March 2012 Issue
CONTENTS:
Page 2, 3. Announcements
THE CONNECTION Page 4. Charity Fundraising The Student Services Department Staff Newsletter Page 5. eMentoring— linking our students with our alumni
Page 6. 10 Questions: I want to introduce this issue of The Connection by striking a celebratory International note based on two great pieces of feedback we received recently – one Relations Office relating to our services; the second concerning our approach and operation in Student Services. Firstly, in relation to our services, I want to draw Page 7. Do you have attention to the latest set of data from the Student Barometer survey, which the Student includes some exceptional results for us. The roll-call is impressive, Employee of the including areas like the International Office achieving 93% satisfaction and Year? SSiD on 97%, placed first nationally in the overall barometer. The
Barometer feedback is particularly important because we are able to Page 8. Healthy benchmark our position against other institutions – and it is based on a very Eating workshops & large data set. Alongside this we continue to be active in a range of other Cheers! evaluation work to ensure we keep in touch with user expectations and experience. Early in the new year we received results from the British Page 9. Council‘s reaccreditation of the English Language Teaching Centre – with a Understanding how great outcome of 17 ―points of excellence‖ achieved this time, compared to 7 academic in the last inspection. Meanwhile positive feedback on our most recent set of university-wide open days stands at 89% and staff views on our ―Student departments work: Services Week‖ events at the end of 2011 were 88% positive. the Centre of the University Programme & The second piece of feedback relates to our own operation and comes from the ―Investors in People‖ review which took place earlier in the academic Healthy Recipe year (renewed thanks to all those who participated in this). I am delighted that we were judged to meet all 39 of the elements within the IiP standard, Page 10: A flavour of with particularly positive comments about communications in the … Student Services department; the way in which we link overall strategy with individual objectives; and our culture of service improvement. The IiP review also Page 11. A visit to resulted in a very small number of recommendations which have been Kurdistan reviewed by the section heads and are already being taken forward. The departmental staff development group will also be looking at these at its Page 12. Cheese Day next meeting. From my perspective it is really important that our strategic direction in Student Services is not only about improving services for our Page 13. Book Club users, but there is also a very deliberate focus on ourselves – and the investment we make in our own development. So it is excellent to see such Page 14. Spring Quiz positive evidence of achievement in both areas and I want to thank everyone whose commitment and hard work contributes to our ongoing success. Page 15. Meet the Editorial Team Andrew West, Director of Student Services
• Student Recruitment, Admissions and International Relations • • Learning and Teaching Services • Student Support and Guidance • • Student Health and Wellbeing • English Language Teaching Centre • • Careers Service • Learning & Teaching Services would like to say a massive CONGRATULATIONS to Tracy Mayes and partner Rob for their little bundle of joy Rowan, who was born back in December. We‘re also pleased to welcome back Juliet Storey from maternity leave who has taken up a new role as Quality Assurance Manager in the team.
We also have quite a few new starters, so a warm welcome to: Susan Gill who has joined us in February from Nottingham University and has taken up the role of Head of Academic Support; Sarah Huntley, who is the Learning & Teaching Support Officer for the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry & Health and joined us back in January; and Jonathan Higgins, who is our new Project Officer for the Languages for All project.
We also welcome Nigel Russell to the Professional Development in L&T team. Nigel is a Professional Development Officer, who will be a tutor on our Postgraduate Certificate in Learning & Teaching. Nigel has many years experience as a lecturer in Chemical Engineering here in Sheffield. Clare Young, joining us from Sheffield Hallam, is the new Learning & Teaching Support Assistant for the Faculty of Engineering. Clare is replacing Gayle McKay who left us in January for a role in the Disability Service. So hello and welcome to Clare and goodbye and good luck to Gayle!
And finally ….. Goodbye to Lu Zhou from MASH who is leaving to take up a full-time Trials Statistician post at Bangor University in early April. Good luck Lu!
Admissions Service Nina Price had a lovely Christmas present this year. Her daughter Alexis Ruth ar- rived at 10:38am on Christmas Day! Alexis weighed 7lb 4oz and Nina recently brought her in to the office to meet us all. She was all wrapped up in a very snugly teddy bear suit and looked extremely cute.
