On Monday 29th November 2021 the West Thames College Student Parliament for 2021 - 2022 met with Course Reps across all subject areas of the college and members of the Executive Team. The meeting was an opportunity for this year’s new Student Parliament members to introduce themselves and talk about their roles at the college.
We were introduced to several members of the new Student Parliament such as the President, the Vice President, the Director for Aviation; and Officers for the areas of Finance; Environment; Welfare & Safeguarding; Travel; Business & ICT; E-Learning; and Events & Campaigns.
Vice Principal Marta Gajewska-Kopczyk, Director for Resources & Student Experience Michael Michaelides and college Governors Barinder Sandhu and Laura Weatherill were given the opportunity to hear from the Course Reps and Student Parliament members. Students voiced what they thought had improved within the College over the last year, gave an outline of what events they wanted to see in the future and outlined a few things they thought the college could improve on.
Class Reps shared that the activities held at the college to celebrate events such as Interfaith Week and Freshers’ Fair were very much appreciated as well as the return to face-to-face learning. Some students fed back that the college has been key in helping them improve their English language, and some mentioned that the feedback that they receive from teachers regarding their work was very good. Some of the things students thought could be improved upon were the wifi, slow computers and the temperature in some of the classrooms. Members of the Executive were able to answer and re-assure the Student Parliament regarding these concerns.
The Student Parliament also spoke about some of the up and coming events that they are organising this year such as a Christmas musical, a Talent Show, a Staff Wellbeing Day and a cultural celebration.
It was a very productive meeting and set the tone for the year ahead.
