It’s been a busy start to the year as we kicked off with NUS Convention at Leeds University Union. This was great fun and I seemed to think that most sabbatical officers I met learned a fair bit; I know I did. I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank all of the staff at LUU who worked really hard to deliver a great event and it made me more proud than ever to have been the Education Officer there.

Summer progressed with a number of regional events. I attended receptions in London (Greenwich), North West (Man Met) and the South West boat trip from Plymouth’s Exmouth campus and made a number of good contacts.

NUS training was a new experience for me having never attended any as a Sabb and thus I was particularly excited about being able to participate in Present and Facilitate at York Uni. The training was very useful and I am sure my skills have been enhanced as a result even if we did all suffer at the hands of the fire alarm one morning.

The other training event was Lead and Change at Aston Uni which I found immensely stimulating, whilst relishing in my role play as the Chief Exec of the entirely fictional housing company Unity! It was great to be taking part in such a demanding course that really seemed to stretch the delegates and invigorate them in new ways. It is a very political course with a small p, I feel the politicisation of Officers both of member unions and of the NEC is vital to ensure the future success of our union.

More recently I have attended Labour Party Conference and have begun to visit member unions. If you want me to drop by please give me a call, particularly those of you in the North East for whom I am your closest member. For the rest of the year I am looking forward to the National Demo in Cardiff and what I believe to be a real chance of victory while I am also beginning to work on campaigns for Teacher Trainers. I plan to conduct a campaign on the issue of securing the same funding for final year teaching students as PGCE students, again if you want to be of any assistance or for more info please get in contact

Bye for Now

Gareth Smith
07977 980856
Gareth.smith@nus.org.uk

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