Celebration Station

 

February 2024

Christos Aspoiotis (Adult Nursing, L5 Group H)

''I would like to nominate Christos for Student Rep of the Month because of his proactive approach to raising issues for his cohort. He has consistently fought for the student experience for students at the Aylesbury campus over the past two years and keeps the Students’ Union well informed of any issues that are being faced by students and the progress he has made to support students. For example, recently raising an issue regarding transport issues for mandatory training for students at Aylesbury. Christos utilises his role as Student Rep, to raise issues faced by students to both the Students’ Union and University in a professional manner and is a pleasure to work with. Thank you for all you do to raise the voice of not only your group but of Aylesbury students in general.’’

 

January 2024

Ishia Jack (Psychology Strands, L5)

''Ishia has made fantastic efforts into being a rep for the 2nd year running for her cohort. She has been working very hard to ensure that all student voices are heard and she has made great steps despite joining the programme last minute last year. It has been lovely talking to Ishia about her course and the progress being made from last year into this year as well as keeping fellow students and staff in the loop about concerns and looking for support. Ishia has been great at speaking about her cohort and she wants the best for herself and fellow students.’’

 

December 2023

Luca Annibale (Music Strands: Audio, Sound and Technology)

''Luca has Engaged with the Rep role in a way that truly exemplifies a desire to improve things not just for himself and his course, but the wider school and university as a whole. From producing additional materials complaining and analysing student feedback, to discussing and monitoring your voice feedback outside of the PCM structure and actively working with the course team to implement improvements. Being in his 3rd year at bucks, he genuinely seems interesting in making sure the student experience is improved for all students, both current and future, with an notably commendably of prosperity.''

 

Emma Dalton (Child Nursing L5 Group R)

''I am nominating Emma for Rep of the Month due to her excelling in communicating feedback in the recent Uxbridge Nursing Programme Committee meeting. Emma was coherent with a number of challenging points, raising the student voice of her group and although not an official co-chair of the meeting helped to facilitate the feedback of her peers within the meeting. After being elected to represent her personal tutor group at the start of the academic year, Emma has consistently communicated with the Students’ Union team to better the academic experience of her group which is always great to see.''

 

November 2023

Ritamary Benny ( Aviation Management and Pilot Training Strands, L4)

"Rita is a first year pilot student as she has taken the role of student rep representing about 100 students in her course. In her role as student rep, she has taken the feedback from her peers and voiced her opinion and concerns on the issues that the students are facing in their first year. These include students not getting flight lessons and not able to attend class due to flight lessons. She is determined to make sure that students have the full support and understanding of how their course works when managing to get their Private Pilot license along with their academic modules by making sure students can be assigned to their tutors. Also, this student rep would like to see changes being made with communication with students."

October 2023

Marissa Leyden (Sports Therapy, L6)

"Marissa has done a fantastic job last year and has made a fantastic start to this year! She has been working very hard and is really supporting the students in her cohort this year! She has been working very hard to work through the accreditation goals and is really welcoming. She has made some fantastic work and it has been great to see her working with the students and ensuring that they get the best experience possible. She has been lovely to meet and work with as I navigate School Officer and the courses in the School of Human and Social Sciences."

April 2023

Bethany Jackson (Psychology Strands, L5)

"Bethany has taken initiative in organising the coffee sessions and has really been engaging with her peers and fellow student reps to get good feedback and assure that the students' voices and concerns are being heard and they are aware that there are reps who they can turn to. She has been very selfless about it as well and included other reps, myself included, as she organised things and when she spoke to the students she let them know that she is there for them, but also about the other student reps on the course. A student had a concern about how they give feedback via online survey and she was right on it!"

March 2023

Tegan Turner (Product Design Strands, L5)

"Tegan has been an incredible student rep this entire year, but especially these last few weeks. We have had lots of trouble with our course after our course leader left, which created quite a bit of chaos and uncertainty. Throughout this Tegan has done so much work to make sure that we get the support and help we deserve. She has been constantly emailing people about what happens now, how things will be changing, and just generally making sure we are getting the experience we should be having. She has been checking in with the rest of us on what our feelings and experiences has been, what feedback we would like to give, and helped us make sure our voices are heard. She has truly been an amazing student rep, and that deserves to be celebrated!"

