August newsletter 2024
Welcome to your August newsletter. This month is all about students! In August, campus will see prospective students visit us for a summer Open Day. A large group of alumni will also be having their reunion on campus, reminiscing and enjoying their time with us. Finally, some of our team will be on the end of the phone during Clearing to support prospective students as they apply after A Level results day.
This month we’re also excited to continue filming our next webinar series with some of our fantastic alumni. We’re also spending some time planning some exciting things for the year ahead; we’ll reveal all in this year’s alumni magazine!
Another writing success
Class of 1967 alumnus, Jack Linley, otherwise known as Jack Sheffield, has released the second book in his new ‘University’ series. Jack has already written a 15 book strong best-selling ‘Teacher’ series, and is now working on his latest series.
Set in 1989-1990 and published by Penguin Random House, ‘University Challenges’ is sure to be another success! To celebrate his latest release, Jack will be signing copies in York Waterstones from 1pm on Saturday 7 September.
You can learn more about Jack’s books on his website.
Olympics and Paralympics
As the world looks to Paris, we thought we’d highlight some of the fantastic sporting activity happening at York St John!
Level 5 Certificate in Primary School Physical Education Specialism.
Do you want to build on your knowledge and gain confidence in delivering outstanding PE sessions? York St John are holding a blended learning course to support primary school teachers and higher level teaching assistants to raise standards within primary school physical education.
For more information about this exciting CPD opportunity, please visit our website. If you would like to apply for this opportunity, please complete this form by Wednesday 11 September.
New gym on campus
Our York campus onsite gym has moved! You can watch a video showing you where it is located, as well as a sneak peak inside on Instagram.
Student awarded gold
York St John student Tom Ingram took gold at the recent British Weight Lifting 2024 Championships – his first national win!
Currently in his first year of an MSc (Hons) degree in Physiotherapy (Pre-Registration), Tom took the gold medal in the Open category of the British Senior competition held at the Birmingham NEC. You can learn more about his win on our website.
News from YSJ
Last month, we received the results of the 2024 National Student Survey. The survey shows how in the last year, we’ve retained our high student positivity score and places us in 36th position out of 120 Higher Education providers. You can learn more about the results on our website.
At the start of July, an unlikely employee gained local attention! Nola, a three year old miniature dachshund, is an official Pets as Therapy dog who supports attendees at Bereavement Cafes. Held by our Communities Centre, Nola has even caught the attention of the BBC! You can learn more about Nola, and her recent media attention on our website.
A third year Graphic Design student has won York St John’s first ever Athena Swan design award for her “eye-catching and rigorous” creative campaign to promote gender equality at the University. Fi Rowntree’s work will be made into posters, banners, graphics and other items which will rolled out across our campuses. You can learn more about this, and see some of her work, on our website.
Our Institute for Health and Care Improvement recently held their inaugural Research Showcase. Over 90 delegates from the University and beyond attended. You can learn more about the Institute and their research in our news article.
Class of 2024 pin badges
In July, we opened our annual pin badge competition for our graduating cohort. We received some fantastic designs, and we can’t wait to share the winner with you in October!
Reunion ideas for every campus
We welcome alumni to campus all year round, and we know that alumni reunions happen in every type of weather and in every month of the year. But there’s something special about a summer reunion or revisit to your old campus!
If you’re thinking about a summer reunion in London, Ripon or York, we’ve pulled together a few ideas, including for if rain is forecast:
We hope everyone attending an alumni gathering or reunion this summer has a fantastic time reconnecting, reminiscing and enjoying time with your fellow alumni.
Upcoming events
On campus
Join us for Quiet Pride on Thursday 15 August from 10am. This accessible Pride event is for everyone to enjoy, although booking a session is mandatory. Find out more on Eventbrite.
Join us on 19 September for Celebrating Early Years in York, a book launch and panel discussion. Find out more about the book and its launch on Eventbrite.
In York
Follow The new York Trailblazers trail transforming York this summer. Including works of art and sculptures, this free trail is not to be missed! Learn more about this activity on the Visit York website.
Looking ahead? In September, why not attend Dead Northern Horror Film Festival? Including screenings of short films, independent cinema and some of the classics, learn more about this Festival on the Visit York website.
North East Network
Join us in Darlington on Wednesday 30 October for a free evening of socialising with other alumni, learning more about our Alumni Office and a quiz.
This Network is entirely free to attend, and includes light refreshments. Book your free ticket on Eventbrite.
Socials
Did you know that you can stay in touch with us by following us on Facebook, Instagram or X? You can also join our LinkedIn group.
York 10k
On Sunday, our fantastic York 10k ran to raise money for our alumni-funded scholarships! Our runners had a fantastic day, including three members of your Fundraising and Alumni Office. We couldn’t be prouder of our team’s achievements!
You can find out how close we are to our £1500 fundraising target on Justgiving.
Alumination and snapshots
In the next few weeks, we’re excited to announce something very exciting linked to our alumni snapshots and Alumination site!
If you haven’t already, complete your alumni snapshot to share what you’ve been up to since completing your course and share advice for our students and newest graduates.
- Alumination and snapshot links https://blog.yorksj.ac.uk/alumination/
Last chance to use the Progression Scholarship
Did you know that we offer a generous scholarship for recent graduates who want to start a Masters or Research level course at York St John? If you graduated in or after 2019, you could be eligible for a fee discount of between 20% and 50%!
If you graduated before 2019, you are still eligible for our 10% alumni discount on most postgraduate courses.
The majority of our postgraduate courses are still accepting applications for a September 2024 start, including several new courses.
We wanted to remind you of this generous opportunity because we are updating our Progression Scholarship in September 2024. Our updated Progression Scholarship will still offer a considerable discount, but will not offer the same discount as it does now.
Learn more about which courses are eligible and apply https://www.yorksj.ac.uk/alumni/scholarships-for-alumni/
Yorkshire Day
On 1 August, villages, towns and cities around Yorkshire marked Yorkshire Day! To celebrate, we thought we’d share some key Yorkshire secrets:
- Making the perfect Yorkshire puddings is harder than it looks, so we’ve found a Mary Berry recipe to help, including some hints and tips.
- If you haven’t been back to Yorkshire for a while, Sykes Holiday Cottages have compiled a handy list of Yorkshire to English translations.
- Last year, Time Out wrote what we all already knew: Yorkshire is a great place to visit (and live). You can read their article about why Yorkshire is a great place to visit on their website.
Webinars
This summer we’ve been busy filming our next series of webinars! We can’t wait to share our webinar line up soon, but for now you can still watch our previous webinars on YouTube.
Youtube link.
Free wellbeing in business workshops
York St John Communities Centre has partnered with Momentic to offer a series offree well-being support workshops tailored specifically for business owners, where their business is up to 3 years trading. These workshops are a part of Momentic’ ‘Start & Grow’ York Programme, which is funded by the City of York Council.
Over the next seven months, Momentic will deliver workshops on:
- Wellbeing and You (August, September, October, November, January)
- Managing Overwhelm and Burnout (August)
- Boundaries and Balance (Septembers)
- Creating Confidence in Work and Life (November)
- Navigating Working Alone (January)
- Aligning Life and Business (February)
You can find out more about these workshops and book your place on Momentic’s website.
