SPACE - Winter 2016

sPACE

The magazine for Bath Spa University students and staff | Winter 2016

Celebrations after top

Stamping down on

How technology is

marks from Ofsted

discrimination

changing the face of crime

vice-chancellor update

H

SPACE magazine is published seasonally for Bath Spa

ello and welcome to the Winter issue of SPACE magazine.

The Government released its Green Paper on Higher Education in November which introduced the Teaching Excellence Framework and the Office for Students, among other things. I welcome the emphasis on the student experience in the Green Paper as it is at the heart of what we do here at Bath Spa.

University students and staff.

The implementation of our 2020 strategy is well under way.

One of the first major projects is the formation of the College of Liberal Arts which joins together three of the University’s academic schools (Humanities and Cultural Industries, Music and Performing Arts, and Society, Enterprise and Environment).

spacemag@bathspa.ac.uk Editor Jennifer Davies Features Jane Wakefield

This means that the University will now consist of three academic units: Bath School of Art and Design, Institute for Education, and the College of Liberal Arts.

Alexandra Snell Design

Led by Professor Rob Mears as Executive Dean, the College of Liberal Arts will facilitate greater collaboration between academic colleagues and allow more subject choice and flexibility for students. If you have any questions about the College of Liberal Arts you can email cla@bathspa.ac.uk

Rosie Maynard Contributors Emma Head Allyson MacVean Grace Woods

Also in this issue, we celebrate the achievement of the Institute for Education being awarded an ‘Outstanding’ rating by Ofsted for its primary and secondary teacher education programmes (more on page 4).

Venetia Law Front cover Sam McKenna Photography Joshua Beagrie and the Bath Spa photography society Chris Wakefield

I also had a particularly enjoyable afternoon with the children at Oak Tree Day Nursery which celebrated its 20th birthday in November (more on page 6).

Rob Grist

If you have any feedback on this issue or suggestions for future contributions, please contact the editorial team by emailing spacemag@bathspa.ac.uk

Tania Richards Twitter

@bathspauni

Facebook /bath.spa.university

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CONTENTS

8 5

ON the cover 4

Celebrations after top marks from Ofsted

16

Stamping down on discrimination

18

How technology is changing the face of crime

Regulars

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4 14 22

University news Winter in pictures SPACE to shout Your tweets, posts, advice, book reviews and feedback

Features 16

SPACE to chat Stamping down on discrimination: Emma Head, BA Publishing student, discusses the Government’s ‘no name’ policy on university and job applications

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SPACE to talk The changing face of crime: Allyson MacVean, Professor of Policing and Criminology, discusses the rise in technology crime and what’s being done to address this new wave of illegal activity

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University news

Top marks from Ofsted Bath Spa is celebrating after receiving high recognition for its Teacher Education programmes from the quality regulator Ofsted.

The Bath Spa Institute for Education has been awarded a grade 1 judgement, representing an “outstanding” provision for its primary and secondary teacher education programmes - the highest grade that can be given.

This is the second successive Ofsted inspection resulting in a grade 1 score for the University’s primary and secondary programmes, which builds on a long established history of teacher training, excellent education research, and teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

The report followed a two stage inspection during which all aspects of the University’s teacher education programmes were examined, along with follow-up visits of newly qualified Bath Spa teachers in their first year of teaching in

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schools.

Professor Christina Slade, ViceChancellor, said: “Bath Spa trained teachers acquire a diverse range of skills and experience during their time with us.

They are creative, digitally literate, globally networked and take these attributes into the classroom with them.

“It is evident from this extremely positive report that “This is the second successive Ofsted these attributes inspection resulting in a grade 1 score for are in demand by employers who the University’s primary and secondary recognise the programmes” high calibre of our graduates.

“This is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our University staff who promote excellence and expertise in education research and professional practice.”

University news

Artist impression of what the new campus could look like

Bid to rejuvenate iconic Bath building Bath Spa has submitted proposals to the local Council to relocate much of the School of Art and Design into the former home of furniture manufacturers Herman Miller, on the Locksbrook Road Industrial Estate in Bath.

Herman Miller moved its operation out of Bath earlier this year saying at the time that: “the building and its location no longer fit the needs of modern industry.” They left the Grade II Listed building in need of new owners.

