• Spurgeon’s College secures Full Degree Awarding Powers,

     

    Spurgeon’s College, one of the UK’s leading Christian Colleges based in South Norwood has successfully secured Full Degree Awarding Powers from the Office for Students (OfS) following its assessment by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA). Students joining the College on its courses from next academic year will have their qualifications awarded in the College’s name for the first time, marking an important step towards the College’s ambition to become the first home-grown University in Croydon. The award is not subject specific allowing the College to create new degrees in other disciplines.

    The College plays an important role in supporting underrepresented groups within Croydon into Higher Education – with 38% of the student body identify as Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic (BAME) – and delivers courses flexibly as weekday, evening or weekend courses.

    In securing Degree Awarding Powers, the College has shown itself to be “an emerging self-critical, cohesive academic community with a clear commitment to the assurance of standards supported by effective (in prospect) quality systems.”

    For the theological education sector this is a significant moment, helping to secure the future of theology in the United Kingdom.

    Principal of Spurgeon’s College, Rev Professor Philip McCormack said:

    “Securing degree-awarding powers marks a critical step in the College’s journey towards becoming Croydon’s first home-grown university, and we are incredibly proud to have secured approval from the OfS. This decision is the result of many years of work at the College to provide high quality teaching and develop a strong community of students and are looking forward to awarding degrees to our students in the College’s name.” 

    Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and MP for Croydon North, Steve Reed said: 

    “Spurgeon’s College has a crucial role to play in supporting opportunity and access to quality higher education in Croydon. The OfS’s decision to award Full Degree Awarding powers is a vital step in the College’s journey and ambition to become Croydon’s first home-grown university, and I want to congratulate them for this fantastic progress.”

     


  • For students who have been using Panopto this semester:

    We are keen to collect some feedback from students on how the system is working for you. Please take a few minutes to complete this short feedback form which will help us to make continued improvements to the system.

    Thanks for your participation.

  • Student Engagement with Assignment Feedback: Action Plan

    All students are reminded of the importance of reflecting on the feedback they have received for their first semester’s assessments as they begin to think about their second semester’s work.  A simple form has been devised to facilitate this.  If you would find it useful to talk through your action plan please email Debra (d.reid@spurgeons.ac.uk) to arrange an appointment to  do so. 

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                                                                   Learning Support Department



  • A Brief update for the Library

    Perlego has recently added a number of title to their online library which will be of help to students. Please see the following reading list for direct links:

    https://www.perlego.com/reading-list/340573/new-titles-jan-2021

    Remember that you can request scans of material from the Library to help you in your research by emailing library@spurgeons.ac.uk, subject to the usual copyright limits. You can also book a Zoom session with the Librarian if you need assistance finding material.

    https://calendly.com/spurgeons-library



  • MESSAGE FOR ALL THEOLOGY STUDENTS

    In line with the latest guidance from the University of Manchester, an amendment has been made to the No Disadvantage policy which relates to the regulations for Master’s degrees. An extra bullet point has been added to paragraph 5:

    As an exception to the degree regulations, resubmissions will be allowed for failed work in all 120 credits of the taught part of Master’s programmes, rather than the maximum of 60 credits currently allowed.

    The updated version of the policy can be found here


  • Racial Justice Resources

    We would like to draw your attention to the selection of resources and events that are available on the Baptist Union website: https://www.baptist.org.uk/Groups/310669/Racial_Justice_Issues.aspx




  • New material on Library Page

    There is a new series of videos on the Moodle Library page that demonstrate how to find material for an assignments online. It is located under this tab:

    Video Training Course - Using Online Resources


  • Zoom Accounts
    With an increasing amount of tutorial and pastoral groups taking place via Zoom, it might be worth students signing up for a free Zoom account. Zoom is an excellent video communications platform, which is being used in increasingly creative ways during the current lockdown. You can sign up for your free account here: https://zoom.us/signup

    Please note that you do not need a Zoom account to particpate in a Zoom meeting. Here is a useful tutorial which explains how to  join a Zoom meeting (both with or without an account): https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362193-Joining-a-Meeting

    You can practice by joining a test meeting via this link: https://zoom.us/test

    If you don't have a webcam then you can choose to join by audio only. Alternatively, you can dial-in from a mobile telephone or landline using the instructions in the invitation email. Please note that dial-in calls will be charged at the local rate but are included in most call allowances.

