Welcome speech delivered at dinner on Sunday 21st September

Hello everyone. I’m Adrian, your Warden.

My first task tonight is to extend you all a very warm welcome to Connaught Hall. I am so pleased that you have joined us at Connaught, and I’ve really enjoyed meeting and getting to know so many of you over the last two weekends. And I hope you feel at home here very quickly.

I read something in the newspaper last week that I thought was worth sharing:

The fundamental law of freshers week is that everyone is terrified and insecure, and it's just a game of who can hide it best. Freshers week is probably not the time you'll meet the people who you will become best friends with. To be honest, it's more about surviving and attempting to have fun in this strange and overwhelming new world you've been thrown into. But it can be the time when you sow the seeds for friendships that you'll come to depend on.

So while you’re busy feeling a bit nervous about everything but pretending you’re not, remember all the people sitting around you are thinking and pretending exactly the same thing. And let me assure of this: you will make some amazing friends at Connaught Hall this year – friendships that I hope will last a lifetime. And I really hope you will look back on this year as one of the best of your life.

Now, I want to share something very important with you. Something that I need your help with.

My goal here in Hall is for everyone to feel safe, happy, and a sense of belonging in our Hall community. That’s my mission. And I want you to share it with me. Starting tonight, help me to make Connaught Hall “home” not just for you but also for everyone else around you right now.

How can we do it? Well, it’s actually very simple.

I’m going to suggest four easy rules that you can use to make your life better this term.


Rule number one: 

Get involved in some of the exciting opportunities the next few weeks will offer you. 

Come to our events, use your Hall bar, stand for election to the Residents’ Club Committee. That’s how you can best meet people.


Rule number two:

Be yourself, but be interested in other people.

Then you will make friends with people who like you for who you really are. And you'll make those friends much more quickly by being genuinely interested in the people you meet.


Rule number three: 

Take time to relax.

Some of you will want to go out and get drunk seven nights a week every week this term. You might even feel under pressure to do that. You don't have to. It’s a myth that students spend all their time at parties. Overdoing the partying side of things will exhaust you more quickly than you might think. Take some time out for yourself, relax, go for a jog, go shopping. Not everything has to be about alcohol.

Others of us might choose to study in the library almost every waking hour. Don’t do that either – that’s just as damaging for your health as going to a party every night. Your grades won’t reflect all that extra work and you will not feel good.

So take some time out for yourself.


Rule number four:

Consider your neighbours in Hall.

In particular, try to be quiet when they want to study or sleep. I have seen from too much experience that conflict between two neighbours in Hall makes both of them really unhappy. Don’t be one of those people!

You can go one step further than just not annoying your neighbours: look out for them, too. Talk to them, listen to them, help them if you can.



So those are my four rules for staying happy. But what if you have “down” times? Well, here’s the biggest secret nobody ever told you: 

it’s OK to ask for help.

So who do you ask? There are people all around you who are ready to listen, to advise, and to help if things get tough. Here in Hall, my team of Senior Members and I help the Hall community grow together, look after you when you need a bit of support, and help you resolve conflicts with other residents. This year, my Senior Members are: Becca, Bill, Jing, Jon, and Leah.

I’m a doctor in the emergency department at University College Hospital. The senior members are all students in at least their fourth year of university study. 

You can talk to us about anything. Anything at all.

If you need some practical help with something inside the Hall, we’re really lucky at Connaught to have a fantastic hall management team who look after the building and all the facilities and services you use every day – so that’s things like catering, maintenance, security, cleaning, the laundrette, and all the really useful stuff.

Alice is our Hall Manager, Julie is her assistant, and we also have Dave working with us at the moment. They’re both based in the office behind reception and they’re very happy for you to pop in talk to them during their office hours.

You can also write to us with any ideas, suggestions, or complaints about pretty much anything in Hall at our suggestion box address. It’s well publicised in the Hall Handbook, online, and on posters in reception and in the dining hall. We really do want to hear from you. We will always reply and will always do our best to take action on your suggestions wherever possible.

Now, if you really want to get involved in the Hall, stand for election to the Residents’ Club Committee in the second week of October. All Connaught Hall residents are eligible to stand for election. The five residents who get voted in will be in charge of the bar, and will organise all this year’s parties and social, entertainment, and sporting events. They get a budget to spend and meet regularly with me and my team.

Being on the committee is a great way to get to know everyone in Hall, to influence how things run, and it’s a very good point to have on your CV. So think about getting involved and talk to me or one of the outgoing committee members about it.

