Welcome to your latest student newsletter.

With warm weather, the lifting of restrictions and people spending more time together, the numbers of COVID-19 cases are increasing nationally, and in Leeds too. Remember to take regular lateral flow tests. The UK Government recommends you take these tests twice a week. You can collect these free from Leeds University Union and other locations in Leeds or have packs of seven tests sent to your home in England for free.

If you test positive (or develop symptoms), you’ll need to take a PCR test at a testing centre, self-isolate, and report your positive result to us. 

Teaching plans for September: your questions answered 

Earlier this month, we got in touch with you to let you know about teaching from September. While we won’t be holding large-scale lectures in Semester 1, we're committed to ensuring that all of you have substantial face-to-face teaching on campus. 

Lots of you had questions about our approach and why we’d made a decision ahead of June 21, so Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor Peter Jimack sat down with LUU’s Union Affairs officer Izzy Walter to address some of the questions you raised on social media and on email to the University and LUU. 

Watch the full video now. 

Your School will be in touch at the end of this month to give you more information on how your programme will be delivered, but if you still have questions about the general University approach, email us at studentcommunications@leeds.ac.uk. 

Assessments 

For those of you whose assessments finished last week, we’ve got a lot of information about marking, results, and resits to help you understand what happens next. (And we know that some of you still have some to do – good luck!)

Living in Leeds and moving out 

House and garden parties 

Summer is well and truly here, and assessments over for many, it’s great to catch up with friends and relax now the end of the academic year is over.  

There’s been an increase in noise complaints recently, and so avoid getting into trouble and upsetting your neighbours, by: 

• Speaking with your neighbours - let them know if you’re having a party and talk to them about things you can do so that they’re not inconvenienced. A quick, friendly chat usually puts everyone at ease!  
• Understanding you’ve moved into a community. Many people work shift patterns which means that may need to sleep earlier to wake up early. Some of your neighbours may have young children or have other personal situations like work deadlines or health issues that could be made worse by loud noises.  
• Turning it down after 10 pm (you can get into trouble at any time of the day)  
• Remembering sound travels further outdoors.  
• Moving any sources of noise (e.g. speakers) away from shared walls in your house.  
• Planning to meet your friends at a local venue. Independent places like Hyde Park Book Club and the Brudenell Social club have been closed on and off for the last 14 months and would welcome your custom to help them continue.  

Find out more about community rules and sanctions 

Moving house

If you’re leaving Leeds or moving into a new house, then you’ll have a lot of things to move. Make a start now: 

• Get rid of things you don’t need – donate them to charity shops or sell them on places like Gumtree or Facebook. 
• If you’re moving in the next few weeks, plan your meals – it’s better to eat the things you’ve got in your cupboards and fridge now rather than having to pack them! 
• Get boxes from supermarkets and other shops– don’t forget to ask first! 
• Planning your move isn’t too early – it’s the perfect time to make it hassle-free!  

End of Term Big Clear Out 

The End of Term Big Clear Out project can help you donate your unwanted items for the benefit of local people. Last year they saved over 16 tonnes of good quality stuff from being thrown away!  

A door-to-door collection is being operated in many areas. If you have received a leaflet and blue donation bag through your letterbox, then you are in a collection area! If not drop them off at our collection point. Find out what you can donate, collection dates and drop-off locations. 

Staying in Leeds this summer?

We’ll be sharing details of activities and events you can join. Keep an eye on your emails and @UoLStudents on Twitter for regular updates.  

Calling all student bloggers, vloggers and content creators! 

We’re currently working on our welcome materials for students joining us this September, plus content to help students who may not have had the best start to their time at university to get the most out of life at Leeds in the new academic year. 

So, we’re looking for students with a passion and talent for blogging, vlogging and photography to help us to create content we can share ahead of September to help students get their most out of the time at Leeds. 

This is a paid opportunity (payment will be agreed based on the content you create) and while we have a list of topics we’d like to cover, we’re keen to get your views on what content would have helped you too. 

Interested? Drop us a line at studentcommunications@leeds.ac.uk and let us know what you’d like to get involved with! 

Have your say 

• Win a £50 Love2Shop Voucher by completing Sport and Physical Activity's Balancing Life survey to help us understand physical activity and wellbeing levels on campus 
• Share your experience of being a student during the Covid-19 pandemic in an international research project. All participants will receive a £10 shopping voucher and all who register a chance to win a £25 shopping voucher. Please complete this survey to register your interest 
• As part of the university-wide effort to tackle racial inequality at the University of Leeds the Wellbeing and Counselling service, in partnership with LUU Advice, is hosting a student-led project investigating the perceived and experienced barriers to accessing Support Services faced by Black, Asian, and ethnic minority students. If you’re a Black, Asian, or ethnic minority student, you can help improve University support services with your feedback. Whether you’ve used the services or not, the Universities’ student-led research wants to hear from you. . The survey closes on the 27 June and all participants have the chance of winning a £25 amazon voucher.

EU Settlement Scheme - apply by 30 June 2021  

All EU, EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members who were resident in the UK by 31 December 2020, should apply without delay at www.gov.uk/eusettlementscheme so that they can continue to work, study, and access free healthcare and benefits in the UK after 30 June 2021. You can apply inside or outside the UK. 

A range of support is available to those who need help to apply www.gov.uk/help-eu-settlement-scheme 

Those who have successfully applied to the EUSS can access their pre-settled or settled status online, update their personal details, and get a ‘share code’ to provide their status to others at www.gov.uk/view-prove-immigration-status. 

Minerva upgrade 

Work will take place this summer to upgrade Minerva to the latest version of Blackboard. This will be delivered in two parts, with the first part being delivered in early August 2021. 

What this will mean for you: 

• No more downtime following an upgrade in August
• A mobile-friendly platform  - the new version of Blackboard provides a better experience if you access Minerva on mobile devices, such as phones and tablets 
• Accessibility improvements - from August, Minerva will provide a better experience for users of screen reader technology 
• User engagement - new features will provide you with alerts about upcoming assessment deadlines and an at-a-glance view of recent changes made to your modules. 

You don’t need to do anything in terms of the upgrade, and you’ll receive further communications about the progress of the upgrade throughout the summer. For more information go to Minerva News