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‘Plotting New Worlds’ creative writing competition launches
The English Department at Bishop Grosseteste University is pleased to announce its 2022 Short Story Competition for all year GCSE and A-level students who are passionate about writing creatively. -
BGU alumni launches new nursery in Lincoln
Alice Anders new start-up is dedicated to creating a nurturing, stimulating and welcoming environment for all children. -
BGU Senior Lecturer gifts copy of doctoral thesis at Wenlock Olympian Games
This summer, Senior Lecturer Dr Helen Bushell-Thornalley was a VIP guest at the Wenlock Olympian Games annual festival, where she gifted a copy of her doctoral thesis. -
Bishop Grosseteste University Appoints Interim Vice-Chancellor
Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) has announced the appointment of Professor Karen Stanton as the Interim Vice-Chancellor, effective from August 1st, 2023. According to the University, Professor Stanton is an accomplished Vice-Chancellor with a comprehensive background of leading transformational change within Higher Education, having previously served as Vice-Chancellor of Solent University and Vice-Chancellor at York St John University. Her professional journey also includes the role of Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Glasgow Caledonian University, as well as significant positions at King's College London, the universities of Nottingham, Birmingham, and Sheffield Hallam. Professor Stanton said: “I am delighted to be joining the University. BGU is a remarkable institution with a rich heritage of educational excellence and inclusion. “I look forward to working together with its dedicated staff, students and the Council to lead BGU through the next phase of its proud history." A core focus for Professor Stanton throughout her career has been widening access to education and the social purpose and impact of universities. Her one-year appointment as Interim Vice-Chancellor is expected to provide a solid foundation for BGU's future development and growthProfessor Karen Stanton . -
Honorary Award recipients announced
Each year, Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) has the opportunity to award Honorary Doctorates and Honorary Fellowships at its graduation ceremonies. BGU staff and students, retired staff and alumni and current or former University Council members were invited to nominate candidates for honorary awards. Honorary Fellowship is awarded in recognition of outstanding contributions to the University; whilst Honorary Doctorate is awarded to those who have made outstanding contributions to academic achievement, social, economic or cultural life. We're pleased to announce this year's award recipients, who will be honoured at graduation celebrations in July 2023. Bishop Grosseteste University Vice-Chancellor Rev Canon Professor Peter Neil said: “We are proud to be awarding this year’s honorary recipients for their expertise and service in their respective roles. I am delighted to welcome them to our wider BGU community. “Each one of them is inspirational in their own right and all serve as excellent role models for our students in how to make a positive impact on society.” -
First Aid for Mental Health training offered at BGU
Bishop Grosseteste University has offered First Aid for Mental Health training to its staff for the first time. 21 members of the BGU community signed up to become First Aiders for Mental Health. Every member of staff across the University was offered the opportunity to enrol in either a Level 2 or Level 3 course with Firecracker, an organisation that works with businesses to help them see the impact health can have upon workplace culture. The Level 2 course was delivered over one day and covered a number of health-related subjects including how to provide advice and start a conversation, and the impact of different mental health conditions. The Level 3 course built on this foundation of knowledge, and explored further topics including an in-depth analysis of various conditions. The courses were delivered by Firecracker Founder and Senior Lecturer in Business and Enterprise Rachel Linstead. She has been a trainer for over 22 years and has a Masters in Workplace Health and Wellbeing. Rachel said: "We all have mental health and it’s vitally important for everyone to understand what good and poor mental health looks like. The workplace is an ideal opportunity to give staff the tools to support themselves and their colleagues to ensure that everyone can flourish in and out of the workplace." First Aiders for Mental Health (FA4MH) are trained to recognise the signs and symptoms of common workplace mental health issues and know how to effectively guide a person towards the right mental health support. They are also equipped to promote a workplace culture where staff are free to discuss mental health issues openly and feel supported by their colleagues when they do so. Staff from a variety of areas across the University signed up to gain these new skills, including individuals from support services, business and enterprise, CELT, members of academic staff, and the Students' Union. Bishop Grosseteste Students' Union President Connor Short completed the Level 3 course. He said: "I feel that First Aid for mental health training is important for everyone to know because, much like in instances where physical first aid is needed, it can save a life. "It is impossible to know if or when someone may need support, but having it available can make the world of difference for us all." Following the success of the training, the University hopes to offer further opportunities to its staff to become First Aiders for Mental Health in the future. -
Petition to reinstate Kate Greenaway's name on award gathers pace
A petition to reinstate Kate Greenaway's name in the literary award which bore her name for decades is gathering pace. Created by BGU Librarian and History Lecturer Rose Roberto and illustrator and bookseller Tamsin Rosewell, it has received backing from a range of illustrators and writers including Patrick Ness, Candy Gourlay, Philip Pullman, and Frank Cottrell-Boyce. According to the organisers: "The Kate Greenaway Medal is the oldest British literary award focused on illustration. It remains one of very few that highlights the contribution of illustrators and actively promotes the importance of their work. Kate Greenaway’s own work is a hugely important part of the heritage of the British Book Industry; she remains an influence on illustrators today and should also be recognised as one of Britain’s great female artists. In an age when illustrators' names are still very often left off promotion and reviews for books, we feel it is vital to retain her name in association with this award." In 2023, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) which runs the awards renamed The Greenaway Medal as The Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration. The organisers describe this as "branding expediency" and argue that "The name of an accomplished woman, whose work is directly relevant to the award, has been removed and replaced with that of a male industrialist and a sponsoring corporation. This feels hugely insensitive, and ironically inappropriate when it awards a profession that still battles to be recognised." The petition calls on CILIP to reinstate Kate Greenaway’s name on the award before the 2024 nominations are made. The petition has now garnered more than 2700 signatures. Click here to add your signature to this cause. Below, Rose Roberto shares more about the petition... 