University training day - September 2024
Inspiring, insightful and interactive training for student recruitment, widening participation and outreach professionals delivering events for schools and colleges.
Inspiring, insightful and interactive training for student recruitment, widening participation and outreach professionals delivering events for schools and colleges.
Tuesday 24, September 2024
Arrival refreshments from 9:30am
STEAMhouse
Belmont Row
Birmingham
B4 7RQ
We are pleased to share details of the fifth event in our series of in-person training sessions with you.
These events will feature different speakers and topics, and they have been created for university staff delivering events for schools and colleges.
Delegates will hear from leading experts from inside and outside the sector with a key aim - to deliver events students will remember.
In this September event, we will focus on managing classroom behaviour, building student connections, partnering with academic colleagues, mastering multimedia, and strategies to manage stress and nerves when presenting. The content will be highly relevant if you have a school delivery role.
With a limited number of 50 attendees, networking is also at the heart of all events, with a programme of regular breaks and optional post-event networking drinks included too!
Overall event feedback rating – 4.8 out of 5
Please watch this video from our June 2024 training day at the same location, for a taster of what to expect:
Annabell is an experienced marketer within the education sector and is passionate about the different ways to impact and connect with inquisitive minds in our ever-changing world.
In 2022, she joined two of the top independent schools in the West Midlands as Head of Marketing and Communications. Prior to working within the school sector, Annabell worked within a variety of marketing and recruitment roles including faculty, international and postgraduate at Birmingham City University and the University of Birmingham. She loves nothing more than delighting her audiences with creative and engaging campaigns.
Outside of work, Annabell enjoys volunteering and mentoring recent university graduates. Her favourite hobbies include taking photos and videos for Instagram, playing tennis, and running.
Hannah Simnett is an award-winning leader, speaker and influencer. She founded Cherished UK, a charity which meets the attachment needs of children through its connection-based mentoring, courses and groups at the age of just 18 years old, in response to her own personal experiences and seeing the attachment needs of students not being met.
Hannah has trained more than 5,000 professionals on the front lines of our community. This includes police officers, children’s charities, social and support workers and educators. She believes connection, kindness and empathy are the ingredients that every educator needs in order to get the best results with children and young people.
Fast forward to 2024 and Hanah and members of the Cherished UK team were at Buckingham Palace to collect the King’s award for Voluntary Service.
Will is the Founder and Director of quietnote, a UK based company which helps people better understand mindfulness all through music.
Will studied at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire where he graduated with a first class honours degree in 2021. As well as the UK College of Mindfulness Meditation to become a fully qualified mindfulness teacher. Since the start of 2022, Will has held a position on the Future Faces Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee.
Simon has over 15 years of experience in the education sector. This includes student recruitment, marketing, and events roles at four different universities in the UK: Nottingham, Birmingham, Warwick, and Coventry.
Simon has also worked at Pickle Jar Communications, a content strategy consultancy for the international education sector. He helped schools, colleges, and universities share their stories through digital communications.
Simon is an international speaker. He has spoken at a variety of conferences, including CASE, ContentEd, EFMD, IDPE, FindAUniversity, HELOA, HighEdWeb, SU Digital, and Utterly Content. He was Chair of the Newcomers Track at CASE Europe Annual Conference from 2020 to 2023.
As a published author, Simon is particularly interested in storytelling in the education sector. He spends his free time reading, writing, running, and finding new ways to make his children laugh.
Jon is the Founder and Director of UniTasterDays Ltd. He has spent a career working in higher education, working for over ten years with three universities, followed by schools throughout the UK with UniTasterDays, which Jon established in 2012 to support effective school and college university engagement.
Jon is a huge advocate of university guidance and has been published by organisations including Which University, The CDI and National Careers Week. He is a regular speaker at teacher and adviser conferences and works very closely with schools and colleges – including the delivery of independent university workshops. Jon is the Host of The Uni Guide Podcast and the One in Five Podcast.
Connection, kindness and empathy are the ingredients that every educator needs in order to get the best results with children and young people. Tips on how to create that will be presented during this session, with a focus on the power of language and empathy.
The session will bring passion, creativity and experience to help you navigate tricky situations you may encounter with the young people you are working with. The workshops will be creative, hands-on, honest and real. Ensuring you feel empowered, encouraged and equipped to face any session you deliver in the future.
Academic colleagues are a goldmine of content. Their teaching, discoveries, and adventures can offer a treasure trove of stories to inspire our audiences. Partnering with academics can help us achieve our goals in student recruitment, outreach and widening participation.
But do we? Or are we too skeptical, dismissive, and wary of our academic colleagues? Do we tell ourselves that academic colleagues and student recruitment professionals are incompatible?