The University has earmarked the site as being an ideal location for the Bath School of Art and Design to be used for academic space that includes technical workshops, studio space, teaching and office space.

In November the University received overwhelming local support for the

proposals when a public consultation open day was held for local residents and businesses to show them the proposals for the building and to encourage questions about the potential impact locally.

Neil Latham, Chief Operating Officer at Bath Spa, welcomed guests on the day and shared the University’s vision with local residents, Councillors and businesses. He said: “We had a fantastic turnout and were kept busy from the moment the doors opened. The support on the day was very encouraging.

“Our proposals would breathe new life into this wonderful building, already known for its design innovation through the works of Herman Miller, by making it a place of inspired study.”

A decision is expected from the council in late February.

Celebrating ten years of performance poetry To mark its ten year anniversary of performance poetry the University will be holding a series of live events where spoken word poets and students will take to the stage to mark the occasion In 2006, Bath Spa introduced the UK’s only performance poetry module which examines influences on spoken word practitioners and gives students the opportunity to create and perform their own poetry.

Lucy English, Reader in Creative Writing at Bath Spa, said: “Spoken word is such a powerful form of poetry and we are very proud of our involvement. We have

cultivated many professional performance poets over the years and wanted to celebrate this success and the future of this ever-popular art form.”

Three events will be held in celebration:

3 March 2016 - Bristol’s Word of Mouth – The Thunderbolt, Bristol Bath Spa students will be entertaining audiences as part of Bristol’s annual Word of Mouth series which promotes literature events in the City.

21 January 2016 - Bath Spa stand-up poetry reading series - Burdall’s yard, Bath Bath Spa graduate Laurie Bolger, who runs a spoken word show on Roundhouse Radio in London, will be presenting a selection of her work.

6 May 2016 - Ten years of performance poetry at Bath Spa University - Burdall’s Yard, Bath Bath Spa students past and present take to the stage with Anna Freeman headlining who teaches Creative Writing at the University

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University news

Nursery celebrates 20th anniversary Oak Tree Day nursery located at Newton Park celebrated its 20th birthday at the end of last year, and to mark the occasion a special party was held for children and their parents.

Attended by Vice-Chancellor Professor Christina Slade who cut the birthday cake, the party was a chance to celebrate the successes of the nursery over the last 20 years.

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Nursery Manager Kerry Edwards said: “We are a small nursery, only taking 27 children per day, which means we really get to know the children and their families well. Being based at Newton Park is wonderful for the children as they get to explore the beautiful campus and experience the wildlife.�

University news

Choir perform at Carnegie Hall Members of the Bath Spa choir performed at Carnegie Hall in New York, one of the most renowned and prestigious concert venues in the world.

They were among 14 choirs to have been chosen to perform ‘The Music of Karl Jenkins: A Concert for Peace.’

After a performance of the choir was uploaded onto YouTube it caught the

attention of the organisers of the event, Distinguished Concerts International New York, who invited members along to perform.

Charles Wiffen, Acting Dean of the School of Music and Performing Arts, said: “We’re delighted that students from Music and Performing Arts have the opportunity to perform at the Carnegie Hall. It’s a

renowned venue and the students will be great ambassadors for the University.

“We encourage creativity throughout the University and we strive to ensure that our graduates are internationally networked - this concert epitomises these aspirations.”

A wall of kindness As part of anti-bullying week last year a wall of kindness was set up for the University community to leave messages on to spread kindness.

It was a huge success and many students in particular wanted to share their support and positive comments on the wall and sign up to the Stonewall pledge against bullying #NoBystanders The wall can now be found near the HR office in Main House, Newton Park, and everyone is welcome to visit.

If you have any ideas or are interested in participating in an event to support Equality and Diversity across the University please visit the Equality and Diversity pages on the Hub for more information.

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University news

Professor of Poetry wins distinguished prize Huge congratulations to Tim Liardet, Professor of Poetry at Bath Spa, who won the T.S. Eliot Prize for his collection of poetry The World Before Snow.

