8 minute read
London
Best Practice
University of Greenwich
The University of Greenwich community, both students and staff, come from all around the world and all backgrounds. Over half of our new students come from some of the most deprived areas in the country, around 57% of new students come from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, and 56% are the first in their family to go to university. They tend to commute, work part-time, and have caring responsibilities. But at the University of Greenwich a person’s life experiences, whatever they may be, can propel them onto success. This is why ‘Education Without Boundaries’ is central to the university’s new Strategic Plan and will be an important theme for the University of Greenwich in the coming years.
BEST PRACTICE CASE STUDY Dr Melanie Thorley created the University’s Support Through AccessAbility – Retention and Transition (STAART) programme in August 2016. The programme helps disabled students to thrive at the university and beyond.
>STAART welcomed over 2,000 15 - 17 year olds to the Medway campus (two visits each) as part of the National Citizens Service (NCS) over a three year period. >50% of the disabled students who engage with STAART are first-in-family, including Dr Thorley. >STAART works with the employability and careers service within the university and Evenbreak, a specialist job agency run by disabled people for disabled job seekers.
The students who engage with STAART tend to have higher retention and higher outcomes than on average. But the impact of STAART and Dr Melanie Thorley is best described by the students who are part of the programme: João, 30 year old student living with anxiety and complex PTSD, said: “Having STAART during my degree was an immense support for me. It was like having cheerleaders all the way to the finish line. With every struggle, there was always someone there to give me support, advice or simply listen to me. I have a tendency to not believe in my skills and to be really hard on myself, which stems from a childhood filled with people telling me I was not good, not worthy and would never amount to anything.
“Being on the STAART WhatsApp Group alone was inspiring. Reading and listening to what the other STAART members were going through and how resilient, strong, hopeful and fearless they sometimes were in face of adversity was very inspiring. Being part of such a supportive group has helped me grow as a person and gave me the tools to be able to find the strength within me to keep myself safe. Academically speaking, I was able to graduate with a 1st and be accepted onto the Masters that I wanted to study.”
Best Practice
STUDENT CASE STUDY Elizabeth Takyi
Elizabeth Takyi is the CEO and Founder of Wandsworth-based A2i Dyslexia CIC, a social enterprise that aims to raise awareness of Dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties within the local community. “The journey of setting up A2i Dyslexia has been phenomenal, both highs and lows. I have had challenges as a Dyslexic, trying to run an organisation and it has not been an easy journey. However, supporting the Dyslexic community to unlock their full potential and knowing that we are there to support them makes the journey worthwhile.”
Elizabeth completed her Postgraduate Certificate in Education in 2015. The experience has had an immeasurable impact, thanks in particular to the support of the lecturers. “Studying at Greenwich was a real-life experience in how teachers should be thorough in teaching and supporting students… it opened so many different doors in teaching for me. “My biggest inspiration, however, was my course leader, Tracy Partridge, (Senior Lecturer, PGCE Lifelong Learning post-16), who made me believe in myself and inspired me to reach my full potential despite my Dyslexia and specific learning difficulties.”
It is thanks to the support of the university that Elizabeth is able to champion the cause of Dyslexia awareness and encourages others to take advantage of the support networks available at Greenwich. “As a dyslexic, I found the support I received from Student Services beneficial while my one2one support at the university was phenomenal. If anyone has any specific learning difficulties i.e. Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia Irlen Syndrome, I advise them to ask for help. I would especially encourage BAME students to access the support available at Greenwich to unlock their full potential. I am a true testament of the amazing support the University of Greenwich is able to provide.”
Best Practice
University of West London
BEST PRACTICE CASE STUDY Fresh Minds for Business
A little over two years ago, the Claude Littner Business School (CLBS) at the University of West London (UWL) launched “Fresh Minds for Business” - a ground-breaking innovation creating a collaborative space bringing students and businesses together to challenge the status quo and build success beyond what they perceived possible. The programme creates mutual benefits where students gain enhanced experience and confidence, and businesses gain new ideas to improve growth and competitiveness.
