At GST we always work in partnership with organisations to support us to raise aspirations and widen the horizons of our pupils, and one such initiative is the Scholars Programme, in partnership with the charity, Brilliant Club.
Available across Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and England, the programme is designed to provide children with a taste of university life and build interest in attending higher education.
The Brilliant Club has a community of more than 1,000 PhD tutors. For many pupils at Park Lane Primary, the only doctor they have met is in a medical setting. And so, the Scholars Programme has opened the world of academic research to the pupils and provided the opportunity to study university-level topics at an age-appropriate level.
Park Lane pupils have recently worked closely with the PhD researchers on topics that very few pupils – in any school – will have had the opportunity to learn about, for example, the role museums play in society.
The PhDs shared their subject knowledge and passion for learning with the children during an eight-week period that included seven tutorials.
This all culminated in a challenging final assessment, in which children achieved first class results. A fantastic achievement that will no doubt inspire the children to consider university education when they’re at the age to apply.
In celebration of the pupils’ accomplishments, the children were invited to be ‘Spokescholars’ during a graduation ceremony with Warwick University and, in recognition of the pupils’ achievements, children were presented with graduation certificates as part of the ceremony. The Scholars Programme has been a fantastic opportunity for our children and it is certainly worth other schools considering to help raise the aspirations of their students too.
