News
Hair-dos and hair don’ts will help to provide a valuable lesson for students from a city college
Year 9 pupils from Babington Community Technology College, in Beaumont Leys, Leicester, will be spending an inspiring day at De Montfort University, working with staff and undergraduates to create a Visual CV - and have fun learning more about themselves as well.
The innovative project, designed to build confidence and raise aspirations, is being organised by the university in partnership with Aimhigher Leicester City and Leicestershire, and runs alongside students making their GCSE choices.
Friday’s event (Feb 5) kicks off at 10am with a personality game, followed by Good Hair Day-Bad Hair Day, an activity where students discuss the strengths and weaknesses of their character, grouping the answers into good hair day, which are positive characteristics, or bad hair day for other traits - and then get to compare themselves with a celebrity and a theme
tune!
Other sessions will be based on values and beliefs, team building, multiple intelligence skills and goal setting, helping pupils address the different elements of their personality and identify their learning style. At the end of the day, students will have a CV which they can take away and use as a starting point when deciding on their future options.
Neil Stock, Aimhigher Area Manager, said: “The focus of the day is to provide our teenagers with the skills that will help them to make the right choices about their future and the skills to project themselves in the best way possible to future colleges or employers.”
Vanessa Smith, Widening Participation Co-ordinator at De Montfort University, said: “The activities have been designed to be interactive, informative and most of all fun and I want students to leave here with high aspirations about their education and with a greater confidence in themselves and their abilities.”
Emma Taylor, Aimhigher Communications Co-ordinator, said: “Aimhigher is part of a national programme that works in 45 area partnerships across the country including Leicestershire.
“We aim to widen participation in Higher Education and work together with schools, colleges and universities in the city and county to provide activities that raise the attainment and aspirations of students.
“We target students who have the potential to go on to college or university, but who wouldn’t usually think that college/university is for them - perhaps their parents never went to university or they live in disadvantaged areas, are looked after children in care or have a disability.”
Last year, more than 13,000 young people from over 70 schools and colleges in Leicester City and Leicestershire took part in Aimhigher activities and experiences including vocational tasters, university experience days, masterclasses, music projects, events for students with dyslexia and career options evenings.