Angela & Ian Waller (from Admissions Service and the Cash Office) are the proud new grandparents of Benjamin George. He was born on 1st March 2012 at 12:30pm weighing 7lb 2oz. Angela is extremely pleased to be a Nana for the first time and has been showing off the pictures already!
SSiD would like to say farewell to David The ELTC would like to say a big Roe who left us in January to join the congratulations to Saima Mustafa Economics Department and hello to from the admin team, and her new Laurice Hall who has joined us as an husband Muhammad Mohsin, who Information Assistant. got married on February 18th!
Student Support and Guidance, The Taught Programmes Office, Registry Service and Income Office will soon be moving to their temporary home whilst major refurbishments take place in University House. The Services will be based in their new home in Edgar Allen House, Glossop Road from around May 2012 to September 2013. Student Support and Guidance would like to say Congratulations to: Debora Green who will head up the new Student Support and Wellbeing section from April. Also congratulations to Audrey Leadley who will be replacing Debora and will be in charge of Student Support and Guidance. Both will be missed in their current roles but will still be working closely with their teams in the future
Robert Bennett and his wife Emma who are celebrating the birth of their baby Logan Jack Bennett weighing 5lb 10oz, and to Jonny McQuillin and his partner Emily on the birth of their daughter Ava Lilly McQuillin who weighed 7lb 5oz.
Rebecca Proctor, who has been elected as Parent Governor at Lydgate Junior School. The post is for three years and is a key role for the school.
From the International Office: A warm Disability & Dyslexia Support Service said welcome to Miriam Brown who joined the goodbye to Claire Shanks in December as Disability IO team as International Officer in March, Co-ordinator, and we will be welcoming Bryan having previously worked at the British Coleman to post who comes from the University of Council. Miriam is a University of Sheffield Manchester at the end of April 2012. languages graduate and is particularly pleased to be back in the lovely Arts Alison Jones will be returning from maternity leave Tower! in April who will job share with Philip Simpson, currently covering her leave. In January, we And a fond farewell to Dale Jarvis who is welcomed Gayle McKay to the post of Disability moving on to become International Transition Officer from the Learning & Teaching Partnerships Manager at De Montfort Service. University. Aside from his supreme student recruitment achievements, Dale's Finally, we would like to express our thanks and charm and sartorial elegance will be best wishes to Alan Phillips who retires from the dearly missed by all. Good luck, Dale! University as Associate Director in April.
In November last year the Careers Service welcomed Joanna Adamson, who splits her working week as Lloyds Scholars Assistant and also Student Placement Assistant. Jo had worked with us previously as a placement student from SHU when she helped to organise our recruitment fairs.
In January this year the Service welcomed several staff: Shirley Riley-Lake joined us as Part-time Course Administrator for the Careers and Enterprise accredited modules. Prior to this Shirley had worked in the Education Department for several years. We were also joined by Rachel Money as Work Experience Assistant, and Stephen Davie as DLHE Project Coordinator and Statistical Analyst.
This year has also seen staff move into different roles: Joy Harrison-Roycroft was appointed to the new position of Employer Development Officer - Alumni, after having worked for several years in the Information Team. Pete Lord moved into the role of Careers Adviser (Transition) and from February, Katie Murison has been working as Careers Information Officer in the Careers Service Library.
As you know, Alan Phillips is retiring from the University at the end of April. Alan has made a very significant impact since joining us in Student Services some seven years ago. I am particularly grateful for his many contri- butions in strategic development; service integration & quality; and people management. We are arranging a reception to bid Alan farewell which will be held on Thursday, 12 April at 4.00pm in the Boardroom, 104, Arts Tower and you are warmly invited to join us. Please contact Sandra Ibbotson to indicate your attendance.
