Student Forum gets off to a great start

The inaugural meeting of the new Student Forum took place this afternoon. Extremely well attended by student reps from every year and course, the Forum included presentations on the proposed new library and Information Systems improvements plus plenty of chance for student discussion of other matters which affect their academic experience.

This forum links to our Programme Committees - and gives a chance once a term to compare student experience across the whole School. Thanks to the Student Union Brackenhurst Liaison officer Toby Mitchell and VP Jonny Ellison for their input regarding the Union system for future training for reps.  Look out for information for Tuesday!

Greening the farm fleet project - enabling precision agriculture

The School was delighted to receive two new tractors on the farm today through University investment in greening our fleet.  

These will enable us to teach precision agriculture to agriculture, horticulture and countryside management students. In addition, the cab is fitted with a sophisticated GPS, enabling a wide range of students to use the field data generated from this.  

October 15 Open Day at NTU Brackenhurst

Today's Open Day is humming - people from all over the country are finding out what studying at Brackenhurst is all about - and with the sun shining and the non-stop tours of the estate it's a great atmosphere. 

If you've missed it, your next chance is Saturday December 3rd 2011 starting at 10.00am!

Animal Blessing Service at Southwell Minster

Some of Brackenhurst's many animals had an unusual experience on Sunday when they were welcomed into the Minster to be blessed by Canon Jacqui Jones! 

The community enjoyed seeing the ponies, snakes and bearded dragon in a new setting -  many thanks to Cat Sanderson and students for organising our participation.

Brackenhurst hosts the Spring Council Meeting of the World’s Poultry Science Association (UK branch)

On the 12th October, poultry scientists representing both industry and academia gathered from the length and breadth of the UK in the Boardroom of Brackenhurst Hall. The WPSA is an international association whose major role is to encourage, and help facilitate, liaison among research scientists and educators, and between those in research and education and those working in the many diverse sectors of the industry. There are now over 6300 members in 71 countries, including USA, all the former Soviet states, most European countries, Asia, Australasia, China, Japan, Israel and many countries of Africa and South America.  

The meeting was hosted by Dr Emily Burton, a WPSA Councillor who is a member of staff with the School of ARES. Several members of the Council have visited Brackenhurst previously to collaborate in projects using the campus Poultry Research Unit (opened in January 2009) but many first time visitors commented on the lovely setting for the meeting. The strong environmental ethos of Brackenhurst seems to have permeated the Council meeting as they discussed themes for their next symposium in 2013; settling on "sustainable poultry production".

‘What Next?’ - 18 October Newark and Sherwood Careers Event 2011

The marketing team will be busy again on Tuesday at the:

‘What Next?’ - Newark and Sherwood Careers Event 2011

Tuesday 18 October 2011 – The Dome and Carriage Court, Kelham Hall

The ‘What Next?’ - Newark and Sherwood Careers Event 2011 is aimed at year 11 students who are in the initial stages of planning their future careers and to parents and carers who will be supporting their decisions.

In its third successful year this annual convention is a fantastic opportunity for students and parents to meet training providers and professionals in their chosen industries and take part in interactive activities, games, quizzes and taster sessions and get loads of information about their ideal careers.

The event is split into two parts.  During the day over 1000 year 11 students from all five secondary schools in the district will be attending.  In the evening, from 4.30pm to 7pm doors will open to secondary school students in all years and their parents / carers; no pre-booking needed for the evening event. 

The event is supported by further and higher education institutions, training organisations, local employers, public services, The Newark Advertiser, Newark College and Newark and Sherwood District Council.

Exhibitors at the event will include:

•   Further Education - Brackenhurst Campus (Nottingham Trent University)

Newark College, West Nottinghamshire College, Bilborough College, New College Nottingham, South Nottingham College,

•  Higher Education - Nottingham Trent University, University of Nottingham + School of Nursing, University of Lincoln

•        Business Support – Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce

•        Public services – all armed forces, IRC Morton Hall, Nottinghamshire County Council

•        Student support services – Connexions, CASY

•        Private training providers – ESG (Triangle), Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX), CITB Construction Skills, Charnwood Training, ISIS Training

•        Local Businesses – UK Waste Solutions, Timico Ltd, The NE Group, Newark Advertiser, Derry Building Services Ltd, The Area Strategic Group.

