The Dialogue Summer Edition 2014 The Dialogue is our informal catch up for all things NUS and FE!! This newsletter will keep you up-to-date with regional and national events, current campaigns, and topical discussions. We will also use this publication to share the great practice in our unions, so if you are doing something amazing, tell us about it!! Campaigns & Projects A Level Reforms graded F by Students! An NUS/OCR poll found that Threequarters of students oppose government plans to reform A levels, according to a poll. Some 76 per cent of students who took part in the survey, which was commissioned by the National Union of Students and the exam board OCR (Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations), say they do not want A levels to consist of exams which would be taken only at the end of two years. Under plans put forward by (former) education secretary Michael Gove, AS levels will be decoupled from A levels and become a free-standing qualification, with A levels assessed solely at the end of a two-year study period. However, the poll of nearly 1,900 students in England found the reforms were unpopular with a large majority of students.

Seventy-one per cent say the new A levels will be too stressful, with too much to remember at the end of two years, while only 8 per cent say the reforms would make A levels more attractive to students. Sixty-nine per cent believe the reforms are flawed because there will be no feedback from exams on how well a student is doing during the two years, while 30 per cent say they would not pick the same subjects under the new A levels. There is also a perception that the new A levels will be harder and that students may not choose to study maths or science under the new regime, with some 32 per cent of maths students saying they would be less likely to take the subject if it were available only in a linear form. Joe Vinson, vice president (further education) at NUS, said the government should listen to students and rethink the reforms. “There was not one positive statistic relating to proposed reforms,” said Mr Vinson. “We need to give young people the best chance of getting into the right university

or chosen career path, and reforms in their current configuration do not offer this.” Sally Brown, head of higher education policy at OCR, said: “There is still time for exam boards like OCR to incorporate changes into the A Levels over the next three years of development, informed by the feedback we have received. “For instance, we are looking at extra feedback sessions and mock exams for students experiencing linear qualifications for the first time, and exploring alternatives that enrich the curriculum.”

DSA Campaign Update #DegreesofDiscrimination Students’ unions across the UK have undertaken some incredible campaign work standing up against the proposed reforms to the Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) – and we know that it is really having an effect. Our national lobby on Friday 6 June saw hundreds of MPs lobbied directly in their constituencies, which has done a brilliant job educating MPs about the importance of DSA and the damage that the government’s changes would bring about. Following the lobby, over 90 MPs have signed up to our Early Day Motion (EDM) which sets out opposition to the proposed changes, and shows government the real opposition that exists within parliament. And through the great work you have all done we secured a ‘Westminster Hall’ debate in parliament on the proposed cuts, which took place on 2 July. Although there was not a vote at this stage on the proposals, this was a really important opportunity for MPs to raise concerns and challenge the reforms – and for us to continue to build our campaign.

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Please do keep using #DegreesofDiscrimination hashtag twitter and tweeting at your MPs too!

the on

Thanks so much for all the amazing work you have done so far on the campaign. Let’s keep continuing to build on this! Walsall College Go Green!! Walsall College Students’ Union have been keeping their green fingers very busy this year!! Working in collaboration with other students’ unions, Walsall College SU entered the Chelsea Flower Show as part of the Students’ Eat Project. Their exhibition garden focussed on the theme of education, enterprise and community, and they won a silver gilt medal!! Click here for the NUS report. In addition to this, Walsall College SU are going for their level 3 RHS ‘Its your Neighbourhood’ award and are pitching for some lottery heritage money to grow wartime fruit and veg for primary schools to get involved with. Watch this space!! They were one of the only colleges to take part in the Chelsea Fringe. Their ‘Student Digs’ display was a living student bedroom and they were featured in the City Planter magazine! Gail, the head of the Student Engagement & Enrichment Team, now has a L1 RHS qualification and the college is looking to start their first ever land based course in September. Since winning the green gown award last November, the EAUC have asked the college to help this year’s entrants with their video entries. Colin Sherlock’ webinar on ‘How to Dress as a Rabbit and Win Awards’ is here. The Union are already talking with BCU about joint sustainability projects next year and they are planning their student induction around “planting seeds” in the

student lounge and “creating life” while the team introduce all of the fantastic Learner Voice opportunities available in the college. Inspirational 

