inform
Spring term 2012
The student newsletter of the International Office at the University of Warwick
“...the Students’ Union will
have activities themed around
different parts of the world...”
One World Week at Warwick
If this is your first year at
Warwick you might not be
fully aware of the treat in
store for you this term that
is One World Week.
This is the biggest student run international
event in the world and will give you the
chance to participate in all sorts of things
from Friday 20 to Saturday 28 January.
During the day the Students’ Union will
have activities themed around different
parts of the world so do check them out,
on weekdays in week 3 of term. In the
evenings there will be talks on important
global subjects with distinguished speakers.
One World Week Sports is the largest sports
week on campus with lots of tournaments
of different types. And then the nights will
really come alive with big events like the
Fashion Show, the World Music Concert,
and World Party. This paragraph can only
scratch the surface of everything on offer so
have a look at www.oneworldweek.net to
make sure you don’t miss out.
OWW
forum
This year’s One World Week will kick
off with an exciting forum involving an
illustrious international panel on The
Student Movement Beyond the UK.
The panel will include: Jorge Moreno
from the Coordinating Committee of
the Representation of Public University
Students, CREUP (Spain), Aleem Nazari
from Monash University International
Students’ Association (Australia) and
Pete Mercer from the National Union
of Students (UK).
The event will take place at 6pm on
Friday 20 Jan (week 2) in the Warwick
Manufacturing Group (WMG) main
lecture theatre.
In the last 18 months since the
coalition government in the UK came
to power, higher education has been
significantly ‘reformed’ resulting in
students across the UK responding
through protests, occupations, and
demonstrations, with the National
Union of Students lobbying for fairer
funding and improved loan and bursary
schemes. The student movement
around the world is responding to
government actions affecting students
and wider society as a whole in a
variety of ways; in some cases the
student movement has become the
starting point for broader public
support for living costs. This panel
will discuss both the broader picture
of student and union responses to
changes in higher education as well as
their impact as social forces.
Click here for more info: http://
oneworldweek.net/Pages/Forum/
Student.php
In this issue: One World Week at Warwick + OWW forum + Accommodation advice +
Tier 1 Post Study Work closure + Fancy a day out? + Volunteering – can you spare some
time? + Safety tips for Spring + A different perspective + Looking forward to 2012 +
Are you a legal driver? + Thanks for your help + Any problems?
02
Inform Spring 2012
The University of Warwick
03
Volunteering – can you
spare some time?
Accommodation advice
Tier 1
Post Study
Work
closure
If you will be at Warwick next year and you’re starting to
think about where you’ll live, that’s good. But don’t sign
a contract before you’re sure you’ve found a good place.
Don’t transfer money to a potential landlord
or give them your bank account details
before you meet them or their agent and see
the room in person, even if they say
they can’t meet you because they live far
away. Sometimes nice photos of what looks
like a great property at a surprisingly cheap
price can fool people into thinking they’ve
found a good deal when what they’ve
actually found is someone who just wants
to steal their money.
Fortunately there are a lot of genuine
landlords too. The Students’ Union is
running a Housing Day on Wednesday
1 February where you can get lots of useful
advice. There’s also a drop in session on
housing specifically for international
students on Friday 27 January from 12:30pm
to 1:30pm, also in the SU. If you can’t
make those dates you could see their
Student Advice Centre on a different day. If
there’s anything in a tenancy agreement/
accommodation contract that you are
unsure about, take it to the SAC before you
sign it. There is information from them and
contact details here: www.warwicksu.
com/advice/housing/
“Never transfer money
online to a person you
haven’t met or for a
property you haven’t seen...”
The Tier 1 Post Study Work category closes
in April 2012 (exact date to be confirmed).
In order to be in a position to make a Post
Study Work application, your degree must
be conferred before the scheme closes.
