ACCESS RGU Newsletter Autumn 2015

Department for the Enhancement of Learning, Teaching and Access (DELTA) access@rgu.ac.uk / 01224 263 048 www.rgu.ac.uk/access-rgu Facebook.com/accessrgu @RGU_DELTA

Welcome to the latest ACCESS RGU newsletter! Summer is already a distant memory as the ACCESS RGU programmes and various access initiatives get underway!

Firstly, a warm thankyou to Northfield Academy for asking us along to the Aberdeen City Council’s recent Children and Young People’s Services Awards. We were delighted to find out that The Northern Lights

Project, the ACCESS RGU S1 and S2 pupil and parent engagement run in conjunction with the Academy, had been shortlisted for an award. The event was fantastic! So many worthy initiatives were showcased and the entertainment provided by the young people from across the City was outstanding. What a very clever and talented bunch! Congratulations to Northfield Academy‘s ecogroup for winning in their category and to our partners Aberdeen Guarantees who were also winners on the night.

Northfield and Torry Academy pupils also played a key part in helping us host a successful visit from the Commission on Widening Access in September. Partners from North East Scotland College, Aberdeenshire Council and Northfield Academy, as well as Academics from across the University, shared their time and insight to help shape the Commission’s views on the key barriers to access and the value of partnership working to overcome them. Partner contributions were very well received with the Commission remarking that they found the visit extremely informative.

From the glitz and glamour of award ceremonies and VIP visits to the excitement and dynamism of the Access To programmes! I am delighted to report that there has been a fantastic uptake of our expanded range of subject programme opportunities from senior phase pupils in both Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire partner schools. With 215 pupils on campus over three evenings a week, it has all the makings for a very busy term!

Delivering effective interventions through the development of tailored support for existing and prospective students drives the work of the ACCESS RGU Team. As such, supporting care experienced young people (looked after children) is a key area of our work as a corporate parent. In this edition we highlight national care leaver week and our event to share understanding and support joint working in the region.

Another key date in the diary is the ACCESS RGU UCAS conference for partner school pupils on Wednesday 4th November. Further information, including how to register pupil attendance, can be found on page 10.

In this edition, we also profile the work of team member, Geraldine Lynch, who works across a number of ACCESS RGU projects, providing opportunities for young people from S1 to undergraduate study. Geraldine and our wider Team colleagues and partners continue to bring a wealth of skills and creativity to the table in developing impactful ACCESS RGU activities for young people. My sincere thanks go to the team for their continued hard work, good humour and success!

Best wishes, Elaine Sinclair Wider Access and Outreach Team Leader, DELTA

This

semester

eight

Access

To

programmes

are

running

simultaneously across the three RGU faculties. The programmes got off to a great start with three launch events taking place during August and September where new participants were welcomed on campus and had the opportunity to meet other pupils taking part in the programmes.

The events provided participants with an introduction to the programme and university life and offered pupils an opportunity to become familiar with the campus during a tour of the facilities. All Access To participants become Associate Students of RGU. This allows them to access university facilities including IT labs, the library and RGU Sport. The pupils were particularly impressed by the size of the library facility and admired the vast collection of books held in various specialised fields.

Participant numbers in the Access To programme have grown significantly this year with the launch of two new subject programmes and three new partner schools joining us from Aberdeenshire. The new partner schools, Fraserburgh, Mintlaw and Peterhead Academies, coupled with two new programmes, Access to Engineering and Access to Computing, has seen participant numbers rise from 130 to over 200 pupils.

We have been particularly delighted to welcome 80 pupils from Aberdeenshire to the campus. Pupils have joined their peers from the Aberdeen city partner schools and early feedback indicates they have been very pleased with their decision to join the programme. Travelling down to the RGU campus after school, the Aberdeenshire pupils have been enthusiastic and engaged extremely

well

with

the

staff

and

students.

We look forward to working with the 2015/16 Access To pupils and wish them all the best on their path to further or higher education!

Having recently completed the Access to Law/Law & Management programme we met up with Rachael Boyes from Kincorth Academy as she embarks on a four year LLB Law degree programme at RGU. The Access to Law / Law and Management programme is aimed at pupils who are interested in finding out more about careers in the field of Law and Law and Management. Studying Law has been a goal Rachael has been working towards throughout her secondary education, so when she heard about the ‘Access To’ programme she jumped at the opportunity: “I first heard about the access programmes when Rhona came to my school to give a talk, and I

thought it sounded like a great idea. She told us about all of the courses that were available and how they could give you a taster of what student life would be like, and what the courses would be like if you studied them...I wanted to get experience of what daily life at uni would be like, and see how the programmes would resemble the courses on offer. I’d attended a few Open Days but I wanted to get a feel of the real student environment that comes with studying at uni.”

The programme, running again this semester, explores the question ‘What is Law?’ and each week focuses on a different aspect of the law from mooting, case study research, negotiating and mediating. A highlight for pupils is the chance to present a case in a courtroom environment using RGU’s mock courtroom as Rachael explains: “I loved getting to go into the mock court and actually

playing things out; that was good fun.”

