New year round-up and team news! 10 Jan 2025
Happy new year from all in the sparqs team! We hope 2025 has started well for everyone and we look forward to working with you all again during the coming year! We begin the year with some exciting team news…. we… Read More
Embedding student partnership within staff development project – your chance to get involved! 10 Jan 2025
Many thanks to those of you who’ve already contributed to the current sparqs staff development project. The project is progressing well and we are delighted that we can now offer an opportunity for institutions to get involved in piloting project… Read More
Next SESN on 4th February and relaunch of the Buddy Scheme! 10 Jan 2025
Bookings are now open for the next Student Engagement Staff Network (SESN), which is taking place on Tuesday 4th February 2025, on Zoom, from 10.00am to 1.00pm. See the event booking page for all the details! The network is open for… Read More
The next NEON meeting on 25th February is open to book! 10 Jan 2025
The second National Education Officers’ Network (NEON) meeting for 2024-25 is taking place on Tuesday 25th February 2025, on Zoom, from 10.30am to 12.30pm. See the event booking page to register to attend and please save the date in your… Read More
Save the dates for our 2025 That’s Quality! event 10 Jan 2025
We are pleased to give early notification of the confirmed dates for our 2025 annual induction event for student officers and students’ association staff, That’s Quality! The event will once again be split into three parts: The first part of That’s Quality!… Read More
College student board member induction materials 12 Nov 2024
The annual induction for student members of college boards of management took place online on Thursday 5th September 2024 and the materials are now available! The event, run jointly by colleagues from the College Development Network, NUS Charity and sparqs, is… Read More
sparqs' team news! 12 Nov 2024
We’ve recently wished a fond farewell to Megan McHaney, who has been working with us over the past year on a temporary consultancy basis. Megan’s work has been hugely valuable to sparqs, providing additional capacity during the development of some… Read More
National sparqs' CRT sessions 12 Nov 2024
During the last academic year, we piloted national Course Rep Training (CRT) sessions, giving reps from all colleges and universities the chance to attend a sparqs’ CRT session if they had missed the opportunity within their own institution. These sessions were… Read More
Our 2024-25 NEON programme begins on 10th December! 12 Nov 2024
sparqs is excited to announce the first of the National Education Officers Network (NEON) meetings for 2024-25, which will take place on Tuesday 10th December 2024, on Zoom, from 11.00am to 12.30pm. See the event booking page to sign up and save… Read More
Our recent resources and SFC SEAP drop-ins! 12 Nov 2024
A reminder about two of our recently-published resources, in case anyone missed them.... both designed to help institutions with the new tertiary quality arrangements, in terms of how partnership approaches can be built into institutional processes, and supporting meaningful student… Read More
Launch of sparqs’ Self-Evaluation and Action Plan (SEAP) guidance 17 Oct 2024
sparqs is delighted to announce the publication of our SEAP Guidance for students’ associations and student officers, designed to support meaningful student engagement throughout the SEAP (Self-Evaluation and Action Plan) process. The guidance includes an overview of the SEAP process;… Read More
Launch of Scotland's Ambition for Student Partnership resource 07 Oct 2024
We are delighted to share our new resource, Scotland’s Ambition for Student Partnership, and its accompanying features and indicators. Commissioned by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), it builds on sparqs’ previous work supporting the sector to explore partnership and helps… Read More
SESN and NEON reminders... our next SESN meeting is now open! 07 Oct 2024
A reminder about our 2024-25 SESN meetings and NEON plans..... SESN (Student Engagement Staff Network) The next two SESN dates for this academic year have already been set and the November meeting is now open for bookings: Thursday 28th November 2024 – online,… Read More
Still time to sign up for sparqs' Buddy Scheme! 07 Oct 2024
The Buddy Scheme is back for a third year and there's still time to sign up before the deadline on Friday 18th October 2024! Aimed at student engagement practitioners working in students' associations and institutions across Scotland, by signing up to… Read More
Have you organised your Course Rep Training? 07 Oct 2024
Our Course Rep Training (CRT) sessions are now underway, so just a reminder to CRT Organisers (Representation Co-ordinators and those with similar remits in colleges and universities across Scotland) to arrange your rep training, if you haven’t already done so. If… Read More
sparqs' team news! 11 Sep 2024
We are delighted to welcome Catriona Bell to the sparqs’ team over the next few months, joining us on a Consultancy basis to carry out a piece work around staff development. Catriona has been engaged in sparqs’ work over the… Read More
sparqs' Buddy Scheme is open for registrations! 11 Sep 2024
The Buddy Scheme is back for a third year! Aimed at student engagement practitioners working in students' associations and institutions across Scotland, by signing up to the scheme, you are paired with a buddy, to give you the opportunity to… Read More
New sparqs' guide on best practices for a successful student induction 11 Sep 2024
We are pleased to launch a new online and blended learning resource on best practices for a successful student induction, aimed at supporting sabbatical officers to reflect on induction activities and resources available to students in the context of online… Read More
Suggested questions to help course reps 2024-25 11 Sep 2024
Alongside the revised Student Learning Experience model, sparqs has also produced a revised set of Suggested questions for course reps for 2024-25. These questions can help reps collect feedback from classmates in specific thematic areas. Collecting student feedback enables course reps… Read More
Reminder: sparqs' CRT is open to book! 11 Sep 2024
In case anyone missed our last articles, just a reminder that bookings are open for Course Rep Training during 2024-25 ....for delivery from week beginning Monday 23rd September 2024 onwards. Our online CRT self-directed module will be available imminently. All the… Read More
