If anyone can through any light on the success of this project I would be very grateful. On the face of it it appears to be a good idea. Giving kids a taste of what University life might be like will either 'kill or cure them'.
However I have never seen numbers to show how many who attend the scheme are 'cured' in other words go onto University and it would be interesting to find out if the scheme is successful.
However I have never seen numbers to show how many who attend the scheme are 'cured' in other words go onto University and it would be interesting to find out if the scheme is successful.
'Aiming4Uni in Furness', which is currently in its sixth very
successful year, is designed to give young people a taste of University
life and provide them with the information and experiences they need to
make decisions about their future.
49 young people from year 10 are invited to take part each year. The programme is a truly collaborative effort with support from;
Aimhigher Cumbria.
The Barrow Excellence Cluster Partnership.
The Furness 14-19 partnership.
ASDAN,
All seven Furness secondary schools.
The 'Aiming4Uni in Furness' programme was created in response to the findings of 'The Furness Progression Project'. (2003-4)
Statistical evidence showed that progression to HE was well below the Cumbrian and North-West figures, and this research by Lancaster University suggested that students should be targeted with positive views and information about HE, particularly as part of direct contact with Universities and their students.
It was also noted that parental and teacher involvement would be beneficial.
The programme starts in June with a briefing event for staff, young people and their families.
Parents and carers, who are involved throughout the programme, are asked to take part in a session to explore issues around HE and share any concerns.
The main event of the programme is a residential 'Summer School' at Lancaster University in July where young people live in student halls, try out academic lectures, find out about clubs and societies and use the sports facilities. Workshops on student finance are run along with an interactive theatre performance.
The Summer School ends in a celebration event where families are brought to the campus to find out what their young people have been doing over the previous three days.
Following the Summer School, young people are invited to a reunion in October where parents/carers are once again given their own space to talk about HE. The young people are then taken to UCLan in February, where they look round a different campus, talk about their ideas for the future and 'graduate' from the programme - complete with cap and gown!
The current group of young people engaged in Aiming4Uni have been chosen from their school's Aimhigher cohort. Many come from families with no experience of HE, and priority has been given to young people who are Looked After or who have Special Educational Needs.
This year ASDAN has agreed to pilot the accreditation of 'Aiming4Uni in Furness', earning the young people a recognised qualification for all their hard work. As well as formal evaluation by staff from Lancaster University, the programme's success is also monitored through tracking. The most up-to-date tracking shows that over 20% of the second cohort (who attended in 2005/6) are currently studying for HE qualifications, with many more intending to.
Many young people who have passed through the Aimimg4Uni programme have reported that it raised their expectations and really helped them to make informed decisions about their lives. One student, now at the University of Cumbria, said "I remember it being instrumental in my decision to go to Uni."
Secondly I took a look at the Furness Progression Project which I didn't know existed until today.
There seems to have been a sound reason for this projects existence in trying to establish how Furness based kids viewed Higher Education.
The Final Business Plan for the establishment of Cumbria University which was partly based on the outcome of the Furness Progression Project contains this;
Secondly, Appendix 3 gives details of the numbers of university applications from students studying at Year 13 (18 year olds) and in 2004 1,745 students, from a cohort of 4,788 eligible to apply, or 36%, were successful in progressing to HE through UCAS. The cohort, of course, excludes those who left school at 16.
About 25% of students in Cumbria leave at 16.
So 75% stay on. Three times more stay on than leave. Still that's not enough, apparently.
The picture is very mixed between schools and targeted work by Aimhigher in association with CHL could well raise demand for local HE.
And as history shows it hasn't. Cumbria University is now here and is attracting nowhere near as many students as it hoped it would.
The Furness Progression Project 2004-2005 was undertaken to provide an understanding of the process by which some students choose to continue with full time advanced education up to and beyond 18.
The report identifies a characteristic in Barrow which is that learning appears to be undertaken for a specific purpose (eg financial, to obtain a good job) rather than for its own sake for example: 'I'll only carry on if it will enable me to earn more money' (Year 11 student); 'I'm only going to university because I have to in order to get the job I want, not because I want to go to University' (Year 12 student).
No to me this shows that the kids in Barrow are being wise. They know that a University education IS all about gaining a better income and by extraction a better life for themselves.
Of the Year12/13 sample, 50% of the students studying vocational courses thought that the existence of a local university might influence their decision, but this decreased to 35% of those taking A levels.
So at BEST 50% of the local kids would stay in the area and the other 50% would still go outside of the area to get the education they wanted. When you get to the A level age this percentage drops by another 15%. So Cumbria University was brought to life even though it was clear in this one short paragraph that the majority of kids would STILL SEEK A HIGHER EDUCATION OUTSIDE OF THE COUNTY!
It's truly amazing how the righteous, our betters, the evangelicals or whatever you want to call them always take no notice whatsoever of the overwhelming evidence that what THEY want to see happen is not what the majority want to see happen and press on regardless and if this process is repeated across the land it's no wonder the country is in the state it's in.
