Michaelmas Term 2021 Newsletter

John Snow College Newsletter Winter 2021

2

Contents 3. Message from the Editor 4. Reflection by College Principal 5. JCR President Round Up 6. Freshers’ Week 2021 7. JCR Societies 8. JCR Sport 9. JCR Welfare 10. Lumiere 2021 11. Remembrance 2021 12. Formal Dinners 13. Christmas Formal 14. Music Concert 15. Feeding Families Appeal 16. Student Enrichment Reports

3

Message from the Editor Hello everyone and welcome to our Michaelmas Term Newsletter. This Edition covers the excitement of Freshers’ Week, our sporting and societies successes, charity fund raising achievements, engaging welfare campaigns, Lumiere lights, fantastic Formals, inaugural drama production and our wonderful Christmas concert! We hope you enjoy reading through our busy Term and we would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and send best wishes to you all for a happy and healthy New Year!

Seasonal Greetings from the Editor, Janet

4

Reflection by College Principal Prof.

Carolyn Summerbell Michaelmas Term 2021 brought with it new challenges and joy. Many more applicants than expected met their Durham offer, and John Snow College now has a record number of UG Freshers and PGs this year. We are now one of the larger Colleges: Total number of students: Total number of PGs: 140 Total number of UGs: 1,266 First years: 493 Second years: 460 Third and Final years: 313 Freshers arrivals and Freshers week went very well, thanks to Lydia and the JCR exec team. Because of Covid-19, we were still under a number of restrictions in October, but the JCR did their usual magic in welcoming our new students to John Snow College. Understandably, a lot of Freshers needed additional help in settling into College and University life after 18 months of ‘lockdowns’, and I am very grateful to Jake and Elo and the JCR Welfare team, and College ‘parents’, for the important work they have done this year. Some students decided to study online this term, but I hope many will return next term and are able to enjoy living in Durham City.

The increase in the number of students in our College has been beneficial in many ways, particularly for our Sports Clubs and Societies, which are thriving (grateful thanks to Phoebe and Laura, and all sports captains and society leads for doing an outstanding job). Not only are our existing sports clubs and societies stronger than ever, we have some new societies this year, driven by our UG Freshers. In keeping with tradition, John Snow students raised an amazing amount of money for charity during the term, for very good causes.

Covid had a significant impact on our ability to have Formals in College last term, due primarily to a shortage of University catering staff.

Individual Colleges adapted in different ways. We chose to ‘go external’, and our large scale Formal dinners at Hardwick Hall were a great success.

We managed to organise a Christmas Formal in the Hub at the end of term, which was excellent. Special thanks to Lydia and Theo, and our wonderful music groups. Looking forward to next term, we are planning on getting back to our traditional format of inviting guests to Formals and having a speaker.

One of the most disappointing aspects of College life over the last (almost) 2 years, due to Covid, is the inability to invite Alumni back to College, and the postponement of Graduation ceremonies. Over Easter, and again in the summer, we hope to see many of our many of our Alumni in Durham City and celebrate with them their academic success. We are also looking forward to planning various Alumni events in College during 2022.

Stay safe, and best wishes, Carolyn

5

JCR Round up - President Lydia Leach It’s been great to be able to get back to a more ‘normal’ format of a term to start off the academic year with the large majority of our annual events taking place as usual after such a difficult year. We started off the term by welcoming in our new freshers with an amazing Freshers’ Week, led by Entertainments Officer Max Campbell, full of events and club nights to orientate our new students in Durham and welcome them to the Snow College community. It was great to be able to introduce our John Snow traditions to the new students straightaway to get the College spirit back on track after last year.

All of our Sports and Societies have also commenced again this term with plenty of new teams and groups being set up to add to the ever growing list which is great to see these including Ultimate Frisbee, Hot Chocolate Society, Brunch Society, Board Games and Chess Society and Bean Society. All of our pre-existing teams and groups did an amazing job at getting back into normality putting on weekly sessions and plenty of events and socials.

