September saw the start of the 2022 academic year with new and returning students enrolling into Bishop Grosseteste University. It was a very busy period which saw many students soaking up the atmosphere for the first time and familiarising themselves with the campus layout.
As part of the Freshers’ Marketplace, CELT set up a stall introducing students to the support provided by the team. Here, CELT members briefly explained the services of Learning Development, Digital Learning and Student Engagement, as well as promoting organised activities.
This year saw the introduction of events not only during enrolment week, but also two weeks post-enrolment. The aim of this was to maintain engagement with students for not only enrolment week, but for the following weeks. Events were advertised via the Welcome Week programme, Blackboard and posters were displayed around campus.
CELT decided to lay on a greenscreen and mini carnival for enrolment week.
Greenscreen - students visited CELT to have their picture taken, with a background of their choice, either as an individual or with friends. The photo was then put into a keyring as a keepsake which the students collected a little later. One of the challenges of this was the clothing choice of students. Unfortunately, those who turned up in a green top disappeared into the background! However, this added to the humour of the event.
Mini carnival – thankfully the weather was on our side so this took place in the courtyard outside CELT. Many traditional games including tin-can-alley and hook-a-duck, were available for students to participate in, with the aim to win a prize. Hook-a-duck was extremely successful and proved to be a hit with students. This was in part, due to the ‘CELT generated’ storm which made the game more difficult but definitely more fun. Those who took part, including the Vice-Chancellor, will know what this means!
Follow-on activities
On the following two Wednesdays (28 September and 5 October), and at the request of the Students’ Union to continue student engagement post enrolment, further events were laid on by CELT.
On each Wednesday, the green screen continued to make an appearance, but this was accompanied by the CELT Escape Room. In teams of a maximum of 6, students had to answer puzzles in 4 rooms, each room giving a number to a padlock. Only on correctly working out the padlock number, were they able to escape (and win some goodies). A varied level of help was provided by CELT staff but thanks to persistence and determination shown by our students, they managed to escape!
The carnival will be making a reappearance on 9 November in the Students’ Union building, between 12 noon and 3pm. Come and join us for more fun and goodies.
See you soon!
CELT