community)
India Robertson Equality and Diversity Officer
Rachel Marsh Mature Students’ Officer
Thomas Curry LGBTQ+ Officer
Aoife McKeown RAG (Raising anD Giving) Officer
Joe Casling Clubs and Societies Officer
Quinn Stewart-Holmes Sustainability Officer
Learn more about What does a Students’ Union do? Students are the Students’ union – every student is automatically a member and without you we wouldn’t exist. The Students’ Union (SU) works in the same way as a workplace union. It campaigns for the rights of its members – you - and makes sure you have a voice on key issues, bringing them to the attention of the school or if necessary, the National Union of Students and the government. Every SU will have a dedicated officer to represent you on a range of issues such as education, welfare, LGBTQ+, diversity, the environment and more. If you think the school needs to address something or look again at a certain policy, let your SU know. Our students union officers regularly meet with the principalship to feedback on students, so you can feedback directly to the top of the school if you have an issue you want to voice. We also regularly meet with students, we work with student reps on all programmes and our elected officers can all be easily contacted if you have anything you want to discuss.
Academic interests
Student voice
One of the main focuses of the SU is to represent students academic interests, we do this on several fronts. Firstly we ensure all programmes elect student reps for each cohort, who we then train ready to get feedback on their programme twice a year through assemblies.
Ensuring a strong student voice and an SU that represents all voices in our diverse student body is a big priority for us. We want to make sure you have plenty of opportunities to feedback about your programme, anything else that makes up your overall student experience and any issues that affect students.
Another way we represent students academic interests is through arranging academic mixers, these are events where student from different programmes meet, to network, share work and are given the opportunity to do crits if necessary. Finally our SU President, who is also the HE Student Governor as part of her role, ensures that we get feedback from students on their programme throughout the year, which she can directly feedback to principalship and the governors of the school.
To get student feedback we hold student assemblies twice a year led by student reps, we also run yearly surveys and on top of that you can feedback any time to one of the SU team and to Dan, our Student Liaison Officer. Your student feedback really matters to us and the school, so make sure you use your voice!
Student experience
Support
Student experience is the term we use for your overall experience as a student, this includes activities you do for fun outside of your programme, the support you get from the school, your accommodation and every other aspect of your student life here at The Northern School of Art.
The SU is also here to support students, this is highlighted through the roles in place for our SU Officers as shown on pages 3 and 4. These include an LGBTQ+ Officer, Mature Officer, Equality and Diversity Officer, Sustainability Officer and VP roles looking at Society and Community. We also have a Welfare Officer role and Communications Officer role, where the current officers have recently graduated.
Our aim is to improve your student experience in any way we can, one of the main ways we do this is through events and activities. The SU will put on events and activities for you to meet fellow students across the different programmes but equally we want you guys to put on your own events and activities too. So if you have any ideas, get in touch and the SU can help you put on your own bar nights, gigs or whatever you would like to see us doing. Another aspect of this is clubs and societies, which students create and run themselves with support and guidance from the SU. Equally we will also support students with fundraising on programme.
All of our SU Officer roles will be up for grabs again in October, as we hold our elections for 2021/22 so if you can see yourself as a member of the SU supporting students, arranging events and activities, being a VP or the President overseeing it all then make sure you nominate yourself when nominations are opened in early October. If you need support or are interested in meeting like minded students, get in touch with one of our officers who you think could help.
The Northern SU Student reps Student representatives are elected by their peers on each year of each programme, with two reps for each cohort. These reps will then represent the student voice for the rest of their year group, by leading their group with their student assembly, representing their group at the programme boards where they will feedback on what was discussed at their student assembly and through catch ups with the Students’ Union. Being a rep is a good way to meet students from across the school, learn how to chair a meeting and take minutes and build your communication skills speaking with various staff members and student reps on different year groups of your programme. Student reps also ensure that the SU represents the needs of students on their programme and work with the SU to ensure all students are kept up to date with what is going on through the SU.