A key event of term was the Winter Ball at Hardwick Hall, after not being able to have a ball for the past 2 years! It was an extremely fun and successful night organised by Ball Chair Hope Gilbert and will definitely be one to remember for all those who attended. Hope definitely upped the expectations for John Snow JCR Balls, going above and beyond to make sure there was something for everyone to enjoy during the evening and I’m sure we’ll all be readily anticipating the next ball.

Aside from major events, the events that have been running in the Igloo have also been very well received this term. From pub quizzes to movie nights, Bar Events Officer Yazz Dean has worked hard to put on multiple events every week. A particularly special night was the Ceilidh put on for St. Andrew’s Day by Phoebe Traquair to mark the celebration. Max also restarted our Snowcials for the year which included a sports pub crawl and a scavenger hunt around site, then moving into the festive period helping to decorate the Igloo and another Christmas college bar crawl.

Our Welfare Officers Elo Useh and Jake Garrod and their team have also been busy this term with regular campaigns every few weeks and engaging all our students with the important topics being raised. They started off term with Drug Awareness week, followed by the Take Time to Sign campaign which was highly informative to help students know what they’re looking for when choosing their next accommodation. Mental Health Awareness week followed this, with the annual Dial-a-Doughnut scheme being brought back and extremely successful making it worth the long night of deliveries. The final campaign of term was S.H.A.G. week, ending the term with Christmas events such as a karaoke night and a Christmas quiz where vouchers were up for grabs.

Overall, it’s been lovely to finally get the JCR back up and running and to welcome our new students into College in true Snow spirit. After the past few years this was sorely needed and it’s great to be getting the JCR and its traditions back on track to be in place for all future Snow students.

Best Wishes, Lydia

6

Freshers' Week John Snow knows how to welcome in their freshers and this year was no different with two intense move-in days that were lively and fun for all. Freshers Week began with their 'Freshtival' on the Saturday Night, followed by 'Neon Night' on the Sunday.

We held our traditional 'Kings and Queens' night on Monday and fresher royalty were crowned before a night out to Fabio’s bar. The next night the freshers were able to enjoy their first ever John Snow formal, as well as a pub quiz in The Library Bar. A few daring freshers also put their cooking skills to the test in the World Wide Food Competition before heading out to a newly opened Loft night club. On Wednesday John Snow said ‘Aloha’ at our Hawaiian Night and the freshers had fun mixing and making their own mocktails. On Thursday, more of the freshers got to put their knowledge to the test in the pub quiz while we had our second freshers formal. John Snow’s very own band Minus 5 provided the entertainment that evening, and were followed promptly by a silent disco. Friday saw a few freshers brave the rain in John Snow’s Sports Night where they went head to head in a plethora of sports-themed challenges.

For those who chose to stay indoors, we had an equally competitive art and games night. All of this before heading out to Players bar later on that night. After an intense week, on Saturday, some of the freshers came down to the igloo to unwind with a yoga session. A few also enjoyed a meal at Fat Hippo, a very popular Durham dining establishment.

Finishing things off, the freshers headed out to Loft before the clock struck midnight and Freshers week was sadly over.

The FREPs and WREPs did an amazing job at welcoming this year cohort of John Snow students into the College.

Max Campbell, JCR Entertainments Officer 21/22

7

JCR Societies - Michaelmas Term During Michaelmas term our societies were finally able to come back with a bang as all kinds of socials and sessions recommenced. After months of Zoom meetings, everyone welcomed the return of in-person events and they were certainly a success in John Snow.

The term kicked off with Blizzard Theatre Company’s first theatre performance in the Hub Hall of 'A Streetcar Named Desire', which was a sell out! The talent did not stop there though, as our Music Society also put on a fantastic Winter concert in the Hub Hall towards the end of term, showcasing College bands and a number of brilliant soloists and individual groups from John Snow. Our band, Minus Five, performed at a variety of events ranging from the Freshers’ live lounge to the Winter Ball; the musical talent really shone this term.

Our newly established Dance Society were also able to commence its weekly classes for the first time, practicing various styles in preparation to compete in Durham’s intercollegiate dance competition in the group category. Book Club, Snow/South Christian Union, and Fitness and Wellness Society also began their regular sessions, hosting themed book club discussions, handing out mince pies and sweets to the college community, and getting together for group workout sessions respectively.