Or you might want to join the Facilities Committee or the Multicultural Students’ Forum. Again, you are all eligible to join these committees and they are a very good way to get more involved in the life of the Hall.

We will post information about the Residents’ Club elections, the Facilities Committee, and the Multicultural Students’ Forum over the next week or so. So make sure you are following us on Facebook, or Twitter, or Tumblr, or whatever is your preferred social platform we're on pretty much everything.

OK, well, thank you for listening tonight. Please get in contact if you need any help, or want to make any suggestions. Remember the bar is staying open until late. I hope to see lots of you there later.

And now, in our usual Connaught tradition, let’s raise a toast:

To a very happy and successful year for all of us!

Warden's speech at welcome dinner on Sunday 14th September

Hello everyone. I’m Adrian Clark, your Warden.

Let’s say a big thank you to the kitchen staff for preparing tonight's meal for us.

Tonight, you get the short version of my speech. I thought it simply wasn’t really fair to put you through the same speech three times over the next three weekends, just because you’re the first people to arrive!

Well, my first job tonight is to extend you all a very warm welcome to Connaught Hall. Wherever you’ve come from, whatever you’re studying, I look forward to meeting you – if we haven’t met already – and I hope you settle in and feel at home here very quickly.

You might have seen this logo on a poster at the front door. It symbolises how we respect, enjoy, and celebrate diversity in our Hall community – and I hope you will join us in making everyone sitting around you now feel welcome and at home here.

Connaught Hall has a reputation for being the friendliest and most social hall in London – this year, keeping up that reputation is down to you. So I hope this year will be one that you look back on as one of the best of your life.

And we’re all here to help make sure you do. This is my team. Becca, Bill, Jing, Jon, and Leah. I’m a doctor in the emergency department at University College Hospital. The senior members are all students in at least their fourth year of university study. We’re here to help the Hall community grow together, look after you when you need a bit of support, and help you resolve conflicts with other residents. Talk to me or a Senior Member if you’re feeling lost, sad, or anxious about something. We’re here to listen to you. We all have down times. And it’s OK to ask for help.

  

We’re really lucky at Connaught Hall to have a fantastic hall management team who look after the building and all the facilities and services you use every day. Alice is our Hall Manager, Julie is her assistant, and we also have Dave, our admin. assistant, with us for a little while longer. They’re based in the office behind reception and they’re very happy for you to pop in talk to them during their office hours.

 

You can also write to us with any ideas, suggestions, or complaints about pretty much anything in Hall at this suggestion box address. It’s well publicised in the Hall Handbook, online, and on posters in reception and in the dining hall. We really do want to hear from you. We will always reply and will always do our best to take action on your suggestions wherever possible.

Another way you can shape what happens in Hall this year is by standing for election to, or voting for, the Residents’ Club Committee, who organise most of the social, sports, and entertainment events in Hall. I’ll talk more about that next week.

Now, the last bit of advice I have for you tonight is that the bar is staying open until 10:30, so maybe it’s time for another drink? But before you run off to the bar, let’s make a toast with the last drops of whatever drink you got earlier… 

To a very happy and successful year for all of us!

Cartwright Festival

Saturday 24th May saw the third annual intercollegiate halls summer garden party. This year's theme as a 60s/70s/80s rock festival called Cartwright.

As the last two years, the party was held in Cartwright Gardens and we had 1,000 free tickets to give away to students resident in any of the eight intercollegiate halls.

After three months of planning, the weather was the only variable that could spoil this event. And the forecast in the week leading up to the festival was really grim. We were worried we might have to move parts of the festival indoors and cancel the rest. And indeed, it did rain in the morning, while we were setting up, and again for about 20 minutes at the beginning of the party at 3pm. But by 3:30, we were enjoying bright sunshine and it was warm enough (for some people!) to wear a t-shirt and shorts.

Those attending the festival had lots of food, drink, and entertainment to enjoy. This year's food was superb - with a choice of one of three "street food pots" plus one of three "handheld snack" options. And everyone could have two drinks - alcoholic or non-alcoholic.

Everybody got a free bottle of bubbles and an exclusive CARTWRIGHT wrist band as they entered the Gardens.

To keep festival-goers entertained, we had bouncy castle boxing, a bucking bronco, a really amazing fire-eating acrobat, stilt walkers, a street magician, a balloon artist, face painting, crazy golf, hula hoops, and tug of war.

