Landmark Issue 19 2021 SINGLE PAGES

16 TEACHING & LEARNING LANDMARK Graduation too had to be postponed. But what characterised what came next was a huge degree of classic RAU resilience and resolution, as the community looked to welcome our new and returning students back to an adapted campus, with new ways of working, to make our campus the safest, but still the most sociable and supportive, possible environment. With as many activities as possible planned open air, to inhibit the risk of Covid-19 spread, the Student Union spent the summer organising activities to be sited in a ‘Bubble Village’ on Bledisloe Field, which was the central event arena. The SU booked 15 separate tents – or ‘pods’ – which would, in accordance with the law, each be allocated to ‘households’ of up to 30 students living on campus. They organised a variety of entertainment which would be hosted in the Bubble Village during the daily induction programme and right into the evening throughout the week. The teamwas, rightly, incredibly proud of the variety and quality of provision, especially as many other university Student Unions didn’t plan any social activities for their new cohorts. Then at the eleventh hour, just a few days before Welcome Week, new regulations threw a curveball. The Rule of Six led to a frantic and stressful few days (and sleepless nights) as the team had to scrap its plans and start again. With live entertainment no longer permitted, the Bubble Village had to be re-imagined, with streamed entertainment on a big screen and an increased number of socially distanced groups, some located in the ‘pods’, with others in additional 4m carpet squares bordered with bunting. This meant everyone who wanted to attend could be accommodated, whilst adhering to the new law. Students entered the Bubble Village via a one-way system, were registered for track and trace, and had their temperature taken before being allocated to a pod, each of which was equipped with its own table, lighting, speaker (to avoid the need for amplified music across the site), hand sanitiser and cleaning materials. In their welcome information, all new students were asked to bring along their own camping Student experience during Covid-19: A year like no other To say 2020 didn’t go as planned is something of an understatement. The pandemic saw the RAUpivot to online academic delivery and assessment and sadly led to the postponement of themany activities marking our anniversary.