Unloc & Verizon Business scoop impressive awards at the Better Society Awards 2024
13 June 2024
We’re thrilled to reveal that we and Verizon Business won two awards at The Better Society Awards 2024!
We recently held our amazingly successful annual Festival of Student Governance event in partnership with the Association of Colleges, and supported by the Blagrave Trust. Each year we welcome young people from colleges across the country to our bespoke training event as part of the country’s largest further education event.
This year’s event was bigger and better than ever and we met some truly amazing and inspiring young people who are making positive change in their colleges up and down the country.
We spoke with some of the delegates to get their impressions of the event and will be releasing some feature articles in the coming days to share their insight.
Today we hear all about Joseph Rowlstone’s experience
“Hey there! My name is Joseph Rowlstone, I’m a third year catering student and Student Governor of the East Kent Colleges Group, and recently I had the honour of being involved in the Festival of Student Governance 2022, hosted by Unloc during the Association of Colleges Annual Conference in Birmingham.
In the lead up to the event, I didn’t quite know what to expect. Still new to the Student Governor role, and fresh from the Student Governance Induction program that the Education Training Foundation offer in association with Unloc, I arrived in Birmingham open to whatever the experience would bring! And I have to say my expectations were surpassed.
Upon arriving at the Ibis Hotel, I was greeted by the absolutely lovely Unloc staff: Tony, Ryan, Hayden, Ben, Katie and Stacey. They were all welcoming, accommodating, constantly helpful and made the whole event incredibly interactive, which was absolutely essential as conferences such as this can be incredibly daunting from an outside perspective, which they handled brilliantly.
On the first night we started with multiple different networking activities: going around a room of around 60 fellow Student Governors and filling in a sheet of achievements with as many different names as possible, getting to know everyone we could!
It was also fascinating to see the lengths people had travelled for the conference! We had students from up in Newcastle, to students from down in Cornwall (who travelled 6 hours!), everyone that I met that night was eager to learn, excited to meet new people, and most importantly; everyone wanted to make a difference.
This passion for changemaking was supported and encouraged by the guest speakers that evening: hearing from Hayden Taylor, who had been in the exact position we were all sitting in and had turned his time as a Student Governor into a career that is now thriving; hearing from Steve Frampton MBE- who spoke with such passion about the importance of student voice; both inspired and empowered us and our voices, both so passionate and genuine.
On our second day, we arrived bright and early at the AoC Conference (well, rainy and early that day!). Being a part of that conference was an incredible opportunity, I think all of us felt quite privileged to be there, representing student voices- the most imperative voice when it comes to governance and running colleges as a whole, so within that privilege was a fair bit of pressure too!
From dazzling opening performances to our own isolated meetings specified to being student governors, it was a very fulfilling learning opportunity. During our sessions we covered how to ask effective questions, how to get the most out of meetings, how to fight back the imposter syndrome you get when first joining board meetings and replicating a meeting environment to put those skills into use.
We also partook in live debates with each other to practice our debating skills, with topics ranging from Cats vs Dogs, to whether Matt Hancock should be allowed in the jungle- it made us think on the spot, think decisively, and listen to arguments of others with respect.
I also joined a breakout session regarding “Good practice in youth social action”, which I left feeling incredibly inspired. Hearing from college students, turned social action apprentices, was the most inspirational session I’d been to, hearing how much of a difference they had made not only within their colleges, but their wider community too was just awesome.
I want to thank those students for sharing their passion and their achievements, as that’s something I’m going to take with me and work towards within my own college environment.
Since the conference, I’ve been incredibly inspired! Meeting other student governors with such impressive and inventive ideas of how to improve their colleges, students who have so much pride in their colleges, yet see the flaws, and want to help improve on those issues- fully embracing the Critical Friend ideals of governing without even realising it. I am so excited to see the changes they make and the joy and passion they all bring to their governing roles!
I can confidently say I’ve come away inspired, more knowledgeable and confident in regards to governing and being present in meetings than I was before, and have also come away with new friends and contacts.
It was an absolute honour to attend, thank you to Unloc and to the AoC for making it such a helpful, informative and worthwhile event.
Speak up. Be the change you want to see. Student Voice Matters!“
As you know we recently held our annual Festival of Student Governance event in partnership with the Association of Colleges, and supported by the Blagrave Trust. Each year we welcome young people from colleges across the country to our bespoke training event as part of the country’s largest further education event.
We spoke with some of the delegates to get their impressions of the event and will be releasing some feature articles in the coming days to share their insight.
