My NTU finance work placement.

Hi my name is Mackenzie Russell and I participated in a work experience placement as a Finance Assistant from 27^th June – 1^st July. I am a year 10 student. And I decided to take a work experience placement because I wanted to know what it was like to work in a professional environment and I thought that the business environment would be one of the most professional.  I also enjoy and have a keen interest in business so I thought that this placement best suited me. Because of this I worked in the Finance Department of the university, where I learnt all about finance and the different aspects of it. This will be a daily review about my work experience throughout the week.

Monday

At the computer on my first day.

On Monday, I met up with Claire Davies, my supervisor for the week. We introduced ourselves so that we got to know about each other. We talked about our interests and I asked her questions about the university, whilst she showed me around the campus. Firstly, we walked to Information Systems (IS), where I went to get my own login account. I felt like an actual worker. Afterwards we went down to the Newton-Arkwright buildings, where I got my own card that would help me get into secured places that only staff could get into. Once we had finished that, Claire introduced me to the Finance Department. Everyone welcomed me. I felt nervous at first but everyone was extremely kind. Now came my first job - Procurement. I met Susan in the Procurement area of the department where she explained to me what Procurement was and what she does at the university, she talked to me about the tender process and how to fill out a tender form. I then had lunch afterwards. After lunch I went back to Susan and she introduced me to e5, a program software that enabled you to complete and carry out forms, this was used for things such as tendering, invoicing and more. I enjoyed my first day as an assistant and I learned many new advanced things that I would never learn at school. I am glad I am on this placement as I can apply it into my knowledge at school.

Tuesday

I was looking forward to coming in now as I really enjoyed myself on Monday. I was intrigued to find out more about my first session - Payroll. I headed over to payroll where Denise told me what payroll was and how to manage staff salaries. We worked out the factors affecting salary and calculated the net per month. This was very interesting. Afterwards I went over to Business Law and Social Sciences (BLSS) with Kam to learn about BLSS Finance. After learning about this area I had lunch. After lunch I learnt about Financial Services with Vicky Sellars and some of her team, Nisha and Paddy. Nisha told me about expenses and that her job is to confirm individual’s payments on behalf of the University like accounting costs for lecturers’ research and that they have to make an invoice for costs. Also she told me that she sets the budget for the year ahead and if it is over budget she shows them where it went wrong on an advised forecast. I then met Paddy who showed me an invoicing spreadsheet that he puts on e5 which is automatically produced into and invoice pdf document. He also showed me financial performance reports which show me previous expenditure. Finally he showed me a commitment report which is where the University owes money and says that they haven’t invoiced yet and that they need to invoice before the end of the year. I had a go at locating the invoices and financial reports and checking them and updating them.

Wednesday

On Wednesday morning I attended meetings with my supervisor Claire to get a feel of what business meetings were like. It was as I expected, very professional. The first meeting was about NTU’s Supplier Forum and Recognition Awards 2017. We met up with Hanh, a NTU Masters student and the Business School’s event planners.

The subsequent meeting was discussing a policy for Modern Slavery in relation to NTU’s supply chains where we met with Mark Lucas, Purchasing Manager and Paul Andrew, Head of Procurement. We had meetings up until lunch then after lunch, I met up with Jenny Henry of Corporate Accounts (Professional Services) where she spoke about her job. She told me that she sets budget allocations to different departments in the University. The University’s financial period is from August to July so she was working towards the end of the year and finalising checks. She said that she monitors the spending of the departments and ensures that there is no overspending by the budget holders (departments). She manages this through systems such as Cognos Powerplay and e5 which check that nothing is miscoded. An e5 is used to input the budget into the system at the start of the year.

Then I met the Director of Finance, James Lacey who told me about his job and that he is on the University’s Executive Team and the Board of Directors. The Head of Procurement, Payroll, Head of Management Accounting (Invoices) and the Head of Accountants amongst others all report to him. He said that whilst the Finance functions are being managed by his team he has to look ahead to the Financial Strategy and plan. He advised me to keep working hard and go to University so that one day I could be in his position. This really motivated me and now I am going to study hard.