If you would like to contribute towards a leaving gift for Alan, please contact Sandra Ibbotson, The Rotunda, Firth Court, ext 21051 email: [email protected]. CharityCharity FundraisingFundraising
Article compiled by Becky Masaba-Kituyi Children in Need Staff in SRAIR raised a total of £185.96 for Children in Need by wearing casual clothes, selling cakes, and taking part in a tombola. Please sponsor me... After tragically losing my son Harrison (still Sheffield Varsity 10k born at 37 weeks) in 2011, I‘m doing a Skydive Sunday 25th to raise awareness as well as funds for a March fantastic charity. SANDS support anyone The Sheffield Varsity 10k is the effected by a death of a baby and promote first time that students, staff research to reduce the loss of babies‘ lives. and alumni from The University More information: http://www.uk-sands.org/ of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam Why a Skydive? I can‘t run or do anything University are going head to majorly energetic so why not throw myself out head over 10,000m. A team of of a plane!?! Crazy I know! Could you spare a runners from SSG are taking couple of quid towards this vital charity? part in the race that will be Thank you! supporting St Luke‘s Hospice and at least £3 from Please visit: each entry plus 100% of all profits from the race will http://www.justgiving.com/Harrison-Mathers go directly to the hospice. Becky Mathers http://www.fairplaysport.co.uk/varsity-10k-race/ International Exchanges Unit
Sport Relief 2012 Tell us what you’ve Also on Sunday 25th March the Sainsbury‘s Sport done for next issue! Relief mile takes place at 100s of venues across the country and participants can chose between 1, 3 or 6miles and it‘s open to adults and children. Laura Salt (Taught Programmes Office) is taking part and Jayne Woodward (Disability & Dyslexia Support Service) and her son Sam are also running. All have opted for the 3 miler. More info: www.sportrelief.com
Movember Cast your minds back a few months to that hairy time of Movember. For any of you that missed it, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men‘s faces in the UK and around the world during November each year. The aim of which is to raise vital funds and awareness for men‘s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men. The men of SRAIR got involved as did Josh Armstrong (SSiD) and various other men within Student Services. Even several women were seen with hairy upper lips in support of the occasion. A fantastic £656 was raised by SRAIR and their coordinator was very grateful to everyone who was involved in either Mo growing, donating, baking, or generally helping to support the Movember cause. Josh raised a great £414 and his team raised £1064 altogether. Many of these guys had to put up with a fair amount of Total raised during the winter: Over £2000 teasing, but as one of Josh‘s colleagues said ‗strangely we all became attached to his moustache and were sad to see it go‘. Well done all ‗Mo-bros‘. Our alumni are a very keen and passionate group of people who are eager to help where their skills can be most useful. Mentoring is an extremely useful and valued resource but traditionally, mentoring has been a face to face process. Our community of alumni are global so it makes sense in this digital age to utilise this help via email rather than be restricted by geographical location.
The new role of Employer Development Officer - Alumni has been introduced to build-up the eMentoring project as an additional careers resource for our students. This will link our students with our alumni and help them develop their knowledge of the job market, increase their job hunting and networking skills as well as understanding more about the world of work.
Our alumni will be helping our students understand and benefit from their own career experience. This could include discussing the types of competency based questions they might encounter at interview, their day to day working environment, promotion prospects, activities they should be considering, personal opportunities they have experienced as part of their work, module advice for relevant career choices as well as helping them to understand the employability skills they will need to develop for their chosen careers. This activity will be time limited to a maximum of six weeks followed by an exercise in self reflection. After that, they could potentially benefit from further mentoring from a different alumnus. The outcome for the students who take part in the project will be first hand information to help them make good career decisions as well as expanding their networks and the opportunity to forge better links with our alumni.
The alumni will gain too by developing the professional skill of mentoring, expand their professional networks, build a relationship with the university and, by helping our students overcome some of the career problems they have encountered, benefit from being part of a helpful career-focussed community.
There are other options for our alumni if they are unable to commit to the eMentoring project: One option is to contribute personally to an occupational panel. These are extremely popular events with our students, providing a chance to meet people from occupational areas that interest them.
In order to demonstrate the wide array of possible careers available within specific occupational areas, it is essential to have a wide pool of alumni to call on for help on the panels, from recent graduates to senior managers. Students who attend these panel events tell us that it helps them understand how achievable their careers choices are.
Finally, our alumni can always add their career history and their invaluable advice to the Case Studies Database. This is a fantastic source of information for students, staff and parents to discover the career journeys of people from the same course or undertaking a particular career path, http://careers.dept.shef.ac.uk/casestudies/index.php
If anyone knows any alumni who might like to contribute to any of the schemes mentioned above please ask them to contact Joy Harrison-Roycroft at [email protected]
Joy Harrison-Roycroft, Employer Development Officer - Alumni, Careers Service Each issue we ask a team or a member of Student Services ten questions to see if we can discover what makes them tick...this time it‘s the International Relations Office ...