Membership Engagement Apprentice Transport Survey Back in March we launched the National Society of Apprentices and it’s time to let us know what apprentices think. A group of apprentices asked us to find out how far people travel to training and work and what support they got from their provider. The survey will take about 5 minutes and of course we’ll enter them into a prize draw for taking part – First prize of £100, £50 runner up and two £25 amazon vouchers to be won. Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s /NSoATravel11 The National Society Leadership Team (http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/campaigns /furthereducation/apprentices/leadershipte am/) will publish the survey at our membership events across the country 8th to the 12th of September. The survey is for anyone on an apprenticeship, pre apprenticeship or traineeship programme.

Thank you, Joe Vinson Vice President (Further Education Community Organising Innovation Fund NUS’ We Are The Change work seeks to develop the capacity of students and students’ unions to organise around the issues that they care about and to build power and bring about positive change. It also aims to develop knowledge and skill sets among student officers and SU staff in both HE and FE institutions, in order for them to best support community organising on their campuses and in their communities. As part of NUS’ We Are The Change work, we are trialling a scheme for partnerships of student groups and/or students’ unions to

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bid for funding from NUS to develop their own community organising initiatives. Partnerships of two or more student groups and/ or students’ unions are invited to tender for funding of between £1000 - £4000 to develop and run new and innovative projects to inspire, support and develop community organising on campus and in the wider community. Up to 6 partnerships will be selected and supported by NUS to pilot these schemes, from which other students’ unions will in turn benefit from the resources and best practice developed. To apply for the Community Organising Innovation Fund, please fill in the following form and return to Maggie Hayes by Monday 8th September: Community Organising Innovation Fund Application Form

If you’d like to know more about community organising watch this film.

Introducing: Zahra Latif (FE & Nations Officer - Campus Cohesion, Faith & Belief Team, NUS) My name is Zahra and I am the FE and Nations officer in the campus cohesion, faith and belief team at NUS. This is a new role for the team and I am really excited to be taking it on. I will be working to support student officers, students and staff to manage successfully any issues related to faith, belief and identity. I’ll be working on the following: Promoting Interfaith Initiatives – a funding pot which you can apply to for grants of up to £1000 for any project related to belief, faith and identity Creating FE specific resources on issues such as interfaith dialogue,

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good campus relations and hate speech and hate crime Helping colleges to share good practise in this area through SMSC (spiritual, moral, social and cultural education) hubs. This will be in partnership with All Faiths And None and the Association of Colleges. Building a student and officer lead working group Providing tailored training

I am very much looking forward to getting stuck in and appreciate the important of engaging with staff as much as students and officers in FE. If you are interested in any of the above or have any queries please feel free to get in touch at [email protected]

b2qAa21ZKqzt5AgdyBHgz4gyV4/edit?usp= sharing The Learner Rep Hub The Learner Rep Hub reflects the journey of a learner representative, making your search for relevant information and guidance to develop learner voice and learner engagement in your organisation easy and accessible. 

Navigate our three sections for each step of the Learner Rep journey; Engage, Develop, and Impact



Before beginning your search watch our introductory animations to get an overview of each section



Search



Add your documents and resources to The Hub Community section and continue to share good practice throughout the FE and Skills Sector



Stay connected and follow us on Twitter and Facebook and receive updates when new documents are shared on our site

Resources & Research The Learner Voice Quality Framework The Learner Voice Quality Framework (LVQF) seeks to assess the impact of learner voice practice within FE colleges and providers. It does this through evaluating the mechanisms, day-to-day practice and values attributed to Learner Voice against a set of sector-agreed benchmarks. A qualitative assessment of the impact and role of learner voice within the provider is made, including an attributed grade. This self and peer assessed framework recognises Learner Voice as an equal and valid contributor to the student experience and quality of the overall learning experience. The scheme will be launched formally towards late summer. To register your interest please sign up here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1 Bf2-vOPfa84KFRAw-

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documents with key words, by date of upload, or by number of “likes” – hit the heart button if you want to recommend a resource to others

