NEWS


Sutton Trust summer schools help pupils raise aspirations


by Daniel White


More than 75 per cent of students who attend the summer schools organised by the Sutton Trust go on to attend “top universities”, a report has said. New research also shows that


50 per cent of those attending the one-week taster schools are more likely to go onto leading universi- ties than their peers. The Sutton Trust is a charity that tackles social disadvantage and


its summer schools were set up in 1997. Since then, more than 10,000


students have attended the schools, which now take place at University College London, Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, Imperial, Nottingham and St Andrews – Oxford was part of the programme but now runs its own summer school based on the same model. The summer schools generally


run for one week and are open to all year 12 students, with priority given to certain applicants, such as those


who would be the first member in their family to attend university or who attend schools with a low overall A level points score. The summer schools offer taster


university courses including lec- tures and seminars but also social activities to give the participants an accurate idea of university life. The Impact of the Sutton Trust’s


Summer Schools looked at 1,750 students who attended summer schools at Bristol, Cambridge, Nottingham and St Andrews univer- sities in 2008/09 and compared their


Speak Up, Speak Out on Holocaust Memorial Day


Personal experiences from the Holocaust are being told around the country this week as we remember those who died and suffered at the hands of the Nazis. Holocaust Memorial Day


(HMD) takes place tomorrow (Friday, January 27) and events will be taking place around the country, including in schools, all reflecting this year’s theme of Speak Up, Speak Out. A range of resources includ-


ing lesson plans, case studies and ideas for assemblies are available on the HMD website. Elsewhere, two exhibitions will


open today (Thursday, January 26) in London, entitled Learning Lessons from the Past andCreating a Safer, Better Future. Survivors of the Holocaust,


Nazi persecution and subsequent genocides will be sending mes- sages and attending the launches, alongside politicians including prime minister David Cameron, and religious leaders. Young people will also have a chance to contrib- ute to the exhibitions on the day. Meanwhile, in London’s


Trafalgar Square, people are being encouraged to sign up to a Pledge to challenge the “language of hatred and commit to using words which reflect respect for the dignity of those around them”. The Pledge is available to sign online too. Elsewhere this week, two student


ambassadors from the Holocaust Education Trust (HET) have spo- ken to members of the Scottish Parliament about the importance of learning about and remembering


the Holocaust. Dominic Bradley and Katie McKenna, former pupils of St Ninian’s High School in East Dunbartonshire, told MSPs about the impact that visiting the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps as part of the HET’s Lessons from Auschwitz programme had had on them. It comes as the Scottish gov-


ernment announced it is to spend £230,000 to enable 380 students to travel to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 2012/13. For more on Holocaust Memorial


Day and related resources, visit www.hmd.org.uk and to sign up to the Pledge, visit www.speak- upnow.org.uk/sign_our_pledge. php?action=pledge For more on Lessons from Auschwitz, visit www.het.org.uk


Charity aims to plant 6,000 inner city trees


Students in 10 inner cities are to be given the chance to learn about the food that comes from trees as part of a new planting initiative. The project, called Trees for


Food, is being run by the charity Trees for Cities, and aims to create 20 new food-growing spaces in 10 cities across England, including London, Manchester, Reading, Sheffield, Brighton, Birmingham and Leeds. The money will be used to


plant 6,000 fruit and nut trees, and to organise a range of workshops


offering skills in planting and har- vesting. It has been funded with a


£195,000 grant from Local Food, which supports food-related com- munity projects. Trees for Cities aims to create


social cohesion through tree plant- ing, community-led design, educa- tion and training initiatives in urban areas that need it most. Sharon Johnson, chief execu-


tive, said: “The Local Food scheme has given us a wonderful opportu- nity to extend and develop the work


that Trees for Cities started with ‘edible playgrounds’ in 2009. It enables us to help more people improve and care for the local environment through the creation of growing food spaces and the planting of thousands of fruit and nut trees. Ultimately, we want to inspire other communities to use the knowledge and resources that we have developed to enable them to create and deliver their own food-growing projects.” For more information, visit www.treesforcities.org


Inspired: PE teacher Darren Taxis is congratulated by Olympic medallist and Sky Sports Living for Sport ambassador Darren Campbell; student award-winner Nick Wood (inset)


PE teacher goes extra mile


Boosting students’ self-esteem and confidence and always going the extra mile has led to a PE co-ordinator winning a national prize. Darren Taxis, from the Phoenix