There has also been a charitable focus of many of the societies this term, as many groups utilised the opportunity to meet up in person again to also raise some money for a range of great causes. Book Club began term with a charity book sale raising £47 for Durham Foodbank, Music Society’s Winter Concert raised £113 for Feeding Families, and the Baking Society ran a bake sale in aid of Children in Need in November which raised an amazing £97.80. Their weekly recipe posts, College Family Halloween Bake Off, Bake Off screening at the beginning of term and wrapping it up with the final were all a great success, bringing the college community together as it was heart-warming to see a full (yet covid-safe) Igloo at every event.

FemSoc were also very busy throughout Michaelmas: working on the prevention of violence against women through campaigns, aiding Movember, working with the JCR on anti-spiking measures, and concluding the term with their Christmas Charity appeal to build gift boxes for women and children in domestic abuse shelters.

Overall, our societies have been able to make a big impact in the wider community this term, as well as in the College community as many societies have also held a number of socials, allowing members to have some well-deserved fun after what has been a very tough couple of years.

Myself, and all of the society presidents have everything crossed that we’ll be able to do just as much in Epiphany term.

Laura Wales, JCR Societies Officer 21/22

8

JCR Sports - Michaelmas Term It has been great seeing sport back in full swing this term. Participation rates were high, and the teams regularly put forward strong teams for matches whilst also provided a fun and relaxed atmosphere to exercise in.

Our teams were often complimented by the referees which reflects the fantastic attitude that our sports teams have here at John Snow College.

When the weather allowed it, the Boat Club saw both the Senior and Novice rowers training for their retrospective races. The Senior crews had great turnout in the Durham Small Boat Heads and the Novices had great success in the Novice Cup. 16 novices were entered, split across 4 crews.

In the Women’s category, the crews ‘Sanders’, ‘Ferris’, and ‘Dawson’ came 9th, 12th, and 17th out of 29 crews respectively, with Crew ‘Dawson’ coming 2nd on the ergs. In the Open category, we had the ‘McCarthy’ crew. The boys finished 9th out 24, which is particularly impressive due to them only rowing as a full crew the day before Novice Cup began! They also came 5th on erg day.

As was reported in the Palatinate, the Men’s Football A Team kickstarted the sporting rivalry with South College, beating them 4-1 in the Floodlit Cup. This match drew in many spectators, which brought back the great atmosphere that has been sorely missed over the pandemic. Similarly, the Women’s Football team has also been seeing great results including a fantastic 7-0 win against the combined team of Hatfield and St Aidan’s. As the newest women’s sport team at John Snow, it is great to see so many young women getting involved.

The Lacrosse team also recently won their first round of the Floodlit cup, with an impressive 12-5 win against Josephine Butler.

The new Pool team has seen great enthusiasm, with them regularly churning out teams. Captained by Louis De Robert Hautequere and Eddie Woolley, it seems John Snow Pool has made their mark after a number of years of having no team. Only when they were frepping did these 2 captains decide to take on the job, and I think they have done a great job in running a new sports club without any previous Pool captains to take advice from.

The Phoenix Cheerleading team has also had some fantastic training sessions, with the team managed to perform new complex stunts and routines. They have had a great turnout every week, with the club growing to around 40 members. They are now preparing for the inter-collegiate cheer competition in March, where I am sure they will have great success.

The Ultimate Frisbee team was brand new this year and has seen great success. So far, they have won 5/5 matches. This is a great feat for the Captain, Elliot Arnold, who has set up a team with no advice from previous John Snow Ultimate Frisbee captains. I have my fingers crossed that this success continues, and that they maintain their position at the top of their league.

Women’s Rugby have had a fantastic season. As an up-and-coming women’s sport, they have been doing extremely well in encouraging more women to get involved. Notable results have been drawing with Collingwood and beating St Cuthbert’s. The Men’s Rugby team once again showed off their moustaches by taking part in Movember. They raised an incredible £677 for men’s mental health.

Thank you to all the Sport Committees who have made this term a success for John Snow Sport. With continuing sport fixtures, I wish all the John Snow Sports Teams the best of luck for 2022!

