A note from your Wellbeing, Sport & Physical Activity Officer

The 2020/21 Academic Year has been far from the norm, starting the year amidst a global pandemic has been tough.

The support that the government has given to Higher Education students has been close to non-existent even bordering on blame. No one wanted or planned for a global pandemic.

Over the first semester, we, the officer team have worked with the university to provide insight of what it is like to be a student currently with help from Part-Time Reps and you the wider student body. We have supported and challenged decisions when we felt you weren’t put first.

This has resulted in:

• discussions on how to strengthen current assessment support with the University alongside the Hallam Safety Net Campaign (more details to follow soon)
• a restructure to improve the Department and Course Rep system so that these roles are as effective for feeding your student voice to the Students’ Union and the University
• the establishment of the BAME mentoring scheme to support African, Asian and other minoritised groups and continue to tackle the degree-awarding gap

Now at the start of the 2^nd semester and before some courses have returned, we have entered a 3^rd lockdown. The government has asked for society including students to stay where they currently are; leaving many of you potentially paying for accommodation you cannot use.

Throughout this whole year your wellbeing has been severely affected from being isolated from your friends and/or family, course/teammates and even people you see during late-night library (HallamNation) sessions. To zoom fatigue and stress that comes with learning online and the worry of if you are going to be able to cover your next rent payment.

We have been working hard to mitigate the impact on your wellbeing but there is still more work to do.

Please don’t suffer in silence! Reach out and get in touch with your Officer team, Part-Time Rep and/or Department & Course Rep.

Please fill in the below google form created by Hallam Netball  <3 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdVyMXXPxaoxUqb4-Y3jrL-bz7busSSq27oT6t43MsqJuBbRQ/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0

Hannah Prestwich – Wellbeing, Sport and Physical Activity Officer

and

George Alvey – HWLS College Officer

Andrew Adegbola – President

Diya Babu – International Students' Officer

Laith Jaafar – SSA College Officer

Praise Ishola – BTE College Officer