Questions Manminder Athwal Charlotte Odell Joanne Elson
1. What is your idea of Anything with coconut in Anything involving I love fish or seafood of food heaven? it, especially ice cream. chocolate! any kind. It‘s hard for me to think Although my parents are of a food hell but I Indian I can‘t handle Mushrooms and ba- probably couldn‘t eat 2. Food hell? spicy food! nanas. snails. Paris or Naxos, an island Treyarnon Bay in North 3. What is your favorite in Greece with lovely Paris, I spent six months Cornwall. I have so place you have visited beaches and amazing working there and fell many happy memories so far in life and why? food. in love with the place. there with my family. I‘m currently listening to Labrinth, Jesse J, Old stuff like The Who, 4. What music do you David Guetta, Robin David Guetta, Ed ELO, David Bowie, Elton currently have on your Thicke, Rhianna and Sheeran and 80‘s clas- John and new stuff too I-Pod? Adele. sics. like Coldplay and Adele.
I‘ve developed an obses- sion with Grey‘s Anatomy Pilates, zumba, dance I love to cook, I‘m never 5. What do you do to or more specifically Pat- and having drinks and happier than when I‘m unwind or relax? rick Dempsey. dinner with friends. pottering in my kitchen. 6. Tell us something I was the captain of the that not many people I have a black belt in Tae netball team throughout know about you Kwon Do (I was 11!) I am half American. my school years. My 4 year old nephew 7. Who would you least I recently got stuck on it Sam who cannot stand like to be stuck on the alone for 45 minutes so still for two seconds lit- Arts Tower paternos- anyone would be better Kerry Katona, Katie erally. Or anyone claus- ter with? than no one. Price or Paris Hilton. trophobic.
8. What was the last My friends telling me My colleagues robot My brother Stephen has thing what made you stories from a night out impression (not men- the ability to make me laugh? at the Student Union. tioning names). belly laugh. It‘s hard to choose. I Always changes, but cur- like foreign films like It has to be Jaws. Just 9. What's your all time rently it‘s Before Sun- Amelie or the Motorcy- the original, the sequels favorite film? rise/Before Sunset. cle Diaries. are rubbish.
Jack Daniels and Coke, A nice cocktail, proba- A nice glass of red, G&T Acapulco Cream Cock- bly a mojito or a pas- or a good single malt 10. What's your tipple? tails or Champagne sionfruit martini. whiskey. Do you have the Student Employee of the Year?
Now is your chance to nominate your student staff for the Student Employee of the Year Awards (SEOTY) 2012.
―The Student Employee of the Year Awards recognise and reward the outstanding contributions and achievements, of students who effectively combine part-time work with their study commitments, and SEOTY promote student friendly employers.‖
The awards are co-ordinated by NASES (National Association of Student Employment Services). The Student Jobshop is part of NASES and is participating in the awards to help our students get recognition for their work experience.
If you have any students working for you who you think deserve special recognition for the work they have done for you then please enter. They can be outstanding in terms of their commitment to your department, for their ability to make a change or make your life easier. Were they particularly flexible or did they have an amazing attitude?
The application process is really easy, by filling in a quick online form your student staff and you as an employer could really boost your profile in the university.
You can nominate your students in either of the following categories:
On Campus Employee of the Year International Student Employee of the Year
A panel of judges will pick our institution‘s winners for each category from all the nominations received. These will then be entered into the regional heats and, if successful, will be entered into the national heats. For the past couple of years, as well as institutional winners, we have also had winners at a regional level and last year we had a runner up for one of the national awards!
Each year we hold a small ceremony to present our student winners with their institutional and regional certificates (see photo) – could you and your student worker be attending this year?? National winners are presented with their certificates and winnings at the SEOTY awards dinner in July.
To nominate one of your student workers please visit: http://nases.org.uk/seoty2012 Closing date for applications is 5pm on 13 April 2012.
