Enrichment
Don't think college is all about work!
There are very many activities available to you - sometimes in the lunch hour, sometimes after college and sometimes a trip abroad will take place in holiday time. All activities are open to all students, who can sign up for activities at the Freshers' Fair held in the first full week of term. The activities are also advertised in college and on the intranet. Students who want to swap activities or join later in the term, can do so by seeing the tutor concerned.
Student Union
This activity is open to all members of the student body. Meeting fortnightly, students discuss the issues around college that concern them, ranging from IT facilities to teething problems with new buildings. Students also have the regular opportunity to discuss these issues with the Principalship.
Charities Group
This group meets on a regular basis to raise funds for charities.
Charities supported in the past have included Children in Need,
Christies Hospital and the Terence Higgins Trust.
Any fun suggestions or extraordinary ways of raising money for charity are accepted.
Equal Opportunities
This group of students meet regularly to ensure that each student achieves their full potential. In the past the group has organised awareness raising days such as Women’s Day and Aid’s Day. They also have checked the disabled facilities in college to ensure that college is a welcoming inclusive environment for all students.
Canteen
This year we have a major project in college; to ensure that the new Coffee Bar works well and caters for all student needs. In the past student surveys have been responded to by the canteen manager and have ensured cheaper and more varied food.
Voluntary Work
At Winstanley College we encourage all students
to participate in voluntary work. It can be a really rewarding
opportunity to gain both academic and personal skills. If you are
contemplating a career in the medicine-related /teaching/social care or
business fields, volunteering can often provide workable projects to
assist with coursework.
But volunteering can be
as varied as DJ-ing in a local hospital, helping to run a kids’
football club or planting trees in a conservation project, all of which
help you to integrate within the community and gain confidence and
skills.
We hold several volunteer events during the year where we invite a
variety of voluntary agencies to college so that you can talk directly
to people that have the answers to your questions. Find out what’s on
offer and sign up on the day if you find something you want to do. More
and more universities and companies now look for students who have
experienced the world of volunteering and remember it doesn’t have to
be linked to your chosen career path. Further information is available
from The Progression and Welfare Manager in the Careers Office near
Student Reception.
Duke of Edinburgh
A weekly meeting takes place to help students complete the award, if they have already started it at a different centre.
Beginners are also very welcome and many students start the programme
at Winstanley and keep in touch to finish it while they are at
university. Students in past years have really enjoyed their success in
this challenging and varied series of activities.
Christian Union
The Christian Union meets every week and is always open to new ideas. It welcomes any new members whether Christians or just interested students, who would like to know more about the things we do and believe.
Writers and Writing
This year we have experimented with a new intranet magazine and
produce every year many different types of publications including a
college magazine, Winstanley Waffle, and Beards - a magazine for those
interested in Philosophy.
In association with the English Society we also produce a Poetry Anthology and a Short Story Anthology.
Anyone who enjoys writing is welcome to join in!
Sport
Winstanley has opportunities for both team sports and recreational sport.
Team Sports:- Trials take place at the beginning of the year and teams
are established for Soccer, Rugby Union, Rugby League, Netball, Hockey
and Badminton.
There are regular training sessions for all teams, and matches take
place on Wednesday afternoons, Badminton matches after college.
Recreational Sport:- You can play basketball, table tennis, soccer,
badminton and aerobics and the fitness room is available at all times
for training! Requests for provision in any other sport will always be
considered.
Coaching Courses:- Community Sports Leaders Courses are offered to all
students who attend one lesson a week and are committed to 10 hours
voluntary work
Performing Arts
There are amazing opportunities at Winstanley for anyone interested in Dance, Drama or Music.
Trips to concerts, plays and dance productions are arranged on a
regular basis. Tutors visit college regularly to help with the music
tuition. A number of groups are formed each year from Classical to Jazz
for both instrumental and choral work and each year major dance and
drama productions have been put on in college.
Past productions have included Cabaret evenings and ‘Pop Idol’ events,
‘West Side Story’, Berkoff’s ‘The Trial’, Dario Fo’s ‘The Accidental
Death of an Anarchist’, Lorca’s ‘Yerma’, devised theatre and dance and
music concerts.
A large number of students are involved not only in performing, but
also in backstage work. Students volunteer, and where necessary,
audition for roles.
Foreign visits have included the choir’s recent tours to the USA and
Portugal, dance/drama workshops in Spain and Italy and a company of
dancers entering the grand prix in Barcelona (successfully returning
with major trophies).
The department offers individual classes in speech and drama, vocal and
instrumental coaching and ISTD dance exams which generally lead to
specialist graded exams (RADA, Rock School etc.) if desired.
You can even receive training and instruction with aspects of sound and
theatre craft such as using a recording studio, or operating theatre
lighting.
Foreign Visits
Winstanley students have been almost everywhere!
America, Europe, Australia - in the past year Winstanley students have
travelled the world. There have been opportunities to develop language
skills through residential visits to Spain, France and Germany.
Performing Arts students have shown their skills and taken part in
Dance contests in Spain and workshops in Italy. Politics students have
visited America and learned about the operation of the European Union
in Brussels. Students found the visit to Auschwitz to be moving and
challenging. Biology students faced different challenges on the Barrier
Reef and in the rainforests of Queensland, Australia.
Similar trips are alraedy planned by the start of the year and others
will be arranged later. There should be something which really appeals
to you.
Debates and Speakers
We meet weekly to discuss topical issues and listen to speakers. If
you like making your views heard then this is the activity for you. You
can help plan the events at our first meeting. Speakers and topics last
term included; genetic engineeriung, UK policy towards Iraq, fox
hunting, asylum seekers and green politics.
We also have speakers on scientific subjects, including relativity,
quantum mechanics and string theory. If you volunteer to speak in
debates then you will find this develops your abilities and
self-confidence, useful attributes when applying for jobs or
universities.
Amnesty International
This is a group that campaigns against torture and the violation of Human Rights around the world.
We meet regularly to write letters complaining to governments that have
been abusing the rights of their citizens and campaigning for the
protection of Human Rights. Get involved, raise student awareness and
stand up for Human Rights
Departmental Societies
Many of the departments in college provide their own series of
trips and events, usually of particular interest to their students but
open for all students to join.
Biobits Biology discussion groups debate ethical issues, give interview
and work experience tips and share good ideas. Organised trips, for
example, to Chester Zoo, local hospital departments and universities
take place. And then there's the Biology Conference, when visiting
speakers entertain us with fascinating and mind stretching ideas!
PLS Society
This is for you if you enjoy debating current affairs, finding out more about the issues behind the news and exploring international political issues. In the past we have organised trips to a Liverpool prison, a Crime and Punishment Conference and a bar competition - not drinking but a legal debating competition!
The Art Society
Open to all students, we aim to offer a range of activities which enable those students to experience art, artefacts, architecture and aspects of creative design. We have regular trips to art galleries and have organised trips abroad to Paris and Rome.
The English Society
Do you want to make your living as a writer? Do you enjoy reading? If so, this is the society for you. Each year practising writers visit college to explain their craft to us along with people from English related careers, such as journalism and public relations who explain what their job is and how to get into it. We organise theatre trips to Manchester, Liverpool, Bolton, London and Stratford. A reading group meets regularly to discuss in a relaxed, friendly manner books they have read and enjoyed. And each year we produce many publications such as The Poetry Anthology, which comes out on Poetry Day and the Short Story Anthology, which is the culmination of our very lucrative Short Story Competition