After
a wonderful day in Manchester last week with our A2’s, we ran, as we always do,
a learner voice survey on the coach back to TRC. As we do with every learner
voice, we asked our students what they love about the art department at TRC,
and what they wish for if there was something that would help improve the
department and their experience here.
What do you love about Art/Graphics/Photography at Thomas
Rotherham College?
Staff
and Support Available – 50%
This category also
took the number one spot in last year’s A2 learner voice, this year however, the
amount of students telling us this is something they love has risen from 38% to
50%! It is always fantastic to hear that our students feel supported and feel
comfortable in the department, this helps create a productive environment not
just for you guys but for us as well!
‘The staff are helpful and polite, I always feel
supported’
‘Art department are friendly and helpful’
‘The working environment is friendly and comfortable.
Easy to approach someone for help’
Open
Door Policy – 37.5%
Another oldie,
but a goldie! This is once again mentioned every year, this year being even
more popular with 37.5% compared to last year’s 29%. Students being able to use
the facilities independently we think is so important to the work ethic and the
general atmosphere across the department, and obviously you folks agree!
‘I really like the open door policy and just the general
atmosphere in the department! Everyone’s so lovely! Thanks! 😊’
‘The open door policy is really helpful’
Facilities,
Materials Available and Range of Techniques – 37.5%
Every year we
introduce new techniques and materials to help create a diverse and all-encompassing
course as best we can for our students during their time here. We will continue
to do this as best we can, so it is great to hear that this is appreciated!
Specifically, the darkroom was mentioned by 17.5% of students in not only photography,
but also in fine art!
‘Pretty much everything: staff, materials available, ask to do what we
want and not to stick to just typically paintings etc.’
‘Great access to materials and help due to trust’
‘Amazing facilities’
Art
Shop and Camera Loans – 22.5%
It’s great to
hear that the equipment available from the technician’s office is something you
love! This is something that, again, will not be going anywhere, and we only hope
to keep improving this with more materials available from the shop and the
technical support available for you.
‘Cheap materials’
‘The art store and being able to borrow stuff from
Patience’
‘Using the cameras’
Repro
– 17.5%
Yes!! We love
Jane and Janet!! They are vital to the running of our department, for both students
and staff! I think this one comment sums it up pretty well.
‘REPRO!! – Life Savers!’
Freedom
of the Course – 10%
Students are encouraged to choose pathways that suits them and their
skills and interests, so it is something they will enjoy and feel comfortable
with, and this is something a lot of you said you loved about the department,
which is brilliant to hear!
‘I like the freedom we get in lesson’
‘Friendly teachers. Amazing Facilities. Freedom.’
A few honourable mentions…
Purple books
Studio
Computer area
What do you wish for in Art/Graphics/Photography at Thomas
Rotherham College?
PRINTER:
More credits/Better quality/Faster printer – 42.5%
EVERY TIME. We are very aware that this is becoming
a bigger and bigger issue for all of our students across every subject and both
year groups, and as we say every time, unfortunately there is not much we can
do about this. We will once again speak to Jane and Janet about the quality of
the printer and see if we can figure out why the LRC quality is better, my
guess would be that it actually gets a lot less use than ours. Last year we
switched our printer with one from Chancellors and there was a noticeable increase
in quality and speed for a time, but we now seem to be back where we started
again. As for printer credits, this has been a huge issue this year for many
reasons, but we will continue to keep fighting your corner and asking if our
students can be allocated more credits than other students in college due to the
sheer amount of printing you guys are required to do in order to do your work. Hopefully
something will be done about this soon, but we can’t guarantee anything – we’re
sorry!
Disruption
in Classrooms – 22.5%
This is a brand new category for our leaner voice,
and astonishingly it has come in at number two in what our students have said
they wish to improve most about the department. There were several examples
given in the survey, the most common being that the rooms, particularly downstairs
in the computer area, are too loud, making it difficult to work in, and a
feeling of disrespect of the rooms by some students with regards to leaving mess,
and therefore being inconsiderate to fellow students. This is something we
really want to look into, as we said, this has never been mentioned before in a
learner voice, so this seems to be unique to this year’s particular cohorts.