The prize was established in 1993 by the Poetry Book Society to honour its founder, and is regarded as the most prestigious and valuable prize for poetry in the UK. The World Before Snow is Professor Liardet’s tenth collection of poetry and marks his second time on the shortlist having been previously chosen for his collection called The Blood Choir.

This year’s judges were Pascale Petit, Kei Miller and Ahren Warner who selected the ten shortlisted books from over 142 entries.

Professor’s novel developed into film Naomi Alderman, Professor of Creative Writing, will have her first novel Disobedience made into a film. Actress Rachel Weisz has announced that her production company Braven is developing the film and Rachel is to play the heroine Ronit.

Rare and historic Chinese printing press donation An ancient set of Chinese lead letterpress and trays, thought to be the only set of its kind in Europe, has been donated to Bath Spa. Gifted to Bath School of Art and Design

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by RiXing Type Foundry in Taipei, Taiwan, the 48 trays and 10,000 lead characters will be used for teaching and promoting Chinese culture.

This unique set is valued at £20,000

- all characters were handmade using traditional techniques and are now the ‘public cultural property’ of the University.

University news

Soup lunch raises vital funds for WaterAid The University and its Ecumencial Chaplains’ team made a donation to national charity WaterAid of over £2,000 after holding a weekly soup lunch.

Organised by Reverend Prebendary Jan Knott and Father Bill, the fundraising initiative has been running every Thursday since 2001 and provides students with a quick, cheap lunch as well as raising awareness of those less fortunate.

The donation to WaterAid, a charity that raises funds to provide clean water to everyone, was presented by Professor Christina Slade, Vice-Chancellor, and Aled Davies, Vice-President for Welfare at Bath Spa’s Students’ Union.

Iraqi and Syrian student scholarships

An important phone call The Development and Alumni Relations Office, along with a number of Bath Spa students, will be undertaking an exciting telethon fundraising campaign in February.

The team will be making over 3,000 calls to former students of the University and predecessor colleges.

Callers will be finding out what graduates have gone on to do since leaving Bath Spa, and will update them about University life today.

They’ll also advise former students on how they can continue to be involved with the thriving Bath Spa community today.

Any funds raised through the calls will provide scholarships to those who face financial barriers or have exceptional circumstances so they may follow their dreams and achieve their potential.

We are now offering new scholarships that are part of the University’s programme of bursaries for international students whose educational opportunities may have been affected by conflict.

Two fully funded postgraduate International Education Scholarships, which cover tuition fees and living costs, and two undergraduate scholarships are being offered to students from Syria.

A further scholarship will be awarded to a student from Iraq, for postgraduate research into Women in Leadership in Higher Education, and will be fully funded for three years.

Professor Christina Slade, ViceChancellor, said: “Education is a right that should be afforded to all. For many students the current conflict in the Middle East has disrupted their education and shattered their lives. These new scholarships are a way for us at Bath Spa to support these students and help ensure their educational endeavours can continue.”

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University news

English garden inspires tea caddy range Third year Textiles student Lydia Knight is celebrating after winning the Whittard of Chelsea ‘Design a Tea Caddy’ competition.

Lydia, who is studying BA Textiles, was inspired by the traditional English garden to create her design featuring beetles, butterflies and ladybirds. Lydia’s intricate drawing was shortlisted by Whittard’s and put to a public vote via an online gallery.

Her design received the most votes and will be turned into a limited edition caddy for launch this year.

Lydia said: “Creating the unexpected in the expected, I wanted to capture a sense of having to take a step closer to find all the hidden life within a garden. This can be seen through the hand illustrated beetles, ladybirds and butterflies that live within my

hand drawn tulips and oranges. I created the whole design with first hand inspiration of handpicked flora using a media of colour pencil.”

Lydia’s winning tea caddy design will be on sale in March 2016 across all branches of Whittard’s.

Contribution to world class TedxBristol event Bath Spa was a major contributor to the hugely successful TEDxBristol event - a programme of local organised events that bring people in the South West together to share ideas.

Kate Pullinger, Professor of Creative

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Writing and Digital Media, spoke about her project Letter to an Unknown Soldier, which had a response of 22,000 people when it launched in 2014.

Publishing students showcased their talents by creating multimedia live

coverage for the event, and a team of 15 Film and Television students worked with Floating Harbour Films to capture keynote speakers and behind the scenes footage.