Following the closure, the UK Border
Agency will introduce a new subcategory
of Tier 2. Tier 2 is for skilled workers and
requires you to find an employer who is in
a position to sponsor you. Applications to
switch into this category must be made
within the UK. The job must be at graduate
level and must attract a minimum salary of
£20,000 per annum or the equivalent sector
average. The employer will not have to apply
the Residence Labour Market Test and there
is no cap on the number of these visas that
can be issued. In order to have dependants
with you under this category, they must
have previously held student dependant
visas to accompany you in the UK for your
studies. Full details are not yet available but
will be published on the UK Border Agency
website (www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/
visas-immigration/working/) in due course
and we will add information to our website
at www.go.warwick.ac.uk/immigration/
employment.
We have a bumper crop of trips for you this term, with some old favourites and one or
two surprises. On Saturday 4 February we’ll be off to Cambridge, which is probably the
most popular destination of all the trips we run, so buy your tickets soon if you want to
come. Saturday 11 February sees a trip to the delightful city of York with its Minster and
old cobbled streets. Then on Saturday 18 February we’re off to Liverpool – home town
of the Beatles. Saturday 25 February is a trip to the genteel city of Bath. On Saturday 3
March we head up to Leeds, a city with good shopping and good museums. Finally on
Saturday 10 March we’re going to the rural town of Glastonbury.
Several of you enjoyed the Christmas Supper during the holidays with its curry,
chocolate, singing and crackers. The date won’t be set for a while but we will be having a
similar event in the Easter vacation, so look out for that, and there will be more trips also.
For more information, to buy tickets and to sign up to hear about future trips and
event see www.warwick.ac.uk/go/international/events
Glastonbury Tor by Tony Grist
Fancy a day out?
As you’ve hopefully realised by now, there are all sorts of
things you can get involved with on campus. But it’s also
good to get to know the local community.
One way of doing this is by volunteering.
Warwick Volunteers provide opportunities
for students to do this. They have a range of
different projects – some require a regular
commitment but others are very flexible
about the time needed.
Warwick Volunteers is the link between
the University and the many projects around
Coventry and Warwickshire that are either
supported throughout the year, or when
they need that little bit of extra help. As
a volunteer you’ll have the opportunity to
work with children and adults from all kinds
of backgrounds, from the homeless to school
children, from refugees to the elderly.
Many international students have
already found that volunteering is
rewarding, good fun and a chance to see
another side of Britain. As a Warwick
Volunteer, you’ll never be short of help or
support.
You can find more information on how
to volunteer and upcoming activities and
events on the Warwick Volunteers website:
www.warwick.ac.uk/go/volunteers
A different perspective
Although it’s great to spend time with other
students and there’s lots to do on campus,
sometimes it’s worth getting a different
perspective. A good way to see another
side of the UK, apart from student life, is to
have a HOST visit. This allows you to spend
time with a volunteer family in another part
of the UK, so you can experience British
family life for yourself. Many Warwick
students have enjoyed a weekend HOST
visit. The University is happy to pay most
of your application fee – at the moment we
just charge you £10 for your first time. Or
if you feel that you would prefer a shorter
stay then HOST has recently expanded the
scheme to include local day visits, which
would be cheaper and easier for you. For
more information, or if you’re ready to apply
see www.hostuk.org
Safety tips
for Spring
Although campus is quite a safe place
it’s always worth considering what
you can do to decrease the risk of
accidents and theft. Here are a few
tips:
1 Make sure your possessions are
insured so that if anything is stolen
you can claim the money back.
2 Keep back-up computer files on a
separate computer or USB stick
so that if your laptop gets stolen
you don’t also lose the important
information you have on it.
3 When you’re out and about don’t
make it obvious that you have
something worth stealing with you
(e.g. be careful where you use your
mobile and don’t use a laptop bag
for your laptop so that thieves don’t
know what you’re carrying)
4 On buses, if you are at all concerned
about the behaviour of other
travellers, the safest seats are
downstairs near the front.