We will be discussing this with all Art staff and student reps. If you
have an opinion or idea of how we could manage this without disadvantaging or
affecting the open door policy (number 2 in what you love!) then please speak
to your student reps, that’s what they are here for!
Guillotine!
– 20%
It almost feels strange having this so far down the
list – but I’m not complaining! *instantly
jinxes next year’s learner voice where it’ll be back up at number one again*…
I must say though it is a relief to see that this has gone from 53% in 2017, to
28% in 2018, to now 20%! And interestingly no mention about this at all in
Photography. But I suppose it just wouldn’t be learner voice without you lot
asking for more/better guillotines would it! We recently fixed the large guillotine
downstairs so we now have 4 working guillotines in the department. Of course if
we ever have the budget available we would love to treat ourselves to a lovely new
guillotine, but until that day comes, our current 4 will have to do!
Nothing
– 7%
A few honourable mentions…
More
freedom
Given that this was mentioned by 10% of you as something
you love about the department, there seems to be a bit of a split opinion on
this subject. We do encourage you to make
More
comfortable tables at a better height (upstairs)
This is a new one! We realise the tables upstairs
can be a bit awkward at times as there are high stools and the tables
themselves are quite old, but they do the job and unfortunately, we can’t
afford to replace them! We will have a look into more comfortable stools or
chairs at a better height.
More
radiators in the classrooms upstairs
It has been INCREDIBLY cold recently in the
classrooms, particularly upstairs. This is getting looked into by our site
staff, as we understand it can be very difficult to work in such a cold environment
– we hate being cold too!
Bring
back art club
Art club was introduced last year during the ESA
period. It basically meant the studios were open at 8am every day and while
5.30 2 afternoons a week. We will discuss this in the next Art staff meeting
and see if it is possible to bring this back.
More
access to cameras, particularly at half term
We have 8 cameras in the department that are all available
to be booked out over half term. The loans work as follows: loan time is
generally 2 days, but this depends on when you book it out. If you book it on a
Thursday that loan will automatically roll over to Monday, since we aren’t here
at a weekend. The same applies for half terms, so if you book a camera out on a
Thursday or Friday before we go on holiday, it will be due the first Monday
back. If you are doing a photoshoot over the holidays then we really encourage
you to use one of our cameras for this, that’s what they are there for! The only
issue is when everyone is doing photoshoots, they can go quite quick – so make
sure you book one early!
For
computers to work better/faster
If there is a general consensus from students in the
department that this is becoming an issue, we will speak to computer services
about this.
Paper
recycling upstairs
We’ve only just got a bin for downstairs and now you
want one upstairs as well! We can’t win can we!!
But no this would be brilliant, especially as just as much paper is
thrown away upstairs as it is downstairs, and the new recycling bin seems to be
working really well down there. So we will definitely ask about this!
More
warning when there’s going to be lots of homework
This was mentioned in terms of large amounts of
homework given over half terms and holidays. So just to clarify, there will
always be more homework given over the holidays than on a normal college week.
This happens every holiday!
More
information on what we can print/What we can buy from the shop
We will speak to repro about putting together a ‘price
list’ of what’s available, but until then – if there is something specific you
want to print but aren’t sure if you can, just ask one of us or even email
Repro! They will be more than happy to help 😊
As for the art shop, we have price lists up in both classrooms and one in
my office that says what we sell and how much for. Again, if there is something
specific you want to know if we sell or not, just come and ask me! And if we
don’t sell it I can look into getting some in stock for you 😊
Materials
should be free
If only! This is almost always mentioned, and as I
always say, we can’t give materials away for free. Inks, paints, newsprint etc.
is all free for you to use in the classrooms, and everything sold in the shop
is sold at cost price (we don’t make any profit on it!). If there was a way of
making anything cheaper, we would, but as things stand at the moment we can’t I’m
afraid. Sorry!
