Supporting Student Carers to get involved with extracurricular activities
Bryony Brown, a mature student and mother of two studying full-time at Leeds, talks about the difference sitting on the Mature Student Advisory Board facilitated by the Lifelong Learning Centre (LLC) has made to her experience of university.
A day in the life
It’s 7:00am, and I’m woken by the voice of my eldest child informing me she’s dressed and wanting to know if she can check what’s behind the door on her Advent calendar today. Aside from the annoyance of setting everything up the night before, Advent makes the morning routine with the little ones a much faster experience. The toddler unfortunately still has no concept of Christmas, but wrestling one feral two-year-old into a nappy and some sort of clothing is much easier without having to explain that Princess Elsa outfits aren’t part of school uniform policy.
Around 8:30 — following more WWE moves to get said two-year-old into the pram — it’s time for the school run, named so for a reason. Running up the path, with the kids and endless bags in tow, I worry I resemble a character from Motherland (I’m not sure which, but most likely an unflattering combination of a few of them).
Nursery drop first to receive a notification of more fee increases in January (that’s a whole different blog post), then it’s up to the school gates…9:00 and a mad dash down to the train station. It’s Sod’s Law — if you run the train will be delayed, but if you walk it’ll be on time! I don’t take any chances and run — of course its delayed.
The train arrives at Leeds leaving just enough time to make my 10:00 lecture — if I power walk. After four hours of lectures, I can squeeze in an hour and a half in the Library before it’s time to reverse the morning routine: train, collect the eldest from after school club by 5:30, nursery for the littlest, and home at around 6:00pm.
Luckily for me my partner has made tea and it’s their turn to put the kids to bed — although it also means I’m left with the washing up, and I’m sure the rest of the family have challenged themselves to use every pan we own to make dinner! By 7:30 I’m shattered and the elf can half hang out the letter box — that’s as imaginative as I’m getting this evening — but a barrage of deadlines mean that I’ll need to spend the next couple of hours writing essays and revising for my January exams.
There isn’t much time for extracurricular activities when it comes to students with caring responsibilities. Socialising — what’s that? Events and even activities aimed at assisting your studies sometimes have to be missed when they’re not built into your timetable.
So the question becomes — how can universities ensure students with caring responsibilities still have opportunities to participate in activities outside of their course?
As an active member of the recently established Leeds Mature Student Advisory Board (MSAB) I was asked what’s made it so successful in its first year. Here are some of the reasons why it’s worked for me:
Flexibility: MSAB meetings are arranged via a poll where members vote on times and dates that suit them. We can attend remotely so we don’t have to worry about taking time out to travel or arranging for a day when we’re going to be on campus. They aren’t compulsory to attend — you come to the meetings you can make, and there’s no pressure to join ones that you can’t.
Compensation: As part of the board, you’re paid for your time. This includes any preparatory time you may have put in and it’s much easier to negotiate swapping bedtime days if I’m paid to attend a meeting! It ensures a good attendance at the meetings, as paid opportunities are more attractive than voluntary ones. It also alleviates some of the financial burden and guilt felt by carers who may have given up paid employment to attend university in the first pace. Remuneration makes you feel like your opinions are truly valued, rather than just being part of a ‘tick box’ evaluation exercise. It shows that your opinion is respected as an expert in your experience of studying (Diagnostic Radiography in my case) and the point of view you contribute.
Informality: Meetings are generally held online, which, as well as aiding the flexibility aspect, also adds an informal quality. I’m not embarrassed, for example, if one of my children bursts into the room to ask for a cuddle midway through! There’s a sense of rapport with the other members as we talk about biscuits, pets and/or children before the meetings start. Fresh out of the shower one meeting, I was complimented on my towel head wrap as I had managed to fit in the 5:00pm meeting before starting a night shift as part of my clinical placement. These interactions mean that no one’s afraid to put across their points or contribute ideas.
Communication: Activities can be deflating when you don’t hear anything back about your input. Closing the feedback loop has been a greatly appreciated, refreshing, and rewarding part of sitting on the board. You can see your ideas and feedback feeding through the system and inciting change at the University, which is validating even if the change doesn’t impact you directly. Not only is this fed back to the board members through action points in meetings, but across the University too — via inclusive and easily decipherable meeting summaries.
Other MSAB members have brought up many other great points explaining why the board has worked for them, and why the ways in which the board functions has added to its success, but these are the ones that have worked for me.
Insights from other board members were shared during the 2022 Leeds Student Success Conference and a recording of that session is available to watch on the Lifelong Learning Centre YouTube channel below.
If you’d like connect with the Mature Student Advisory Board, we encourage anyone to suggest ideas and topics for discussion at board meetings — you could even join us for a meeting to talk about it in person!
Please feel free to submit agenda items using this online form, or email our Staff Chair Lauren Huxley at l.r.huxley@leeds.ac.uk).
We’d be delighted to hear from you!
