Nahum

When did you join Weston College? 

I joined University Centre Weston (UCW) in 2019, having previously worked in policy roles at both the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Prior to joining the Civil Service, I spent several years working as an Environmental Health Practitioner (EHP) in Local Government and as a lecturer at the University of the West of England (UWE).  As a lecturer at UCW, I teach on both the BSc (Hons) Environmental Health Practitioner and the BSc (Hons) Public and Environmental Health programmes.   

Why did you join Weston College? 

Having previously worked at University Centre Weston, I did miss the collegial environment, the autonomy and creativity associated with being a lecturer and the sense of fulfilment in helping to facilitate the academic and professional development of students/apprentices.  Furthermore, I was excited to contribute to the design, development and delivery of our BSc (Hons) Environmental Health Practitioner programme; this new degree apprenticeship has been running for two years and will help support the environmental health professions growing demand for qualified practitioners. 

How do you spend your day? 

A typical working day would see me delivering lectures and seminars in a hybrid format, using our state of the art IT/teaching facilities. Our apprenticeship students are based around the country and many choose to join sessions remotely via Teams, whilst others prefer to be in the classroom; this means we need to be innovative in how we engage students, foster learning and create a collegial environment.  In addition to teaching, I also hold tutorials with students, write and mark assessments, engage in scholarly activity and CPD, and attend meetings with colleagues to discuss programme delivery and novel ways to enhance the programme. From time to time, I am also involved in promoting the course at open days, visiting schools etc.   

How has the College supported your career development? 

UCW arranges CPD days which brings together colleagues from across departments and external speakers to share best practice in relation to teaching, learning and assessment; lessons learnt from CPD days have enabled me to develop several areas of my teaching, including hybrid delivery strategies. UCW also supports your engagement in scholarly activity and CPD specific to your specialist area.  Furthermore, Teaching, Learning and Assessment (TLA) advisers are on hand to provide support in developing your teaching practice.   

What have you been involved in while working at Weston College? 

As mentioned earlier, I was part of a small team which developed one of the few environmental health degree apprenticeships in the country; the degree was validated by UWE and accredited by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH).  We have apprentices enrolled from across the breadth of the country who benefit from combining academic study with the experiential learning that takes place in their workplaces (usually Local Authority Environmental Health departments).  Furthermore, I also organise and prepare students for the ‘CIEH Practical Food Inspection Assessment’; students must pass this assessment if they want to practice as Food Safety Officers in future.  The College invests significant funds to ensure we can purchase a wide array of food specimens for lab sessions and bring in industry experts to assist in preparatory sessions and assessments. The performance of our students in these assessments have been outstanding over the years.  

What’s the best thing about working at Weston College? 

The people; I work in a small, supportive team where everyone knows their role and is willing to support each other; as such, there is a real team spirit and collective will to do the best possible job. Job autonomy is closely linked to job satisfaction and I have a great deal of autonomy in my role and managers who play a supportive role, whilst giving you the space to deliver your objectives in the way you deem fit.  In addition to the inner programme team, the support of pastoral and administrative staff is critical to the smooth running of the programme.