Thursday

 Boots library roof garden. 

On Thursday I met Faysal who showed me around the campus and talked to me about student life. He is a placement student at NTU so is classed as a member of University staff. He is a student studying Finance on a sandwich degree where he studies for one year, then has a work placement for a year before returning to complete his final year degree. He showed me around places I had never been before when visiting with school and this was very interesting. Then during lunchtime, Claire had organised for me to go and play basketball with the staff Basketball Team. Cen, a basketball player introduced me to everyone and I met Richard, Victor and many others. I really enjoyed it. I thought it was really nice that Claire had arranged this as she knew that I played basketball by looking at my CV. Afterwards Cen told me that she worked in the same building as me in the marketing department so I arranged to meet her on Friday to give me an insight into marketing. She also invited me to basketball training with her and the team on Friday. After lunch I went back to Paddy again and did some scanning of invoices for uploading onto the systems databases.

Friday

 The finance department. 

Friday was a sad day as it was my last day and I didn’t want to leave. I thoroughly enjoyed the placement so much. However before my first task, Joseph, from security came up to me and complimented me on my basketball as he was watching me on Thursday. Again, it was really nice that he took his time to come and speak to me. The staff here at NTU are the most friendliest staff ever! On Friday morning, I learnt about student planning with Lisa, where she told me about Banner - a student centre for courses and databases. She uses Cognos for reports on students. She said that her job was to do reports and spreadsheets about students and check statistics for the University. Then later on I met Cen downstairs where she told me about marketing and that she publishes the University prospectus and how they produce it. She also introduced me to her placement student Joe who told me that he was also in his working year. He said that he originally did finance but decided to do marketing instead as it allowed him to express his creativity. Afterwards me and Cen went down to the basketball courts at the Students Union and played basketball. I then came back and gave everyone some chocolates as a way of thanking them for having me and gave them my secret card!

I have really enjoyed this placement and I definitely recommend this to friends.

Work experience in the SCCO department

The SCCO Building

Hi all, my name is Georgia, I am in year 12 and through my sixth form I have been doing work experience at Nottingham Trent University; week commencing 20th June 2016 to the 24th  June 2016.  You might think this sounds dull, maybe you’ve already got a part time job and you feel you’re already experienced, but let me tell you, this week has opened so many new doors for me, it’s provided me REAL ‘experience’. Throughout the course of the week I have taken part in a variety of different activities that have given me opportunities to learn new skills. I will talk you through what I have been up to.

Monday

Me and some of the SCCO staff  

Monday was my first day of work experience here at Nottingham Trent University and of course, I was nervous and I didn’t really have a clue what it was going to be like but I arrived with an open mind and a passion to learn. I went along with one of the SCCO staff called Lucy to a year 9 visit.  This involved telling the pupils more about university and what university experience would have in store for them. Throughout the course of the day there were various activities taking place, two of which were taster sessions which gave pupils an insight to the kind of subjects available at university. We then went for a tour around the City site to show the pupils the different areas of the university. This went really well and all the pupils were very interested. One room in particular room caught the pupils’ interest, the law room.  It is laid out like a real court room. Some pupils are hoping to do law in higher education so it benefited them to see this. On this day I learnt a lot that I didn’t know about university subjects and I really enjoyed looking around the university and getting a feel of what university life is like. It was also a chance to get my bearings on where I would be working all week.

Tuesday

 Court Room in the law building

On my second day I was feeling a lot more optimistic. I was based at Clifton campus which I didn’t get a feel for as much as I did the city site; it felt enclosed and had less of a vibe. I was taking part in a year 5 visit which I thoroughly enjoyed. The children were engaged and wanted to be there and the presenter, Tash, made it really interesting and did everything appropriately for that age group to understand and enjoy. We made puppets with the children, which they really enjoyed and got involved in. I even enjoyed making one myself! I developed my skills in child care and I felt I have learnt more about how to act with someone that age and adapt my language and communication around different age groups. The point of the day was to give the year 5’s an insight into what moving up to comprehensive school would be like; I felt this aim was achieved.

