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Writing Space recognised at LUU awards

Skills@Library wins the award for Student-Staff Partnership of the Year.

The Skills@Library Writing Space has won the Student-Staff Partnership of the Year award at Leeds University Union’s Leeds Partnership Awards, held last week.

The annual awards celebrate members of the University who help students to make the most of the opportunities available at Leeds and contribute to students’ sense of belonging.

The Student-Staff Partnership of the Year award focuses specifically on meaningful collaborations between staff teams and students. The Writing Space embodies this principle with student writing mentors working with staff learning advisors to deliver peer-to-peer support that is in-touch and informed by the real needs of students.

The award recognises the fantastic work of our writing mentors and the significant contribution they have made to student success over the past two years

Emily Webb, Writing Space Co-ordinator

Nominations were open to all members of the University community and judged by a panel of students, academics and professional services staff. With 2,650 nominations across all categories, competition to win an award is tough. 

Writing mentor, Geri Kajos said: "It feels amazing to have our work recognised, not only for the hard work we have put in but for the impact we feel that we have made on students' experiences and academic skills development... Students who attended the Writing Space have often come back to say thank you."

Alongside bookable one-to-one maths and statistics, digital and academic advice with learning advisors, The Writing Space has quickly become an invaluable part of the support offered by the Skills@Library team. As well as finding a regular term-time home on the ground floor of the Laidlaw Library at the start of this academic year, the team ran over 70 sessions for students seeking help.

Emily Webb, Writing Space Co-ordinator praised the team of writing mentors for making the drop-in sessions so successful.

"The award recognises the fantastic work of our writing mentors and the significant contribution they have made to student success over the past two years. It also underscores the vital role of student partnership and participation, and highlights what our students can achieve with the University's support."

The Writing Space is open until 10 May to help with last-minute writing advice for assignments and exams. It will return in September with a new team of mentors providing the same level of award-winning support.