College students hear from crime and justice experts

Barnsley College students have had the opportunity to hear from a range of industry experts as they learn more about the world of crime and justice.

The panel of guest speakers were invited into the College as part of Crime and Justice Week, an initiative created by College’s Enterprise department in the hopes of expanding students’ career prospects.

Amongst the panel of guest speakers was Diane Hall, a trained forensic linguist from Think Forensic. Diane presented an interactive workshop which allowed students to take part in activities which mimicked a day in the life of someone in the industry, analysing written text and listening to audio of real emergency calls. She also shed light on the wide range of careers available in forensic linguistics such as musicology copyright, jobs within the police, and civil settings.

Students also heard from Sam Rose, Senior Probation Officer and Ryan Gailey, Prison Service and Youth Offender Worker, as they discussed the inner workings of the probation service. Sam and Ryan explained to students what Probation Officers do and the differences in varying sentences.

Sam specifically spoke of the emotional barriers that need to be broken down when working in the industry and the skills and attributes useful when looking for jobs in the sector.

Towards the end of the week, students also heard from Nick Knowles, PC and field expert in neurodiversity for South Yorkshire Police. Nick delivered a session on suicide prevention and vulnerability to students touching on the statistics around suicide and the measures in place within the force to protect individuals from harm.

Nick explained the effects of lockdown and the easing of restrictions across the community and how to best support someone they suspect might be battling with their own mental health. Nick specifically encourages change within his force to protect those who are vulnerable by creating mental health passports and delivering training to new custody suite staff.

Other speakers amongst the panel included: Natalie Queiroz, author and attempted murder survivor; Nigel Taafe and Sarah Garside, Military Police; Adreas Venetis, Tigre de Crystal (Vladivostok Russia); Thomas Delaney, Drug Addiction Awareness Public Speaker; and Meena Kumari, Founder of HOPE (Helping Other People Every day) Training.

Julia Davies, Talent United and Enterprise Officer, said: “During Crime and Justice Week we facilitated a number of guest speaker sessions and workshops to highlight and educate our students on various crime-related issues, including those which are a very real and prominent issue with young people currently. We engaged with a large number of students throughout the week and the feedback we have received has been overwhelmingly positive. I would like to thank all of our guest speakers for a very insightful week.”

Barnsley College’s Enterprise department encourage and support students to develop their enterprise skills and talents outside of their studies. They offer opportunities for students to improve their communication, team work, problem solving and creativity skills and provide support to set up a business. The Enterprise team is also on hand to support students with gaining employability skills via a whole host of initiatives, regular workshops, core tutorials and events. Many of these can connect them with local industry experts and employers.