Wednesday

Arkwright Building - City site 

Wednesday was a good day! I attended, again at Clifton campus, ‘Raise the Grade French’ this was with year 10 pupils so they were well behaved and made the day easy for us helpers. I feel this massively achieved its aim and benefited the students brilliantly. I don’t do French myself so I struggled to help them out but watching them learn and develop their skills was really useful for me to see how one day can really boost your learning skills. There was a revision session where the students were given advice on how to revise so although I’m not doing French, I developed skills on revision and learnt new techniques.

Me in the Newton Building

Thursday

Thursday was hectic! It was a year 12 visit consisting of 80 students so as you can imagine the room was jam packed!! I learnt that although year 12 are closest to going to university compared to year 5’s, 9 and 10, they were the least engaged which shocked me quite a bit. I think the aims of the session were met but it was difficult for the presenter to get his point across over all the talking and noise that was going on. This was my least favourite day so far.

Friday

My final day of work experience! I’m going to miss it! I wrote up my blog and spoke to various members of staff about the jobs they do. It was really interesting to learn about all the different jobs the one department do and how they work as a team. I was impressed.

How we raised £500 each for volunteering

Volunteering overseas gives you the opportunity to experience new cultures and meet new people whilst challenging yourself to develop and share your skills. It's your chance to contribute towards the aims and goals of one of NTUs fantastic projects and the communities you will visit. Enhancing your life experience and being part of a shared goal to help develop the global community you are part will make a great addition to your CV!

Students taking part in our International programmes have to raise money to both cover their personal cost associated with the trip, and also meet a minimum fundraising target which goes directly to the charity they are volunteering with.

The Rosie May Home is a purpose built home in Sri Lanka designed to give orphaned or abandoned girls a chance, to empower them through education, and ultimately allowing them to support themselves and their families in the future.

Lauren, one of this year’s volunteers currently in Sri Lanka, talks about her fundraising experience.

After attending the volunteer day, we all got together as a team to begin planning, some events to fundraise for the Rosie May Foundation. I think we were all feeling a bit apprehensive to begin with as raising £500 each sounded like quite a lot of money!

We all agreed that a cake sale would be one of the easiest ways to raise money so this was the first thing we did. After speaking to the student union and the library, we arranged to have two different stalls. We made sure there would two of us on each stall at all times and were each allocated two hour time slots throughout the day. We all planned to bake different things and each made at least 20, so we would have plenty of goodies to sell! We made cakes, cupcakes, brownies, cookies and flapjacks. On the day, we talked to nearly every student and member of staff who walked past, telling them all about the charity and what we would be doing when we went to Sri Lanka. Some people didn't want to buy anything from us, but after hearing about the work of the charity donated anyway, helping us to raise approximately £200!

Students selling cakes in the front of the Student Union. 

The second event we decided to do was a raffle. The first task was to find companies and businesses who were willing to donate prizes to us. I work at Chino Latino so I spoke to my manager and asked whether it would be possible for them to donate anything, and he agreed to give us a £50 voucher to be used in the restaurant. I spent a lot of time emailing different business asking for donations and googling which companies tend to donate to charities and racking my brains for local businesses who might donate! 

There were a lot of “no’s” and many who didn't reply, but we managed to get a £20 voucher for George’s Fish and Chip Kitchen, dinner for two at Handmade Burger and a free blow-dry with eyebrow threading and tinting at J’adore Hair and Beauty. I had recently attended a Mother and Daughter photo-shoot at Firefly Photography Studios and decided there would be no harm in asking for a donation, who offered us a Makeover and Modelling experience. The final two prizes were from family friends who run their own businesses and were able to donate a set of Younique make up worth £55 and a set of 6 custom design mugs. We raised around £250 from the raffle!

Prizes and information for the fundraising raffle.