The contact for the University of Sheffield Jobshop who should be included in your nomination is Amy Gray, tel. 0114 222 0928, email [email protected]
Last year‘s winners (from l-r): India-Chloe Woof, Ismael Gauci, Sarah Fulcher, Sarah Hardy and Matthew Wong
Amy Gray, Jobshop Coordinator, Careers Service If you have noticed that some of your colleagues have suddenly got increased energy, have added sparkle and vitality and have been resisting the cakes and biscuits in the office, then perhaps they have been attending the Healthy Eating workshops organised by the Student Services Staff Well Being group!
The workshops have been running since January and are led by Tracy Woodward, a fitness and healthy eating guru! Over a period of 12 weeks , the lunchtime sessions have so far covered the science behind why ‗diets‘ don‘t work , the nutritional basis of healthy eating, portion control (we all came to the conclusion we were eating too much!) and food labelling.
The focus of the group is not at losing weight but at making lifestyle changes that are easy to introduce and sustain in our busy lives! For those participants who do want to keep an eye on their weight, Tracy does bring the dreaded weighing scales with her, but for the majority of people attending the session, weight loss is not the motivation behind coming to the group.
The weekly sessions are backed up by a Google site where Tracy posts healthy recipes and the slides and notes from each workshop for any people who can‘t make that week‘s session. ‗Home work‘ is also given each week! For further information contact Claire Brooke: at
Claire Brooke, Student Services Staff Well Being Group
Thanks to James in Admissions from Sarah (Human Communication Science):
―I started as a new lecturer in September, taking on the rather daunting role of admissions tutor. I‘m just emailing to say that James (in Admissions Service) has offered first-class support and advice, always with the most impressive efficiency and cheerfulness. He is an asset to our HCS admissions team and I just wanted to say you‘re very lucky to have him!‖
Comments received from a colleague in External Relations after visiting the Careers Service: Can I just say that when I came into Careers last week I thought it was such a friendly welcome. You could feel the support and welcome of the staff as you do when you go into a new place and I thought it was great.
I'm sure you get this kind of feedback all the time, but just think it is worth saying these things sometimes. Understanding how academic departments work: the Centre of the University Programme Have you ever wondered what the academic contact you talk to and email all the time actually looks like? Or thought that there might be ways to work together more effectively, if only you had the time and opportunity to talk about it? Do you know whether your team‘s priorities, deadlines and busy periods match up with those in academic departments – or are they completely different? CUP is a new Student Services staff development initiative, designed to give you a better understanding of how things work in academic departments (i.e. the centre of the University) and a chance to get to know your academic colleagues better. The programme is open to all staff in Student Services and, although it‘s starting out as a pilot scheme in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, we plan to roll out the scheme to other faculties in the near future. There are two options available at the moment, work-shadowing and a Meet the Department day. Both options are designed to offer a number of benefits, , including: Strengthening relationships and creating empathy Finding out more about the ―opposite end‖ of processes and procedures Understanding the pressures academic departments are under and how you might be able to help Discovering what life in academic departments is like for staff and students Finding out more about CUP To find out more about CUP and how to apply, go to our web pages at www.sheffield.ac.uk/ssd/staff/ training/cup where you should find everything you need to know, including the answers to some FAQs. Dee MacCormack, Communications and Projects Manager
Healthy Carrot & Seed Muffins
No butter, no sugar and heaps of fibre—these muffins make a tasty mid-morning snack and fill you up until lunchtime! Ingredients: 225g wholemeal plain flour 1 1/2 tbsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 175ml milk 2 eggs, lightly beaten 4 tbsp. vegetable oil 4 tbsp. clear honey Top Tip: 125g grated carrot This recipe works well if you substitute the For the topping: grated carrot for courgette or over-ripe 1/2 tsp. each of pumpkin seeds, bananas. sunflower seeds & rolled oats It’s also extra delicious if you stir some walnuts
Method: Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin cases. Sift the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt & cinnamon) into a bowl and mix thoroughly. Mix the rest of the ingredients into a separate bowl, and then pour this into the dry ingredients. Fill the muffin cases to the top with the batter, and sprinkle the mixture of seeds and oats on top. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes until risen and golden and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool on a wire rack. Enjoy, guilt free!
This time our regular column is looking at Student Services as a whole. Put together we are a very large team with around 400 staff based in more than 15 different locations on campus. If you would like to refresh your memory of how the whole department fits together in terms of sections, offices and teams, you can check this at any time on our website at http:// www.shef.ac.uk/ssd/structure.
