EKC Sixth Form College - Meet the Student Experience Team

Meet the Student Experience Team

Our Student Experience Team are here to make your Sixth Form experience great. Holly and Rosie are our Student Experience Officers, and they are a team dedicated to your overall student experience. They oversee the Students’ Union and provide other enrichment opportunities throughout the year. We sat down with them to find out a little bit more about them and what they do.

What do the Student Experience Team do at EKC Sixth Form College?

Our job is exactly how it sounds: we are here to ensure the students have the best experience possible at Sixth Form. We work alongside the SU as a bridge between students and staff to make sure student feedback is actioned. We take a role in planning trips and events throughout the year – this includes all the paperwork, safety, and stewarding for all SU activities. Alongside this we help to promote student voice, working alongside the president to run class rep meetings and push for students’ voices to be heard.

We organise enrichment throughout the year to help students to feel safe and prepared for life outside of Sixth Form. This includes organising informational events around money management, sexual health, and our key safeguarding topics each month.

We have an open-door policy and are always around to signpost students to the correct places to get help if they need it.

What is your favourite thing about Sixth Form?

Our favourite thing about Sixth Form is the students. It is so rewarding to build trust with them and to be able to make sure that their time at college is enjoyable. Planning an event that the students end up loving is the best feeling – it’s great to see students smiling and spending time together as we move away from lockdown.

What exciting things can we expect for the 22/23 academic year?

The upcoming academic year will be absolutely packed full of activities that all students can enjoy.

We have so many trips this year – in fact we are doing our best to cram in two whole trips a month with a huge range of different places, activities, and prices.

Perhaps you’re into theatre? We often hold trips to London to see West End shows. Or do you like outdoor experiences? We have upcoming trips to both Paintballing and Go Ape. Maybe if you’re interested in pop culture you could join us when we hold our trips to MCM Comic Con. Be sure to check out our website because we have a lot of trips to get involved with this year.

Find out more about the SU trips you can get tickets for here.

How do you support students?

As well as signposting students and supporting enrichment, we also offer several valuable services to students. We have a constant supply of free pads and tampons for students to take whenever they need. We also offer free condoms to students, and other forms of birth control can be collected on Wednesdays from our sexual health nurse, Gilly.

We have a food bank in the Students’ Union office which can be accessed by any students who are struggling. Donations are made by staff and students throughout the year to help students who may not have the food they need at home. If students need clothes or toiletries, we can direct them to the Wellbeing Centre in the LRC where they have a clothes and toiletries bank too.

Holly Stokes-Geddes - Student Experience Officer

University degree: Astrophysics

Favourite hobbies: Reading, yoga and meditation, road trips

Favourite quote: “Black holes aren’t as black as they are painted. They are not the eternal prisons they were once thought. Things can get out of a black hole both on the outside and possibly to another universe. So if you feel you are in a black hole, don't give up — there's a way out.” – Stephen Hawking

This is a quote from the lecture that inspired me to study my degree, and it offers a cute little message of hope that things are not always as scary as they seem.

Rosemarie Trent - Student Experience Officer

University degree: Illustration

Favourite hobbies: Collecting little trinkets, making art, playing with my two dogs

Favourite quote: "The fact that we're alive is enough for us to be respected, right?" - Kim Namjoon

This is my favourite quote not only because it comes from someone I respect a lot, but because it is also a great way of thinking in regards to how you treat others.