The Hub For Success – Modelling change through Voice in Higher and Further Education

Maryam Ishaq and Michael Grant, Queen Margaret University; Sarah-Jayne Morris, Herriot Watt University; The Hub for Success hosted by Napier University

Email: m.grant2@napier.ac.uk

Presentation

The presentation will be available shortly before the conference.

Abstract

The Hub for Success is a partnership of nine Corporate Parents (local authorities, tertiary education bodies and funding bodies) in the Lothian area, working to improve opportunities for Care Experienced Students to get in, stay in, and return to Further and Higher Education. Our Strategic Lead Student Ambassadors will describe how we have built co-design, co-evaluation, and co-delivery into the core of our work, much of which is steered by the Student Ambassadors we employ.

We deliver a bespoke 1:1 service model, providing individual Care Experienced Students with advice, guidance and support on issues affecting their engagement with further and higher education. Alongside this, the Hub for Success has used the data we generate from this work as a mandate, allowing us to lobby for the policy and practice changes our Care Experienced Students need. This highlights how we can use Voice to challenge the structural and systemic barriers that create educational inequalities. Through our partnership, we have been able to examine our role in Education as part of the wider scaffolding of Care in Scotland, and to ensure that our partners have the support they need to aid their learning and understanding of what care experience is, and its potential to impact on education and lifelong learning.

In this seminar we will provide an overview of the model of the Hub for Success, tell the story of our partnership, and showcase some of the projects our collaboration has facilitated. We will discuss how we have been led by our Strategic Lead Student Ambassadors in redesigning the service and our partnership, our pilot of the Learning Explorers programme - bringing Higher & Further Education aspirations to primary school aged children with Care Experience and how we have built power sharing and Voice into the heart of everything that we do.

Michael Grant

Student Ambassador Strategic Lead, Queen Margaret University – Hub for Success hosted by Napier University

I am currently working as a Student Ambassador Strategic Lead with the hub for Success in Lothian. I also hold other leadership and consulting roles across the third sector, with a view to bringing practice and policy in line with national ambitions and into a space of co-development. Core to these roles is promoting opportunities for those with Lived Experience, with a focus of Care Experience and Education.

I came to this work following a career in Health and Social Care, throughout which I keenly pursued advocacy and policy involvement. I now find myself a passionate advocate for co-design in policy and practice - at strategic and operational levels.

I love to meet a team who aren’t afraid to challenge their own practice, and to work collaboratively not only to allow the voice of lived experience into the room, but to promote the place of that voice at the table.

Sarah Jayne Morris

Student Ambassador Strategic Lead, Herriot Watt University - Hub for Success hosted by Napier University

My name is SJ and I am a care experienced, 4th year, cell and molecular biology student. I started my degree in 2017 and had to pause studies due to Covid but I am back now and enjoying studying again!

I am a hardworking and creative individual who has years of experience in academic and professional settings. I am a definite self-starter. In my time at Heriot-Watt University I have secured a variety of industry and academic laboratory opportunities.

In February 2020 I unilaterally lost my hearing after contracting COVID-19 and now suffer with tinnitus. This forced me to reset for a little while. Since taking up the role of Strategic Lead Student Ambassador, I have made it a priority to bring the breadth of my experience to bear, in identifying and challenging assumptions in practice and values, and promoting strong representation.

Maryam Ishaq

Student Ambassador Strategic Lead, Queen Margaret University - Hub for Success hosted by Napier University

Though my interests have shifted throughout my academic career the underlying thread has been to pursue an understanding of public health and policy. I have a degree in Nutrition and Food Science as well as a Masters in Gastronomy and through this I gained an understanding of not only the clinical aspects but also the socio-cultural discourses around food.

I am currently undertaking a PHD in public interest and engagement within the communication, cultural and media studies department at Queen Margaret University. This has been valuable in my work with the Hub for Success as a Strategic Lead and Student Ambassador. I took on this role because I believed it was an opportunity to highlight my experience of being in higher education as someone who is care experienced. I have since been able to play a role in challenging the structural and systemic barriers that create educational inequalities.