And don‘t forget about our student services strategy pages: http://www.shef.ac.uk/ssd/student-services-strategy/index where you can find out more about our strategic direction – and about progress with a number of key projects.
Some structural changes taking place soon which you may like to note in particular:
Our new integrated ―Student Support & Wellbeing‖ section which incorporates the former Student Support & Guidance and Student Health & Wellbeing teams. From this Spring Debora Green will be heading up the bigger integrated team.
A new ―Student Development‖ grouping which will be headed by Steve Fish, Deputy Director of Student Services. This will include the Careers Service; the new Student Skills & Development Centre which will open later this year at 301 Glossop Road; and the Student Services Information Desk.
As Steve mentioned at a recent staff briefing, we are on a journey in setting up the 301 Centre and the same can be said about the Student Development group as we get this established and seize the new opportunities it presents in the coming months.
These changes are not yet reflected on the structure website mentioned above, but if you would like to find out more about 301, there is now a new website available at http://www.shef.ac.uk/studentskills.
Andrew West, Director of Student Services The Director of the ELTC, Richard Simpson, has recently returned from a visit to Iraqi Kurdistan. Jason Slade met him to find out about the trip.
So, Richard, where exactly have you been? I was part of a UKTI mission. We flew into Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, and spent three days there before going to Sulaimania for a day.
And who did you meet? Firstly the Ministry of Higher Education and the director of the Kurdish Regional Government sponsorship scheme. We have a lot of KRG sponsored students, both at the ELTC and the University as a whole. It was very useful and interesting to meet with them and get an idea of the purpose of the sponsorship scheme.
And what’s that? Well, they are looking to develop higher education in Kurdistan. Currently they have three applicants for every available place. A number of new universities are opening there and many of our students will return to jobs in those universities. And who else did you meet? We visited a number of the universities, both private and state sector, as well as some schools. It also offered an opportunity to meet with agents and language providers. In addition to degrees there is a lot of interest in creating staff development and teacher training links.
What was your impression of Kurdistan? Fascinating. It was my first visit to the region, which suffered terribly under the Saddam regime. Generally the region seems very peaceful now and although there‘s a lot of security I felt very safe. Erbil has a citadel that has been continuously inhabited for over 6000 years, which is currently being renovated by UNESCO. Unfortunately I didn‘t have time to visit properly.
So you’ll be going back? Definitely! Cheese Day Laura Salt, Taught Programmes Office
It was a routine day in September 2010 in the Taught Pro- grammes and Student Support and Guidance Offices. Lucy Butler, Paul Rodgers and I were discussing our favourite food over lunch preparation and the subject soon arrived at cheese! One thing lead to another and we were dreaming of having a cheese banquet when we had the idea of an office Cheese Day. We were all so excited that we decided to set a date there and then. However we were unsure if anyone else would share our passion in this deli delight. We sent emails round to all our team members and put posters up in the kitchen to remind people of the date and asking them to bring their fa- vourite cheese.
The day arrived. Lucy, Paul and I provided biscuits and crackers for the event, but were we the only ones in the office who would embrace the idea? Our doubts soon faded as people started to arrive for work and the kitchen began to fill up with cheeses of all kinds, from different areas of the UK and some international cheeses. The event was so popular and we had so much cheese that we ended up going out and buying crusty bread to help us all polish off the cheese over the next three days! With our bellies full and our cheese experience over we were happy in the knowledge that we had created a fun few days and a great team bonding experience where lunch was provided by all.
The following year, as the winter nights began drawing in, our thoughts turned to Christmas and the yummy foods that we would be enjoying. But why wait until Christmas? We decided to have Cheese Day 2; “The Attack of the Gorgonzola”! The teams didn‘t need telling twice (as you can see from the picture below). We introduced chutneys, pickles, speciality crackers and breads and people even made speciality cakes for dessert! Cheese Day 2 began on a Tuesday and we were still snacking on Friday.
Who knows what the future will bring - a Student Services Cheese Day?
The possibilities are endless...