February 2023

Lydia Butler-Hewitt (Intelligence Analysis and Management L5)

"Lydia has been a great asset to student representation at the Students’ Union, and even though I don’t have any classes with her she does do a lot for her course and for the environment. She has volunteered a lot on everything as she cares about the environment and people. She has also tried to involve peers from her class to start going to all Student Union activities. Having spoken to some of her classmates, they are all very happy with her being the student rep."

January 2023

Renee Summers (Acting L5) and Tamzyn Regan (Performing Arts L5)

"Tamzyn and Renee have been praised for working together collaboratively to raise issues that are impacting both the Performing Arts and Acting students so far this term. They have utilised working with the wider Union team to support promoting a positive experience for all of the students that they represent."

December 2022

Davide Berardi (Fashion and Textiles L5)

"Davide Berardi stood out in their Programme Committee and came across clearly, providing useful feedback to the Course Team. It was abundantly clear that Davide had spent time making sure that they had worked with the course team to enable early resolution of issues ahead of their Programme Committee Meeting to ensure that any immediate feedback that needed resolving did not wait until the Programme Committee Meeting."

Callum Henry (Animation, Visual Effects and 3D Game Art L6)

"Callum Henry stood out in their Programme Committee and came across clearly, providing useful feedback to the Course Team. Callum took on the role of Co-Chair and made sure that their fellow Reps within the PCM had fair opportunity to raise any issues that they are facing on their course and confidently spoke to wider student feedback of those students who were unable to attend the meeting. Callum supported in creating actions and was effective in making sure that the meeting ran to time."

November 2022

Hassan Nisar (Computing, Data Science, and AI strands L6)

Hassan is the Student Rep for Level 6 Computing, Data Science and AI courses. Hassan has been highly proactive in gathering both positive and constructive feedback from students within these courses on their experience concerning their modules. He is very receptive to feedback and ensures this feedback is relayed to the right people, whether that's the course leaders, module tutors, the head of school and so on. Hassan ensures all students in the courses he's representing have their voices heard in meetings, relayed to the academic staff and more. He really cares about the students having a positive experience in their courses and giving them the opportunity to provide any feedback they have about them.

October 2022

Nasifa Ahmadi (Law, L6)

Nasifa is Student Rep for Level 6 Law and is in her first year in the role. Although she has only recently been trained, Nasifa has shown great initiative and passion in collating feedback to make sure that any issues from the course are being collectively raised from the perspective of all students ahead of the first Programme Committee Meeting of the year. Nasifa has really been pushing the Union’s 'It Starts With You' campaign, encouraging students to provide feedback to help to improve their course experience. The Representation team have been incredibly impressed to see such passion for improving the Student Voice so early in the year.

May 2022

William Deeley (Games Development & IGP Strands, L5)

William has helped his peers a lot when they have faced issues on their course, writing letters to and meeting with head lectures and even the Head of School. He has gotten behind these issues, raising students’ concerns to a higher level to add proper weighting. He has shown a great interest in the welfare of his fellow course mates, always asking how they are doing and making sure they get the help that they need for their coursework. William not only oversees the games development course as a student rep, but also takes care of independent development course students. He makes sure that, while being a small course, students still get their voices heard. William attends all rep meetings, taking notes and actively makes suggestions to course leaders and their teams. He also provides quality feedback on the upcoming changes to the course, helping not only the future generations of students, but also the lecturers themselves.

April 2022

Joanna Mendes (Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health)

Joanna has been a rep for her group since year 1st year. She does a tremendous job at raising issues that her group bring to her. When she sees an issue, she is not intimidated by it but rather faces it head on and addresses it and feeds it back to her group. She is a keen learner and leads by example. Joanna is a great asset to the university and her group, she attends union councils to keep up to date and actively gets involved in events that are running. Her involvement in the Bucks Nursing Society as secretary has proved great teamwork and helped the society grow and establish itself.

