Here are our highlights from last week:
We started the week at with our Steps to Success programme in two schools. At Bluecoat Aspley Academy, where learners had a busy morning looking at metacognition, critical thinking and revision. There were some super interesting stories written using the story method! Over at Springwell Community College, Natalie concluded the programme with a session on goal setting and a programme summary. Best of luck to the group on their upcoming exams!
We welcomed year 10 learners to the University of Derby Kedleston Road Campus as part of the Think, Reflect, Succeed programme. Learners from Quarrydale Academy, The Bolsover School, Shirebrook Academy, Springwell Community College, Kirk Hallam Community Academy and Hall Park Academy got involved in a range of activities that developed their critical thinking in their academic and personal life, saw how reflection can improve and develop results and refined their research skills on a topic of their choice. It was great to see learners breaking down the skills and start to apply it to their everyday tasks and future plans!
Learners on the Supported Insight Scheme returned to the DANCOP office, where they made posters to advertise the ‘Campus Swap Shop’ in a few weeks’ time and took part in a cleaning activity with the UoD estates team.
Karolina introduced the Learn to Work programme at Samworth Church Academy where year 12 looked at the difference between Higher and Degree Apprenticeships and a traditional university route. It was great to hear the variety of careers the students were interested in!
Natalie returned to Shirebrook Academy, where learners on the Prepare to Succeed programme participated in a session focussed on retrieval and the story method.
Learners on the Get Ready programme at the Garibaldi School took part in one of our new sessions, all about reflection for learning. They had a go at the before, during, and after process while doing research, before Karolina introduced the assessment wrapper for them to work through on one of their assignments.
On Friday our Lead the Way group at Kirk Hallam Community Academy put the finishing touches on their project proposals and began to create their presentations ready for the final session. This had its challenges though as Matt presented them with some curveballs ensuring learners prepared for a last-minute change in their plans.
We finished the week at Queen Elizabeth’s Academy, where year 10 took part in a revision session as part of a wider programme. It was great to see the learners use the story method to remember a data set they were given; Karolina got to hear the first acrostic poem to remember the process of photosynthesis!