Book Review By Jason Slade
Winter in Madrid C.J. Sansom
C. J. Sansom‘s 2006 novel Winter in Madrid is set in 1940. Hitler appears to have the upper hand in the early stages of WWII and the Luftwaffe is relentlessly assaulting Britain‘s cities. It is from the Blitz of London that our protagonist, Harry Brett – wounded at Dunkirk – is contacted by the secret services and sent on a mission to Spain, to investigate the shadowy business dealings of a school acquaintance, Sandy Forsyth. Spain, now under the dictatorship of Generalisimo Franco, is struggling to find its feet in the aftermath of a bloody civil war, and Sansom‘s novel cleverly uses this stage to interrogate the notion that one can remain impartial in the face of tyranny.
Once in Spain Harry is confronted not only by Sandy but also the memory of another school friend, Bernie Piper. Bernie, a working-class scholarship pupil at Brett‘s public school and later a committed communist went to Spain with the International Brigades to fight Franco‘s fascists, and has been missing in action since the bloody Battle of Jarama. His girlfriend Barbara, a Red Cross nurse, believes that he is dead, and has struck up a relationship with Sandy even though she can‘t stop thinking about Bernie. By switching the action back and forward in time between their school days, the civil war and the present Sansom is able to build an intricate narrative that blurs the lines between the private and the public, the personal and the political. Confronted by the poverty and suffering of the Spanish people under the new regime, Harry finds that his values – of empire, duty and the old school tie – are not only unable to rise to the problems of the modern world but are largely culpable for them. Ultimately he and Barbara are forced to take sides, but their actions seem to transcend narrow ideological categories, offering a stark personal choice to all of us, between barbarism and humanity.
I had not read anything by Sansom before and thoroughly enjoyed the book. It‘s set at a time in our recent history that is both interesting and important, and Sansom‘s writing makes the characters engaging, lively and sympathetic, when it would have been easy to fall into crass stereotypes. I have spoken to people who are Sansom fans and they suggest that it‘s quite different to his other novels, but still well worth a read. It is fairly long but I couldn‘t put it down and raced through it pretty quickly, which I‘m sure is a good sign! Why not test your knowledge and creative skills with this fun seasonal quiz? As well as Easter, our quiz also features other faith celebrations taking place at this time of year. Try answering the questions below, unscramble the words and decorate the egg, either alone or with others in your team. Just print off this page and have a crack at it to be in with a
The Easter Bunny has its origins in which country…………………………………………………..
What does "Mardi Gras" mean? ……………………………………………………………………………….
Which Jewish festival commemorates the liberation of the Children of Israel who were led out of Egypt by Moses?……………………………………………………………………………...
What is the origin of the word "Easter"?………………………………………………………………….
What is the flower of Easter? …………………………………………………………………………………….
TIE BREAKER WORD JUMBLE DECORATE YOUR OWN EGG betsak ……………………. nunyb ……………………… geg ...... fofdidal ...... ylli ………………………….. lcheactoo ………………… cickh ………………………. aeecrodt …………………..
Please send in the completed page by Tuesday 3rd April, so the Easter Bunny can deliver the prize in time for Easter! Send your entry to Katherine Emms, Level 1, Arts Tower. The Connection Team
Cheryl Hewitt Student Administration Service [email protected] 21277
Gemma Bennett International Office [email protected] 21010
Jason Slade English Language Teaching Centre [email protected] 21780
Joe Woolway Student Support & Guidance [email protected] 21319
Paul Rodgers Student Support & Guidance [email protected] 21375
Sandra France SSiD [email protected] 21276
Sandra Ibbotson Director's Office [email protected] 21051
Katherine Emms Recruitment Support [email protected] 26263
Holly Biggins UK/EU Recruitment and Outreach [email protected] 21027 Disability & Dyslexia Support
Jayne Woodward Service [email protected] 21312
Cornelia Percival University Health Service [email protected] 22125
Jayne Whitley Registry Service [email protected] 21286
Becky Masaba-Kituyi Admissions Service [email protected] 25337
TBC Counselling Service
Kathryn Fey-Beatson Multi-Faith Chaplaincy [email protected] 28923
Gaynor Martin Careers Service [email protected] 20908
Amy Jeffries Academic Support [email protected] 21209
Joanne Elson International Relations Office [email protected] 26268
Let your section contact know if you have any articles, reviews or new ideas for the newsletter.