Today we hear all about James Tinson’s experience
My name is James Tinson and i’m the Student Union President and a Student Governor for Derby College. Recently I attended the Festival of Student Governance as a delegate. I was expecting a somewhat familiar Workshop and informative event, so it definitely was different, and in a good, as well as exhilarating way.
I actually felt engaged and involved, listened to, regularly spoken with and acknowledged, which I can say from other events in the past; is not always something you’d see, so it really was brilliant for me.
I found the networking dinner and guest speakers incredibly electrifying. I regret not having gotten fully stuck in, but nonetheless, I met a lot of amazing individuals and discovered so much more about the other student governors out there, and discovering what they were all doing in their own colleges.
The guest speakers specifically were incredibly awe-inspiring, all proving and providing solid proof that anything we ourselves set out to achieve can, and will, inevitably be within our reach, so long as we all keep trying our best and constantly aware of the opportunities that present themselves.
The facilitators and Unloc staff were very kind and informative, extremely understanding as well as forthcoming, it was also very well balanced with guidelines as well. We were informed immediately of things to consider and remember, so it wasn’t difficult knowing what was expected of us in the realms of behaviour.
The experience of the Association of Colleges Annual Conference was that it even managed to surpass all I’d experienced and witnessed the first day. It broadened my awareness even more so, around what can and should be when we have the abilities that we so luckily have been provided by our peers; that there are truly many, many individuals out there who wholeheartedly wish and aspire to provide us all with fairer opportunities to succeed.
I also found the exercises and workshops on Day 2 extremely eye opening, in the same sense that guest speakers provided further strong inspiration to myself and I’m sure many others present.
The exercises, provided me with a better sense of understanding and newly found confidence of the ways I can perform the duties expected of me, not only how to do those duties, but to also ensure we are heard and listened to.
I took a lot away from the event, be it ways I could be engaging the day to day of my role or how to be successful in more mature environments like board meetings.
The event also provided me with the final piece of confidence that I’d found myself lacking as of late in my role, allowing me the motive and extra assurance of how I can make full use of the platform provided to me, as well as the bridge to creating an even more supportive and engaging environment for Students.
Last week was our annual Festival of Student Governance event in partnership with the Association of Colleges, and supported by the Blagrave Trust. Each year we welcome young people from colleges across the country to our bespoke training event as part of the country’s largest further education event.
We spoke with some of the delegates to get their impressions of the event and will be releasing some feature articles in the coming days to share their insight.
Today we hear all about Harrison Ricketts experience
“When the Heart of Worcestershire College offered to send me on a 2-day residential trip to Birmingham for the Festival of Student Governance, my honest first thought was relief it was only going to be under an hour train journey; compared to other student governors, who would travel 5 hours and more to go!
I was so excited to attend and meet so many like-minded people across the country in similar roles to myself. I felt that this would give me the perfect opportunity to gain experience in how governance works in other colleges, as well as learning how I might be able to support my own passion projects.
The Festival of Student Governance provided exactly that, a platform for student governors to learn and interact with one another.
Once I had arrived at the hotel that was fully booked by Unloc, I was greeted by a friendly team of Unloc staff. They were extremely helpful, and they made it an exceptionally smooth experience of registering and finding my hotel room.
During the training, the Unloc staff were really engaged with the activities that we were all doing, ensuring that everyone was taking part, learning, and having fun. I felt that the Unloc staff did an amazing job keeping us all safe, whilst also being able to attend the Association of Colleges Annual Conference and exhibition!
Obviously, networking was a major part of this experience. We were given time to just chat with everyone and learn where we came from, and what we have experienced as student governors.
There were, as you might expect, a lot of LinkedIn connections popping up! Throughout the 2 days, we got to see several guest speakers, where they spoke about their area of expertise and spread advice for the new, and more experienced student governors.
We got to see faces such as the founder and Managing Director of Unloc, Hayden Taylor, the Senior Policy Manager at AoC, Eddie Playfair; the CEO of the AoC, David Hughes CBE; and so many more!
Being able to be present at the AoC’s annual conference was a massive privilege and honour! I was able to absorb so much knowledge surrounding education and governance, whilst meeting so many interesting people from a multitude of backgrounds.
Being at this conference made me feel as if I was able to have a profound influence as a student and representative. It gave me the opportunity to share my beliefs and thoughts on current issues within education such as environmental impact, student voice, and enrichment activities.
On the second day of our training, when we were in the AoC’s annual conference, the student governor training was given their own room where we took part in exercises like holding mock governor meetings and playing the roles and responsibilities of different governors.
All the student governors also got to attend one of the conference’s breakout sessions, where we could learn about specific areas within governance and education.
