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The start of a new academic year not only sees students joining us for the first time – but also many returning from various experiences, such as placement.

In this guest blog, Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning, Teaching and Digital) Professor Lydia Arnold, reflects on one of a series of events our academic staff hold to welcome both returners and new starters to a new term at SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½.

During the first few weeks of the new academic year, full-time undergraduate courses have been welcoming students back from placement and have been welcoming new student arrivals from our partners in Beijing University of Agriculture.

To mark the new beginnings after a period away from the university, or for some students after their first arrival, our full-time undergraduate courses have held returners' events, which have been relaxed opportunities for students to spend time together sharing their experiences.

For placement returners, there has been an opportunity to share stories, reflect on successes, and challenges, to think particularly about different types of feedback that they encountered on placement and how the use of that feedback impacted performance, and there's been an opportunity to consider personal growth and lessons that can carry from placement into final year. The events were good to understand developments in practice - as students shared new developments that they encountered from the front line of industry.

Dr Gemma Charlton, Senior Lecturer in Animal Behaviour and Welfare and Course Tutor, said: “The events were valuable, and we received positive feedback from students. They particularly appreciated the chance to share their experiences in a relaxed setting - and the free pizza was definitely a highlight!”

Students fed back that they were able to realize the use of placement and the skills gained from it and noticed they were “being made to feel like they’re as much of a part of the professional community as the lecturers are."

For students joining us from Beijing University of Agriculture, there was an opportunity to engage in exchanges about prior study and cultural similarities and differences between the UK and China. It was a fantastic opportunity for students to talk and to get to know the cohort who have been at Harper Adams already for three years.

The Business and Food event was delighted to hear from BUA student Candice Cheng, who talked about the Moon Festival, which is celebrated in China, which led to some interesting discussions about food choices and festivals and family life and celebrations.

Jon Bentley, Senior Lecturer in Food and Nutrition and the Food Course Tutor who led the Food and Business event, said: “For these students the returners' event was an early opportunity to foster the sense of community we recognise as valuable to students’ Harper experience.

“In addition, we were able to hear from students what they were most looking forward to and what they considered their key challenges. This has allowed the course teams to action timely support and guidance to ensure students get off to a great start in their final year.”

These events mark the launch of the final year of undergraduate study for so many of our students and they highlight the new relationships that we seek to strike with students in their final year as they come back from industry or bring their international experiences.

We can see them as professionals in waiting, ready to graduate in the very near future.