Cover artwork is by Eleanor Vasey, as shown being developed in the image here. See more of Eleanor’s work on her instagram page @eleanor.vasey
FOLLOW US Website northernsu.co.uk Instagram @thenorthern_su Facebook facebook.co.uk/thenorthernsu Or scan the QR code to get to our linktree page
CONTACT US SU@northernart.ac.uk Find contact details for all of our Officers on our website northernsu.co.uk
Settling in to life at The Northern We realise that the world feels a little different at the moment and much of your college life or recent years before coming to The Northern School of Art will have been dictated by covid-19 restirctions but we are here to help with that transition to a return to a more normal life and make everything as easy as possible for you to learn and enjoy your time here. Whether its day-to-day on your programme, generally around the school or taking part in social activities at freshers and generally through the students union, we want to assure you that we are here to listen to your concerns, help with the transition to the school and most importantly show you we are a safe and welcoming space. Here are a few of the ways we plan to support your transition to life at the school and getting used to a world that is opening up after lockdowns and restrictions:
Freshers’ events All freshers events on campus where the bar is open will continue using our table service app and where possible we will use our outdoor space at 1 Church Street, which will ensure there is good air flow at all times and plenty of space for everyone to move around. As things start to get back to normal we realise this is a process and students are still welcome to wear masks in enclosed areas or if they just feel more comfortable doing so. Masks will be avilable for free at the school from reception, sanitizer will be available in all buildings and students can take their own temperature as the enter the building. Any other concerns, just ask! All our SU members and staff are happy to help and hopefully alleviate any worries
As part of freshers’ we want to introduce you to different places to explore around the town too, showing some of the great outdoors through our beach clean up and showing you some great bars and pubs you can head to for food and drink on our bar trail, which will be a bit like a pub crawl but with some sight seeing and showing you places like the marina on the way. Our on campus bar, whether at our permanent base at Church Square or as part of our indoor/outdoor bar at 1 Church Street also ensures a safe environment with students only including being staffed by students which can help prepare you for getting out into pubs and restaurants outside of the school. For september we will also have our own on campus coffee shop at Church Square ran by the SU to compliment our great Art Cafe ran by the school at 1 Church Street.
Supporting you As mentioned earlier in this guide, one of the key roles of the SU is to support students at the school along with the support you get from student services and your programme teams. From an SU point of view, we do this by peer support and by making sure the student voice is heard, for this upcoming year as well as our SU Officers being here as a form of support in their different roles, we also will be offering a buddy system. What is the buddy system? The idea of our buddy system is to invite students, new starters and those in their 2nd, 3rd and in some cases 4th year at the school to volunteer to support each other, share advice and insights to life at the school. Buddy’s will include members of the SU and a few members of staff too but you will have a say in who your buddy is when you sign up.
There will also be some choice in terms of if you want to part of a small group buddying up or if you would jsut prefer one buddy. More information and how you can join will be coming soon.
Student Wellbeing/Mental Health At the school we have our own Student Wellbeing and Advice Team who are based at Church Square and can offer support on all matters that effect you on your student experience, including support with finance, accommodation, mental health, wellbeing and so much more. Student Wellbeing and offering support and guidance in relation to mental health has been something that we have particularly pushed on over the years and we have put into place some great initatives including training for students, employing counsellors at the school, training staff members as mental health first aiders and working with us at the SU in terms of activities and events to support wellbeing including sport and exercise and activities such as mindfulness and peer support. The Student Wellbeing and Advice Team also work with great external groups to support students with a variety of different areas and we have been engaging with apps and technology to add further support and advice. The pandemic and the restrictions which came with it have took its toll on all of us but rest assured that we have the support in place both from the school and your peers to help with the transition back to hopefully a much more normal looking world.
Volunteering/get involved Volunteering and working within the creative community is great way not only to add to your CV and network with fellow creatives but equally to help you settle in to the area, develop confidence, communcation skills and lots of other skills to prepare you not only for university life but life after you graduate. We have a really good record of students volunteering locally and nationally, whether it be with thr school, local government, artists, brands, charities or more who have then gone on to gain recognition or employment with great help from these experiences. From our SU Officers alone, we have had students sit on national boards such as OfS and then have gone on to work in paid roles at large Universities helping to run their student voice, we have had students working with Arc and other community venues who are now working as an Artist of Change and performing Poetry, creating their own exhibitions and more. Outside of the SU, we have had Graphics students working with Jimmy Turrell and having their work published in national magazines or shown at BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend and Costume students working on productions such as Killing Eve and Doctor Who. From September we will be looking to share some great volunteering opportunities both at our Freshers’ Fayre and then on a volunteering section on our SU website, which should include opportunities at local arts festivals, with creative charities, tourist destinations and more as the year goes on.