Phoebe Traquair, JCR Sports Officer 21/22

9

JCR Welfare

Going into welfare this year, I was a bit nervous as it would be our first Freshers' Week since COVID restrictions were eased, but I was excited to run some in-person events and to give the freshers a proper John Snow welcome... I definitely wasn’t disappointed. It was so nice to see the freshers get to know each other and have fun!

After Freshers' Week, we had our first College Family event - a game of bingo with popular spots around Durham so they could get to know each other while learning all the best places to have brunch and get some good views. We then held our Drug and Alcohol Awareness campaign and our Mental Health Awareness campaign too. We looked into tools to support anxiety, depression, eating disorders and the social stigmas surrounding mental health. To highlight how important it is to talk about your mental health, we ran ‘dial-a-doughnut’ event where students sent in questions about Mental Health and our team wrote a reply and delivered a free doughnut to them - as you you can imagine this was incredibly popular with nearly 200 donuts delivered! At the end of term, I loved running some of the Christmas events like the karaoke night in The Igloo which was a big hit.

I’m so pleased with how this term went and I can’t wait for everything we have planned for 2022.

Elo Useh, JCR Welfare Officer 21/22

10

Lumiere 2021

Lumiere, the UK's largest light festival, returned to Durham city this November. To mark the beginning of the festival, we held an event in the Hub Hall, inviting students to join us for some hot food, drink and dessert before they set off into Durham to explore the artwork. The JCR also led guided tours for students wanting to see the installations.

11

Remembrance 2021 John Snow College held its traditional simple, but poignant, Act of Remembrance on Armistice Day on Thursday 11th November 2021.

We began with the reasoning behind why students and staff had gathered together around the College Pump on a cold November morning and listened to the Exhortation taken from Laurence Binyon’s poem “For the Fallen”. Our College Bugler, Abi Kaye, sounded the Last Post then at precisely 11am we held two minutes silence in which we thought of those who had lost their lives or had been injured physically and mentally or bereaved during the First and Second World Wars and subsequent conflicts throughout the world. The silence was broken by the Bugle sounding Reveille followed by the reading of the Kohima Epitaph. The placing of a poppy wreath at the base of the Pump by our JCR President Lydia Leach brought to an end our 2021 Act of Remembrance

12

Formal Dinners

Hardwick Hall Primarily due to catering staffing shortages as a consequence of the Covid situation, the College decided to hold 3 large Formals at the beautiful Hardwick Hall Hotel, Sedgefield on 21st and 25th October and 4th November 2021. All 1st, 2nd, 3rd year students, finalists and Postgraduates were offered the opportunity to attend their respective Formal. Those who did, were certainly not disappointed. The stunning Coleman Suite provided a perfect setting for each of the exceptionally well-attended events. Fine dining was complimented by excellent entertainment provided by a variety of our own musicians and

Experience Durham groups.

Included were our newly formed College string quartet, College Jazz band, duet by Louis and Nessa and the University Gospel Choir. Each Formal had its own special atmosphere and were enjoyed by those who attended.

Thanks to the JCR and College staff involved in the huge organisational task to deliver these memorable events.

Thank you to our students who offered their time and talent to our Formals this term: DU Gospel Choir JS Jazz Band JS String Quartet Nessa Owen Louis MacFarlane

13

Festive Formal Thursday 9th December

To finish 2021 on a cheerful note, we held our Christmas formal in the Hub Hall during the last week of Michaelmas Term.

We invited students from all year groups to attend for a 2-course festive meal, mulled wine, mince pies and a Christmas carol singalong!

Thank you to our guest speaker, Professor Simon James, for his captivating and exhilarating reading of an extract from Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'. It was a brilliant addition to the evening.

14

John Snow Music Society Concert On Thursday 2nd December, Music Society presented a Winter Concert in the Hub Hall. It was a spectacular show with a mix of festive, acoustic and instrumental music. Seasonal songs from the soloists and groups created a great evening for staff and students, whilst they were served mince pies and refreshments during the interval. Thank You to all our students who participated and those who attended, especially Kiko and his Exec who worked hard to organise and present the event.

