This house believes that Greenwich raises the aspirations of young students
Date of release: Friday, March 5, 2010
The University of Greenwich pioneered an argument packed day for Bexleyheath School, as part of its ongoing work with local schools and communities. A total of 19 bright year-10 students participated in the debating day held at the Greenwich Campus on February 5, tackling the issues of capital punishment and whether books are becoming outmoded. The day consisted of several workshops and discussions, during which the students’ performance was assessed towards the Speaking and Reasoning module of their English GCSE, contributing to a substantial 20 per cent of their overall grade.
A team of academics and student ambassadors from the University of Greenwich were on hand to make things happen and make this joint academic event a success. Philosophy and English programmes from the university’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences were represented by Dr Kath Jones, who introduced the key skills required, and the issues at hand, as well as Dr Jenny Bavidge and Dr Harry Derbyshire, who led the workshops and helped the students develop their arguments. The Greenwich student ambassadors, who were also helping out at every stage of the day, provided an invaluable insight into university student life as well as a bridge between the academics and the year 10 students.
Apart from benefitting their grades and skills, this event enabled the 14-15 year olds to experience first-hand the university environment, and according to Roger Telfer, the head of careers from Bexleyheath, “break-down some of the barriers associated with higher education.” This involvement with Bexleyheath School, now in its second year, is one of many initiatives that the Access and Widening Participation Unit at the University of Greenwich run in partnership with local schools and colleges to raise aspiration and attainment.
For this particular scheme, the students were selected on the basis of not having had any immediate members of their family previously attend university. Activities such as the debating day see the same group of students being involved academically with the University of Greenwich over the course of several years, with the underlying aim to influence the students’ capacity to move on to higher education. The scheme is in the pilot stage but seems to be already paying off, with students such as 14 year old Connor Brownfield, saying: “I never thought I was the university type, but being here makes the idea more realistic.”
For images or more information please contact:
Tatiana Biktimirova, Public Relations
University of Greenwich
Tel: 020 8331 7663