Happy new year from everyone in the ENSA Advice Team!  We hope you had a restful break and are feeling ready for the year ahead.  In this blog post, I want to reflect on what was a busy and productive December for the team, as well as share what’s coming up.
 

A Busy End to 2025

December may have been a shorter month (with the festive break) but the Advice Service remained very busy - in total, we conducted 73 student appointments in the month of December.

Also behind the scenes in December:

• Hannah has been continuing work on the Student Mental Health Agreement, which is our collaboration with the University to ensure that student wellbeing remains a priority.
• Moray helped to run a support lunch for International Students at the Craiglockhart Campus.
• Marianne attended the School of Applied Science all-staff meeting, and presented on our ENSA Advice service, keeping us connected with the University.
• Moray has been attending Advice UK training – with a focus on Reflective Practice, and Building Resilience in Advice Work
• Hannah has been involved with our ENSA “Moving to Inclusion” working group
• The Team worked together with colleagues in the Chaplaincy and the Counselling & Wellbeing team to create a list of Things to Do and Places to Turn over the Christmas break – this was to support any of our students staying in Edinburgh who may have felt worried about loneliness or being away from family during this time. 
• Marianne met with all the Fit to Sit officers from each school to highlight any areas of concern and to discuss how we can best work together.

We rounded off the year with our Advice Team Christmas lunch in the Merchiston Triangle Restaurant, which involved some competitive cracker-pulling (see photo)!  We also joined colleagues at the ENSA Christmas lunch held at Copper Blossom - a lovely chance to step away from our desks and connect with the wider team. 
 

Academic Integrity - a Reminder

The Advice Service has recently been supporting a large volume of students facing academic misconduct allegations.  We want to take this opportunity to remind students that they must adhere to the University’s Academic Integrity Regulations. In particular - purchasing essays, paying someone to complete work on your behalf, or using so-called “essay mills” is a serious breach of academic regulations.  This is considered cheating, and the consequences can be severe. 

If you are struggling with an assignment, please reach out for support early.

Looking Ahead

As students return from the Winter Break next week, our aim is to be as visible and accessible on campus as possible.  You’ll find us at the Welcome (Back) Fair, on Tuesday 20 January, where we will have a stall.  We will also be running ENSA support stalls on all three campuses throughout the whole of Welcome Back Week.  We look forward to chatting to new and returning students and finding out how we can support you. 

In January, we are excited to be involved in the following:

• presenting at the International College Induction (Marianne)
• attending Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (Moray & Hannah)
• running a board game café for nursing students (Hannah)
• taking part in See Me’s Empower Change training (whole team)
• presenting at the School of Health & Social Care all-staff meeting (Marianne)

Here’s to a positive and supportive start to the new year – we’re looking forward to working with you in January and beyond.

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