Every Monday, firstpoint publishes five points about a topic related to life at university. This week, we’re welcoming some of the early starter Nursing, Midwifery and Medicine students to the University of Worcester. We look forward to meeting you all, firstpoint is here to help…
POINT ONE: GET TO KNOW THE UNIVERSITY…
We know that your courses have started a little earlier than most other courses, however that means you get the benefit of checking out the university and settling in before it gets busy.
You can also take a virtual tour of the campuses, or find out more about campus facilities? If you need any maps to help find your way around, you’ll find some in your Student Handbook, or just visit firstpoint who can offer maps for each campus and advice on how to travel between campus sites. The team can also help you understand how to understand and navigate campus buildings and room numbers, so that you can find your way to class when teaching starts.
You’ll find lots of places to socialise, eat and study on campus too – from the Student Union Hangar, hosting a bar, comfortable seating and games, to multiple food outlets across all campus sites, and please do visit both the Peirson Study and Guidance Centre and the Hive library, where you’ll find excellent study areas to relax and work in, including dedicated silent study zones.
POINT TWO: ASK FIRSTPOINT
At firstpoint, we’re here to be your first point of contact to help you access information and support during your studies. We can help you to access specialist support and provide information that will be useful throughout your studies. If we can’t answer your question ourselves, we’ll do our best to find the correct department or team for you.
You can visit us on the St John’s Campus, in the Peirson Study and Guidance Centre, during our opening hours, phone us on 01905 542551 or email firstpoint@worc.ac.uk.
You’ll also find lots of helpful information (including our opening hours) on the firstpoint webpages.
POINT THREE: MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR INDUCTION ACTIVITIES
Whether you’re a new student this year or a returning student, during your induction week you’ll have lots of different activities planned to help you settle in and feel confident for the start of your course.
Some of these will be mandatory sessions, but we’d really recommend you make the most of the non-mandatory sessions also, such as Library tours or the Student’s Union society welcome events, as these will give you a really good starting point for the academic year and help you embed yourself in the course and student life.
Our full programme of activities and events also starts in a couple of weeks during the Welcome Week Festival – check out the programme here and pop some dates in your diary!
The team at the Three Counties Medical School are looking forward to getting to know their new Medical Students, so if you are joining the Medical School this year, why not have a look through the TCMS staff pages and get to know them as well!
Every student will also be allocated a Personal Academic Tutor (PAT) to be there as a point of contact in your course for you, right through your studies!
For all our early starters studying Medicine, Health courses or Teaching, your faculty will provide you with all the learning opportunities that you need, all you need is to arrive with an open mind and a desire to learn.
POINT FOUR: LOOKING AFTER YOURSELF
We know that your courses can be very busy, with long hours of study and placement activity and so it’s important to look after yourself. Visit our Starting at University pages which include information you may find helpful to view before you start your course. With useful advice on caring for yourself at university, alongside practical support about skills you might need at university, so that you can make the most of your time here and fulfil your potential.
The university Student Wellbeing and Support Team are also there to provide advice and support as you settle into university, right up until the day you graduate! The Wellbeing & Personal Support pages are full of fantastic advice and resources to support you personally, remember to be kind to yourself and ask for help when you need it.
POINT FIVE: WE’RE HERE ALL YEAR
We know there will be a lot to take in at the start of the year, with lots of new people to meet and information to learn and so it may not be for a few weeks until you start to think of additional questions, or need some support or advice.
We just want to reassure you that firstpoint are here to support you all year, even during the usual holidays periods, from initial welcome and settling in questions you may have, and through the coming weeks and months as you progress onto and through your course, please come and have a chat to us if you have any questions you are not sure who to ask – we’re here to support and guide you through university life.
You can pop in and see us, give us a call on 01905 542551 or send us an email on firstpoint@worc.ac.uk
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