    If you do have a Zoom account then can also schedule and host sessions yourself. Apart from using this for your studies and/or work, you may find it useful for keeping in touch with family and friends or for holding home groups and other social gatherings.

    The basic account is free. It normally has a 40 minute meeting time limit which has temporaily been lifted due to the outbreak.

    More information about Zoom can be found on their website: https://zoom.us/docs/en-us/covid19.html#resources
  • Advice for coping with increased screen time
    During the coming weeks and months, we are all likely to experience an increase in the amount of time that we spend using a screen. Here are some tips to help you to manage this safely:

    1.       Take regular screen breaks.

    2.       Some suggest the 20-20-20 rule (every 20 minutes, direct your gaze toward something at least 20 feet away from you, and do this for at least 20 seconds).

    3.       Reduce your screen brightness (your screen should not be to light or too dark but find the best balance for you).

    4.       Look at the settings on your individual device/s as some have inbuilt modes for reducing glare, such as night time modes, or reading modes.

    5.      Check your environment. Try to work in a well-lit space but make sure there are no reflections on your screen.

    6.      Keep the screen an arm's length away.

    7.       Don’t forget to blink regularly! This sounds obvious but people tend to stare at the screen intently, which can cause screen fatigue and dry eyes.

    8.       Invest in kit such as glare reducing glasses or a blue light blocking screen protector where necessary.

    9.       Try to minimise screen time by avoiding non-essential screen related activities where you can.


  • New Library Fines Policy

     The Learning Resources Committee have agreed a new Library Fines Policy. As of the beginning of March 2020 overdue books will attract a fine of 10p per day until a maximum of £1.50 per book is reached. The maximum payable fine at any one time is capped at £5.00. If you have a legitimate reason why you cannot return or renew your books before they become overdue, or need help in renewing them remotely, please contact the Librarian as soon as you realise that there is a problem. All outstanding fines up to the beginning of March have been cancelled.

     The MyCirqa Reader app     [Insert MyCirqa Logo – attached – here]

     With MyCirqa, Library users can see at a glance current loans, overdues, charges, messages, reservations and items ready for collection, as well as being able to renew their books.

     It is available to download for iPhone and Android from the app store (or wherever you get your apps). Once downloaded, you will need to configure the app when using it for the first time, selecting "Spurgeon's College" from the list provided. Login using your Library No. and PIN. If you don't have a PIN, please contact the Librarian who will issue you with one.

  • ASSIGNMENTS SUBMITTED IN ERROR

    Please take every care to submit the correct version of your assignments in the correct place. The College has a Protocol for Wrongly Submitted Assignments which allows for wrongly submitted assignments to be replaced in certain cases. If you think you may have uploaded the wrong assignment, or version of an assignment, you need to inform Joanna Zaplotna (moodle@spurgeons.ac.uk) and Katie Walsh (registry@spurgeons.ac.uk) immediately; they will consult and facilitate this as appropriate. If the tutor has already begun to mark the assignment it will not be possible to remove and replace it. Please bear in mind that if you inform us after 4 p.m. your message may not be picked up until the next working day, while the tutor may have begun to mark the original submission in the meantime.

    The Protocol also states that if you submit in error on the day of your deadline, and are permitted to have the submission removed and replaced, the correct essay must be submitted no more than 24 hours after the assignment deadline has passed. Otherwise it will be counted as late.

  • EXTENSIONS FOR MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES

    Students who believe that for good cause (e.g. current or recent illness) they may not be able to submit their work by the set deadline are strongly encouraged to apply for an extension in good time before the deadline, rather than leaving it till the last minute. Although ‘retrospective’ extensions may be granted in cases where the Special Cases Committee recognize that it would have been very difficult to request an extension in time, please remember that extensions are not automatically granted, and the default position if you have not submitted work by the deadline and not been granted an extension is that marks will be deducted for lateness. The Extension Request Form is found on the home page of Moodle.

     For more details on what counts as ‘good cause’ for the granting of an extension see the College’s Extensions Policy

     According to the University of Manchester’s new regulations ( Late Work Regulations – University of Manchester late submissions will have marks automatically deducted by 10 marks per day of lateness. Any late resubmitted work (i.e. work that the Progression and Awards Board has allowed the student to resubmit after failure on the first attempt, and comes in after the deadline set for the resubmission) will automatically receive a mark of zero.