Ambitious students at Solihull Sixth Form College have been extending their learning and preparing for challenging Higher Education applications this week, thanks to a Stretch & Challenge Summer School held at the Widney Manor Road campus.
110 of the highest achieving students in Year 12 at the College signed up to additional subject sessions and guest lectures to stretch their learning and challenge their critical thinking. With many of these learners aiming to apply to prestigious Russell Group universities, requiring early applications, interviews and admissions tests, these sessions challenged them to think critically and explore topics outside the curriculum.
The two-day Summer School began with visiting speakers from two Russell Group universities. Dr Steve Hewitt from the University of Birmingham delivered a lecture on ‘Terrorising History: The Long History of Terrorism’. This was followed by a talk from Lucinda Rumsey OBE and Sarah Large from Mansfield College, who addressed the students on what it takes to make an application to the University of Oxford.
Other visiting speakers at the Summer School included Abi Pacaud and Harjeet Kaur from Civil Engineers Mott McDonald, who delivered an Engineering lecture, Dr Mark Jeeves from the University of Birmingham who talked to Chemistry students, and Dr Mathieu di Miceli from Worcester University, who focussed on Biology, and specifically cardiology in water fleas, in his Stretch & Challenge seminar. Matt Phillips from Birmingham City University also delivered a lecture to Social Sciences students studying Criminology, Economics, Politics and Sociology.
College teachers were also part of the Summer School and delivered workshops on Computer Science, English, Law, Modern Languages, Visual Arts, Psychology, Performing Arts, Business, Social Sciences, Sport, Health and Humanities.
Event organiser and Assistant Curriculum Leader Deborah Smail-Ross commented:
“The Stretch & Challenge Summer School is just one of the ways we support our most ambitious students to stretch their potential. These are young people who are aiming for highly competitive university destinations and they will be up against the best students from not only the UK, but overseas as well. Getting our learners to think critically and start preparing to make the best applications they can for these competitive courses is the main purpose of this two-day event. We are grateful to those academics who have given up their time to support the event. The students got a lot out of their involvement and they enjoyed the seminars.”
22 June 2023