As students relaxed over Easter break, our campus continued to buzz with activity of all varieties. April was a busy month, packed full of awards, new commitments and agreements, and celebrations. Find out more by reading our highlights below:
We signed a sustainability commitment
Vice Chancellor Professor Joy Carter and President of the Student Union Tali Avars signed a Sustainability Statement to signal the University’s dedication to creating a more environmentally-friendly future on 20 April.
The Statement defines what sustainability means to the University and lays out how it will achieve this in practice, as part of our participation in the National Union of Students (NUS) Responsible Futures accreditation.
We’re also embedding learning about social and environmental ethics into teaching across our courses to help our students become global citizens.
A regional performing arts charity made the University its home
We announced that Blue Apple Theatre will base its headquarters in the University as part of a five-year residency.
A high-profile charity, Blue Apple helps performers with learning disabilities develop their skills and create ambitious productions in dance, theatre and film. The Blue Apple team will work closely with staff at the University and arts, creative writing and film students will have the opportunity to work on Blue Apple productions.
We celebrated the success of a project to support military service children
We welcomed primary and secondary school students from both military and non-military backgrounds for a prize-giving on 17 April.
The event recognised the success of Festival of Friends, an Armed Forces Covenant funded project run jointly by the University and Hampshire County Council to increase support for military children in schools. The schools created and developed mini-projects to improve the integration of service children and their families into school communities and to increase awareness of life in the services among teachers and classmates.
We helped local businesses engage with the United Nation’s Global goals
We hosted the UN Global Compact Network Sustainable Development Goals Roadshow, an event aimed at showing businesses how they could conduct business more responsibly and make the world a better place.
Local businesses, NGOs and local authorities attended to find out how to could use new business models to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and protect the planet. Two local business owners shared how they had worked towards making their businesses more sustainable, inspiring others to do the same.
We sponsored Winchester Fashion Week 2018
We were one of the official sponsors for Winchester Fashion Week again this year and hosted a free screening of critically-acclaimed fashion documentary Dior and I which was followed by a Q&A with Senior Research Fellow Dr Savithri Bartlett, who teaches on the BA (Hons) Fashion Marketing and Media degree programme. The programme offers students the opportunity to learn about business aspects of the fashion industry, including marketing, digital technologies and fashion buying.
Our Creative Writing course celebrated its ten year anniversary
The University welcomed back Creative Writing alumni for an evening of words, food and celebrations. Students and graduates had a chance to chat to their former tutors and to reminisce about their experiences studying at Winchester. Several graduates and staff read and performed their work to a live audience.
BA Creative Writing at Winchester continues to go from strength to strength, with consistently excellent NSS scores and graduates gaining employment in a wide range of creative industries as well as publishing work in a variety of genres, including poetry, short stories, novels and non-fiction.
Our record label was shortlisted for an international sustainability award
This Changes Everything, the climate change-themed album released by the University record label Splendid Fred, was nominated for an International Green Gown Award. The nomination will see it compete with other exceptional sustainability initiatives being undertaken at universities across the world.
The album features 11 original tracks created by University students and staff on the topic of climate change. Winners will be announced on 16 May.
Blog highlight: Winchester-Nelson Mandela Museum Exchange trip
Eleven Winchester undergraduates, studying teacher education and film, recently spent two-weeks on a placement as part of the University's partnership with the Nelson Mandela Museum, South Africa. Students shared their experiences in this four-part blog series.
Expect the Unexpected by Evie Mobley-Down
Ever felt like an A list celebrity? We have by Leah Knape
Teaching in a class where there is little English had its challenges by Alex Parnell
The Unexpected has become the expected by Samuel Polden
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