Schools Engagement: A week in numbers

It’s been a busy week for our Schools Engagement team, with activities geared toward inspiring young people about their future career options.

Schools Engagement offer a range of opportunities for all schools across Northamptonshire, for children and students from the age of 9 to 18 and adult learners.

They work alongside partners to raise aspirations, support schools to raise attainment and inspire young people to consider different options for their futures.

This week started with the first of our new cohort for the UNI Club. 30 students from Weavers Academy came to Waterside to find out about studying at university.

They met their ‘tutor’ (one of our PhD students) and had an introduction to the subject they will be studying with us over a 6-week period, starting after half term.

The subjects they will ‘study’ are psychology (‘Why do Ghosts Wear Clothes and Other Important Questions’) and politics (‘Citizenship and Politics in Britain’).

Monday also saw an Aspire Higher day for around 180 Brooke Weston Academy students. Aspire Higher is a collaboration between the universities of Northampton, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. They offer activities, advice and information on the benefits and realities of going to university or college.

This HE Day covered subjects such as Public Health – where the students got to ‘have a go’ with lab equipment – Photography, Business and First Generation talks. A similar event was repeated on Tuesday with 240 students from Weston Favell Academy.

On Tuesday, we welcomed nearly 300 Year 6 students for another new addition for the team, the ‘Your Future. Your Choice’ HE day. The day on campus followed workshops the students had already completed in their schools helping them understand more about their future options and choices at university.

The visit at Waterside introduced them to new subjects, working with our faculty staff to deliver workshops on sociology, podiatry, law, English, psychology, and events. Their trip to Waterside saw them cement their learning about higher education and put into context more details of studying at the University of Northampton.

The team will finish the week with a Widening Participation HE Day for Montsaye Academy. Year 7 students will visit Waterside to find out more about studying at university, and will participate in interactive subject tasters in prosthetics, hair and make-up, film, TV and digital media and drama in action with ‘physical theatre’.  Students will have the opportunity to ‘have a go’ in all of these subjects, working with UON students to learn more about the subjects and student life. Our Law Team will also encourage debating skills with their activity on ‘Discrimination, the Law and You’.

Natasha Mycawka, Widening Access Manager, says: “We’re not ones to be do things by half in Schools Engagement, so why hold one event in a week when you can have six? It’s also been the perfect sign off for Linda Davis-Sinclair, our Schools Engagement Lead who retires this week.

“It has been inspiring to meet our ‘youngest students’ and bring them onto campus to introduce them to just some of the many options available to them as they consider their future choices – where they want to be in life and how they can get there.”