Spa week success
News
Spa Week success
Friday, 29 March, 2019
Monday 18 March marked Bath Spa University’s second ever Special Projects and Activities (SPA) Week. SPA Weeks - introduced for the 2018/19 academic year - is a series of pop-up projects and activities run by students and staff from across the University. For this academic year, they were held on 5-9 November 2018 and 18-22 March 2019.
During these weeks normal teaching timetables for most courses are suspended, to allow time for students and staff to get involved in something different and learn new skills. SPA weeks are designed to enhance the student experience by providing a week of fun, inspiring activities, enabling students and staff to work with others in the Bath Spa community (and beyond) and to make the most of the opportunities that Bath Spa offers.
Some highlights from the recent SPA Week were:
- The 68 students and staff who chose to be trained in CPR - joining the British Heart Foundation's nation of life savers
- The inspiring, emotional talk from James Shone - filling up everyone’s balloons of self belief
- The International Food Festival organised by the Bath Spa Catering team and featuring the the student Samba band, Jamma De Samba
- The 52 students who attended one of the Careers workshop, now feeling more prepared to enter the world of work
- The 100+ staff and students who up-skilled by attending an Adobe workshop or learnt how to create their own website in Wordpress
Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Student Experience), Dr Rebecca Schaaf, reflected:
“This is the first year we have run SPA Week and it’s been really encouraging to see the benefits the week has brought to individual students and staff members. By allocating a week, for students and staff to learn something new, and in some cases outside their course or day-to-day remit, it provides the opportunity for our whole community to interact in a completely different way with our campuses and with each other.
She continued: “These things always take time to grow, but we can see the potential that SPA Week offers. Bath Spa is a unique and inspiring place to work, and SPA Week is just another example of how we’re thinking creatively to ensure our students have the best possible experience.”
The next SPA Week will be held on 4–8 November 2019. For more information, or if you would like to propose a SPA Week activity please contact spa.weeks@bathspa.ac.uk.