Student Ambassador Update - October 2023

Thank you very much for sending us your updates, as usual it was lovely hearing about what you have been up to.

We have shared great examples of your work below. If you have met with your branch representatives, we hope you have found this useful and are working closely with them to give a student voice to their initiatives.

Student Ambassador Activity

Yasmin Barker and Rebecca Allen – University of Leeds

Yasmin and Rebecca have created a poster introducing themselves to students and staff. They've used pictures so they can be recognised on campus. This poster has been uploaded to their psychology share point for students to easily contact them. They've also developed a poster to promote a Clinical Psychology talk. 

Tahani Baldwin and The BPS Careers Team – University of Birmingham

We had the great opportunity to join our lovely student ambassador Tahani at the UoB careers event. We held a stall and answered several questions from students. We also delivered our careers talk where Tahani spoke about the student ambassador programme and shared her experience with first year students.

Al Payne – Staffordshire University

Al has been involved with Welcome Week at the university. Al had set up a table where resources were shared with students and answered any questions the students had regarding career pathways and BPS Student membership. Al has a few ideas for upcoming activities one of them being a "Plan Your Route" workshop.

Beatriz Carrico Gandara, Kimberley Tedds and Jaymi Newman – Coventry University 

Our student ambassadors collaborated with the Talent Team and set up a stand to share BPS careers resources. They spoke to many students figuring out their career path. They also promoted the BPS student membership and will be helping at the psychology careers event coming up. 

Samantha Smallwood – University of the Highlands and Islands

Samantha did a lecture shout out to first year psychology students which included a Q+A session. Sam talked about the student membership and networking opportunities. Sam is also planning to host a careers event and volunteering event at the inverness campus.

Sana Rehman – Royal Holloway University of London

Sana has created a "day in the life" video for our social media team. Sana also did a lecture shout out for second year psychology students where she gave an overview on how to gain experience within different psychological professions utilising BPS resources. Also mentioned advantages of having a BPS student membership and what the role of a BPS ambassador entails. 

Nghi Lam – University of Manchester

Nghi set up a coffee and tea social during freshers' week to welcome new and returning psychology students. They promoted the BPS membership, Psych Talk magazine and showcased current events going on in the psychological field.  

Jasmine Ahmed – University of Liverpool

Jasmine created an Instagram account where she shares stories into a "day in the life of" style sharing what life as a Psychology student is like. Jasmine has also shared details about the BPS Psych Talks magazine and information regarding the career's festival. 

Whitney Lee – Manchester Metropolitan University 

Whitney worked alongside the psychology department at MMU to create accessible information regarding careers and the BPS. They organised a meet up for psychology students and created a blog to share BPS activities, career opportunities and psychology resources.

Charlotte Fleetwood and Myles Regester - Aberystwyth University

Charlotte and Myles did a lecture shot out to first year psychology students. They provided information related to the BPS and described their roles as student ambassadors. They distributed careers resources during the session too and answered questions related to the BPS student membership. 

Katie Wagstaffe – University of Wales Trinity Saint David 

Katie set up a stand at the fresher fayre for the Psychology society where she also spoke to students about the BPS and handed out resources. She also organised a campus quiz and scavenger hunt for first year students. Finally, Katie also did a lecture shout out to all years regarding her role as a BPS student ambassador, upcoming psychology careers festival and how students could get involved with the BPS. 

Jodie Buchanan, Jezliah Geogy and Caitlin McDermott - Ulster University 

They held a stall at their fresher fayre and had many discussions with new students about the BPS and how they could get involved. They also promoted the BPS Student Ambassador programme and received great feedback. They did a lecture shout out too were they reached a huge audience. 

Emaline Hamnett – University of Winchester

Emaline is currently working alongside sports psychology programme to get more involved with the BPS. Emaline has also been working closely with the Psychology Society, developing ideas on how to move forward. 

Halena Lad – University of Reading 

Halena has been networking with various areas at her university. She helped the psychology society with their stand during fresher's fayre. She has attended taster sessions the society has run and promoted the BPS. She has also been invited to attend the student staff partner meetings to keep up to date with everything going on and provide her input. 

Houda Salih – University of Essex Online

Houda created a presentation promoting the upcoming BPS events this month and next month. This was shared with university staff and the Psychology Forum. 

Callout for your expertise on setting up a society 

We have had some expressions from other students, looking to set up a Psychology Society within their university, and we wanted to reach out to you as student ambassadors to find out if you have helped in setting up a society before, and if you can offer any advice to your fellow students on how to do so? 

If you have been involved in setting up a society before, and would be interested in offering some expertise to other students, please contact our careers manager at [email protected]  

Callout from the Social Media Team 

Hey guys, could you film 30 seconds to 1 minute footage of your university in portrait mode so we could make short clips for our Instagram channel please? 