University news

Christmas carols at Bath Abbey Our annual Christmas carol concert held at Bath Abbey was a huge success, with Bath Spa staff and students putting on a sparkling performance. The Abbey was filled to the brim with shoppers and locals enjoying the service. Highlights included incredible solo performances of the carol O Holy Night sung by Kirsten Mulcahy, BA Music, and Oliver Joseph, BA Film and Screen Studies and Music.

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University news

Professor wins prestigious children’s fiction prize David Almond, Professor of Creative Writing, has won the Guardian Children’s Fiction prize for his novel A Song for Ella Grey. It is the only children’s book award exclusively judged by fellow authors.

The novel is the retelling of the tragic Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and is set in contemporary Tyneside.

His version of the myth features best

friends Claire and Ella, who are torn apart when Ella falls for Orpheus.

He was given the prize at a ceremony in London by judge and winner of the 2014 award, author Piers Torday.

Travel the world Bath Spa offers a number of scholarship programmes and opportunities for students.

The Erasmus+ and International Exchange Programme provides opportunities for Bath Spa students to go nearly anywhere! We have many partner institutions in Romania, Denmark, Taiwan, America, China, Sweden, Poland – and many more. You can go abroad for one semester of your second year, and once you’ve completed your placement, credits you earn will be counted towards your degree and you will get full academic recognition.

Contact international@ bathspa.ac.uk to find out about opportunities available to you, or visit www. bathspa.ac.uk/ university-life/ outgoinginternationalexchanges

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University news

Periodic table exhibition

We’re open for business The University launched its brand new BSU Business Network at an event in Bath at the end of last year. The University already works with a diverse range of organisations and this event was an opportunity for local and national businesses to learn more about what the University has to offer.

Spokespeople included Bath Spa Media and Communications graduate Natalie Davies who spoke about the success of the University’s mentoring

You will be able to study at certain universities that specialise in your course.

For example, you will be able to study History at the University of Southern Denmark, or Education at the University of Tartu, Estonia.

Past students have called the opportunity ‘one of the best experiences I’ve been lucky enough to have.’ One student currently taking advantage of the Erasmus+ scheme is Scott Patience who is studying in Japan. Scott is thrilled to be at the Seian University of Art and Design, which is one of the places he could study due to his degree in Fine Art.

scheme which enabled her to secure a job at Conversation Creation as part of a placement scheme. She is now working at the company as part of a six month internship.

Dave Jarman, Head of Careers and Enterprise, said: “It was an excellent event that illustrated the scale of opportunities for both the University interacting with the business community and for local business to make use of our amazing talent.”

Three paintings by Professor of Fine Art, Maria Lalic, were on display at the award winning gallery Compton Verney in Warwickshire.

Maria’s are the only paintings in the exhibition, titled Periodic Tales – The Art of the Element, which explores the rich cultural legacy of the Periodic Table.

The iconic periodic table represents the ultimate expression of order, containing the volatile elements in rows and columns. The exhibition explored a selection of the elements drawn from the periodic table and looked at how artists have used them and their cultural meanings in their art.

Renowned artists also exhibiting included Eduardo Paolozzi, Joseph Beuys, John Constable, and Antony Gormley.

The exhibition was accompanied by a publication entitled Periodic Tales: The Art of the Elements.

“I got involved with studying in Japan when it was first advertised early in my first year at Bath Spa. Before I came to University I heard it was possible to study abroad which excited me as I love an adventure. I would definitely encourage everyone to give it a try, as it’s a unique opportunity that you may only have the chance to do now.”

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WINTER IN PICTURES

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11 1,2,3,4 & 11 Open Day success! Since June we have welcomed a total of 4641 prospective students to our campus open days 5 Charlotte Sweeney, BA Primary Education, won the Photo of the Month competition in December.

6 Sam McKenna, BA Business and Management (Marketing), won the Photo of the Month competition in November.

7,8 & 10 Talented Graphic Communication students manning a stall at the Bath Christmas Market selling a range of snazzy wrap, prints and cards

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9 Students’ Union Vice-President for Welfare Aled Davies helped to transport residents of Newton St Loe and Corston to our annual Christmas carol concert in Bath city centre.