The website will be launched in late summer. To register an interest please sign up here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1 m21xHpxSQWGwd1CZFg7xuupyBUtkE2TT dQg5hLp4H9s/edit?usp=sharing

Training & Networking The Year Ahead at NUS It can often be difficult to navigate all of NUS' activity throughout the year, so we have put together some resources on all our key dates and information you'll need to plan your year ahead. There is an electronic version of the Wallplanner 2014-15 that you can download and print along with a guide to understanding the NUS year cycle here. We will be regularly updating this section to ensure you have sufficient notice of our events and activity. Get involved in regional activity Regional Events Programme | November and January This year we will be running events in 6 students' unions across the UK, delivering events that we would normally ask you to travel long distances for. We understand that you want to collaborate more with each other, especially with unions close to you – so we hope this helps. The events will each be one day long and closer to your unions so you have no accommodation to book and minimal travel costs. Details of the agendas will follow, however the dates and their regions have been published on the calendar. Get involved in the decision making As a member led organisation we want you to influence and decide on NUS' position and action on the key issues that are facing students and students' unions. As part of NUS' decision making structures we hold several events and meetings throughout the year so please do note these dates and save them in your diary.

Macadam House 275 Gray’s Inn Road London WC1X 8QB t 0845 5210 262 f 020 7380 0794 e [email protected] www.nus.org.uk

Zone Conference | 3 – 5 November 2014 These conferences are open to representatives of all our members to discuss what you're doing on your campus around the issues students are facing and to start to input into what policy NUS should have and what our action should be. The National President and the 5 Vice Presidents will give an update on their work this year and you will have the opportunity to stand for election on the 5 Zone Committees. Policy Development Convention | 2 – 3 December 2014 For the second year we will be running an event which brings together all of NUS' committees to input into what proposals the zones will submit to National Conference. We will be updating you on how you can input into the policy development in the run up to this event. National Executive Council Meetings The NEC this year will be meeting 5 times this year held in August, September, December, March and May (dates are in the Wallplanner). We will be keeping you updated on what is being discussed and agreed at each meeting throughout the year. National Conference 2015 | 21 – 23 April 2015 National Conference is NUS' sovereign decision making body. It sets policy for the year ahead in each of the 5 zones and elects the President, Vice Presidents and Block of 15 representatives on the National Executive Council. National Conference also elects delegates to the NUS Trustee Board and the Democratic Procedures Committee. It is also where the budget for the year ahead is decided through the Annual General Meeting (AGM). We hope that the rest of the dates in the Wallplanner will also be relevant and useful to you and we look forward to working with you this year. With kind regards, Raechel Mattey

Vice President Union Development

Sports Club of the Year Bournemouth University Boat Club The Simpson/King Staff Achievement Award

NUS Awards 2014 – The Winners This year over 600 nominations from students’ unions across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales were submitted for the NUS Awards 2014. And the winners are: FE Students’ Union of the Year Edinburgh College Students’ Association Campaign of the Year Bradford College Equality & Diversity Award University of Bath Students’ Union Innovation & Enterprise Award University of Gloucestershire Students’ Union (Runners Up – Canterbury: Christ Church University SU, Kent Union & Canterbury College SU) Student Journalist of the Year Jack Gevertz, University of York Students’ Union Student Media of the Year Student Media at Newcastle Students’ Union Academic Representation Award University of Exeter Students’ Guild Society of the Year Manchester Post Economic Crash Society, Manchester Students’ Union

Macadam House 275 Gray’s Inn Road London WC1X 8QB t 0845 5210 262 f 020 7380 0794 e [email protected] www.nus.org.uk

Anne Elliot, University of Chichester Students’ Union Officer Team of the Year Nottingham Trent University Students’ Union Lifetime Achievement Award Ian Passmore, Managing Director, Endsleigh Insurance Endsleigh Student of the Year Natalie Atkinson, University of Cumbria Students’ Union Small & Specialist Students’ Union of the Year York St John Students’ Union HE Students’ Union of the Year – University of Lincoln Students’ Union For full details of the Awards and all winners please click here.

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