The PDF took me to this web site called www.cumbriaobservatory.org.uk/
Yet another entity I have never even heard of and had no idea was in existence. The amount of 'interested parties' or what the righteous and the government term 'stakeholder' swilling around in Cumbrian and Barrovian education is mind blowing. There are probably many more I have yet to discover and they all cost the taxpayer a fortune and all them seem to exist for is obfuscation.
There is so many reports and presentations on that site it will take a while to drill down into them and pull out any that are relevant to what is going on in Barrow so I will leave it alone for now.
So if anyone can shed some light on how well this initiative has performed, or if I stumble across these results anywhere on the web then they will be added in here. It would be good to report some success instead of the more usual lies and spin that seem to go hand in hand with any attempt at progressing Cumbrian education.
As you will be aware I think this is simply because the righteous, the County Council, Moria Swann and the DCSF simply don't trust the people of Cumbria to make a decision for themselves. What do you think?
49 young people from year 10 are invited to take part each year. The programme is a truly collaborative effort with support from;
Aimhigher Cumbria.
The Barrow Excellence Cluster Partnership.
The Furness 14-19 partnership.
ASDAN,
All seven Furness secondary schools.
The 'Aiming4Uni in Furness' programme was created in response to the findings of 'The Furness Progression Project'. (2003-4)
Statistical evidence showed that progression to HE was well below the Cumbrian and North-West figures, and this research by Lancaster University suggested that students should be targeted with positive views and information about HE, particularly as part of direct contact with Universities and their students.
It was also noted that parental and teacher involvement would be beneficial.
The programme starts in June with a briefing event for staff, young people and their families.
Parents and carers, who are involved throughout the programme, are asked to take part in a session to explore issues around HE and share any concerns.
The main event of the programme is a residential 'Summer School' at Lancaster University in July where young people live in student halls, try out academic lectures, find out about clubs and societies and use the sports facilities. Workshops on student finance are run along with an interactive theatre performance.
The Summer School ends in a celebration event where families are brought to the campus to find out what their young people have been doing over the previous three days.
Following the Summer School, young people are invited to a reunion in October where parents/carers are once again given their own space to talk about HE. The young people are then taken to UCLan in February, where they look round a different campus, talk about their ideas for the future and 'graduate' from the programme - complete with cap and gown!
The current group of young people engaged in Aiming4Uni have been chosen from their school's Aimhigher cohort. Many come from families with no experience of HE, and priority has been given to young people who are Looked After or who have Special Educational Needs.
This year ASDAN has agreed to pilot the accreditation of 'Aiming4Uni in Furness', earning the young people a recognised qualification for all their hard work. As well as formal evaluation by staff from Lancaster University, the programme's success is also monitored through tracking. The most up-to-date tracking shows that over 20% of the second cohort (who attended in 2005/6) are currently studying for HE qualifications, with many more intending to.
Many young people who have passed through the Aimimg4Uni programme have reported that it raised their expectations and really helped them to make informed decisions about their lives. One student, now at the University of Cumbria, said "I remember it being instrumental in my decision to go to Uni."
Secondly I took a look at the Furness Progression Project which I didn't know existed until today.
There seems to have been a sound reason for this projects existence in trying to establish how Furness based kids viewed Higher Education.
The Final Business Plan for the establishment of Cumbria University which was partly based on the outcome of the Furness Progression Project contains this;
Secondly, Appendix 3 gives details of the numbers of university applications from students studying at Year 13 (18 year olds) and in 2004 1,745 students, from a cohort of 4,788 eligible to apply, or 36%, were successful in progressing to HE through UCAS. The cohort, of course, excludes those who left school at 16.
About 25% of students in Cumbria leave at 16.
So 75% stay on. Three times more stay on than leave. Still that's not enough, apparently.
The picture is very mixed between schools and targeted work by Aimhigher in association with CHL could well raise demand for local HE.
And as history shows it hasn't. Cumbria University is now here and is attracting nowhere near as many students as it hoped it would.
The Furness Progression Project 2004-2005 was undertaken to provide an understanding of the process by which some students choose to continue with full time advanced education up to and beyond 18.
The report identifies a characteristic in Barrow which is that learning appears to be undertaken for a specific purpose (eg financial, to obtain a good job) rather than for its own sake for example: 'I'll only carry on if it will enable me to earn more money' (Year 11 student); 'I'm only going to university because I have to in order to get the job I want, not because I want to go to University' (Year 12 student).
No to me this shows that the kids in Barrow are being wise. They know that a University education IS all about gaining a better income and by extraction a better life for themselves.
Of the Year12/13 sample, 50% of the students studying vocational courses thought that the existence of a local university might influence their decision, but this decreased to 35% of those taking A levels.
