College Holds First Meeting of Student Parliament: Empowering the Student Voice

The first meeting of the Student Parliament at the college took place on Wednesday, 27th November. This initiative is part of the new Student Voice model, designed to bring senior student representatives together with the college's executive team to discuss key issues and ideas for enhancing the student experience.

The meeting was attended by 20 student senior representatives, with participants from all directorates. College Principal Phil Sayles and Assistant Principal for People and Student Experience, Debbie Smith, joined the session alongside Vice Chair of our Board, Sue Wellman and Lloyd Perry, Director of Student Inclusion and Support. 

In the lead-up to the Student Parliament meeting, senior and course representatives held feedback sessions with their Directors of Learning. These sessions allowed student reps to gather feedback from their peers, focusing on the learning experience on their courses, access to support, equipment, and resources, enrichment opportunities.

As a result of these meetings, a wide range of topics were brought forward by our student reps and discussed during the Autumn Term Student Parliament meeting. Senior Student representatives were given the opportunity to showcase their networking, public speaking and their leadership skills during Student Parliament. 

The Student Parliament will continue to play a vital role in shaping an inclusive and responsive student experience at the college, with the next meeting already planned for early February. 

Holly Tyack, Student Engagement Lead, said: “It was brilliant to see so many senior reps in attendance and actively engaging in the discussion. During this meeting, students constructively shared viewpoints and worked together bringing new ideas and solutions forward’’ 

Other comments from students included:  "I was a bit nervous towards the beginning, but I found it very friendly, and it was great to hear everyone else’s ideas on how we can adapt things to help make an impact for us and our peers", Adam (BTEC Introduction to Computing) and, "I thought that the meeting was very productive, and we got a lot of the student wishes and feedback heard’’, Hadyn, (BTEC L3 National Extended Certificate in Protective Services).

Finally, student Sofia (Level 3 Media) said:  "I loved the meeting because it felt very professional with its set up. I also enjoyed the meeting structure, with specific topics to discuss to help keep us on track."