15

Feeding Families In November, the College held a food donation appeal, reques ting food donations from the students in John Snow. The donations would go to Feeding Families, a local charity based in the North East that offers support and security to those experiencing food poverty. Christmas is very difficult time for these families, so we invited all students to participate in our appeal. It was a huge success and we had 269 items donated to the charity. To help the charity further, a portion of ticket sales to our Christmas Formal was allocated to give to the charity. We used this money to buy additional items that were in high-demand by the local families needing our support.

Thank You to all the students who donated to our appeal.

16

Student Enrichment Reports - Drish Patel The Student Enrichment Fund is a College fund which students can apply to for financial assistance towards their wider student experience and personal development.

Last summer, I was engaged in the realm of computer science, specifically self-paced online courses that are presented on edX. My aim was to understand the fundamental concepts of computing through high-quality, skillbuilding courses to build my technological portfolio as a beginner from topics such as data science, machine learning, Python and web programming.

As an undergraduate studying Business and Management, I strongly believe that my course lacks aspects of technical dexterity which is crucial in the competitive labour market. Embarking on this specialised IT course, provided me the first step to bridge my computer science literacy gap and develop high-tech aptitudes.

The digital age continues to expand with the role of computing prominent in almost all industries, business and organisations. The technological landscape is rapidly transforming so I consider it vital for me to possess some perception of computer science.

Learning computer science was a positive and distinctive change from Business and Management and has kept my workload fresh. It has acted as an essential part of a well-rounded academic education as it will supplement my ongoing degree in increasing my skillset and serving as a competitive advantage in a crowded job market.

17

Student Enrichment Reports Hannah Suthons The Student Enrichment Fund is a College fund which students can apply to for financial assistance towards their wider student experience and personal development.

I used the John Snow College Student Enrichment Fund to complete a 300 hour online TEFL (Teaching English as Foreign Language) course in the previous academic year. I am a modern languages student specialising in Spanish and Russian, so I thought enrolling in a TEFL course would be a great way to enhance my employability for the year abroad and enrich my understanding of my native tongue.

It occurred to me that I may be able to help others by teaching English and in a way, give back as a teacher what I’ve gained being a student.

Alongside this motivation was the realisation that I, like most native English speakers, had little knowledge of my own language and couldn’t explain the intricacies of grammar, spelling or pronunciation rules.

Ultimately, I think the TEFL course was the perfect way to make use of the enrichment fund and I’m grateful that I had the support to achieve the qualification.

The course included the standard 180 hours of a TEFL certificate and two extra modules in teaching English online and teaching Business English. I now feel confident in my ability to write focused aims and objectives for a lesson and plan activities accordingly. Although the course was comprehensive, I definitely lack experience in the classroom as a result of it being online – so in the future I hope to be able to put my skills into practice!

I am now interested in pursuing teaching as a potential career and perhaps applying for a TEFL internship for a year after I graduate. I’m currently in the process of planning my year abroad, and am applying for an internship in St Petersburg teaching English and translation work. I’m sure that what I’ve learnt will be of use in the immediate future and the long term and I’d like to thank John Snow College for providing me with this opportunity!

18

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all the best for 2022!

Follow us on Instagram to keep up with all things John Snow! @john_snow_college @johnsnowjcr

Contact us John Snow College Mount Oswald The Approach Durham DH1 3FR

T: +44 (0)191 334 0046 E: snow.college@durham.ac.uk

John Snow College, the modern College with traditional values "Per scientiam et prudentiam quaere summam" Through knowledge and wisdom strive for the highest

Alumni E: snow.alumni@durham.ac.uk

durham.ac.uk/johnsnow.college

© Durham University 2021

OUT_11469724

Durham University and Durham University logo are registered Trade Marks of the University of Durham. Unless otherwise stated, all material in this publication is copyright of the University of Durham. The University makes every effort to ensure that the information contained here is accurate.

This publication is intended as a general guide to University of Durham's facilities and form no part of any contract between you and the University. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the permission of the University. Please note that the University’s website is the most up to date source of information and we strongly recommend that you always visit the website before making any commitments.