So at BEST 50% of the local kids would stay in the area and the other 50% would still go outside of the area to get the education they wanted. When you get to the A level age this percentage drops by another 15%. So Cumbria University was brought to life even though it was clear in this one short paragraph that the majority of kids would STILL SEEK A HIGHER EDUCATION OUTSIDE OF THE COUNTY!
It's truly amazing how the righteous, our betters, the evangelicals or whatever you want to call them always take no notice whatsoever of the overwhelming evidence that what THEY want to see happen is not what the majority want to see happen and press on regardless and if this process is repeated across the land it's no wonder the country is in the state it's in.
The PDF took me to this web site called www.cumbriaobservatory.org.uk/
Yet another entity I have never even heard of and had no idea was in existence. The amount of 'interested parties' or what the righteous and the government term 'stakeholder' swilling around in Cumbrian and Barrovian education is mind blowing. There are probably many more I have yet to discover and they all cost the taxpayer a fortune and all them seem to exist for is obfuscation.
There is so many reports and presentations on that site it will take a while to drill down into them and pull out any that are relevant to what is going on in Barrow so I will leave it alone for now.
So if anyone can shed some light on how well this initiative has performed, or if I stumble across these results anywhere on the web then they will be added in here. It would be good to report some success instead of the more usual lies and spin that seem to go hand in hand with any attempt at progressing Cumbrian education.
As you will be aware I think this is simply because the righteous, the County Council, Moria Swann and the DCSF simply don't trust the people of Cumbria to make a decision for themselves. What do you think?
This project war a disaster last year as staff had not been given fa jobs at that point. Few fa kids went from their ex-schools. In any case, fees are so high at uni the poorest academy kids dont even get to sixth form never mind uni.
I wish we could hear the students views on how it is going for them. What is their perception of how it is going? What are their views on leadership, rules and learning in fa?
I attended a week at the university of cumbria (through parkview) at the end of last year. What happened was at around easter 2 of us were given a booklet with a number of different universitys doing different things. I ended up (through my own choice) doing forensics (psychology, policing, investigating etc.) It was the best week in my school history. I made friends, of whom i still talk to, and learnt about what U of C offers. It was absolutely amazing the university put on a number of different things to introduce student life eg. living on a budget and preparing meals. I would definitely recommend it.
to fa south student and others. All schools do this, what's new???
Aimhigher Cumbria is one of 44 Aimhigher partnerships across the country arranging and funding events to encourage young people to consider whether Higher Education might be for them. We run masterclasses, workshops, residential Summer Schools and lots of other events for young people in Cumbria, and here in Furness we support the ‘Aiming4Uni’ programme.
Aiming4Uni in Furness (which, as you have read, is a year-long programme with a Summer School at Lancaster University) has been running in Furness for seven years now. Unlike other Summer Schools funded by Aimhigher Cumbria (now often called ‘Summer Universities’), Aiming4Uni in Furness was created with the young people of Furness in mind, and is a collaborative effort by lots of agencies from the area. The idea for the programme came from the findings of the Furness Progression project. I have a copy of the project’s findings for those who are interested
Over the life of Aiming4Uni we have been able to keep in touch with some of the young people we have met, and statistics and quotes from those involved show that Aiming4Uni in Furness has enabled many young people to make informed choices about their future.
I am, at the moment, attempting to get in touch with the third cohort to have passed through the programme. So far I’ve contacted 20 young people and, of those 20, 12 are currently at University, 3 have confirmed places to start HE courses in September, one young person is working and 4 are apprentices. (One of the apprentices I spoke to is also planning to go to University when he has his level 3 qualification)
One young lady I spoke to said "I'd definitely recommend the Aiming4Uni programme to other people - it did me good. It helped me decide that I wanted to go to Uni and brought me out of myself". Another of our past students enjoyed his Summer School so much that he is going to be a mentor at his University this summer on their Summer Universities programme
Places on other Aimhigher Summer Schools (now Summer Universities) are offered to every secondary school in Furness as well and they seem to have a really positive impact on the young people who take part. Thank you for sharing fa south student! I’m so pleased that you had a great time on an Aimhigher Summer School!
Although the transition from Parkview, Alfred Barrow and Thorncliffe to Furness Academy was, I’m sure, a difficult one all round Furness Academy are still involved in Aiming4Uni and other Aimhigher events in Furness. Like all the other secondary schools in the area, Furness Academy are currently looking at their year 10 cohort to decide which young people will be taking part in ‘Aiming4Uni’ this year
If you would like to contact me about ‘Aiming4Uni in Furness’, Summer Universities, or any of the other work that Aimhigher does, my contact details are on the Aimhigher Cumbria Web site (www.aimhigher.ac.uk/cumbria) Please don’t hesitate to get in touch
Jenny Rowland
Furness Area Leader, Aimhigher Cumbria
Sorry love can't see the people you are after reading this blog but full marks for initiative!