The

Access

programme

to is

Law/Law co-delivered

& by

Management Ledingham

Chalmers with input from their recently appointed Trainees through to their most experienced Partners. Rachael found the opportunity to meet practising Solicitors extremely beneficial:

“Associates from Ledingham Chalmers helped throughout the programme; I got on really well with them. It was great to see someone that’s actually gone through university and been in the profession.”

Continued...

Rachael is thrilled to have met the conditions for entry to the LLB and having achieved her immediate goal she is now setting her sights on the future:

“When I graduate I’d like to return and do my Masters, then after a 2 year traineeship become a Solicitor. I’ve done a 5 week placement at Petrofac, which was between the Law and Finance Departments. It was great experience which showed me what a real working day consisted of.”

Finally we asked Rachael to share some words of advice for other pupils considering giving the ‘Access To’ programmes a go. She said:

“Go for it; it’s a great experience and you meet a lot of new people. It gives you a good taste of what it’s like to study at university and whether it’s for you. I wasn’t too sure about it at first because I wouldn’t know anyone, but everyone was lovely.”

As she begins her studies at RGU Rachael will be joined by her peers from the Access to Law/Law and Management programme. Former Hazlehead Academy pupils Stuart Charleton, Thomas Booth, Hannah Willox, Olivia Bonner and Emma Duncan will all start degree courses in the Law Department this semester.

We wish them every success!

National Care Leavers’ Week is about highlighting the needs of care leavers/looked after children, and encouraging the agencies with corporate parenting responsibilities to work in a coordinated and effective way to provide individuals with tailored support and guidance as required. The week is also about raising public awareness of an invisible minority who face a particular set of challenges as they enter adult life, particularly in terms of attainment and accessing further and higher education.

The theme of this year’s National Care Leavers’ Week, between 22-30 October, is ‘keep dreaming’. Throughout the week we will be highlighting and promoting the support that RGU provides for individuals from looked after backgrounds and for our care experienced students. Each day we will be tweeting links to specific webpages to give details of the support that we offer, providing information and guidance for all staff and students.

You can follow our tweets (@RGU_DELTA) and take the opportunity to find out more about this group of students and young people and find out ways in which you might also be able to support or get involved in the great work that is taking place in the University.

Looking ahead, the Access RGU team, along with the Student Associations of RGU, North-East Scotland College and the University of Aberdeen will host a joint event in late November The evening will provide the opportunity for care experienced students to share their stories as well as providing the opportunity for staff from various local agencies to meet and build stronger links. Further details will be circulated soon.

For more information about Care Leavers’ week, or to speak to a designated member of staff please email Charley Buchan c.buchan2@rgu.ac.uk

The Access RGU team continues to develop our dedicated Facebook page to include regular updates from the various workshops, events and programmes running throughout the year. Many of the events are open to school pupils and showcase the achievements of those involved through photos, testimonials, and videos.

The Access RGU Facebook page provides weekly updates on Access To programmes, highlighting the activities undertaken each week and showcasing the progress of the programme participants. The Facebook page has also become an excellent way of keeping parents, guardians, friends, and partner schools updated with the academic accomplishments of the participants as they learn and to promote new ACCESS RGU initiatives.

Visit our Facebook page and give us a ‘Like’ to keep up to date with everything we do throughout the year https://www.facebook.com/ACCESSRGU. If you have something you think would be worth sharing on our Facebook page please do not hesitate to get in touch. We are always looking for interesting content to highlight local events or industry development to our followers.

A new initiative coordinated by ACCESS RGU in association with Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeen Guarantees aims to provide young people with valuable workplace experience.

The University was delighted to host their first placement experiences in May, providing ten S4 pupils from Harlaw Academy with an opportunity to gain valuable insights into work place environments. Each pupil was placed in a different university department for the week. Participating departments included Communications and Marketing, E Learning, The Student Union, The Estates Team, Academic Affairs and Wider Access and Outreach Team. There they gained valuable experience of the working environment and live projects and were given specific tasks to complete.

In support of the university’s commitment to developing young people in the region, Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, Principal of RGU, signed up to the Aberdeen Guarantees Pledge initiative, to work in partnership

to

continue

develop

work

experience

opportunities

for

young

people.

“Our partnership with Aberdeen Guarantees is very important and supports the university’s continuing efforts to make a positive contribution to the north-east and also our commitment to develop young people’s skills. The university prides itself on its strong links with industry and graduate employment record, so being able to show the pupils how the organisation works behind the scenes lets them see how much we do to support our students.”

Professor Von Prondzynski was a keen participant in the programme and was delighted to offer one of the students, Anna Skelly, the opportunity to attend the Aberdeen Youth Games. This gave Anna an insight into the work of the university at a strategic level.

Continued...

Anna also spent her week working with the team at the university’s Student Association She said:

“I really enjoyed my week with the team as they were really nice and supported me if I needed help. The placement gave me the opportunity to see what it’s like to work in an organisation like RGU and learn more about the work that goes into running different parts of the university.”