'The Kate Greenaway Medal rebrand is misguided, and thousands are calling for her name to be restored. After signing our petition, award-winning author Patrick Ness, tweeted: "I know the librarians who run the medals do their absolute damnedest to make them the best awards in the world (which they are), but I too would love to see the Kate Greenaway name return. It’s such a specific honour on its own and honours a foundational female illustrator." A Monster Calls, written by Ness, was illustrated by Jim Kay. Jim Kay won the 2011 Kate Greenaway medal for illustrating A Monster Calls. Named awards have meaning. Individuals who have awards named after them should embody the values of the organisation they represent and/or the spirit for which an award was given. Many illustrators not only relate to Kate Greenaway's work and feel inspired by it — she, as a person, represents real struggles with whom illustrators today can relate. As a woman living a century ago, she lacked many opportunities, especially educational ones, that men were given more readily. This petition reflects the fact that writers and illustrators of all genders want this award to be named after a woman. It also shows that they want it to be named after a fellow illustrator. The Kate Greenaway Medal has always been a privilege for librarians to give to illustrators, recognising their talent and their specific work in a particular year. CILIP’s argument that librarians now somehow need to make literature awards about libraries is self-aggrandising and utterly bizarre. Greenaway’s name has been a constant and consistent example for many aspiring illustrators and writers in the English speaking world. Canadian Duncan Weller writes: "I have heard of the Kate Greenaway Medal, probably as early as my teenage years when I first thought of becoming a writer and illustrator of children’s picture[s]. It is a great mistake to change this name. Female illustrators need more recognition and especially those as qualified as Kate Greenaway." Oxford-based Helen Cooper posts: "I write and illustrate. They are entirely different. And for some reason one is often seen as more important than the other. I wonder if giving both the awards the same name was a misguided attempt to adjust that? I think it will have the opposite effect so am signing the petition. The Kate Greenaway award is so important for illustrators as a standalone award. We don’t want it to be the lesser of the Carnegie’s — which it almost certainly will become." London-based Phil Bradley wrote: "This is an absolute disgrace and very disappointing the CILIP has made this decision. It is wholly inappropriate and completely out of step with how members and wider society feel." It is troubling is that the CILIP’s rebranding campaign was launched in September 2022, with little fanfare, and little consultation. There were many surprised librarians who contacted both Rosewell and I personally complaining of a lack of transparency in this decision. Had any sort of proper research been conducted before the name change (ironically, the kind of research that librarians excel at), launching a campaign to remove the Greenaway name would not have occurred. This year, I ran a CILIP Shadowing Awards scheme at the Bishop Grosseteste University Library (BGU). BGU houses one of the largest children’s literature collections in a UK university and has been collecting two copies of Greenaway and Carnegie Medal winning books since the 1950s. During the shadowing scheme process, I first became aware that Kate Greenaway’s name had been removed from the medal. When I sent CILIP an email querying this decision, requesting that the decision be reversed back to the 2022 award name which was "Yoto Kate Greenaway", I heard nothing back from CILIP for weeks. While waiting for a response, Rosewell and I decided to launch our petition. We were honoured that the first signatory was Jackie Morris, who won the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2019. James Mayhew eloquently explains why we undertook this campaign and why so many have signed the petition. "Kate Greenaway was a pioneering woman," he said. "It is right and proper that she is remembered, celebrated, and has her name attached to this important prize. Losing this link with an actual illustrator greatly lessens the significance of such an award." If you sign, you’ll be joining others such as Philip Pullman, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Jackie Morris, Dapo Adeola, Rob Biddulph, Lydia Monks, Thomas Taylor, Candy Gorlay and Patrick Ness.' This story was first published by The Bookseller. Hear Rose and Tamsin speak on The Illustration Department podcast here. -
British Psychological Society awards BGU student
Recent Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) graduate Sophie Wilson has received the honour of the British Psychology Society’s (BPS) Award for achieving the best overall grade. Sophie graduated along with the University's inaugural Foundation Year (FdY) cohort with first-class honours from the Psychology & Early Childhood Studies programme. The BPS prize is awarded to those students who were nominated by their institutions after achieving the highest overall score in a BPS accredited degree programme. Sophie not only receives the award, but also a gift voucher, a years' free Graduate Membership of the BPS, and a letter of congratulations from the Society's CEO. Sophie began her post-school education on an apprenticeship when she was 16 years old, quickly progressing into the world of work. From there, she decided to pursue a career in children’s social work. So in 2019, Sophie began her BGU journey, joining the University's FdY programme. This programme offers an opportunity for individuals who don't typically possess the entry requirements for undergraduate study the chance to develop their academic skills and progress on to a specialised undergraduate course here at BGU. Sophie said: "The foundation year was so important for my studies, as it provided a baseline and an understanding of how to complete a university-level degree, and how to read and reference at an academic level. "It equipped me with all the skills and tools I needed to succeed, especially after I'd had a big gap from formal education." Sophie has big plans for the future and intends to pursues a career in children’s safeguarding. If you’d like to learn more about some of BGU’s FdY success stories, click here. For those seeking to enhance self-confidence, secure a spot in an undergraduate course, or explore the Foundation Year program, find detailed information on our website. For enquiries, kindly email admissions@bishopg.ac.uk or 01522 583658, or directly reach the Foundation Year team at Foundationyear@bishopg.ac.uk. -
A year of being a KTP Associate
From the perspective of Iwona Fodrowska -
BGU lecturer secures grant bid of over £8000 from LPFT
Dr Clare Lawrence to develop short course for autistic families
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