· Education team mtg

· Mtg HR team

· Mtg Stephen Twigg, to discuss the citizenship agenda in FE colleges and potential funding streams

· Gabbitas Seminar on 14 – 19

· West Mids and East Mids FE essential training in Coventry.

· Mtg with recruiters re: national director position

22^nd – 29^th November

· Southampton University Council, re re-affiliation

· Bilateral with the AOC

· Debate entitled ‘should we dump the NUS’ at Exeter University

· Wrote my guardian article for which I got paid 204 pounds

· Parkside School, GCSE presentations

· LSE Council, this one was an interesting experience, it’s weekly and they heckle and abuse their guest speakers, including throwing paper missiles at them, I’ve been through the NUS presidents informal hustings process so I wasn’t intimidated but I’d hardly say it was in the name of democracy.

· London and the South East’s presidential residential training event in Brighton, this one has stories attached which I cannot put on my blog, but feel free to ask any of the presidents from that region.

29^th – 5^th December

· Edinburgh affiliation debate

· Surrey University SU AGM

· Edinburgh referendum, it’s very very cold leafleting at this time, but so very very worth it when we found out we’d won, Welcome back to where you belong!

· National Demo, I think the pictures and reports speak for themselves. Thankyou all so very much for getting enthused and involved, a great and fingers crossed successful day.

· FE Governors Training

6^th – 12^th December

· NEC mtg

· Delegation mtg

· Mtg with UCL exec team to discuss the affiliation referendum

· Recruitment for the new Directors of Resources Post, dinner, interviews, etc

· Priority Campaign mtg

13^th – 19^th December

· Visit Sheffield University, Sheffield Hallam

· Visit Sheffield College

· Visit New College Nottingham

· NUS full staff meeting

· Recruitment for a new interim National Director, whilst we do the permanent recruitment. Please to say that we were successful and the new ND will be joining us in January.

20^th – 26^th – December

· My birthday, lots of beautiful pressies, a decorated office, and 3 cakes, what more can a girl ask.

· First meeting of the Year of Change Steering group in NUS HQ

· Building closes for XMAS!!

· Holiday pint pulling and turkey dinner serving begins

27^th – 2^nd January

Pint pulling and turkey dinner serving

3^rd –9^th January

· NUSSL mid year get together

· Mtg with new members of the senior staff team

· Year of change steering group

· Lots and lots of email catch-ups, phone message catch ups etc. It may look like a quiet one but I can assure you that it wasn’t

· ’silly season’ officially kicks in NUS, as elections begin to encroach on the mind!!!!

10^th – 16^th January

· NEC mtg.

· Huddersfield new bar opening, great space, really well done, just wish they could have found the switch to turn the air conditioning on.

· Mtg with the National Pensioners Convention in Westminster.

· Mtg. with the Mature Students Union representatives

· Mtg with ESSA, the English Secondary Students Association to discuss cross working and the representation situation in sixth forms.

· Mtg with the editor and a journalist from FE FOCUS (TES), they’ll interested in NUS’s prioritisation of FE and our response to the Tomlinson Review.

17^th – 23^rd January

· Mtg with the principal of Sheffield College to ‘discuss’ the setting up of a more formalised union structure at the college. I got involved in student politics whilst a student at this college, I sat on the governors, and we won a block grant (which although tiny, was something) and two sabbatical officers. I then went on to win the sabbatical general secretary position. By the end of my time in office the union had gained office space and computers in all of the major sites, course rep structures and a development worker. Only a few years on there's no accessible grant, no sabs, no officers and no computers and everything else has pretty much fallen away, which I find incredible depressing. However there are a bunch of students on site who’ve got together and are actively pushing to re-create the students union as was, and their determination, even when they come up across the highest of brick walls is extraordinarily impressive, and I’m really enjoying supporting them in any way I can.

· Snow in Sheffield, but no time for sledging cos I had to head to …

· SU Visits Northumbria, Newcastle Uni

· Strategic Management team mtg.

· Spoke on a panel debate ‘How can we best ensure access to HE, is OFFA the answers’ with representatives from academia, UUK, and UCAS. I argued that not only did we have to give OFFA some more teeth but also that what was crucial was a centralised web information resource, where students could quickly and easily find an compare information on course content, costs, bursaries provisions etc. Was quite amused to discover that a University TV channel is being launched on digital, where universities can compete for our attention, reckon I’d prefer desperate housewives.

· Mtg at the DFES, re safety on campus

· Wrote my Guardian Article, for which I received 204 pounds.

· Spent Friday Morning with the auditors going through the NUS accounts, feel that I may finally be beginning to understand them.

· Interview with the Guardian, See next Tuesdays education supplement for my profile.

· Wrote my manifesto.

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