Current outreach activities. 7.1 Newcastle University has a coherent and wide-ranging programme of existing widening participation work, which will be continued and expanded during the period of this Access Agreement (see Annex 1 for details). The outreach elements of our Widening Participation Strategy are based on the following key themes: ▪ Working with young people (from primary school age) to raise their aspirations and awareness of higher education, using our current students as positive role models through our Students into Schools Project, Student Representative Scheme, ‘Student Guide to Student Life’ and residential Summer Schools ▪ Encouraging positive aspirations and attitudes in families and communities through work with parents, younger children, looked after children and disaffected groups ▪ Activities and initiatives to help to raise the attainment of young people, including Master Classes, taster events and Summer Schools ▪ Building strong relationships with schools and colleges, and working closely with teachers, advisers, Connexions staff and others who influence student choice and aspirations ▪ Providing opportunities for all potential applicants to find out about the University, together with information which will help them to make an informed choice about their options, through a wide- ranging programme of liaison activities, school / college visits, comprehensive printed and web-based information and opportunities to visit the campus ▪ Identifying, through our PARTNERS Programme, able, talented young people of high potential, who may be at risk of not progressing to higher education because of socio-economic, personal or educational disadvantage factors, and supporting them in the transition from school or college to the University ▪ Collaborating with the other universities and colleges in the region, though regional projects and initiatives such as the government’s Aimhigher programme and Lifelong Learning Networks, to encourage progression to higher education ▪ Developing our curriculum and our student support services to reflect the needs of an increasingly diverse student population.
Current outreach activities. 7.1 The University has a coherent and wide-ranging programme of existing widening participation work, which will be continued and expanded during the period of this Access Agreement (see Annex 1 for details). The outreach elements of our Widening Participation Strategy are based on the following key themes: ▪ Working with young people (from primary school age) to raise their aspirations and awareness of higher education, using our current students as positive role models through our Students into Schools Project, ‘Student Guide to Student Life’ and residential Summer Schools. ▪ Encouraging positive aspirations and attitudes in families and communities through work with parents, younger children and disaffected groups ▪ Activities and initiatives to help to raise the attainment of young people, including Master Classes, taster events and specialist Summer Schools ▪ Building strong relationships with schools and colleges, and working closely with teachers, advisers and others who influence student choice and aspirations ▪ Providing opportunities for all potential applicants to find out about the University, together with information which will help them to make an informed choice about their options, through a wide- ranging programme of liaison activities, school / college visits, comprehensive printed and web-based information and opportunities to visit the campus ▪ Identifying, through our PARTNERS Programme, able, talented young people of high potential, who may be at risk of not progressing to higher education because of socio-economic, personal or educational disadvantage factors, and supporting them in the transition from school or college to the University ▪ Collaborating with the other universities and colleges in the region, though regional projects and initiatives such as the government’s Aimhigher programme and Lifelong Learning Networks, to encourage progression to higher education ▪ Developing our curriculum to reflect the needs of an increasingly diverse student population.
Current outreach activities. The University of Manchester is recognised nationally and regionally for the range and effectiveness of its widening participation activities. The five-year Targeted Access Scheme has been acknowledged as an example of good practice in widening access in the UUK publications From Elitism to Inclusion (1998) and Social Class and Participation (2002) and we organise the largest residential summer-school operation of any UK HEI. As part of our commitment to embrace widening participation in its wider sense we also organise an outreach and student support programme for prospective and enrolled mature students. The distinctiveness of Manchester’s approach to widening participation concerns a commitment to embedding activities into the work of Faculties so that activities can be delivered by staff and students active in teaching, learning and research. The following are some illustrative examples of this approach: • the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences have trained and deployed PhD ‘Teaching Fellows’ to develop interactive learning materials in schools, devise experiments and support attainment-raising alongside classroom teachers and thereby inspire more young people from underrepresented social groups to continue studying Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics into higher education; • the Faculty of Humanities have been pioneering in their work to raise modern foreign languages attainment and enrich the curriculum in schools and colleges with low progression to higher education by using native speakers of European languages to deliver targeted GCSE and A level tuition to local pupils; • the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences have a team of staff who advise, train and inform key influencers of the higher education decision making process by matching healthcare professionals with Year 10 pupils with no family tradition of HE to provide a four-year programme of one-to-one mentoring; • within our Faculty of Life Sciences, we are working alongside teachers in schools with low progression to higher education to develop our exciting teaching and research into genetics and bioinformatics to enthuse and motivate young learners. Our cultural and academic services have also received recognition for their commitment to widening participation: • we are the only UK institution to employ a dedicated Widening Participation Officer within our library to promote access to its resources among underrepresented groups in the local community; • the Xxxxxxxxx Art Gallery ...