School in Grantham, Lincolnshire, has been given the Sky Sports Living for Sport Teacher of the Year Award, winning £2,000 for the school to spend on future sporting projects. Mr Taxis won after judges heard


about his work enthusing and ignit- ing students’ passion in sport and educating them on the importance of their health and wellbeing. He was also praised for the impact he has had on their self-esteem. He has helped to set up football


programmes across key stages 3 and 4, an archery programme and after-school club, and street dance and badminton projects. Mr Taxis received his award


at a ceremony last week hosted at Wembley Stadium. It was present-


“Darren’s work on behalf of his


pupils shows the extent to which a fantastic teacher can change so many young lives for the better.” Elsewhere, Nick Wood, 18,


from The Lancaster School in Leicester, won the UK Student of the Year award after he transformed his life through boxing. At one time, Nick was suffering


from poor physical health, disen- gaged with school, and suffering from low self-esteem. However, following a speech by former boxer Dermot Gascoyne at his school, he improved immeasurably. His confidence improved,


ed by television presenter Kirsty Gallagher, who said: “Darren is a truly worthy winner. His com- mitment to his students’ wellbeing and the creativity with which he approaches his lessons makes him a credit to The Phoenix School and an example to all PE teachers.


Still time to enter Amnesty writing competition


The deadline for the Amnesty International Young Human Rights Reporter of the Year 2012 has been extended until February 20. The competition challenges


budding human rights journalists to write between 250 and 500 words on their own experiences or their take on an existing human rights issue. Supported by SecEd and the


Guardian Teacher Network, the competition is designed to fit into the various curricula of the four


UK nations and various subject links are available from Amnesty. In addition, Amnesty has also pro- duced a lesson plan to accompany the competition, which can be downloaded for free online. There are four age categories –


three covering secondary education – and pupils can write about things such as bullying, what it is like to be a refugee or know someone who is, a personal opinion on a human rights issue, or an interpretation of a human rights news story.


A successful article will contain


a balance of factual information and the feelings and opinions of the writer. The shortlist for all four cat-


egories will be compiled by a representative from either the Guardian Teacher Network, SecEd or Amnesty International UK. The final judges will include journal- ists from The Guardian and SecEd, children’s authors, teachers and members of staff from Amnesty International UK.


All entries must be submitted by


Monday, February 20, and must be submitted online via the Amnesty competition website, including the pupil’s name, date-of-birth, school name, school address and contact details. First place in each category


will receive: Amnesty International UK, Guardian Teacher Network and SecEd goodie bags (including exclusive Amnesty International Media Awards 2012 t-shirt and an Amnesty International Media


Award 2012). The winning arti- cles will also be published by the Guardian Media Group and SecEd. The top three in each category


will be invited on a VIP trip to the Amnesty International Young Human Rights Reporter 2012 Awards ceremony in London on May 9, 2012. A teacher will need to accompany them, and they can invite one friend and one adult guardian. For


further informa-


tion or to submit entries, visit www.amnesty.org.uk/youngreporter


and he learnt to apply lessons he gained through boxing to aca- demic subjects such as English and maths. He began to coach other students in boxing and also began to help children at a local primary school. For more information, visit livingforsport.skysports.com


university applications and accept- ances with 30,000 other students. The report said that 76 per cent


of the summer school attendees went on to attend a Russell group or 1994 group university – compared to 55 per cent of similar academic and socially active students who did not apply to the scheme. Nearly 50 per cent of those who


attended courses in 2008/09 were the first in their families to go to university, came from a low per- forming school, and received an Education Maintenance Allowance.


Co-author of the report, Dr


Anthony Hoare, told SecEd that students at the summer schools raise their ambition once they have attended and perform better because of an increase in confidence. He said: “The summer schools


are explicitly located in these ‘elite’ places and the programmes designed to show students that they can and maybe should raise their personal sights, despite what they may have been told about the sorts of universities ‘people like them’ should aspire to.


“Being in close company with


others from similar personal back- grounds presumably has a cumula- tive and positive effect too, show- ing the sorts of peers they will meet if they apply and get in. Many of the student ambassadors that volunteer to provide the sup- port teams at the various hosts will also be from similar back- grounds.” The deadline for applications for


this summer is March 9. For more information or to read the report, visit www.suttontrust.com


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SecEd • January 26 2012


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