Primary school kids “graduate” at the University of Cambridge

More than 50 school children from six different primary schools in the East of England have celebrated a graduation ceremony at St John’s College, Cambridge, after completing the Brilliant Club’s Scholars Programme.

The Brilliant Club is an award-winning educational charity which exists to widen access to highly-selective universities for pupils from all backgrounds. The Scholars Programme is a course for students in Years 6 to 12 that teams up small groups of pupils with PhD-level tutors for an eight-week course of university-style teaching. The programme is designed to help pupils fulfil their academic potential and secure places at top universities in the future.

The ceremony at St John’s marked the end of the course and celebrated the achievements of the children who took part by awarding them with a graduation certificate.  In order to graduate, each pupil produced an essay of 1,000 words based on the work done in their tutorials. The children were given grades for their work ranging from a first to a third, like those given to university students.  Two pupils from each group were also awarded a distinction by their teachers for extra effort or exceptional work.  

The tutorials, which took place in the pupils’ own schools, explored in detail topics such as “Into the deep dark woods: A journey through literature”, “The healthy heart” and “Poverty and progress”. The classes aimed to provide a “supra-curricular” experience, complementing what the children learn at school and encouraging students to understand their subject, engage with ideas within it and inspire a passion for different areas of study. 

Claire Bakashaba, a Year-6 teacher from Wayland Junior Academy said: “Completing the Scholars Programme at primary school age is really worthwhile for the children as it gets them thinking about the possibilities for the future as they make the transition to secondary school. The course has been challenging as many of the students had never written 1,000 words before, but the kids have made strides academically and had a lot of fun.”

While at St John’s the group got to explore the College with current undergraduates and learned about the structure of the University of Cambridge and the collegiate system. The students were set the task of creating their own college by making up a name, designing a crest and coming up with the story of their college’s history. One pupil imagined a college in the sky, founded by a unicorn and with a dragon on its coat of arms.

The schools who took part include Cromer Academy, Ludham Junior School, Caister Junior School and Hillside Primary and the pupils who were put forward for the programme had all demonstrated high academic potential at school.

Both the Brilliant Club and St John’s College run access events with primary schools with the view that working with pupils from a young age allows for continued support of their academic development throughout their school careers. The aim is to build a stronger personal relationship with pupils by allowing time for consistent contact and further visits during the course of their education.

The Brilliant Club recruits and trains doctoral and post-doctoral research students to act as tutors within non-selective state schools and sixth form colleges. It works with over 150 schools across the country, helping up to 6,000 pupils a year

For more information on the Brilliant Club visit: http://www.thebrilliantclub.org/

Find out about upcoming access events at St John’s College via: http://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/applying