In the Chemistry department they are recruiting Chinese project officers to help with the attainment gap and with other situations relating to integration.

As a whole, our 2nd year cohort have encountered consistent difficulty with a particular assignment in my module. This is largely accounted for by assignment timing (after the Christmas vacation and an early January exam) and poor time management by students- however, this results in less-than-optimal coursework for students (in terms of format and summative/formative objectives) and a potential wellbeing for both staff and students. By reviewing assignment objectives, constraining the time demand of the assignment, but not compromising its ability to differentiate and challenge students, we have created a more resource-efficient/wellbeing-consistent assessment for both staff and students.

Wellbeing journaling empowers students to create their own proactive plans and techniques to manage their wellbeing through stressful periods at University and beyond. By identifying a module where students make regular records, and embedded wellbeing journaling into this record keeping it makes it natural for students to make wellbeing a regular part of their schedule and makes them accountable for taking action on it. Regular supervision helps with accountability and encouragement to act and reflect.

The Student Devised Assessment (SDA) offers students a personalised chance to display their critical engagement with the themes and theories of modules and to take a considered approach as to how they might practically apply what they have learned in a medium of their choosing.

Feeling good is how we feel physically, mentally and emotionally. Everyone will have times where they do not feel good. You may feel physically poorly, or mentally and emotionally drained and struggling. There will be times when you may not feel good or function well and at these times, it is important to have a toolkit that you can use to help yourself and to make positive changes. The more you practice these skills, the more you will understand what works best for you. Subsequently it is important to promote these strategies and focal points to colleagues and students.

A negotiated curriculum allows students to choose (within set parameters) the content of a module. By empowering students to choose topics that they find the most urgent, important, or interesting, the practice of a negotiated curriculum enhances student engagement, active learning, and inclusivity.

This approach is for use in anticipation of a short to medium term project in which students are to work together in a team. It affords the team the opportunity to identify and agree to a set of ground rules in the form of a social contract which they will all respect in order to facilitate optimal teamworking and consideration of one another’s wellbeing.

Acknowledging emails is a very simple wellbeing practice to put in place. It takes very little time to send a quick response acknowledging receipt of an e-mail. Within a learning and teaching context, it helps to set boundaries and expectations. The acknowledgement of an e-mail reassures the recipient that you have received their communication, but also gives you a little more time to respond, helping you to manage your own workload.