March 2022

Amy Pile (Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health)

Amy does so much for the School of Nursing and Midwifery. With her work as a rep for her own course and her role as Chair of the Nursing Society at Buckinghamshire New University. Amy made time to be there on our very first day as Midwifery students and made sure that we all felt welcomed and that we could go to her for any additional help or support (settling into the Uni, joining in Nursing Society events, help setting up a Midwifery society, within Rep roles etc). Amy also took the time to signpost us to loads of Uni resources and give lots of helpful advice, she also made sure to let us know about things like the Leadership Academy and how incredibly well the Uni has these structured so that students in courses like ours can apply and it not impede our studies. Since then she's always been a welcoming face whenever we see her, has provided support to our Midwifery students on working towards setting up a Society and made sure that we are invited and welcomed at Nursing Society events. Everyone has been lovely at Bucks, above all of them, Amy has done so much to represent the Uni. I'm so grateful that she took the time to make us Midwifery students feel welcomed and provide so much support on top of everything else she does! Congratulations on your award and for the amazing work you do as a student rep, we really appreciate it!

February 2022

Patrycja Swiderek (Interior and Spatial Design)

"Patrycja has always listened to all students/peers, and has tackled any issues anyone has brought up. She has solved each issue with reasonable and effective solutions, and has helped all of us students to work in a better space and in a better way. Having our own class meetings organised by Patrycja, has brought the group together again and helped us all to communicate and relate to each other. Patrycja could not be a better rep and has helped me more than I know."

January 2022

Noma Nkosi (Integrated Health Care and Social Work)

Noma was fantastic in her first Programme Committee Meeting as a student rep. Her course has faced several issues since September and Noma spoke to these concerns in such a fair and diplomatic manner - highlighting and praising the improvements that have been made since the start of term, and suggesting countless ways to improve these areas in future years. She has also played an important role in supporting her classmates and ensuring they are settling into life at Bucks. Her lecturers also spoke very highly of her and praised her approachable manner and achievements in the role so far

December 2021

Sue Davies (Adult Nursing, L5 group E)

Sue is new to the student rep role this year, but being a second year student she has already established a good relationship with her student colleagues. She is always willing to speak with them and if an issue does arise will signpost and advise them the best that she can. Her class WhatsApp group is more active, and she really believes that everyone should be treated equally and strives for this within all members of her group. Sue is a great communicator and will chase issues and report back on any changes to students whilst also making sure she is representing her group. Sue is incredibly caring and highlights the ability to do what's best not just for herself but for others.

November 2021

Francesca Toms (Business Management strands, L6)

Francesca has been an invaluable asset over her past few years as Student Rep and now School Officer. She is incredibly proactive in gathering student feedback and raising this with academics throughout the year. Her friendly, positive, and professional manner has enabled her course leader to implement changes that have had positive impacts throughout the Business and Law School. Francesca also played a pivotal role in the planning of our annual RepCon, coming up with the theme of “Getting Back on Track” and suggesting several of the breakout sessions, showing her commitment to the student experience outside of the compulsory work and responsibilities associated with her roles. Alongside this, Francesca was also proactive during the rep recruitment period, helping to encourage students to stand for the Student Rep role – she is a real advocate for representation and a huge asset to our student leader team.

 

February 2024

Heather Wilcox (Nursing and Midwifery)

‘’As the class representative for the September 22 cohort and having held this position for two years running, I will say with confidence that Bucks overall has very good lecturers. However, Heather has been supportive by going the extra mile to spend time with students who are struggling with their academic work, giving them the needed guidance on the subject matter and explaining the assignment brief, which has been the needed help that students need. She has many times demonstrated the desire to ask students if there is any difficulty in any of the modules or anything else that we may be struggling with and may need some help with, which I think, as the class rep, has put her slightly above her colleagues.’’

 

January 2024

Dearbhla Gallagher (Human and Social Sciences)

I feel that Dearbhla Gallagher (course leader of sports therapy) should win the staff celebration because she provides you with the best support and help that you may need course or not course-related. Dearbhla is always there as someone who we can chat to if we are struggling or feeling down and she listens and helps where she can. For example, if a problem has occurred which you address with her she will make sure it is dealt with properly so that, that person has the outcome they hope for. She is also a person that you can walk past in the corridor and randomly start talking as well always being friendly and checking in with us even if we are doing ok.

December 2023

Joanne Roots (Art, Design and Performance)

‘’She's the leader of our course which has only just started up again; Musical Theatre. She makes everything that we do possible and is honestly so caring. She makes her classes fun, teasing us a little by showing off her very cool and swaggy dance moves, and just having a laugh. She deserves this recognition to show how much we love her, how thankful we are for our first semester of this new course, and how lucky we are to have such a wonderful tutor.’’

