Inspire Primary

ST JOHN’S COLLEGE

St John’s College Oxford

PROGRAMME

Visit St John’s College to introduce your children to higher education and inspire a life long love of learning. Our Access and Outreach team will organise:

University Detectives treasure hunt Gargoyle Hunt Spot the Difference activity FREE lunch in our historic dinner hall

Work with our DBS checked student volunteers to enhance your curriculum. They could run: After school activities such as a book or chess club

Sports Day or creative writing workshops at St John’s College Classroom support in Maths and English

STUDENTS

PROGRAMME

The St John’s College Inspire Programme has established itself as one of Oxford’s leading sustainedcontact outreach initiatives. The College is proud of its diverse community, and is committed to working with pupils, schools and sixth-form colleges who are historically under-represented amongst our successful applicants.

In 2022 we launched Inspire Primary, an initiative which represents an extension of our outreach work into the Primary sector. We began with

a partnership with Rose Hill Primary School and have since expanded our role in the local community to build partnerships with other schools including Bayards Hill and Church Cowley St James Primary School whilst maintaining our original links with Rose Hill.

We hope that the resources of St John’s – be they our outstanding students or excellent facilities – will enhance the educational experience of young learners, and help them to make the first steps in inspiring a lifelong interest in education.

“Universities can change lives – it is never too early to start.“

Professor Dame Sue Black, President of St John’s College

“When I’m older I want to go to university and learn science”

best bit was the food because it was so different to school and the staff were so nice”

Our Access and Outreach team have created a range of activities to enable primary-aged children to explore St John’s and learn about higher education.

This includes our popular ‘University Detectives’ treasure hunt, which allows young people to learn about university by exploring our beautiful grounds. We also offer activities for younger primary years, including a gargoyle hunt and a spot the difference activity.

We’re always delighted to host pupils for lunch. Our chefs are accustomed to dealing with complex dietary needs and are more than happy to lay on child-friendly meals. There’s also plenty of space for children to enjoy a packed lunch.

OUR FACILITIES

At St John’s we’re fortunate to have outstanding facilities, both historic and modern. We are keen to share these with the local community for special occasions, such as a graduation or prize-giving.

This includes an auditorium with the capacity to seat nearly 200 and sports facilities including tennis courts and football pitches.

“The

St. John’s has an active community of students who are passionate about working with the local community and making the University more accessible. From music sessions to tutoring to book clubs, there are so many ways in which our students can offer support to your pupils.

CLASSROOM SUPPORT

Our students are eager to get started and offer support to your pupils. There is a high level of interest amongst current students in offering support to primary students in English and Maths. This would be appropriate to Years 5 and 6. At Bayards Hill, our students are helping to run the libary at lunchtimes and are offering reading support to pupils.

THE JUNIOR COMMON ROOM (JCR)

The JCR is the student body of St. John’s and is similar to a Students Union. Together, the elected committee organise events, liaise with the college, and support students with their own aspirations.

The St John’s JCR has a dedicated position – the Access and Outreach Representative - which focuses on making St. John’s more accessible for students internally, and also for ensuring that it is inclusive and welcoming to those outside of the University.

EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Alongside academic support, our students would be delighted to offer activities such as a book club for later year groups. This could be either weekly or fortnightly, and would consist of a small group of student volunteers coming to the school to provide the sessions.

Our students would also love to host a sports day or creative workshop as a one-off event in St. John’s College sports grounds on Woodstock Road, or in the college grounds. This could be for any year groups.

We would love to collaborate on ideas to ensure that our students offer support in the most helpful way possible.

SAFEGUARDING

All student volunteers are DBS checked and have completed OSCB Level One Safeguarding. Further training can be arranged by the College for specific activities.

Founded in 2007 by Oxford University Students, the Oxford Hub is now a place-based charity, working with residents, other organisations and students to make change across the whole city and beyond.

Schools Plus is Oxford Hub’s free tutoring programme for children and young people living in Oxford. The programme aims to tackle educational inequality in the city by providing extra academic support to children at risk of not achieving their academic potential.

The Oxford Hub has been running schools plus since 2009.

Schools Plus tutors are volunteers, the majority of whom are students at the University of Oxford. Rose Hill Primary pupils referred to Schools Plus will be matched with a St John’s College volunteer. Tutors can offer 1 hour of tuition per week for a minimum of

THE OXFORD HUB

12 weeks, in the subject the child needs support with. Currently the programme is running online, with sessions taking place on Zoom, but there is plenty of scope to make inperson tutoring available.

Pupils can be referred here: schoolsplus.oxfordtogether.org/ referrals. Once they have been referred, the Schools Plus team will be in touch to ensure they have all of the information they need, before they are matched with a suitable tutor.

In 2020-21, Schools Plus recruited over 200 tutors who supported over 140 children, from Year 3 to Year 13, who were referred to us from 23 schools across Oxfordshire. Together, they logged over 2100 tutoring sessions. These sessions have been really successful – 96.7% of tutees said that they enjoy their tutoring sessions, and 86.7% of tutees said that taking part in the programme has improved their confidence.

“I had so much fun, my favourite thing was definitely the treasure hunt”

WHAT ELSE DOES OXFORD OFFER?

OXFORD SPARKS

Oxford Sparks offers young people a look behind the scenes of Oxford Science.

BACK GARDEN BIOLOGY

Join Professor Lindsay Turnbull to explore the biology of the back garden. Episodes include The Worm that Turned and Why is the World Green.

OXFORD OWL

Oxford Owl offers a range of resources from the Oxford University Press to develop English and Maths skills at home and in school.

OXFORD BOTANICAL GARDENS

Oxford University’s Botanic Gardens have developed activities for primary-aged children. Explore their killer plants, interactive jigsaw puzzles or try their Wildflower Meadow Spotter sheet.

OXFORD UNIVERSITY GARDENS, LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS

Oxford is home to several museums, each of which has a fascinating range of primary activities, ranging from treasure hunts to curriculumspecific sessions delivered by museum outreach teams.

The College is centrally located and within five to ten minutes walking distance of the Ashmolean Museum, the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, the Pitt Rivers Museum, the History of Science Museum, and the Bodleian Library’s Weston Library.

We’ve also partnered with the Story Museum, located around 20 minutes from the College. The Story Museum aims to engage people of all ages in great stories. Their activities are interactive, multi-sensory and designed to encourage parents, carers and children to spend time together enjoying stories in many different ways.

A visit to any of these institutions could be combined with a tour of the College, a learning session from our access team, a catered meal, or a space for pupils to enjoy lunch.

CONTACT DETAILS

To discuss participating in this programme, please contact: Richard Waters, Programme Lead richard.waters@sjc.ox.ac.uk

All our programmes are supported by philanthropic giving. If you would like to support Inspire Primary, please contact: Robert Crow, Director of Development robert.crow@sjc.ox.ac.uk

Dr. Sandra Campbell, Fellow for Access and Admissions sandra.campbell@oncology.ox.ac.uk

“It is so rewarding to be able to share St John’s with young people. I’m really excited to be able to welcome more local primary schools to the College”