For more information about the event contact Amy Myroshnychenko at Newark College on 01522 876277 or e-mail enquiries@whatnextnewark.org.uk

Brackenhurst wind turbine application backed by Southwell Town Council

At a packed meeting in the Southwell Courthouse there were plenty of opinions expressed - for and against wind turbines - and the Brackenhurst planning application for two 65m turbines on the estate.  The different view points were extremely well articulated from all sides but it was particularly good to hear from the younger members of the Southwell community in the If Not, Then What? group which has been so active in marshalling support for this renewable energy initiative.  As they left the Courthouse they said how pleased they were that their opinons had been listened to ...

The motion to oppose the planning application was defeated and a new motion - to support the application with the proviso that the community involvement be made a condition of any eventual approval  - was passed by 8 votes to 3.  The application will now progress to Newark and Sherwood District Council ....

The Idle Lowlands! Hodsock Priory visit

The Idle Lowlands are a `landscape policy zone' which includes the Hodsock Priory estate on the Nottinghamshire/ South Yorkshire border. On a tour with Sir Andrew Buchanan we watched the last two cricket bat willows being felled from the riverside to make room for the next crop of willows which is already well established

 The historic house is very characterful with a Tudor gatehouse and Georgian, Victorian and 21st century wings - all now used for weddings. The farm is predominantly arable on sandy soils with small patches of woodland which Sir Andrew has restocked with native species as part of the estates's Higher Level Stewardship scheme. The arable manager was a Brackenhurst student from the 1970s...I need to check if he is a member of BOSA...he certainly doesn't get much chance to be idle at this time of year as was out ploughing until dark after setting up the irrigation on the latest crop of parsnips.... 

What Next? Careers and Opportunities Fair at Harvey Hadden Stadium Nottingham

NTU's stand is proving popular at the Opportunities Fair at Harvey Hadden Sports Stadium organised by Connexions Nottingham. This is running on Tuesday 5th and Wednesday 6th October.  On Wednesday the Schools' Session runs from 9-5pm and the Fair is open to the public from 5-8pm. Organisers are expecting up to eight thousand teenagers and parents to attend - I'm sure our Marketing Team will relish the challenge!

More information from...

http://www.sortitonline.com/learning/what-next-opportunities-fair/

"The event showcases major employers, Universities and FE Colleges, who will be raising awareness of the opportunities available to Year 11s. In addition to the daytime school sessions, students and parents/carers are welcome to come along to the evening sessions. Besides talking to Connexions advisers about your son or daughter, there’s free careers advice for adults too from Connexions."

Brackenhurst Old Students' Meeting

Tonight's meeting of BOSA (Brackenhurst Old Students' Association) was another indication of how supportive our Alumni are of all our activities. Apart from finalising plans for the annual lunch in March - which takes some organising as hundreds attend, there was useful discussion about how to keep the database of ex-students and staff up to date in conjunction with the University's Alumni Office.  The head of the Alumni Office Tim Cobb, came to Brackenhurst last week with several of his staff to better understand some of our priorities for support from the Alumni Fund and benefactors. 



Steve Knott, Tim Cobb, Steven Barwell, Fiona Fowkes



I was able to give them - and tonight's committee - an update on all our current projects - and the strong recruitment this year to all the School's courses. We also talked about the new library proposals and about some of our ideas for heritage conservation projects on the estate. These include the planting of traditional Nottinghamshire apple varieties to help ensure they are actively conserved and a proposed bid with the MA in Museums and Heritage Management to restore some of the old farm buildings.

You can keep up with BOSA and Brackenhurst activity on Facebook now thanks to Sarah Hallam!