This session will offer you tools and tips to enable you to overcome any barriers, or perceived barriers, and forge winning collaborations. Teamwork makes the dream work.
A showcase of the communication mediums at our disposal. Each can be used to advance our student recruitment, outreach, and widening participation activity. Gain top tips and strong examples from the education sector, utilising audio, video, images, words and even interactive clickers.
As we find ourselves in turbulent times across the world, finding ways to support our well-being and mental health is extremely important. This workshop will help you gain a better understanding of the practices of mindfulness, as well as inspire, improve skills, heighten focus, and boost performance.
This hands-on session will see participants working with traditional mindfulness practices and other techniques to explore how these practices can help us relax, manage stress and anxiety, calm our busy minds, and manage situations, such as presentations and workshops in schools, or at your campus, where you may find yourself out of your comfort zone.
The session begins with an introduction and open conversation about mindfulness and how it can have a positive impact on our well-being and mental health. This is followed by an introduction to breathing exercises and other techniques to help calm and centre the mind. Mindfulness is not all about relaxation and ‘inner peace’; it’s also about heightening our senses, focusing our minds, and improving our skills. This session is here to do exactly that.
"Genuinely the best training sessions I've been to, and will continue to attend. I was skeptical on the high praise these sessions had received, but both times I've come away feeling more motivated and inspired about my own work, with some new tools and techniques to bring into existing projects."
"The day was fantastic from start to finish with a range of brilliant speakers who engaged throughout. The informal nature of these events means you feel able to provide your opinion and ask questions. I would highly recommend and I believe these training days are at the forefront of the sector."
"The event was perfectly set up to enable professional networking, in a natural, unobtrusive way"
"Exceptionally well-organised, the event featured outstanding speakers who provided valuable insights and practical tips."
"Such a useful day for anyone working in student recruitment or outreach work. The day was really energising and packed with lots of takeaway tips and advice"
"What a great day! The speakers were so applicable and informative. I loved getting the opportunity to meet other professionals in the same role as me and discuss best practice. Very fun, social and definitely worthwhile! I would love to attend again."
"I have never left a training day so inspired and excited to use what I have learnt in my job. Each speaker was knowledgeable, interesting with practical activities that we could take away to better how we work. I would attend another UniTasterDays training in a heartbeat!"
"I felt motivated to start making changes as soon as I was back at my laptop!"
"Fantastic day with engaging sessions, I learned plenty of new skills to take back to my role"
"Wonderfully engaging speakers and I went away with a full notebook of knowledge and tips for engaging young people!"
"An inspiring day, I look forward to sharing all the great tips with my team. Thank you for a brilliantly organised day."
Our programme is designed to meet the specific needs of university practitioners working in student recruitment, outreach, and widening participation event delivery roles. Expect audience-focused sessions to help you address the challenges you may encounter in your role.
Our event allows multiple opportunities for networking. This includes morning and afternoon refreshments, lunch, and a complimentary drinks reception after the event. You will leave with a wide range of new connections across the sector.
Our training days are designed as in-person events, so the sessions won’t be recorded. It is a unique opportunity for you to gain insights from experienced and expert speakers, whilst learning alongside your peers in a delightful location.
The training day will help you build your knowledge and network within the higher education sector. You will participate in a range of inspiring, insightful, and interactive sessions from expert speakers, from both within and beyond universities.
You will also find generous networking opportunities, including morning and afternoon refreshments, lunch, and a complimentary drinks reception after the event. A detailed schedule will be provided closer to the event for those who have booked a place.
The event is designed for new and experienced practitioners working in student recruitment, school liaison, outreach, and widening participation roles. If you are a university staff member and your responsibilities involve delivering activities for schools and colleges, this event is tailored specifically for you.
The event will be held on Tuesday 24 September 2024. Arrival refreshments will be provided from 9.30am with sessions beginning at 9.45am. Sessions will finish at 4.15pm.
Additionally, there will be an optional drinks reception from 4.15pm to 5.15pm. You are invited to join us for complimentary alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks, and a final networking opportunity before travelling home.
The cost is £300 + VAT for an individual ticket, with discounts available for booking multiple places. Please see the booking form for our group prices.
The event is situated in the stunning STEAMhouse building, located in central Birmingham, 10-15 minutes from Moor Street Train Station (closest) and Birmingham New Street Station - and with reasonably priced car parking near by and bicycle storage.
The STEAMhouse building was built in 1899 as the headquarters for the Eccles Rubber and Cycle Company. It was later repurposed to produce linen clothing, bedsteads, and pianos. It is now used by Birmingham City University and regional businesses, following extensive redevelopment.
If you have any questions, we’d be happy to help! Email our Support Team or call 01746 769269.