12 James Langley, second from left, BA Creative Music Tech, is lead guitarist of indie rock band Cavaliers who have recently released a double single entitled Kelso vs Moon Landing.

winter IN PICTURES

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sPACE TO

“ Chat ” Stamping down on discrimination

Emma Head, BA Publishing student, discusses the Government’s ‘no name’ policy on university and job applications In October David Cameron’s speech at the numbers of minority groups for decades.

One study, carried out by The National Conservative Party Conference caused Centre for Social Research on behalf of quite a stir. The Conservatives aren’t the Department for Work and Pensions, exactly notorious for their socially just, found there to be an overwhelming racial equality-orientated policies, nor is David bias in favour of applicants whose names Cameron the poster-boy for impartiality, were typically ‘white’. but for once, they seem to have done During this study, researchers something right. selected real job vacancies that had been Teaming up with UCAS and some advertised in seven cities in Britain. The of the UK’s leading graduate recruiters including NHS, BBC, The Civil “This so called ‘name-blind’ application Service, and policy could be implemented in 2017 in HSBC, the order to reduce the risk of unconscious Prime Minister announced plans racial bias.” to introduce a system where people applying for jobs and positions analysed varied in skill and pay, and ranged from accountants and human university places are not required to state their name on the application form. This so resources managers, through to care called ‘name-blind’ application policy could assistants. Three sets of applications were be implemented in 2017 in order to reduce created based on different job adverts, all matched accordingly in terms of their the risk of unconscious racial bias. skills and education - the only difference This risk may seem improbable to between these applications was the some people, but studies have proven ethnicity of their names. that racial bias is a very real issue, and one which has most likely affected large

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“Despite everyone having an equal shot at gaining an interview, once the ethnicity of the applicant is revealed, we’re back to square one.”

The research concluded that applicants with typically ‘white’ sounding names were 29 per cent more likely to receive a positive response, such as an interview invitation or follow up phone call, than an ethnic minority candidate. This is a staggering statistic, and only scratches the surface of the other, more subtle forms of racial bias that occur every day in globally esteemed institutions.

Alongside unconscious bias in the workplace, UCAS has also chosen to make its applications name-blind in 2017. Chief political correspondent Nicholas Watt voices the concerns of many in his article written in national newspaper The Guardian claiming there are “fears that BME (Black and Minority Ethnicity) students are losing out to white contemporaries when they apply for university.”

The Prime Minister draws attention to the Race Relations Acts of 1965 and 1976 and says that “for all the legislation we have passed, discrimination still persists” and he reminds us that the discrimination we are faced with is subtle. He says: “It’s the disappointment of not getting your first choice of university place, it’s being passed over for promotion and not

knowing why.”

This move from the Conservatives could see a huge improvement for people of ethnic minorities, and is a significant step towards eliminating racial bias in selected UK institutions.

However, this movement only implements a name-blind strategy up to a certain point. Despite everyone having an equal shot at gaining an interview, once the ethnicity of the applicant is revealed, we’re back to square one. Unfortunately for Cameron his policy can only stretch so far. People’s own personal reasons and justifications for racial bias are free to rear their ugly heads once more.

The name-blind strategy is sadly one that will treat the symptoms rather than the cause. But until these gaps in equality are bridged, there is no way of tackling the broader, and more deeply engrained issue of blind racism.

Still it is positive to see that progress is being made. Progress that will one day show that inequality has no place in the UK, that the colour of your skin and your heritage have no bearing on how well you can complete a job, how suited you are to an academic institution or how far you can excel in your career.

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sPACE TO

“ Talk ” The changing face of crime

Allyson MacVean, Professor of Policing and Criminology at Bath Spa, discusses the rise in technology crime and what’s being done to address this new wave of illegal activity The significant rise in technology over the past decade has given birth to new platforms for crime. We’ve seen offenders shift their criminal activities from the street to the cyber highways which can be accessed in the privacy of the home. This means that the ways in which crimes are investigated has shifted too.

