FAMILIES NEWSLETTER
February 2023
PRINCIPAL'S WELCOME
Welcome to our second newsletter of the academic year, which I hope provides you with a flavour of college life recently.
I can’t quite believe that we are already starting to talk about the end of year graduation, which I hope to welcome you all to on 20th May. Looking further ahead, next month will see the launch of a 10-year vision for the college. I am really looking forward to sharing this with you and involving as many of you as possible to help make this vision a reality.
Short term, we have a number of really important things taking place, including mock exams for second year students, our final student-led conference of the year (Origin Conference) and the annual Project Week. Students are also planning another 24-hour Race on 4th March, following the success of last year’s event, which raised more than £17,000 to help combat human trafficking and modern slavery.
In the meantime, please enjoy reading about Phoenix Con, the Festival of Hope, the seafront, Humans of UWCA, campus refurbishments, the winter break, an award winning app, and a summer residential programme.
Principal Naheed Bardai
phoenix con
Our second student-led conference of the year took place from 27th-29th January, giving the college community an opportunity to follow a general ‘day in the life’ as an East Asian student.
Phoenix Conference (PhoenixCon) provided an insight into Asian culture, including food, film and the kind of games played in the region. The conference also featured a keynote talk by UWC Maastricht alumna Vivi Lin, a Taiwanese entrepreneur who founded a not-for-profit to tackle period poverty and stigma in Taiwan.
PhoenixCon was an important platform for the nearly 20% of UWC Atlantic students who come from the Asian region.
The student-led conferences take place three times a year and are an integral part of the education provided at UWC Atlantic. The students decide on the conference themes, and supported by staff, they plan, manage and deliver each event - all part of the immersive student experience here.
Below is a selection of photos from the opening ceremony and a performance from the national evening.
FESTIVAL OF HOPE
It was perhaps fitting that, in our 60th anniversary year, UWC Atlantic was selected to host the International Baccalaureate’s (IB) Festival of Hope in December.
The college was one of three locations chosen by the IB to shine a light on the voices of young people surrounding hope, technology, mental health and climate change. All through a series of workshops and conversations, which UWC Atlantic students helped to organise.
Guest presenters on the day included youth entrepreneur Ziad Ahmed, musician UWC Atlantic alumnus JP Bimeni and Arifa Nasim, a campaigner on ending gender based violence. The event was also attended by the IB’s Director General Olli-Pekka Heinonen, as well as members of the team working on the New Educational Pathway from the IB.
The students wrote and performed a manifesto of hope as the opening provocation of the Festival, and challenged IB Director General Olli-Pekka Heinonen to respond to it in his closing remarks.
It was a special afternoon that brought students, teachers, educational leaders, and alumni from across the IB community together in one of the places where it all began. We hope to give you a flavour of the event in the short video below.
SEAFRONT UPDATE
The college seafront continued to play an important role in student life… even during the winter months!
Atlantic Dippers is a cold water swimming club on a Wednesday evening, started by Katie Lloyd from the UWC Atlantic Experience team. Over the past few months, even when the water has been an icy 0.5 degrees celsius (or 33 degrees fahrenheit), students and staff have been turning up for a dip in the sea or outdoor pool (weather and sea conditions pending).
The classes have been an important opportunity for students to learn to swim, as well as providing a community where students and staff can challenge themselves, feel supported and have some fun. This month also saw the first Atlantic Dippers tour, with the group going to a neighbouring beach for a walk, dip and a hot chocolate to warm up afterwards.
The swimming lessons have since been expanded to include lessons in our indoor swimming pool on a Friday afternoon and at the weekends. Students attending have been supported by a qualified swimming coach to work on swimming (both front and back) and to master the skill of floating. The classes have only been going for a short time, but have proven to be a great success already.
After months of preparation, some students headed out on to the water for their first time in a lifeboat. To prepare, the students have been doing casualty care first aid, navigation, capsize rescue and swimming skills, all as part of the Changemakers curriculum with Atlantic Pacific: Lifeboats where there are none.
The boat was built by staff and students from our original 1968 Rigid Inflatable Lifeboat design.