November 2023

Mike Everett (Creative and Digital Industries)

"I think that Mike Everett should win the staff celebration because he is a great and cherished member of the teaching team. For my software engineering modules like OOAD or Real-Time Systems, Mike has delivered excellent teaching and support to all students to ensure their understanding and success of the course. He aims to enable us to achieve high and develop critical thinking, formal writing, and UML design skills. In class, he will make funny remarks or give interactive explanations of concepts such as hand gestures for entity, boundary, and control, which is a way of specifying software use cases. He is also sociable and knowledgeable when talking to him casually outside of lesson topics. I have seen him put a smile on other staff members' faces as he jokes with them such as the groundskeepers. He is a very involved and treasured member of the university."

October 2023

Sena Quaye (Human and Social Sciences)

"Sena has been fantastic in getting students involved with representation and supporting students. Sena has asked for ways for students to be involved in representation and has encouraged the L4 and L5s to step up and be involved too.

 Sena makes every session engaging and fun! I always leave a lecture or seminar having enjoyed it and ready for the next session. She always asked priming questions that really make you think and in the moment of panic, you go away thinking it was a brilliant question and thank her for the experience!

She always puts the students first and will always support them as best as she can.  She checks in with students as well and just makes sure that they are understanding and achieving the best they can.

The way Sena teaches is fantastic, she always makes sure that students are engaged and her sense of humour is amazing. She always has the materials up on blackboard (the few times it hasn't been available is due to IT), and posts the lecture recordings too!"

May 2023

Horia Broscatant (Art, Design and Performance)

"Horia is such a good and helpful presence in the workshop. If you have any questions he is always willing to help in any way he can, and if he cant help right away, he tries his best to find time in his busy schedule. He provides both expertise in using the machines and material available, as well as ideas that can further your designs. He explains the machines in a way that makes it easy to understand, and makes sure you know that if you need help you can come to him. Due to his extensive knowledge of almost all the machines in the workshops, he can easily help you find better, faster, or safer ways of doing something. All in all, he works really hard to help us students make the best projects we can."

April 2023

Marco Chan (Aviation and Security)

"A lot of credit deserves to be given to Marco Chan for the excellent teaching he does. Throughout the semester, he displayed an unwavering passion for his subject and demonstrated a strong commitment to his students. We enjoy his lectures not only because they are informative, but also because they are entertaining, with just the right amount of humour, practical examples, hands-on activities, and a sense of curiosity. Known for his approachability and desire to clarify complex ideas, respond to inquiries, and offer feedback on our work, he stands out from the competition. His genuine interest in our success shines through in the way he is accessible outside of the classroom for any concerns or advice we may need."

March 2023

Nicholas Day (Creative and Digital Industries)

"Nick is an outstanding lecturer who deeply cares about improving the student learning experience and delivering it at a consistently high quality. His Computing lectures are engaging and interactive, also producing excellent videos for his lectures that are informative and ensures students can recap the module material at their own pace. As course leader for Computing and a personal tutor, Nick is very proactive in gathering feedback from students on how they are finding their course and modules. He always listens to students' concerns, aims to address them and strives to improve their learning experience. It is clear that Nick takes student and course feedback seriously, and there have already been multiple improvements made to the Computing course as a result, both in its current and future iterations. As a supervisor for the final year Computing project, Nick's guidance and feedback have been invaluable, going above and beyond for students to help them achieve their best work with detailed feedback on the work they have produced, frequent communication to address any queries and providing superb support as a whole. Nick's continuous hard work as a lecturer, course leader and personal tutor is truly appreciated. He is a key asset to the university and fully deserving of this nomination. Thank you so much, Nick!’’

