The university finally agreed to move the reading week to week 18. It took a long time to get them to listen but I am relieved we can stop worrying about that nine week slog. Keep an eye on the schedule to ensure they actually follow through with this change …
June 2, 2017
Final supporters
We the undersigned wish for the spring term reading week which took place in week thirteen of the 2016/17 academic year to be moved to week 18 for the 2017/18 academic year and years following.
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This is a petition to move the spring term reading week in the Bristol University Arts Faculty (Arts, Humanities and Languages) from week 13 to week 18.
Having a reading week before the start of term is not useful for the vast majority of Arts, Humanities and Language Students, and is contributing to undue stress among them.
One argument made by those who support the term's reading week being before the start of term is that it is a welcome break after exams. However, as Arts, Humanities and Language Students we have very few, if any January exams, and so the week is just more time spent twiddling our thumbs waiting around for term to start.
Once we start again it's then a long 9 week slog to the Easter vacation with no time to cool off. People's stress builds up over the unrelenting term causing a deterioration in a student's capacity to learn, which is after all what we are at university to do.
Moving the reading week to week 18 would also bring our Faculty in line with the Faculty of Social Sciences meaning that joint honours who work between Social Sciences and Arts (e.g. Politics and Philosophy students) would have reading weeks that coincide.
I really hope you sign this as I'm sure we would all be a lot happier, more productive and generally better functioning students if we had a reading week at a time which is more beneficial to us.
Cheers!
Zak - Year 1 German Rep
Updates
Reached 250 supporters
March 6, 2017
March 5, 2017
The feedback from students across these departments has confirmed that the current schedule is draining us all. I am working through the administrative channels to get a formal response to these concerns despite the slow progress.
Reached 100 supporters
March 1, 2017
33 Comments
why would you put it in the first week when there's no set reading to do ?!?! we need one midterm so we can keep up to date with our work, and when we have a better idea of what extra reading would be useful to our module!
So many people are falling ill due to stresses of term now- If we had reading week just when the workload mounts now that would be enormously beneficial.
We form our personalised reading lists as we study our subjects. Thus, in the middle of the term we would have a much better idea on what to focus on, while having a breather from the mandatory stuff.
Language students don't have exams at the beginning of the year so the addition of the reading week at the end of this period is an unnecessarily large break; moving it to a later time would be more appropriate.
As a parent I agree with the request to move the reading week, as it was unhelpful just after the Christmas break.
Just makes sense really.
I understand the notion of having a reading week after exams, but I think a lot of people take it as a holiday and actually if you consider how many contact hours we have, the first week of term is never that taxing so there would still be opportunities to relax, and it would prevent people from getting exhausted later on in the term.
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The university finally agreed to move the reading week to week 18. It took a long time to get them to listen but I am relieved we can stop worrying about that nine week slog. Keep an eye on the schedule to ensure they actually follow through with this change …
June 2, 2017
Final supporters
We the undersigned wish for the spring term reading week which took place in week thirteen of the 2016/17 academic year to be moved to week 18 for the 2017/18 academic year and years following.
-----------
This is a petition to move the spring term reading week in the Bristol University Arts Faculty (Arts, Humanities and Languages) from week 13 to week 18.
Having a reading week before the start of term is not useful for the vast majority of Arts, Humanities and Language Students, and is contributing to undue stress among them.
One argument made by those who support the term's reading week being before the start of term is that it is a welcome break after exams. However, as Arts, Humanities and Language Students we have very few, if any January exams, and so the week is just more time spent twiddling our thumbs waiting around for term to start.
Once we start again it's then a long 9 week slog to the Easter vacation with no time to cool off. People's stress builds up over the unrelenting term causing a deterioration in a student's capacity to learn, which is after all what we are at university to do.
Moving the reading week to week 18 would also bring our Faculty in line with the Faculty of Social Sciences meaning that joint honours who work between Social Sciences and Arts (e.g. Politics and Philosophy students) would have reading weeks that coincide.
I really hope you sign this as I'm sure we would all be a lot happier, more productive and generally better functioning students if we had a reading week at a time which is more beneficial to us.
Cheers!
Zak - Year 1 German Rep
Updates
Reached 250 supporters
March 6, 2017
March 5, 2017
The feedback from students across these departments has confirmed that the current schedule is draining us all. I am working through the administrative channels to get a formal response to these concerns despite the slow progress.
Reached 100 supporters
March 1, 2017
33 Comments
For the second week of exams, I had none - then a reading week. I didn't know what to do with myself, as a few of my courses hadn't even put up any information for me to know what to start reading. Now I have so much homework, reading to do, and an assignment due in a few days. It sure would be nice to have a reading week to catch up on it all!
why would you put it in the first week when there's no set reading to do ?!?! we need one midterm so we can keep up to date with our work, and when we have a better idea of what extra reading would be useful to our module!
So many people are falling ill due to stresses of term now- If we had reading week just when the workload mounts now that would be enormously beneficial.
We form our personalised reading lists as we study our subjects. Thus, in the middle of the term we would have a much better idea on what to focus on, while having a breather from the mandatory stuff.
Language students don't have exams at the beginning of the year so the addition of the reading week at the end of this period is an unnecessarily large break; moving it to a later time would be more appropriate.
As a parent I agree with the request to move the reading week, as it was unhelpful just after the Christmas break.
Just makes sense really.
I understand the notion of having a reading week after exams, but I think a lot of people take it as a holiday and actually if you consider how many contact hours we have, the first week of term is never that taxing so there would still be opportunities to relax, and it would prevent people from getting exhausted later on in the term.
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For the second week of exams, I had none - then a reading week. I didn't know what to do with myself, as a few of my courses hadn't even put up any information for me to know what to start reading. Now I have so much homework, reading to do, and an assignment due in a few days. It sure would be nice to have a reading week to catch up on it all!