Despite the many setbacks for schools and students caused by COVID-19 this year, school co-ordinators, outreach providers and the Make Happen team have remained committed to ensuring a broad programme of exciting and important outreach activities still go ahead for students.
When a number of year 9 students at Maltings Academy in Witham, Essex had to be sent home to self-isolate during November, outreach provider The Inspirational Learning Group worked with the school and our team to very quickly shift its popular ‘My Perfect University’ activity so it could be delivered to half of the students online, and the other half face-to-face.
The result being, the students who took part – at home and at school – produced some brilliant work about what they think would create their ‘Perfect University’, alongside giving them early insight into all aspects of university life.
One of the students who took part was Jake, whose Perfect University would be called Destiny University. It would offer a degree in Zero Emissions, and its Honorary Graduate would be electric automotive pioneer, Elon Musk.
Jake said: “Not only did this project teach me about the university opportunities out there, but it also dived deep into project management and creative thinking. In my opinion, practical learning is one of the best ways to learn, in this project I learnt a whole wide range of skills.
“I developed my problem solving, time management, creativity and leadership skills and learnt about the main topic of Universities. I enjoyed this project very much; it was a great experience to teach us about our future opportunities when we leave school and to help us make decisions about our future. I have learnt so much about universities, student loans, subjects, degrees, student living and so much more!”
Mr Degun, from Maltings Academy said: “I am delighted by the way year 9 students, working both in and out of the Academy, have embraced this project – and firmly believe that activities of this nature will support the GCSE Options process later in the academic year and allow our students to make informed decisions later in their educational careers.”
Tricia Seaman, Collaborative Outreach Officer at Make Happen, said: “Students’ needs always come first, and this event shows how important it is that every student gets the opportunity to access activities that help them make informed choices about their education and future, whether that’s online or face-to-face.”
Part of Jake’s project work:
