Your Student Governors

"Myself and Adam Matthews have been appointed student governor and will be representing all students across Herefordshire, Ludlow and North Shropshire Colleges. I wanted to become a student governor because I am passionate about making the student voice heard. As a result of the diversity in my courses I can give an open opinion on how both A Levels and BTECs run effectively and how both are beneficial qualifications.

I am currently studying A Level Chemistry alongside BTEC sport full diploma. Whilst studying Chemistry I have enhanced my ability to problem solve, enabling me to look at what was taught and be able to transfer that into a wide variety of context. Whilst studying sport I have enjoyed learning all about the body and how it adapts to exercise. I am a keen swimmer so learning about how the body adapts and how best to develop my performance really interests me and motivates me to do better. I recently swam for cancer research and raised over £700 in aid of a member of my family who is close to my heart. In the summer of this year I had the opportunity to go to UNIQ at Oxford University to study Maths at degree level. I thrived off engaging with people from a wide variety of cultures allowing me to appreciate the diversity in society, it was one of the best things I have ever experienced and has helped me open my eyes to what career path I want to go down in the future.

Whilst in my role of Student Governor I would like to improve the College further and be able to asist in making our college the best it can be for the students. The fact that I am representing students from all five campuses means that a lot of responsibility comes with the role. However, I feel that it is a real privilege to be able to do so. I have had some experience in a role like this before as I was on the school council in primary school and every year in secondary school. Whilst on the council, not only did I bring forward issues, I made sure to be persistent with them until they were heard and changes were being made. This is something that I will bring to my position of Student Governor.

When I finish college, I would love to go onto university to study Paramedical Science and embark on a successful career as a paramedic. I am looking at going to Worcester University but I’m not entirely sure yet. I hope that as I continue onto higher education I can continue to represent students of the university and make their voice heard." - Abby Durant

"Abby and I are proud to have been elected Student Governors and will be representing all Herefordshire, Ludlow and North Shropshire campuses. I applied for the role because I have prior experience of being on other committees, two of which I have been the chair of; Shropshire’s first Youth Council and now a new youth environmental group that I was central in establishing.

I am currently in my first year at Ludlow College and am thoroughly enjoying the experience as a whole. I am studying Maths, Chemistry, Physics and History, and at the recent Consultation Evening I was informed that I am working towards my target in all four of my subjects. While college work does keep me busy at home, I also like to take an active role in the community where I have joined or set up several committees. The first was called the SSYC (Sustainable Stretton Youth Council), which I was chosen to Chair, and ran for a year as Shropshire’s first registered British Youth Council. We focussed on giving young people a voice and so distributed a survey to students at Church Stretton School asking what they would like to see in the town, which received a great response and the results of which I am now working with the town council on implementing. SSYC then became merged with another group that I set up, and subsequently chair, called SYNC (Stretton Youth for Nature and Climate) which once again has a focus on giving young people a voice. We are currently working towards completing our first goal of establishing a solid recycling system at Church Stretton School, but are also working on a larger project in cooperation with the local primary school to achieve Eco-school status. I was asked to join the steering group of Church Stretton’s Community Led Plan which aims to come up with a plan for the town from 2020 to 2036 by consulting as many different individuals and groups as we can. Personally, I am responsible for the Transport and Environmental sectors and work on them with another member of the steering group. Annually there is the Church Stretton Arts Festival, where I help out with setting up, taking down and stewarding the exhibition. I have also written reviews of some of the concerts at the festival for local magazine The Stretton Focus, on top of the other pieces that I write for the Focus on occasion.

With this being quite a formal and prestigious role, I feel a great sense of responsibility for all the students that I am representing over the five campuses. I am really pleased to be able to give back to the College and other students by putting their perspectives, as well as my own, forward in meetings. On another note, I hope to be able to gain a great deal of experience from my time on the board of governors, and will treat the entire venture as a learning curve that ideally will inform my future life choices.

My main goal after college is to read History and study politics at Oxford University, an institution that I have always dreamed of becoming a part of. Further to this, I have done some research into working within the civil service and have found that they offer a kind of post-degree internship that they call the Fast Stream service. I would complete this in the Diplomatic Service, where I would work various roles over a two year period and come away with a large amount of experience; this is a highly competitive role but is definitely something that I want to try and aim for." - Adam Matthews