Brett Gordon (Creative and Digital Industries)

"Brett has gone above and beyond helping his students solve issues we are having and is taking his time to listen to our concerns and be proactive in finding solutions, which is a thing that no one else has done. He has taken our concerns to people higher up and got issues solved quickly for example we were having issues with one of our lecturers and we haven't been taught anything. Within the same day of voicing our concerns he raised it to the course lead, and got it taken to the Head of school. Because of this there are already changes to that module despite it only being under a week. Along with this, Brett has offered up time to sit down with some of his students to go through things that will help us with our assignments voluntarily to help catch us up after not being taught properly. He has provided us with PowerPoint and useful tools to help, and is always free to listen to us. During our lectures with him normally he provides the right amount of space to let us experiment with things when we are ahead of other people in our class, while maintaining a safe space for those who are struggling and trying to catch up. One of our lectures has a mix of people who know how to use Pro tools and some media students who have never seen it in their life before our class. During this time he has taken time to explain everything to them while going through everything we need for our assessment. He is available at all times to sit down with us to go through it and answers emails most of the time within a couple of hours including on weekends and evenings. He works to push us to work better and try things if we aren't too sure of what we are doing and to try things and see what happens. He is always happy and encouraging us even if he has been dealing with things he doesn't let his frustrations get in the way of teaching us. He is the best lecturer we have had all year and we are all thankful for the opportunities he's provided us like restarting live sessions where music students can perform and record in the evening to audience after it was cancelled by the old organiser."

February 2023

Rafid Al-Khannak (Creative and Digital Industries)

"Rafid’s innovative teaching technique stimulates students’ learning curiosity and encourages students to better themselves by critically evaluating their knowledge and understanding as well as building their self-confidence. He is strict and demanding but does so constructively; Rafid helps students shift their thinking and unlock their greatest potential. He challenges students making them see they can be successful and reach their dreams if they work hard and believe in themselves. Rafid teaches not just the concepts but underlying mechanisms to equip students in a holistic understanding. He also brings multiple concepts together and explain how they work in practice, specifically in the context of the industry. For all this, the entire MSci Cyber Security L7 cohort wants to say a big thank you and we hope to see Rafid’s dedication being appreciated by the university."

January 2023

Amsale Wamburu – (Nursing and Midwifery)

"Amsale is the definition of calmness and brings out the most in you as a student. She explains clearly and makes you want to learn more and think outside the box. She encourages students to develop their knowledge more and makes you bring practical into theory which develops the evidence-based practice which is all about nursing.

As a nursing student in their final year, it’s that last push which makes you believe in yourself of how much knowledge you have gathered all these years to be ready to face the world and Amsale brings that drive in the School of Nursing."

Christina Ebanks – (Nursing and Midwiferey)

"Christina knows how to bring out the best in her students. She supports them to grow as individuals within their field. Be champions of change.  She understands their learning styles and makes learning interesting, challenging and forward thinking. She knows her subject from a knowledgeable and practical perspective. She has good communication skills and works with a team who know and understand the students’ life experiences."

December 22

Geeta Lamichhane (Nursing and Midwifery)

"I believe Geeta deserves this nomination. Over three years Geeta has been a very welcoming presence, she engages with all students and will always try her best to support everyone. She truly values the student's views, and by chairing the Programme Committee Meetings, she listens, engages, and acts on issues that have been raised. For any questions students ask, she will always try her best to answer or guide them to those who will be able to support and respond to the questions asked. She is very approachable and professional; she is fun to be around making learning and gaining knowledge a little easier. Thank you, Geeta!"

November 22

Obiajunwa Ama (Business and Law)

"Obi is an amazing lecturer. He teaches us with lots of passion and supports us with our learning needs – the quality of his teaching is incomparable, going above and beyond. He makes sure we understand the lectures by asking us if we understood them or not and provides a simpler explanation if need be. This is a talent because the core module of Equity and Trust is not an easy module, but the way he teaches us is so enjoyable and makes it easy to understand. Obi even offers us the time to book an online session with him to go over topics that we are not sure of. This is very kind and helpful of him to give us his spare time. He is deserving of this nomination. Thank you, Obi, for being such a great lecturer."

October 22

Megan White (Nursing and Midwifery)

"I think that Megan deserves this nomination for always going above and beyond for all of her students. She is always willing to help any of us out when needed and teaches us with passion – she shares her knowledge with us all willingly and no problem is too big. We always look forward to her lectures and seminars as she is great when engaging with us as students and explaining everything in great detail. She truly is a great asset to the University and deserves this recognition!"

 

March 2022

Karen Johnstone (Student Success)

"I had an excellent experience with Karen Johnstone from the Counselling team. She’s excellent at what she does and helped me view my concerns from a completely unexpected angle. What I really did not expect (and was blown away by) was that being aware of my niche field of study, she was able to use metaphors and comparisons suited to me, which enabled us to understand each other. This also added a necessary levity and openness to our discussion, while also enabling a real understanding of what was going on with me, my mental health, and the situation. This in turn allowed me to achieve my best at coursework. I am very grateful for the help she was to me, and believe such personalisation should be recognised!"

