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Awards success Pages 6, 7 and
Social Work programmes win national award
THE University’s Social Work programmes have been named the best in the country at a national awards ceremony.
The programmes, which are based at University Centre Shrewsbury (UCS) and University Centre Warrington, have won University of the Year in the annual Social Worker of the Year Awards receiving praise for the commitment to the local community, dedication to diversity and the expertise and support of lecturers.
The Social Work Apprenticeship programme at UCS works in partnership with Shropshire Council Adults and Children’s Services and Telford and Wrekin Adults and Children’s Services.
Supported by Coventry City Council, the University of the Year award recognises outstanding and effective social work education for its students and shaping the social workers of tomorrow into reflective, compassionate and resilient practitioners.
The University’s Social Work Department was praised by the judges for embedding itself in the local community and ensuring those around it directly benefit from social work.
The judges said: “The Department prides itself on involving people with lived experience of social work in its programmes and encourages students to promote a range of local services such as foodbanks and care centres.
“During the pandemic, students developed a project to support homeless people to have a hot meal and change of clothes. The importance of these close local links is reflected in the University’s excellent employment statistics, with many students opting to remain working in the area after completing their studies.”
The judges also highlighted how students benefited from a passionate and supportive team of staff, many of whom are actively involved in research. Social Work England recently praised the research environment offered by the University which is “clearly having a positive effect as a number of students have been published in peer reviewed journals”.
The supportive environment of the University was also praised. The judges described feedback from students who said that “the University is a place they felt ‘respected, heard and understood’ and the experience on offer as ‘unbelievably positive’ and ‘nothing other than exceptional’”.
The University delivers undergraduate and postgraduate pre-qualifying programmes for Social Work students including an apprentice and a foundation year programme.
Mandy Schofield, Deputy Head of the Department of Social Work at the University, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to win this award. It is down to the hard work and commitment of all our staff and students who go above and beyond every day.
“I am so proud of everyone involved and we will continue to provide the best experience for our students as we equip them to become the social workers of the future.”
Left to right: From the University’s Social Work team, Senior Lecturers Vic Arnold, Victoria Shore, and Dr Gill Buck.
Progress and plans for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
EQUALITY, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is an important focus for the University and now is the time we look back at the past year to review our achievements and look forward to the actions we will take in the next academic year.
Jules Crane has joined Human Resources as EDI Officer, working with Kathryn Leighton, HR Manager for Diversity. Jules’s role has a strong focus on data gathering and reporting to inform our EDI priorities. 2021/22 saw almost 2500 staff, students and visitors register to attend the amazing range of events that took place as part of the Diversity Festival 2022. Recordings are available to catch up on, if you missed any events or would like to watch any again and the EDI team are currently looking forward to February 27 to March 10, 2023 when the next Festival will take place.
The staff networks continued to grow in numbers and met throughout 2021/22 to support one another, share information, raise issues and network together. The Parents’ and Women’s Network moved toward a hybrid meeting approach which worked well and will continue for 2022/23.
The Race Equality and Cultural Heritage (REACH) Network hosted a REACH development conference on October 13, building on the learning gained when two of the network members undertook the Advance HE Diversifying Leadership programme.
A new Men’s Network was established in April and the group are working hard to develop an event on Friday, November 18, where staff and students of all genders from across the University are invited to attend a series of events to mark International Men’s Day. The aims of the events are to bring people together to address issues affecting men and encourage the sharing of experiences, to reflect the International Men’s Day themes of making a positive difference to the wellbeing and lives of men and boys and promoting a positive conversation about men, manhood and masculinity.
In addition, the staff LGBT+ staff group has undergone a number of changes and will be relaunched in the forthcoming year. This follows on from the University’s involvement in and sponsorship of Chester Pride 2022.
Eight staff were also funded to attend Advance HE’s Aurora programme in 2022, a successful women-only leadership development programme and applications are currently open for a further eight staff, who would like to develop their career and explore the avenues to leadership, to apply for the programme in 2023.
Captions: Chester Pride 2022.
Dr Helen Galbraith, Pro Vice Chancellor (Student Experience); Prof Helen O’Sullivan, Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor; Dr. Rev. Inderjit Bhogal OBE, founder and President of City of Sanctuary; Dr Mark Bendall, Senior Lecturer - Social and Political Science; Richard Gillespie, Chester City of Sanctuary and Kathryn Leighton, HR Manager – Diversity, at Sanctuary Seekers with Dr Rev. Inderjit Bhogal during the Diversity Festival 2022. City of Sanctuary holds the vision that the UK will be a welcoming place of safety for all and proud to offer sanctuary to people fleeing violence and persecution.
If you would like further information on any of the EDI initiatives detailed in this article, please visit the EDI pages on Portal or contact: equality@chester.ac.uk
Dr Helen Galbraith, Pro Vice Chancellor (Student Experience); Prof Helen O’Sullivan, Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor; Dr. Rev. Inderjit Bhogal OBE, Founder and President of City of Sanctuary; Dr Mark Bendall, Senior Lecturer - Social and Political Science; Richard Gillespie, Chester City of Sanctuary and Kathryn Leighton, HR Manager – Diversity, at Sanctuary Seekers during the Diversity Festival 2022. City of Sanctuary holds the vision that the UK will be a welcoming place of safety for all and proud to offer sanctuary to people fleeing violence and persecution.
