On the 29th March our Year 9 students travelled to Newcastle University where they had a tour of the campus facilities, saw some graduation ceremonies and took part in activities to learn about studying at university.
We arrived at the Great North Museum where we were given exclusive use of the Exhibition Hall and students immediately got to speak to current students about their experience. After some presentations about university life, our students also completed a ‘universitree’ to map out the different pathways they could take to get onto a university course of their choice.
Life After Laurus Convention
On the 30th March, we held our own in-house university event at Laurus Ryecroft. The Life After Laurus Convention gave students the opportunity to speak to staff at school about their course choices, financial arrangements, and social experiences at university. We started with a short presentation about the Higher Education pathway, where students learned about facilitating subjects and competitive university applications, before entering our Sixth Form Silent Study area where staff were on hand at their university stand to receive questions.
Both events truly reflect our vision that every student, regardless of background or circumstances, should be given the opportunity to broaden their life experiences. We know all of our students have high aspirations and will work hard to achieve their future goals. The conversations on both days were a valuable starting point to help our students make informed choices and we are looking forward to more events like this in the near future as part of our Academic Enhancement & Aspirations programme.