If you'd like to donate to support this programme, click here: https://www.atlanticappeal.org/apatac
HUMANS OF UWCA
As part of our Humans of UWCA series, meet Aggie Morgan, who has been the violin and viola teacher at college since 2014.
Let’s hear more from Aggie: "What makes my job so interesting is teaching students from diverse musical backgrounds, whether they are totally new to the instrument or advanced players. One of my first students was from Japan whose ambition was to get into Yale University and their excellent symphony orchestra......he did both, a brilliant achievement.
"Learning to play an instrument can be challenging at times. So often, the students say to me that it’s good for their mental health and gets them away from the everyday pressure. When they tell me they’re enjoying it, how satisfying is that?"
FUN FACT No 1: Her real name is Annette but she hasn’t been known by that name for years. How did that happen? She worked for a Colombian bandleader who thought her name was “Agnet”!! Despite the constant correction, he couldn’t get it right, so her Scottish colleague said, "I know a few people called Aggie back home; maybe go for that?" She did and has been known by it ever since.
FUN FACT No.2: She was booked as part of the string section to play on a UK tour with the singer Rod Stewart. The venues for the shows were football stadiums, and on arriving for the first performance, she discovered she had to play inside a giant, revolving football! After she and her colleagues complained of feeling very sick, the football ceased to spin for the rest of the tour!
NEW ON CAMPUS
It’s been a busy few months on campus after the completion of two major construction projects. First up, Powys House was completely refurbished in the second half of last year. The number one aim of the project was to continue to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and help the college take another leap towards net zero emissions.
Along with all the interior upgrades, outside we’ve got a new roof, all new windows and doors, and we repaired and repainted all of the wood cladding.
All the work has been done with an eye on reducing the future running and maintenance costs of the house. We have managed to achieve that goal as in December we had the thermal imaging of the house surveyed and it’s now performing at a high level of thermal efficiency.
The project was completed ahead of schedule and on budget, despite inflationary pressures, and has resulted in a very high standard of student accommodation.
Meanwhile, over at the music department, we’ve finally opened our newly refurbished building. It’s the result of several years of planning and fundraising as well as more than six months of construction.
Some of the highlights are a completely new roof, under which we have three brand new pianos, our harpsichord finally out on display, seven fully functioning practice rooms (each with its own piano or keyboard as well as soundproofing), and a classroom filled with 15 new iMac computers and all the latest music technology.
None of this could have happened without the extremely generous support of the Terwick Trust and the Mousetrap Foundation.
All of these facilities allow our students to learn firsthand how the music industry today functions, from classical performance through to high-tech music production.
UWC ATLANTIC IN THE NEWS
Some of the students were featured on ITV Wales in February after their app won a global award.
AILEM (which means ‘family’ in Turkish) was created to provide knowledge and education to support the needs of refugees and asylum seekers in integrating into society.
The students involved won a WSA Youth Innovators Award, which will enable them to continue developing the app and to add more languages.
WINTER BREAK ACTIVITIES
As the vast majority of our staff and student community left for the winter break in December, a group of 28 students remained on campus throughout Christmas and New Year.
The students were supported by a dedicated group of staff who put on a range of activities to keep them engaged during the break.
The group took part in activities around the college grounds as well as outside campus. Highlights included swimming in the pool, taking dips in the sea (weather permitting!), mountain biking, cookie decorating and making Christmas crafts.
The group also took part in paddlesports on the river in a place called Llandysul in West Wales and a mountain walk in the Brecon Beacons to Pen y Fan, the highest point in South Wales.
A big thank you to all staff who remained on campus and to the 28 students who helped to keep the community spirit alive over the winter break.
SUMMER RESIDENTIAL PROGRAMME
UWC Atlantic Experience has just opened applications for its summer residential programme, which takes place in July and August 2023 and is open to young people aged 12 years and over.
English Language Experience and Action (20 July - 3 August) will give participants the opportunity to develop their English and communication skills, while our Global Leadership Experience event (20 July - 3 August) promises to help young people be an advocate for social change in the world, by developing and building their critical thinking and decision-making skills.
Our more physically active Atlantic Adventure Experience (6-12 August; 13-19 August), on the other hand, aims to develop confidence and improve teamwork skills in a fun outdoor environment.