Chester Pride.
Football legends explored in new book
A LECTURER has shared his passion for football with the publication of a book on two management legends.
Dr Christopher Hull, Senior Lecturer in Spanish and Latin American Studies, has turned a lifelong passion for Hartlepool United into a reality with his new book, Alchemy: Brian Clough & Peter Taylor at Hartlepools United (The History Press).
With research from archive newspapers and interviews with surviving players, Chris reveals the humble origins of Clough and Taylor’s rise to the top.
Despite growing up in London, Chris has followed Hartlepool United since 1978. He said: “After watching the team for the first time in 1978 I was hooked. I’ve been travelling around the country to watch them ever since.”
Chris particularly enjoyed interviewing players and reading newspapers from the time. He said: “The players fondly remember those seasons in the 1960s, the camaraderie in the dressing room, although it was very much a raw experience, playing for a club with the most basic of facilities and always scratching for money.
“Reading the regional newspapers of the period was a joy too, and Clough’s match programme notes, all carrying his golden quotes. He was a football correspondent’s dream, always providing them with great copy, and a boon to a writer like me. Reading newspapers from that period, you really become immersed in those seasons, the struggle to improve results and move out of the danger zone at the bottom of the Fourth Division, with minimum financial resources. It was a battle for survival at every level. Not forgetting, of course, that Clough was trying to make it in football management after the premature and tragic end to his high scoring playing career through injury in 1962. In that sense, there is a parallel between the man, the football club, and the local town (or towns, Hartlepool and West Hartlepool being separate towns until April 1967), already suffering steep industrial decline by the mid-1960s. All three, Clough, Hartlepools United, and the Hartlepools, were down on their luck.”
Chris found his passion for the subject the key to managing his time and he advises his students to do the same.
He added: “My interest in the topic and keenness to research and write about it were sufficient motivations for me to dedicate holidays, evenings and weekends to this project. I advise my dissertation students to find a topic that interests them and that will suck them in.”
To buy a copy visit here. Dr Christopher Hull.
Fun and fitness at women’s football
FOLLOWING the inspirational win by England’s Lionesses football team, a regular women’s football game is being set up for staff at the University’s Exton Park site.
Ali Burkett, BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) Development Officer and Katie Mayers, Fitness Facilities Co-ordinator, both enjoy playing football and were inspired to encourage others to join them.
The friendly games are for anyone and all levels of experience and fitness are welcome to join in. The sessions will take place at the MUGA pitch on Mondays and Thursdays between 12pm and 1pm.
Ali said: “Katie and I wanted to set up these games to play for fun and create a community for staff through women’s football.
“We will start with practice drills and hopefully move on to having enough people to play friendly games. It is open to all staff of any ability and you don’t need to have played football before.”
Interested players can email k.mayers@chester.ac.uk
Introducing the Student Success team
WITH the embedding of the Citizen Student Strategy at the University, ensuring a premium, personalised and purposeful student experience, a recent restructuring has brought together a new team - the Student Success team, within Careers and Employability. This consists of the Advice and Information team, the Training team and the Venture team and, moving across from Student Services, the Volunteering and Mentoring team. Led by the Student Success Team Manager, Vikki Brockhurst, the Student Success team brings together several frontline and student-focused initiatives to enable students and graduates to access a breadth of activities to enhance their experience, celebrate diversity, build flexibility in their career pathway, create a strong sense of belonging and enable them to have a positive influence on society.
The initiatives consist of; the Chester Difference Award, a skills award which provides the opportunity for students to gain recognition for a range of extracurricular activities and develop techniques to showcase their skills and experiences to future employers; the Venture Programme, designed to help students and graduates develop the skills, knowledge, confidence and connections to work for themselves, whether that’s starting their own business or building a freelance career; Careers Workshops, giving students and graduates the opportunity to develop knowledge and learn techniques to help prepare for and find a job, whether that’s whilst they are at university or after they graduate and Volunteering and Peer Mentoring, supporting students to get involved with a range of volunteer and mentor opportunities within the University and local community, enabling them to develop new skills, meet new people and have an impact and positive influence on their peers and society. Bringing this all together under one focal point, where they have a point of contact, whether they want questions answered, advice on how to engage and get involved or advice on getting the most out of the initiatives, completing application documents as part of the initiatives or for the end process, the Advice and Information team is dedicated to ensuring that Careers and Employability is accessible, supportive and welcoming.
The participation of students and graduates in these unique initiatives has already had an impact with entrepreneurial students and graduates having been successful in securing a share of £5,000 startup funding, courtesy of Santander Universities UK, as part of the University’s Venture Programme; with the Volunteering and Mentoring team coming together with students, staff and charities, in their yearly University of Chester Volunteering celebratory event, to mark the achievements and contributions to society throughout the year, including students who gave an impressive 8,461 hours to 112 organisations; the Chester Difference Award which has over 1000 participants and 97% of Careers Workshop attendees providing feedback agreeing that the session they attended met their expectations.