5 Don’t accept drinks from strangers
or give them the chance to add
anything to your drink.
6 Only use taxis with an official taxi
licence plate attached to the back.
7 In an immediate emergency where
there is serious danger the number
to phone for the police, ambulance
or fire services is 999 (or 22222 from
a university phone).
Inform Spring 2012
Looking forward to 2012
Photo by Joshua Rappeneker
04
The Christmas and New Year celebrations are now over
for another year. But there are other exciting dates
coming up.
Tuesday 14 February is Valentine’s Day:
the day to celebrate romance, so any men
with partners who forget to give cards and
gifts on this day will be in trouble! Other
people might give Valentine’s Day cards
anonymously. Speaking of love, 2012 is a leap
year, so there are 366 days this year. The
extra day is Wednesday 29 February, and in
the British Isles this is traditionally the one
day when women can propose marriage to
men, instead of the other way around. So
guys, who knows what might happen!
Other days are connected with Easter,
when Christians celebrate Jesus Christ
overcoming death, and the shops sell
chocolate Easter Eggs. Easter weekend is
during the holidays, from Friday 6 April
to Monday 9 April. Like Christmas, the
University will be closed on these days and
shops will open for shorter hours. The days
before Easter are known as Lent. Some
people give something up for Lent e.g. their
favourite food. Lent starts on Wednesday
22 February, known as Ash Wednesday; the
day before is called Shrove Tuesday but it’s
also known as Pancake Day, because many
people cook pancakes then using flour, eggs
and milk and usually served with a sweet
sauce.
Sunday 18 March is Mother’s Day in the
UK, and is a good day to send cards or gifts
to your mum and to phone her, though
in other countries Mother’s Day is on a
different date.
Sunday 1 April is known as April Fool’s
Day. It’s a day when people might play small
jokes on their friends for fun. One example
was a BBC TV programme of 1957 claiming
that spaghetti grows on trees in Switzerland,
which fooled many people. This is in fact
false – as everybody knows, spaghetti trees
are actually found in Germany : –)
Thanks for your help
Thank you to everyone who completed the International Student Barometer survey
last term – your feedback on your Warwick experience so far is very much appreciated
as it will help us to improve the student experience for years to come. Once we
receive the results of the Autumn Wave 2011 survey in February, we will analyse it to
identify the areas for improvement that are of greatest importance to you. We will
be publishing the results in February on the International Student Support website:
www.warwick.ac.uk/go/international. We will then work with the Students’
Union as well as University academic and administrative departments to ensure your
feedback is taken on board and acted upon. We very much hope you will also support
this process by completing the International Student Barometer Summer Wave 2012
survey which will be launched in May.
The International Office
University House
University of Warwick
Coventry CV4 8UW
t+44 (0)24 7652 3706
wwww.warwick.ac.uk/go/international
einternationalsupport@warwick.ac.uk
Are you a
legal driver?
Many international students are still driving
either with no insurance or with invalid
insurance as they have either failed to
declare that they are on an International
Licence or have insured online using the
wrong details. If the police catch you, you
could be banned from driving in the UK
and you could face a large fine. So it makes
sense to make sure your insurance details
are correct. Endsleigh Insurance (who
have a shop on campus) have an insurance
policy for international drivers, though you
may also wish to compare prices of other
insurance providers. For a guide on driving
in the UK for international students see
www.ukcisa.org.uk/student/info_sheets/
driving.php
Any problems?
We would love it if every
international student at Warwick
always had a brilliant time during
their studies here. Unfortunately life
isn’t always like that and you may
at times have academic, emotional,
financial or other difficulties. If
you’re faced with a problem and
aren’t sure who you can speak to
then this page gives a list of places
where you might find help at the
university, in the Students’ Union and
from some external sources: www.
go.warwick.ac.uk/supportservices.
You would also be welcome to
email the International Office on
internationalsupport@warwick.
ac.uk and we’ll see what we can do.