Three student photographers captured the festival on camera and we have some wonderful photographs. All our photos are available to view and download at https://www.flickr.com/photos/uoljubileeparty.

Everyone who has given us feedback about the Cartwright Festival has told us how much they enjoyed the event and loved the food. So despite a wet beginning to the day, we're pleased that we hit our objective of giving our students a day to unwind and relax after or inbetween their term-three exams, and a great event to remember us by after they leave in just a few weeks.

Now, the organising committee is looking forward to next year's summer intercollegiate halls event already!

FAQ: Residents' Handbook

Please remember to check our Hall Handbook (http://handbook.connaught-hall.org.uk) if you have any queries about Connaught Hall that are not answered in the FAQs section of my blog (http://connaughthall.blogspot.com/search/label/faq).

Facebook page for students at all the intercollegiate halls of residence

I have set up a Facebook page for residents and staff of all eight intercollegiate halls of residence:

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/University-of-London-Intercollegiate-Halls-of-Residence/248015725232212

My hope is that this page will make it much easier for residents in different halls to contact one another and organise inter-hall events, sports competitions, etc. It should be especially useful for elected JCR / Club committee members.

Defining the Warden's role

The recent University of London consultation on removing all Wardens and Vice-Wardens from the intercollegiate halls of residence (see this thread of posts about the consultation and what happened) prompted me to review the way we describe the Warden's role at Connaught Hall.

It is important that residents understand precisely what the Warden and Senior Members are for and what they do. Correspondence from the Warden's team will now make clear that the Warden's role lies in -

enhancing opportunities for personal, social, academic and cultural development through: welfare and pastoral care; discipline and conflict resolution; community and social life; Residents’ Club and Hall bar; out-of-hours emergencies; and re-admissions.

I would value your feedback on this description: is it too long? does it make sense? does it help clarify the Warden's role? Feel free to comment directly on this blog post or email me.

The Warden's Team: supporting you all the way.

Residents' Survey - breakfast variety

Responses to Residents' Survey 1: breakfast variety

This is the first in a series of blog posts to repond to residents' comments in the survey conducted across all eight intercollegiate halls in February 2010.

Residents thought there was not enough variety at breakfast time -

The quality and variety of brunch (and perhaps breakfast as well) could be improved, as it's always the same tasteless pasta every brunch and the same few items everyday for breakfast and brunch.

Breakfast during the week was generally completely unsatisfactory. Those who don't like the typical English breakfast have only cornflakes and sandwich toast. This is not healthy at all.

Breakfast: - a fruit salad would be really nice and healthy. - As for variety, there isn't much else apart from cooked breakfast, which obviously isn't the healthy option (if it weren't the only proper option).

From this week, a whole new set of breakfast items will be served on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, inluding oat & banana smoothies, kedgeree, bean burritos, fruit wraps, and lots more.

Keep watching this blog for more responses to your comments in the survey. When we put all the "free text" answers together, they came to 11,545 words just for those surveys completed by Connaught Hall residents; so it will take us a while to get through them all and make what changes we can!

A summary of responses to the multiple choice questions on the survey can be seen here: Residents' Survey results. And you can filter this blog so just the survey-related posts show by clicking on "survey" in the list of labels on the right hand side.

Intercollegiate halls residents' survey

Last week, you should have received an invitation to take a survey about your experience of life at Connaught Hall. The same invitation has been sent to residents in all eight intercollegiate halls – so for the first time we will be able to compare the experiences of students in different halls (we’ve conducted surveys just like this one for several years at Connaught Hall, but this is the first time it’s been sent to residents in other halls).

Your views are important to us and I will read each and every survey that is returned by Connaught Hall residents. You can see from the minutes of Facilities Committee meetings (available online – http://facilities.connaught-hall.org.uk) that we do try to change things in light of the responses to this survey.

So please take the online survey at http://survey.connaught-hall.org.uk.

It is important that you tell us what we are doing well as well as what you think we could do better, so please do write your comments in the free text sections. Knowing what students like about the Hall helps me to argue the case for continuing those things next year (like keeping the bar open, allowing late parties, Christmas dinner, welcome events, not charging for overnight guests, allowing guests to sign in at any time of day or night, our “mediation” rather than “disciplinary” approach to many neighbour disputes, the hall website...).

If you like these things, tell us! If you don’t, then tell us how we could improve!

As I said, I will read every single one, so I will really appreciate it if you can spare five minutes to give us your feedback.

http://survey.connaught-hall.org.uk.

The closing date is 28 February.