CLBS business partnerships grew from three to sixty-one in the first year as UWL strove to be an underlying engine of growth for the local business community. Ditching traditional teaching approaches by implementing a unique personalised-experiential learning approach tailored to students’ needs has been revolutionary. The impact on students’ aspiration and achievement has been astounding, particularly for students from BAME backgrounds - narrowing the attainment gap to a record low of 0.8%.
Fresh Minds for Business non-profit service is available to businesses and other organisations in West London and neighbouring regions. Projects are completed to high professional standards by students working under the supervision of experienced consultants based within the School’s Faculty. It is also supported by independent advisors from industry who volunteer their time and expertise on specialist projects. The diversity of UWL’s students and faculty brings unique perspectives and out-of-the-box thinking to problems and issues that matter to individual businesses. Clients call on Fresh Minds when they have a need or problem that requires some investigation, research and thinking that they may not have sufficient time or resources to devote in-house or may not be able to commission commercial firms.
Mercedez Benz Retail Group said of the programme: “The students worked on a piece of research which included both internal stakeholders, as well as external organisations and a competitive survey. They took time to fully understand the brief and the research was undertaken in a logical and systematic manner. They were able to solicit feedback from all parties.
“Throughout the process, the students kept in touch to ensure that they were on track and to ask for information and support where required. The final presentation and the recommendations made was highly professional and in a useful structure. I found the students were personable, professional and easy to work with.”
BEST PRACTICE CASE STUDY Centre for Levelling Up
CELUP was founded in March 2021 and launched in July 2021. It is focusing on producing policy relevant research and developing impactful projects related to addressing inequalities related to place, economic, ethnicity and other characteristics. CELUP will build on UWL’s long track record in providing opportunities to those from different communities across the UK, in particular those where progression to HE may have been low. UWL has a strong widening participation profile with 55.9% of the undergraduate FT entrants’ coming from the lower two deprivation quintiles (IMD), 57% of students are mature and over 60% are from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.
Best Practice
CELUP has already undertaken important research work since March 2021. In May 2021 it released a report for the Sutton Trust examining how to make the higher education (HE) admissions system more equitable as part of the government ‘s consultation on ‘post-qualifications’ admission. In June 2021 a report authored by the Head of CELUP, Professor Graeme Atherton, was launched which outlines the extent of inequality in graduate outcomes by students from different ethnic backgrounds in London.
The report is entitled ‘Learning about place: understanding lifelong learning and social mobility in Covid Britain’. It is the culmination of a nine month research project exploring the view of stakeholders in education and skill in 8 different areas of the country: Blackpool, Derby, Oldham, Peterborough, Sheffield, Stoke, Wakefield, Wrexham. The project engaged over 150 stakeholders from schools, colleges, local government as well as the private and community sectors working in areas for whom the pandemic has added to existing social and economic challenges. CELUP is awaiting the outcome of a proposal to the Nuffield Foundation for which it has been shortlisted for, which will take this research a step further and look in detail at education recovery efforts in 5 of these places over 2021-22.
Other future projects that CELUP will be taking forward include research on global approaches to online learning and their implications for UK communities with the RISE think tank from the University of Bolton and work in London looking at what ‘levelling up’ means for young people in the capital.
CELUP also hosts the National Education Opportunities Network (NEON) project. NEON is the national professional organisation for widening access to higher education in the UK founded in 2012 which has over 150 organisations, including over 100 universities, as members. NEON supports universities in their work to offer the opportunity for higher learning to those in the most disadvantaged communities in the country. NEON members work with over 100,000 pre-HE learners, mainly in schools, each year. NEON undertakes professional development for its members reaching over 1,000 stakeholders every year, has an active research agenda (NEON’s research has featured on the floor of the House of Commons as well on BBC, Channel 5 and many other policy/media outlets) and initiates new projects to address inequalities in access to HE. At present it is leading projects initiating collaboration amongst its members in the area of access to HE for white young people from lower socio-economic groups, disabled students those from Gypsy, Romany Traveller backgrounds.
