The President and Principal of King’s College London, Professor Shitij Kapur, was pleased to welcome Lord Wharton of Yarm, Chair of the Office for Students (OfS), for a visit to Bush House on 9th February 2022.
During his visit, Lord Wharton spent time with students, graduate ventures and entrepreneurs in residence at the King’s Entrepreneurship Institute.
Professor Kapur and Professor Adam Fagan, interim Vice President (Education) discussed a range of sector issues, including the university access agenda and the importance of strengthening sector-wide practices in relation to supporting student mental health, and highlighted transformative elements of the university’s Education Strategy, which aims to further enhance our rich tradition of research-enhanced teaching and learning.
Lord Wharton also had a chance to talk to and see King’s Business School postgraduate students utilising our simulated learning for financial markets Trading Room and to meet students, graduate ventures and advisory entrepreneurs-in-residence at the King’s Entrepreneurship Institute.
Graduate employability and graduate career success is also an important area of focus for King’s. Lord Wharton had the opportunity to meet the Head of King’ Careers & Employability and a number of highly-engaged King’s student ambassadors who help co-shape work-based skills development programmes and act as peer supporters to programme participants. Students at King’s are supported along their careers journey through a phased approach – Discover > Focus > Action, in which they benefit from tailored resources, advice and interventions to strengthen their employability skills and career confidence.
The visit also provided an opportunity to discuss a new student mental health and wellbeing toolkit, funded by the OfS and developed in partnership with King’s, the University of Derby, Aston University and Student Minds, which was launched this week (8 February) by AdvanceHE. Education for Mental Health: Enhancing Student Mental Health through Curriculum and Pedagogy provides research and evidence informed guidance for educators on the ways in which curriculum can support both wellbeing and learning within higher education.
“WE WERE DELIGHTED TO SHOWCASE SOME OF THE EXCITING PROVISION AND SUPPORT SERVICES WE OFFER TO STUDENTS AT KING’ TO LORD WHARTON. A FOCUS ON OFFERING DISTINCTIVE ADDED VALUE TO SUPPORT STUDENT SUCCESS IS AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF VISION 2029. IT IS CRITICAL AS WE TRANSITION INTO A PARA-COVID ENVIRONMENT THAT WE CONTINUE TO SET AMBITIOUS GOALS AND RAISE THE BAR IN PROVIDING HIGH-QUALITY, CO-DESIGNED CURRICULAR, CO-CURRICULAR AND EXTRA-CURRICULAR LEARNING AND ENRICHMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS. IN AN INCREASINGLY COMPETITIVE AND INTERCONNECTED WORLD, IT IS VITAL THAT WE WORK CREATIVELY TO EQUIP OUR STUDENTS WITH THE CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS, ALONGSIDE RESILIENCE AND ADAPTABILITY – WHILE SUPPORTING THEIR MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING. THIS WILL ENSURE THEY CAN BUILD REWARDING CAREERS AND POSITIVELY CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR COMMUNITIES AND WIDER SOCIETY AS EMPOWERED CITIZENS. AS WE LOOK TO DO SO, THE INVOLVEMENT OF ALUMNI, ENTREPRENEURS IN RESIDENCE AND STUDENT AMBASSADORS IN THE CO-DESIGN OF OUR PROGRAMMES IS VERY HEARTENING TO SEE.”
-Professor Shitij Kapur, President and Principal of King’s College London
“I WAS PLEASED TO MEET WITH STAFF AND STUDENTS OF KING’S COLLEGE LONDON THIS MORNING AND LEARN ABOUT THE WORK THEY ARE DOING TO BUILD ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS FOR ALL STUDENTS. WE ALSO HAD A PRODUCTIVE DISCUSSION ON STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH, HIGHLIGHTING THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD EVIDENCE IN ENSURING THAT INTERVENTIONS ARE BASED ON ‘WHAT WORKS’.”
-Lord Wharton, Chair of the OfS