I took part in “A Strategic Approach to Enrichment in Colleges” delivered by AoC Sport, the Chichester College Group, the Northern Council for Further Education (NCFE), and the University of Derby. Other sessions discussed areas such as Higher Technical Qualifications, Inclusive Curriculums, College’s Green Skills, Youth Social Action, and the Curriculum of the Future!
After attending the Festival of Student Governance and the AoC’s Annual Conference & Exhibition, I feel more confident in my role as a student governor and re-energised to put all my efforts into improving my college.
Furthermore, this experience has left me with knowledge I may never have received, as well as long-lasting connections with student governors and education leaders across the country.
Thank you to Unloc and all the partner’s that made this experience possible, I would fully recommend this to all student governors everywhere – especially future student governors of Heart of Worcestershire College!“
Last week was our annual Festival of Student Governance event in partnership with the Association of Colleges, and supported by the Blagrave Trust. Each year we welcome young people from colleges across the country to our bespoke training event as part of the country’s largest further education event.
Joining out delegates this year were Principals and Clerks from some of the many colleges who attended, and it was really fantastic to see these young leaders grow and develop their skills, and see the support they’re getting from the educational professionals in their college.
We spoke with some of the delegates to get their impressions of the event and will be releasing some feature articles in the coming days to share their insight.
First up is Mollie Hehir, the Student Governor at Dudley College of Technology.
“Hi! I’m Mollie, I’m the Student Union President and a student governor at Dudley College of Technology. Recently, as part of my role I attended the Unloc Festival Of Student Governance and annual Association of Colleges conference in Birmingham. This was an amazing experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I expected to meet lots of inspirational people, to understand more about being a student governor and feel more comfortable in my role knowing I am helping students whilst also developing myself and enhancing my knowledge. This is exactly what I got out of it!
The biggest thing I will take away is the networks and people I have met, most of them are great connections. As I said it was a great experience and everything from meeting the Unloc staff on the first night, to the food and general conference were absolutely amazing.
My favourite part was speaking to all the different people helping support the event at their stalls, understanding and learning about people’s different jobs.
The conference itself was very busy but I spoke to everyone who I thought I wanted or needed to. Everyone was so supportive and seemed to want to talk to the student governors.
I loved being involved in this experience and it was a privilege for us to be on the conference floor. It really was an experience I will never forget.
Day 2 was long and tiring but really interesting. I learned so much from ‘roleplaying’ as a Principal to see how they provide reports to the corporation, to debating over pressing issues, it was a really great atmosphere and I felt like everyone was so friendly.
The most important thing I took away, apart from networking though, was that no question is silly, That I deserve to be there and it is my job to speak up on behalf of students, and to let people know what I believe.
I put that to good use and as that’s exactly what I did at my very next meeting, which was the day after the conference! I challenged our Principal and got the answers I needed to ensure students were thought about, listened to and at the forefront of our agenda.
This is also why I wanted to become student president and governor, I wanted to make change, to be that voice for others, to advocate on behalf of others and ensure students are heard, now locally and nationally.
It has changed my life and I really hope its changed others too. To know I have had an impact, even if that is just on one person, means I know I have made a change.
I have learnt so much, and now speak up – a lot! If you get the chance, for anything, then take it! Even if you are scared or it’s a big thing, do it. You never know if you will get that chance again and that is how I now live, how I think everyone should live.
Do the things in life that scare you, it may be that change that was needed, or it may even lead to many further opportunities.
Student governors, as well as student voice is so important to me and it has been very eye-opening attending the training to make me a better student governor.
I loved everything from networking, to debating, to learning about what youth social action apprentices do in our colleges and community.
I’d just like to say thank you once again to everyone attending the event, you are what made the atmosphere so great!”
We’re thrilled to reveal that we and Verizon Business won two awards at The Better Society Awards 2024!
Last Thursday industry professionals from across the country gathered at Verizon’s slick London Hub in at MidCity Place, Holborn, for a Changemaker Moments event on Manufacturing.
During the February half-term and Easter holidays this year, 53 young people, in Year 11 and 12, from across Portsmouth participated in our ‘Portsmouth Inspires’ Programme, funded by NCS.
. We’re looking for a passionate & creative young person aged 16-25 in the Portsmouth or London areas to become our first official social media
We’re thrilled to reveal that we and Verizon Business won two awards at The Better Society Awards 2024!
Last Thursday industry professionals from across the country gathered at Verizon’s slick London Hub in at MidCity Place, Holborn, for a Changemaker Moments event on Manufacturing.
During the February half-term and Easter holidays this year, 53 young people, in Year 11 and 12, from across Portsmouth participated in our ‘Portsmouth Inspires’ Programme, funded by NCS.
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