From organising football riots on Facebook and sexting on smartphones to cyber hacking of major organisations,

Social media has played a huge role in the changing face of crime. From Twitter to Facebook and Snapchat to WhatsApp, social media users make up more than 2.2 billion active users, a global penetration of 30 per cent. The social media world sees 12 new active mobile social users added every second, that’s one million new users per day. The rise of these networking platforms provides further outlets for criminals to penetrate society and although many sites monitor for certain information and attempt to “Crimes that wouldn’t have even censor content, illegal activity existed 20 years ago are now still occurs frequently. common offences.”

The existence of the ‘Dark Web’, a part of you only have to watch the news to be the internet not accessible by aware of how technology based criminality traditional search engines, is becoming more frequent with global raises further concern as consequences. People, who once thought it provides a site for illicit they were safe in their homes, are now activity. This typically tends vulnerable to a range of cybercrimes. to be drug trafficking and Crimes that wouldn’t have even existed child sexual abuse image 20 years ago are now common offences. sharing.

Understanding the way in which these Cybercrime and tech-savvy criminals act and think, is vital child sexual exploitation to fighting these new forms of crime. have been identified by

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the police as two of the largest emerging crime areas. The police have performed well by identifying and responding to these crimes, but have seen funding cuts of £2.3 billion over the past four years. However this period of austerity has provided the time for the police force to revaluate the changing nature of crime and identify the vulnerable areas of the organisation.

Technology has been invested in to support police officers and training is being implemented to ensure all police officers have the skill set required to handle these crimes that are on the rise.

However in order to combat tech crime, revolutionising the way in which our police operate is only one aspect that needs to change. The lessons we have learnt through researching cybercrime relating to child abuse and bullying, is that it requires a number of different interventions to tackle such activity. New policing methods are one element of this, but also educational strategies and a constant requirement to stay one step ahead of the criminal.

The government is introducing new measures to protect against online terrorism activity in the UK, by making it compulsory for all communications companies to store records of customers’ phone and internet use for 12

months. Preventative measures like this provide the data to monitor for warning signs. However, some believe this approach is a double edged sword: storing this much data for the duration required makes it more vulnerable to be hacked by the criminals.

Our course in Criminology here at Bath Spa is at the forefront of this shift, with many of our lecturers joining from a range of criminal justice professions and other colleagues from across a range of disciplines feeding into the programme.

We have strong links with the police force in the South West region, “In order to combat tech crime, which means we revolutionising the way in which our police frequently have operate is only one aspect that needs to expert police change.” officers to deliver lectures and to piece together the investigation. These seminars, keeping our teaching current traditional elements to policing crime will and relevant. never stop being important, but we have For crimes to be understood and to respond to the changing nature of the combatted we have to teach, learn and world we live in and arm ourselves with the train with the mind-set of a criminal, skills necessary to counteract modern day otherwise we will fail at our task of tech based criminals. being one step ahead. This requires a deep understanding of the tools they have and the platforms and outlets they frequent. Once upon a time, this may have been patrolling the highest crime populated areas and utilising witnesses

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5 Minutes With ...

Roxanne Jackson Fine Art PhD student Roxanne Jackson is a recent recipient of the Bath Spa Porthleven Prize which saw her working with other artists to create numerous works for a touring exhibition, Porthleven: A Fleeting Voyage. Here she gives an insight into her life at Bath Spa.

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What do you love about Bath Spa University?

That age doesn’t matter. Mature students are given the same opportunities and encouragement to succeed as younger students.

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Where is your favourite spot on campus?

I always enjoy walking through the fine art studios at Sion Hill and seeing other students’ work in progress. There are always interesting references on the walls in their studio spaces and I love the smell of the materials.

Tell me something you’re passionate about at the moment?

Encouraging other students to make the most of the opportunities that are available to them. Deciding to ‘have a go’ myself has led to some wonderful experiences - not least, winning The Porthleven Prize in 2015. It has been an inspiring adventure that will stay with me forever.

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If you went on Mastermind, what would your specialist subject be?

Paris Metro Stations above and below ground. It would be a great excuse to make a prolonged research visit to the city.

And finally, complete this sentence. Not many people know this about me but…

I failed A Level art - but was still accepted onto a Foundation Course.

need money to... learn something New? go somewhere?

need money need money to...

expand your career go somewhere? skills

learn something New? get in front of industry go somewhere?

