Staff Spotlight: Helen Smithson, Access to Higher Education lecturer

Helen is new to EKC Ashford College and has already made a big impact. She brings her extensive knowledge to our Access to Higher Education students with her previous experience at Canterbury Christ Church University.

She told us about how it’s been going since starting her role in January this year, and how she supports adult students into university courses. 

What do you bring to the role? 

My background definitely gives me an insight into what the students need and the skills that they need to develop to integrate into Higher Education more smoothly.  

Academic writing has been one thing we’ve really been working on this term and moving away from the more basic online sources, teaching the students how to use Google Scholar, and looking for peer-reviewed sources for their work. 

You’ve said that you are studying for your PhD in Social Science. How do you balance work with studying and an adult schedule? 

It’s difficult to, but I have a strong interest in psychology. I went into psychology wanting to be a psychologist and from working at university while doing my PhD, I realised I didn’t want to do that and liked teaching, so I pivoted during my qualification to specialise more into teaching. 

How do you support the students in preparing for university? 

It’s mainly building that confidence back up. We’ve got a variety of learners; ones who have just been in school and are now transferring through, and ones who are going back into education after not being in it for quite a while.  

It’s reminding them of the skills that they have and how to apply them because most of them have more of a confidence issue rather than a skills issue.  

Can you think of a specific story of seeing a student progress? 

We have a mature student who is also doing this course in a second language. She’s come really far, especially with her writing. She started off using Google Translate for a lot of assignments. She’s now writing in English and checking it with Google Translate. She recently decided that she wants to go into psychology at university which is really nice.  

I would say 80% to 90% of those currently on the course either have a place at university next year or are waiting to hear back from their choices.  

How does this course fit in with a variety of student abilities? 

It’s really adaptable, so we meet them where they’re at. Some of them have got slightly advanced skills, so you can put in a little bit more advanced tasks for them to do. Everything starts at the very basics. We’re building up right from the foundation level. 

How has it been working with other EKC Ashford College staff? 

EKC Ashford College is a really nice place to work so far. The professional service industries department is a friendly, driven department. Everyone is very helpful, in terms of all of the industry standards and making sure all of the students are happy. 

Learn from our experienced team and progress to university with our Access to Higher Education course.