 

February 2022

Beth Claridge (Creative and Digital Industries)

"Over the first term beth has really helped me and my peers adapt into uni lifestyle her lectures are always light-hearted and enjoyable. I find her stories and anecdotes interesting and educational. I believe she has been a great help into me and my class mates as she always has a smile on her face and a positive attitude and a smile can go such a long way. Beth has really inspired and helped me since starting uni and she continues to do this with every session we have. She deserves this award as she always has a positive outlook on teaching and always comes prepared and with her best foot forward her lectures are never dull."

Carla Avery (Nursing, Midwifery & Allied Health)

"Carla always supports our learning needs and adapts lessons to make sure that we all understand and learn as best as we can. She encourages us to understand and use our strengths to help us academically. She also raises our level of learning far above what is necessary and helps us to develop skills that will benefit us long after we've completed our degrees both professionally and personally. Carla maintains a collaborative, open and diverse learning environment and always demonstrates amazing leadership, patience and communication skills.

We learn far more from Carla than what we need to pass our exams. Carla is an incredible asset to the University and all of us Midwifery students and I'm so very grateful that she's developed such an incredible Midwifery program and that we have a Uni that has supported her to build a team and a course that teaches to such an exceptional standard."

Rafid Al-Khannak (Creative & Digital Industries)

"Rafid deserves a recognition as making a huge difference in students' experience. His quality of teaching is incomparable to anybody else's, it is way above the standard. Every lecture is filled with practical examples and connected directly to the industry, making it clear why the material is being taught and how students can use this knowledge in future employment. Material is discussed in a relation to the opportunities that module opens, Rafid encourages students to dive deeper into the material and certify themselves to improve their value in the job market. Rafid does not avoid difficult questions; he actively encourages students in each session to "put him in the corner" and bring the most difficult questions students can think of. He makes sure everybody understands the discussed points and offers additional explanation if required.

Rafid encourages all students to actively participate in the session by asking them questions, which results in many students discovering their capabilities also students’ self-confidence is improved. A lot of attention is being paid to use of the right vocabulary during discussion, so that students present their knowledge in a professional manner and are ready for entering job market once they graduate. Rafid provides a lot of support. Whenever students have any issue, he promptly helps out if possible, if not, then he points the case to the people who can help. He is an immense help for the entire student group and all of them would like to see university celebrate all the effort he puts in his work."

January 2022

Allison Savory (Human and Social Sciences)

"Allison is an amazing lecturer, she provides really interesting lessons, where we can have debates and discussions, and provides us with lots of interesting information!
When I first started Uni, I wasn't too sure about the criminal law and justice lectures I was going to be having, but Allison has ended up making it one of my favourite lessons to attend! She is an amazing tutor and clearly really passionate about the subject she teaches. I always come out of her classes feeling invigorated and wanting to find out more about what I have just learnt!
Thank you Allison for being an amazing tutor!"

December 2021

Sarah Ireland (Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health)

"Sarah has been amazing throughout this academic year already. Students have described her as consistently helpful and quick to respond to any and every query. No Problem seems to be too big and she is always there to help support students in any way she can. Sarah provides great communication; her responses are prompt and to the point, which students find extremely beneficial. She has also been described as very interactive and engaging in lectures, with students always looking forward to her sessions. Sarah is a great asset to the university and has been consistent support for the nursing students during a few particularly challenging years - this deserves celebrating."

November 2021

Ravi Chawla (Business & Law) 

"We would like to say a big thank you to Ravi Chawla an Associate Lecturer who has demonstrated excellence and innovation in student learning support this year through moving around the timetabled teaching sessions to provide extra sessions for students who have teaching on a Wednesday afternoon to allow them to partake in co-curricular activity on a Wednesday afternoon whilst dually enabling students who commute in from a long distance and have caring commitments not being affected by an earlier start. Ravi is providing personal exclusive seminars to students who may miss out on teaching due to partaking in sport on a Wednesday afternoon. Many thanks to Ravi for going beyond what is expected to support the student experience."