Our third and final event was the ‘big one.’ We decided to do a sponsored sleep out in the middle of March – were we mad? We decided to set up camp from 7pm til 7am outside the student’s union and prayed it wouldn't rain. We laid out groundsheets and cardboard to sit on and huddled together under sleeping bags to try and keep warm 'it was freezing'. Like the cake sale, we spoke to anyone who passed by and told them all about the charity and what we would be doing. As it was a Saturday night, there were a lot of (drunk) students around who were heading out for the night and were very generous! We raised £450 on the night alongside any sponsors that were put on our Just Giving pages, which was all match funded by Santander!

Students sleeping outside the Student Union.

We want to ensure all students get equal opportunities at NTU. We understand that sometimes the cost of international volunteering can act as a barrier to some students when applying to take part, but we encourage you to apply for these opportunities as there is some financial assistance available for students from low income households.

NTU Art & Design Degree Shows

Art work by: Chloe Jackson - Fashion

The NTU Art & Design Degree Shows are set to explode all over our City Site this week, running from 4 – 11 June with 1,300 graduating artists and designers stamping their creative mark on Nottingham. #NTUDegreeShow is one of the largest exhibitions of work by final year Art and Design students in the UK and the 2016 Nottingham event is our biggest ever, simultaneously showcasing creativity and innovation from 20 course areas across the NTU City Site.

Artwork by : Monisha Rockett - Fine Art

Here at SCCO (Schools Colleges Community Outreach) we are offering first year post 16 students the opportunity to visit the Shows and receive exclusive guided tours with one of our Art & Design Student Ambassadors. The Degree Show Visits have been running for four years and give students the opportunity to explore work from an amazing variety of courses and receive portfolio and application advice, so they can better understand what we’re are looking for in their application portfolio.  

Artwork by: Julia Zolotova - Photography

This year sees the launch of The Degree Show Project, a new initiative designed to get students thinking about where their art and design skills are taking them, learn how to critique artwork and have the chance to reflect on what they have gained from visiting the Shows. The Degree Show Project is open to students who are attending the Degree Show Visits, offering those who most creatively meet the brief a chance to win a FREE place on one of our Art & Design Summer Short Courses.

We are looking forward to welcoming 150 students from 8 schools and colleges based in the Midlands, to the Visits next week from Tuesday 7 – Thursday 9 June 2016.

Want to know more about the The NTU Art & Design Degree Show? Go to : www.ntu.ac.uk/art-and-design-degree-show/index.html 

Family Saturday - University Extravaganza

On Saturday 7^th May the Nottingham Trent University (NTU) Outreach Team welcomed Year 5 and 6 pupils from local primary schools and their families to our Family Saturday event.

It’s never too early to start thinking about the future, so in addition to our Year 5 and 6 sessions in the classroom we wanted to invite our primary pupils along with all the family to our City Campus to find out about University. The event gave families the opportunity not only to find out about University, but also how learning together as a family can help both children and adults to learn and develop new skills. It was great to see so many parents interested in university too. Many adults feel it’s too late for them to go to university, but that’s definitely not the case- the oldest student to start at NTU was 84 years old!

Some of the family's playing a true or false game about university. 

As part of the day our families got to try out some of the subjects they could study at university in our Law and International Relations tasters, delivered by our enthusiastic student ambassadors. The Law taster got our families scratching their heads about some of the weird and wonderful laws that still exist today. Whilst there were a few surprises in the International Relations taster about how rich some countries actually are.

Family's learning about the subjects which can be studied at university.

There were laughs all round as our families dressed up and grabbed their props for our ‘dream job photo booth’. Families discussed their dream jobs- from explorer to criminal lawyer- and with the help of our staff and students ambassadors got some helpful advice on how they might get there - finished off of course with a few family selfies! You may have seen some of our competition entries for the best picture on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. After enjoying an afternoon learning as a family we also helped the families to find future opportunities to learn about things that interest them, so the fun can continue.

 Some of the fantastic entries we had from the day.

Finally the event came to its conclusion by testing what our guests had found out about family learning throughout the day with our interactive quiz. It got very competitive and it was great to see how much all our families had remembered!     

It was a fantastic day and we loved having so many of you come to visit we can’t wait for next year already!