It could be the building itself or somewhere you find interesting in your university, i.e., the library, a lecture hall or a study area. We are trying to add more quoted content to our feed but would like relevant backgrounds like universities. 

Please send your videos to Emma Hartas - thank you in advance! 

Opportunity to share with PhD students 

The BPS History of Psychology Centre has linked up with the University of Leicester to offer an Arts Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded Collaborative Doctoral Award (CDA) for the first time. We are looking for applications from interested individuals to carry out this PhD. The PhD will focus on the history of marginalised groups in UK psychology, using the society's archive as the main research resource. The title of the PhD is "Facing up to the Past: Challenging Histories & Changing Future Conversations at the UK British Psychological Society".  

This is an extremely exciting opportunity for applicants, the society and research into the history of psychology. The project is ambitious and timely because it is based on a century of neglected evidence of LGBTQIA+, Black and marginalised histories of psychology in the UK. The BPS are committed to decolonising their collections and promoting public history by engaging with historic issues of discrimination in this Collaborative Doctoral Award. This is a very under-researched topic and hopefully the research will shed new light on our understanding of UK psychology. 

The deadline for applications is Wednesday 10 January 2024 (noon UK time). 

Here is the link to the page all the Collaborative Doctoral Award projects are being advertised via - Find a project - M4C (midlands4cities.ac.uk) (Select Leicester to view our advert).  

Here is the link to the How to Apply page - Apply - M4C (midlands4cities.ac.uk) 

Please share the links with any potential candidates you may know. If anyone else has any questions, please contact the Lead Supervisor Prof. Elizabeth Hurren ([email protected]). 

Psychological Professions Week 2023 

Spread the word and let's celebrate Psychological Professions Week 2023  

Spread the word about Psychological Professions Week being held on 13-17 November 2023. The week offers free to attend inspirational virtual and in person events hosted by the Psychological Professions Network (PPN).  

Register now for events at www.ppn.nhs.uk/ppweek2023/programme. All events are free for PPN members, and it's free to join here! 

Whether you are a psychological professional, a person with lived experience, a member of the public, a workforce lead, a policy maker, or just interested in the psychological professions – everyone is welcome and encouraged to get involved. 

To find out more and to get involved, visit www.ppn.nhs.uk/ppweek2023, follow @PPNEngland on Twitter or download the communication resources. 

Please share this with your peers or anyone you think would be interested in attending! 

Events for you to promote within your university

NHS Workforce Wellbeing Summit – A Legacy Networking Event 

• 30 November 10am – 4pm 
• The British Psychological Society, 30 Tabernacle Street, London, EC2A 4UE 
• Register for this event 

Wellbeing matters to all - more so for NHS Workforce, including the Psychological Workforce, who work in a complex and challenging environment. There is a consistent and worryingly high incidence of mental health problems and stress in the wider NHS workforce. The recently published workforce plan is much welcomed but does not fully provide a robust focus on staff wellbeing. 

Pearl 4 Webinar 

• 30 November from 2pm – 5pm 
• Online
• Register for this event 

The webinar will be of interest to psychologists studying, training or researching in the field of occupational psychology, or who are in the early stages of a career in occupational psychology. The purpose of the webinar is developmental and aims to help participants to acquire the skills and experience to submit their work to conferences, such as the DOP conference, and to peer reviewed journals including the DOP's new publication, Occupational Psychology Outlook.

Psychology Careers Festival 2023

• 06 November – 11th November 
• Online 
• Register for this event 

Throughout our six-day festival, we'll be hosting careers sessions across different online stages where you'll hear from inspirational speakers across a broad range of disciplines. We'll have talks from a number of individuals at different stages of their career, from a variety of different backgrounds. You will be able to explore the world of 'hidden psychology' - occupations where psychology is applied, and we'll be running workshop-style sessions so you can practice some of those key employability skills required, when transitioning through your career journey. We will also be hosting an employability fayre, and sharing hints and tips with you about how you can best prepare for a career in psychology!

Theme for November – Consciously Consider EDI 

EDI should be considered in everything we do; this could be by showing kindness and understanding whilst thinking about everyone involved. Once you have built a foundation for this or if this is kept at the forefront of your mind whilst planning your activities you will always consider everyone's needs. Some starting points in relation to your activities could be font size of the text, colour of the background and language used. 

Drop In Sessions 

The Student Ambassador Catch Up will be on Monday 30th October 2023.  Please find details below including joining instructions: 

• Monday 30 October 2023 
• 5.00pm – 6.15pm 
• MS Teams 
• Topic: EDI Considerations 

Agenda:

• Introduction to the Team and the catch up 
• EDI Considerations  
• Discussion around ideas 
• Questions and answers 

Student Newsletter/The Psych-Talk Magazine

As a reminder, we love to share your work across our communication channels. If you have carried out an activity within your student ambassador role that you are particularly proud of, please send over a short description of the type of activities you have been doing within your role so far, and perhaps some accompanying photos, to [email protected].