Thornhill’s brilliant university challenge
A group of Key Stage 3 students from Thornhill Academy have recently embarked upon the Scholars’ Programme at Newcastle University after becoming members of the inaugural Thornhill Brilliant Club.
Supported by an education charity which works to increase the number of pupils from under represented backgrounds progressing to highly selective universities such as Newcastle and Durham, the Brilliant Club offers schools access to trained PHD researchers who share their academic expertise with the Year 7 and 8 students through a super-curricular teaching programme based around STEM: science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Encompassing visits to university and a series of six in school tutorials, delivered by the PHD tutor, the students are being challenged to work both collaboratively and independently in extending their knowledge, understanding and creativity in their approaches to problem solving in science, culminating in the submission of a 2,000-word report in which they apply their learning to new situations.
In line with university life, all Brilliant Club members have been given a VLE account to allow for communication with tutors, and Academy staff within the science department have made time available to support students as they take on the increased challenge.
The final work is then assessed by the PHD tutor with university style grades being awarded and a graduation ceremony taking place at Newcastle University to which parents and carers are invited.
So it was that on a bright and sunny day just before Easter, the eager students, accompanied by Thornhill teachers, and all wearing their Thornhill Academy Brilliant Club hoodies, spent a day at Newcastle University experiencing life on campus, meeting their PHD tutor and being introduced to the subject which is the focus of their studies: Near – Infrared Spectroscopy – a technique in which light is used to measure changes in blood flow in the brain.
So what did the Year 7 & 8 students think of their first university challenge?
“Absolutely brilliant!”