Overall the students have had a lasting impact on the university: students carried out tasks, some of which included developing a piece around E-learning, which is now live on our Visual Learning System.

One pupil spent his week in the Facilities Department and was supported by staff to design a dedicated space for both staff and students. Another pupil spent her week with the Wider Access Team, where she carried out a focus group with her peers.

Anne Douglas, Deputy Head at Harlaw Academy, helped forge the link with RGU for the Aberdeen Guarantees placements. She said:

“We are delighted with the opportunities our pupils have had to work with RGU on their recent work experience placements. They really enjoyed their time and many of them said how much they had learned both about RGU and about the world of work.

RGU look forward to fulfilling its commitment to provide work placements for young people in Aberdeen and are looking forward to welcoming the next group of pupils in November.

With the UCAS application process on its way we would like to provide you with some useful advice on disclosing information about a disability or a background as a Care Experienced person on the UCAS application form.

You will have noticed that the UCAS form includes a section for applicants to provide information about a disability or identify themselves as a Care Experienced person. This information allows universities to provide support to applicants during the application process (for example if adjustments can be made during any selection interviews) and while students are on their course.

Here are two examples of the support available to students with disabilities: Simon has applied to study Law and Management. Simon has dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and includes this information on his UCAS form.

When Simon accepts his unconditional offer, one of the university’s disability advisers gets in touch to discuss the range of support that is available. This includes extra time and the use of a PC with specialist software in exams, study skills support, and training in the use of assistive technologies.

When filling in her UCAS form to apply to study Architecture, Laura notes that she has diabetes.

Providing this information prompts the university’s disability advisers to contact Laura to find out what support she is likely to need during her studies. At Laura’s request, university staff are made aware that she should be allowed to take a

break and eat, if necessary, during class and during exams (a separate exam room will be arranged to facilitate this).

Students may also be eligible for Disabled Students’ Allowance which can cover any extra costs incurred as a result of studying with a disability. This can include, for example, the purchase of assistive technology software or funding note-taking support.

Similarly, Looked After Children/young people with a care experienced background have the opportunity to notify universities via the UCAS application form to benefit from support during the application process and during their studies.

Ticking the Care Experienced box on the UCAS application form will trigger a contact from the university’s Care Experienced Advisor who will provide information, advice and guidance as well as signposting to potential financial support opportunities.

Applicants are encouraged to get in touch with the university’s Student Support Services as early as possible – even when they have just started to think about going to uni – as the dedicated advisors can discuss the range of support that is available. For more information on support services for applicants with disabilities please contact the Disability and Dyslexia Centre at RGU, on 01224 262 103 or vial email at disability@rgu.ac.uk Care Experienced applicants and students are encouraged to contact the Care Experienced Advisor Charley Buchan on 01224 263 092 or email at c.buchan2@rgu.ac.uk

Geraldine has been a member of the Access RGU

Northfield Academy and involved 22 S1 pupils.

team for 18 months and in that time has

The aim of the programme is to enable

supported the team to develop its activities in a

participants to explore a range of further and

number

higher

of

new

areas

and

achieve

new

education

opportunities

and

study

accomplishments. Geraldine works in partnership

pathways. Activities take place both in school and

with staff across the University and partners in

on campus and Geraldine ensures the pupils and

Aberdeen City and Shire schools, developing and

parents are given a warm welcome to the campus

delivering programmes to develop the skills and

and that the programme continues to engage the

abilities of school pupils to support them to

pupils in both a fun and educational way. This year

transition into positive destinations.

will see a new cohort of S1 pupils, while the

The programmes offered by Access RGU are consistently well received and are a familiar feature in partner schools, both in the

City and

current S2 pupils will continue to engage with the programme over the next year.

Geraldine’s background working with children and

Aberdeenshire. Positive feedback from pupils and

families

staff alike has led to a rapid increase in both the

appreciates the needs of young people and can

level

offer support and guidance as the students move

of uptake and also

the number of

means

that

she

understands

and

programmes offered. Geraldine has helped to

through the education process.

create, deliver and develop a number of new

“ Working at Access RGU is a great pleasure as I am surrounded by a fantastic team which has grown and developed to become an integral part of the university experience. The enthusiasm and dedication of those in our partner organisations is something which continues to motivate me in my work with such a talented and dynamic group of pupils and students as they continue on their educational pathway�

programmes which aim to support both secondary school pupils and new students of the university.

In conjunction with the RGU foundation, Geraldine works to provide ACCESS RGU Scholarships for new RGU students, which includes academic as well as financial support. Geraldine acts as an intermediary between the sponsoring companies, the students and the RGU foundation in order to ensure that the process runs smoothly and the students are kept up to date and given opportunities to enhance their skills through work placement and mentoring provided by their sponsoring company. So far the programme has supported 6 RGU students and it is hoped that the number of scholarships on offer will increase for the 2016/17 academic term.

From new university students to new secondary school pupils; Geraldine coordinated the first Northern Lights programme which kicked off at