Helpful links for coping with student life The Northern School of Art Website
Student Minds
https://northernart.ac.uk/mental-health-wellbeing/
https://www.studentminds.org.uk/
Our School website has some great resources put together by our Student Wellbeing and Advice Team which inldues links, great advice and more for yourself and to support a friend. You can also find out more about our Team at the school and what support we offer.
Student Minds have lots of great resources exploring mental health, student finance, the transition to university and much more. Mind https://www.mind.org.uk/
NHS https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/ The NHS website has lots of great resources, information about mental health, about wellbeing, self-help resources and also information about talking therapies, medicine and more.
Mind have a section called the student mental health hub which has lots of great information, looking at specific groups of students as well as general feedback
PRE-WELCOME WEEK TIMETABLE
SU@northernart.ac.uk
If you have already enrolled online, then you will not need to enrol in person on one of the dates below, these are for those who have chosen to enrol in person only.
September - 2021
16
Enrolment
at 1 Church Street 10am - 12.30pm at 1 Church Street 1.30pm - 4pm
Thursday
Moving in
17
SU Bar
outdoor at 1 Church Street 4pm - 9pm
Enrolment
at 1 Church Street 10am - 12.30pm
Friday
at 1 Church Street 1.30pm - 4pm
Moving in
18
SU Bar
outdoor at 1 Church Street 12.30pm - 4pm
Pub Trail
Meeting at Church Square 4pm
Saturday
*Timetable correct at time of print. If you have any queries or would like more information regarding the Welcome Week Timetable, please speak to either your programme staff or a member of the SU
WELCOME WEEK TIMETABLE
SU@northernart.ac.uk
September - 2021
20
Welcome week - day 1
Arrive at 1 Church Street 10am - 12.30pm & 1.30pm - 4pm
Toga Party
6pm - 11.30pm
Welcome week - day 2
10am - 12.30pm & 1.30pm - 4pm
Film Night/SU Bar
6pm - 11.30pm
Welcome week - day 3
10am - 12.30pm & 1.30pm - 4pm
Fresher’s Fayre
at 1 Church Street 12.30pm - 2.30pm
Fayre Bar
oudoor at 1 Church Street 1.30pm - 7.30pm
Welcome week - day 4
10am - 12.30pm & 1.30pm - 4pm
School Disco
SU Bar at Church Square 6pm - 11.30pm
24
Welcome week - day 5
10am - 12.30pm & 1.30pm - 4pm
25
Beach Clean Up
meeting at 1 Church Street
Monday
21
Tuesday
22
Wednesday
23
Thursday
Friday
11am
Saturday All events are subject to change, find up to date event details on northernsu.co.uk
FRESHERS’ CONTINUED TIMETABLE September - 2021
27
Games Night/Bar
28
Sand Castle Competition
Meeting at Church Square
30
Home and Away Party
SU Bar at Church Square
SU Bar at Church Square 6pm - 11pm
Monday
5pm - 8pm
Tuesday
6pm - 11pm
Thursday All events are subject to change, find up to date event details on northernsu.co.uk
UPCOMING SU EVENTS Find out more about upcoming events on our website at northernsu.co.uk/events/ Fancy arranging your own event or have ideas for something youd like to see us do? email us at su@northernart. ac.uk
CLUBS AND SOCIETIES Fancy starting your own club or society? Have a hobby that you did at home and want to continue? Get in touch at su.societies@northernart.ac.uk
FRESHERS’ FAQs What is freshers’? Freshers is a welcome period for new students starting out at the school. It’s a chance to make friends, meet fellow students on your programmes, blow off steam, and learn more about your programme, campus and the town. Our freshers takes place from when students move into their accomdation and runs until the end of the month. Freshers includes a programme of students’ union events including bar nights, beach clean ups and more along with welcome week which is the week long period of induction in programme. Freshers includes a freshers fayre, which introduces students to groups from the local communities, any clubs and societies that are available to join and the odd discounts and freebies.