Currently the Development and Alumni Relations Office offers these scholarships, bursaries, prizes and awards: Cullum Family Award The Gane Travel Award The Jennifer Skellett Awards The High Performance Sports Scholarship The Classical Performance Award

Extra-curricular Activity Fund International Travel Fund The Bath Spa Porthleven Prize The Enterprise Showcase Fund The Bath Spa University Writing Award

Find out more about scholarships and bursaries available for you from the Development and Alumni Relations Office:

daro@bathspa.ac.uk

expand your career

get in front of expand your career industry skills |

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! SHOUT ! sPACE TO Have your say – We’re looking for letters, feedback, and general social media musings, so please send in what you like about Bath Spa and the city of Bath via spacemag@bathspa.ac.uk

Twitter

5 ways to beat those WINTER blues

@Spa_CU Thanks to all who came to the Bath Student Carols, held by the Bath and Bath Spa uni Christian Unions, what a great night! Merry Christmas!

Christmas is fun, but there can be a lot of strain on you and your family. Looking after yourself is the most important thing you can do. If you find yourself feeling tired and lacking oomph at the beginning of 2016, take note of these five tips to get your energy levels back on track.

@ffion_2013 That moment you realise it really is Christmas because the bus is full of people with suitcases at 12pm on a Friday #uni #bathspa #Christmas

Yoga and meditation The deep breathing used in yoga and meditation helps control and declutter your mind. Including meditation in your daily routine will enhance your mental wellbeing and leave you stress free and happier.

@janeparenting2 @ FHFilmsBristol @TEDxBristol @ BathSpaUni Huge thanks to each & every one of you working tirelessly to make these fantastic #TEDTalks reality

Exercise Not only will exercise burn off those extra calories you consumed during the Christmas break, but it also helps destress you. Getting your body moving depletes stress hormones releasing endorphins that give you a sense of euphoria when working out.

Follow the University @BathSpaUni

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Sleep Research shows that adults need around seven to nine hours of sleep a night to lead a healthy life. Sleep is vital, it prepares your brain to work properly for the day ahead, it enables you to learn more efficiently and will give you far more energy.

Balanced diet The choices you make when eating can alter your brain structure. A healthy, more balanced meal releases chemicals, one being serotonin, which creates a sense of harmony and happiness. If you put good things into your body, good things will come out.

Relax Sometimes all you need to do to de-stress is make yourself a hot drink and put your feet up. A warm bath with scented candles and calm music can leave you feeling refreshed and serene. Never forget to keep focusing on yourself. A healthy life leads to a healthy mind.

Tips compiled by Venetia Law, BA Creative Writing

Where on earth?

A quick competition, who can guess which campus and where this fabulous photograph was taken? Find the answer in the Spring issue of SPACE.

An Island Of Our Own Bath Spa alumna Sally Nicholls’ new novel An Island Of Our Own has been shortlisted for this year’s Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. Current student Grace Woods, BA Creative Writing, reviews the novel.

An Island Of Our Own is a sobering children’s book and definitely deserves its nomination for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. It’s a charming novel about family, perseverance and friendships, and reminds us that not all families are complete with a mum, dad, siblings and family pet. It shows us how not all families are happy, or the conventional idea of happy, and that many have to make do with what they’ve got.

13 year old Holly Kennet opens her life to us in this story, quite gracefully. Holly and her two brothers, Jonathan and Davy, live in their mother’s flat in London. Both their parents are dead and the eldest, Jonathan, is the legal guardian, who is trying his hardest to keep the others from going into

care. Nicholls has clearly researched the background into the struggles this family face, such as the inspections, emotional turmoil and money problems. The author underlines the importance of family and shows how it’ll be ok if they stick together and persevere, which I think is rather beautiful.

Throughout the book Nicholls cleverly propels the reader on a journey of emotions and if you’re not in love with the older brother Jonathan by the end, well then you’ve read it wrong. With each page turn you’re left wanting more; it’s not a book you’d easily fall asleep to. I was filled with sadness, anger, and happiness, and overall I was constantly on edge asking myself - what will happen next? A great read.

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