Through the initiatives and support delivered through the Student Success team, the aim is to continue to break down those barriers for students from disadvantaged backgrounds making opportunities and life goals accessible and support students to transition to graduate life and continue to have an impact on society.
Diane Appleton, Head of Careers and Employability said: “The reorganisation of Careers and Employability into four teams and establishing the Student Success team enables us to focus on improving student engagement and delivering activities that enable students from all backgrounds, particularly those from under-represented groups to make effective and successful transitions from pre-enrolment to entry into the graduate job market. We will ensure students’ voices are heard to encourage their participation, realise their potential and develop their social capital throughout their student journey.” Want to know more?
For further information about the work of the team please call 01244 513066 or email careers@chester.ac.uk
Chester joins technical leadership programme
TECHNICIANS from the University joined others from across the country to celebrate the achievements gained from a national leadership programme which has been developed to tackle the workforce imbalance and equality gap within the UK’s technical community.
The University has been a signatory of the Technician Commitment since 2017 and aspires to engage with opportunities nationally/ regionally/locally that ensure visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for our technical community across all disciplines.
The Herschel Programme for Women in Technical Leadership, named after Caroline Herschel - a pioneer in the discovery of comets and an early ‘technician’ - concluded its sixmonth pilot with a celebration event in London.
Sam Sinclair, Faculty Technician Coordinator in Education and Children’s Services; Sandra Franks, Learning Technologist in LIS and Kate Peters, Senior Demonstrator in Biological Sciences, took part in the programme delivered by the University of Nottingham and the Research England funded Midlands Innovation TALENT programme.
Co-created with technical and organisational development experts to address topics specifically relevant to women in technical roles, the programme set out to elevate and advance career opportunities. Lack of diversity is one of the biggest challenges impacting the future and sustainability of the technical community, highlighted by HESA (2018/2019) workforce data which identifies 31% of senior technical staff are female and 60% of the total workforce is male.
The programme provided opportunities for participants to learn new skills to further develop their technical leadership capabilities so they can build on their personal, professional and organisational potential as well as having the time to network and share knowledge and insights with others on the programme.
Julie Mulliner, Human Resources Manager, Health and Wellbeing, said: “The University is delighted that three of our colleagues were supported to engage with this national programme that aims to address the lack of women in technical leadership positions.”
Kate said: “I absolutely loved taking part in the Herschel programme this academic year. As well as helping me to develop valuable leadership skills, it also highlighted the importance of having a network of like-minded people and a safe space to talk through work matters. I would encourage colleagues to take part in any future events.”
Sam added: “It was a real honour and pleasure to meet so many likeminded women from a wide variety of technical disciplines who had many similar experiences. The action learning sets we took part in enabled us to share issues and solutions in a very effective way. The programme as a whole was excellent and well organised.”
Herschel Leaders Group.
HOW to develop dialogues for a culturally responsive art and design education was explored in a conference this term.
Belonging was an online conference hosted by the International Journal of Art and Design Education (iJADE) and the National Society for Education in Art and Design (NSEAD) which took place from Friday, November 11 to Sunday, November 13.
The conference was organised by one of RECAP and the Faculty of Education and Children’s Services Research Fellows, Dr Deborah Riding and RECAP Co-Director, Dr Emma Arya-Manesh.
It focused on how during times of political, economic, environmental, and societal turbulence, Culturally Responsive Education challenges everyone. The conference explored ways Art and Design Education can be relevant to the lives of all learners, including their varied social worlds, identities and intersections, their backgrounds, heritage, and lived experiences.
The iJADE journal is attached to the learned society NSEAD and is hosted and managed within the University. Both have close ties to the University’s RECAP Centre (Research into Education, Creativity and Arts Through Practice) – a hub that specialises in practicebased research focusing on creativity, learning and the arts in professional, educational context.
Emma is the Journal’s Editorial Assistant and Deborah is the Principal Editor. Both iJADE and NSEAD have a 12-year history with the University by providing funding to support work which is still ongoing.
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The Interna onal Journal of Art & Design Educa on
Dr Deborah Riding discusses RECAP and iJADE
Dr Deborah Riding. How did you become involved with RECAP?
I first became involved with RECAP through my role at Tate Liverpool and the organisation’s partnership with the University. Through the partnership I was involved in the Beyond Text research project. I also had a more personal connection through my PhD and some of the teaching I was involved in through the centre. My PhD explored epistemology in the public art museum and had synergies with the work that was evolving through RECAP, which at the time was co-directed by my supervisor Professor Emeritus Jeff Adams.
Can you share some examples of the work you do in this role?
Since completing my PhD I was invited to apply to be a Visiting Research Fellow for the Centre. I have been involved in exploring and shaping potential partnerships and funded research projects and funding applications. I am the Principal Editor for the International Journal of Art and Design Education and was keen to bring the Journal to the University of Chester and create a home for