What is welcome week? Welcome week is your first week on your programme, this is the week before your academic timetable starts but is essential in getting you inducted into the school, onto your programme, a chance to meet your peers, your programme staff, support staff who can help you during your time at the school and generally just get to know your way around the place. During this week you should also get your timetable, so youll know which days you are going to be in and which sessions will make up your week. Its also just a really good week to settle into your environment and get to know people. Welcome week is compulsory for all students but if for whatever reason you cannot attend any days, please let your programme team know beforehand. During welcome week you will be given access to videos which let you know about areas from the library and learning resources, student services, students’ union, IT and much more. The freshers fayre also takes place during welcome week, as well as evening freshers events as shown on the previous pages of this guide.
How can I enrol? The easiest way to enrol is online which takes place from 1st August and stays open until 29th August or you can enrol in person on the 16th or 17th September, although it is worth noting the online process is much quicker and easier than enrolling on-campus. It will allow you to upload a photo for your new student card as well as other important documents. You will recieve a letter in the post soon with information on how you can enrol, including what evidence you will need and everything else you need to know!
Moving into accomodation Students who have successfully enrolled will continue onto the accommodation process. You will shortly be receiving further information about your tenancy from Thirteen who manage the accommodation on our behalf. After enrolment students will be sent an invite from Thirteen to request a booking slot for moving in on either the 16th or the 17th of September. Staff will be on hand to welcome you and arrange collection of your keys on the day.
GRADUATE SHOW 2021 Here are some images from our guide to the Graduate Show 2021, find more on our instagram page @thenorthern_su
BA (HONS) TEXTILES AND SURFACE DESIGN
BA (HONS) VISUAL EFFECTS AND MODEL MAKING
BA (HONS) PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR STAGE AND SCREEN
BA (HONS) ILLUSTRATION FOR COMMERCIAL APPLICATION
BA (HONS) FINE ART
BA (HONS) DIGITAL DESIGN AND ADVERTISING BA (HONS) GRAPHIC DESIGN
GRADUATE SHOW 2021 BA (HONS) FASHION WITH BODY CONTOUR
BA (HONS) COSTUME INTEPRETATION WITH DESIGN
BA (HONS) ACTING FOR STAGE & SCREEN
BA (HONS) FILM, TV & THEATRE
GRADUATE SHOW INSTA ACCOUNTS BA (Hons) Costume Interpretation with Design @northerncostume2021 BA (Hons) Acting for Stage & Screen @thenorthern_acting BA (Hons) Film, TV & Theatre @neofilmfest BA (Hons) Photography @thenorthern_photography BA (Hons) Textiles and Surface Design @northernaffinity BA (Hons) Graphic Design/DDA @thenorthern_graphics BA (Hons) Production Design for Stage & Screen @thenorthern_productiondesign BA (Hons) Visual Effects and Model Making @northernartvfx BA (Hons) Illustration for Commercial Application @bloom_collective21
BA (HONS) PHOTOGRAPHY
FINDING YOUR WAY AROUND
CAMPUS MAP KEY
WHERE TO FIND SUPPORT SERVICES?
1. 1 Church Street
1 Church Street
2. Church Square
Reception, shared IT suite, Art Cafe
3. Archive/Leadbitter Buildings
Church Square
4. Municipal Buildings
Helpdesk, student services, library, shared IT suite, lecture theare, students’ union
5. Folio 6. The Scott Building
Folio Employability support
WHERE TO FIND YOUR PROGRAMME? 1 Church Street Photography, Film & TV, Fine Art, Textiles Church Square Acting, MA programmes Archive/Leadbitter Buildings Costume, Fashion Municipal Buildings Illustration, Graphics and Digital Design and Advertising The Scott Building Production Design, Visual Effects and Model Making