At Ark Atwood we want all of our pupils to aim high and be considering university as an option for their future pathways. A great way to communicate this is to share exciting experiences with our pupils that both inform and inspire them. With this in mind, we arranged for our year 6 classes to visit Magdalen College, part of Oxford University. The pupils took part in a session all about what a university is. This included some great discussions around pros and cons of universities as well as learning about how many universities there are in the UK. Pupils had a chance to share some of their own career aspirations as well as receiving some advice on how university could help them.
During both visits, the pupils took part in a Q&A session with a current student studying at Magdalen College. They asked insightful questions all about university life, how to choose a course that is right for them and even how university is funded. We were then taken on a tour of Magdalen College where we saw the college deer, the halls of residence and the grand dining hall. We all agreed that it felt a lot like Hogwarts - which made sense when they told us some of the Harry Potter films had been filmed there!
It was a jam-packed day and both pupils and staff left feeling very inspired by the opportunities that are created by going to a top university.