Building relationships on the Castleford Housing Project
As part of the National Collaborative Outreach Programme (NCOP), 29 students from the Castleford area took part in an exciting project co-delivered by Go Higher West Yorkshire and national house builders Keepmoat Homes. The students, who were selected from Castleford Academy and Airedale Academy, worked with both student and industry ambassadors to explore different elements of the construction and housebuilding industry. Speaking of Keepmoat Homes’ involvement in the project, Social and Economic Manager Sarah Hopkinson said, “A big part of our offer is that we engage with the communities in which we work, and this project gives us the opportunity to help local students develop the skills that employers are looking for. We’re also hoping to provide the young people with skills that fit in with the Keepmoat Homes ethos, such as being passionate, creative and collaborative.”

Throughout a series of classroom sessions, students worked in teams to create their own housing company, using a set of bespoke resources to explore how they might develop, build and sell a housing development. As well as thinking about essentials such as costings and materials, the teams also enjoyed creating mood boards to showcase their own ideas for show home decoration.

In addition to these technical sessions, the students had the opportunity to visit a current Keepmoat Homes housing development in their local area, enjoying an exciting and informative tour of the Aurora site on Flass Lane. The Keepmoat Homes Site Manager showed the students each stage of the building process, from the foundations to the show homes, and the group were able to ask site workers questions about their roles and responsibilities and see demonstrations of site equipment.

Using the knowledge gained on the site visit and in school sessions, the students moved on to develop a presentation about their housing companies, outlining their journey throughout the project and explaining the choices they’d made about their own housing developments. The project culminated in a brilliant presentation evening at the Wakefield College University Centre, where the students’ families were invited along to see the fantastic work that their young people had been developing. Each group presented their ideas to a packed out lecture theatre, and the audience enjoyed an insightful question and answer session with industry professionals from Leeds College of Building and Keepmoat Homes.

During the post-project evaluation, the students reflected on their successes throughout the experience and spoke of developing both their confidence and relationships with students from a different school. There was a sense of real pride in the room, and it was evident that some great cross-school friendships had been forged throughout the project!

Feedback from staff and parents was also excellent, with all agreeing that the project and presentation evening had been a huge success. Speaking on the night, Airedale Academy’s Assistant Principal Tim-Tim Chambers said, “It has been great to see the result of the collaboration between Airedale Academy, Castleford Academy, NCOP and Keepmoat. The pupils had clearly not only enjoyed working on the project but had got such a lot out of it; they mentioned confidence building, teamwork, skills development, creativity to name but a few.  The location was fabulous and to see the pupils present their work to so many people was amazing. All but two pupils came and the vast majority had parents and families with them.  There was such a buzz about the place!”

Castleford Academy’s Higher Education Progression Officer, Sally Martin, was one of the key staff members who supported the project right the way through. Speaking of the experience, she said, “The project and presentation event have been great, and the parents who attended tonight were so pleased to see the work of their young people.”

The Our Ovenden photography project was adapted and developed from an NCOP pilot photography project called ‘My Holmewood’ based at the TFD centre in Holmewood, Bradford. The idea of a photography project in a community setting like Holmewood and Ovenden was to get a group of young people and parents or carers together to explore what the area they live in represents to them, using a visual medium.

Go Higher West Yorkshire is a partnership of 13 Higher Education Providers, and we operate the HEFCE-funded National Collaborative Outreach Programme (NCOP) in our region. Across our partners, provision includes a diverse offer of progression opportunities for people of all ages to access Higher Education – including apprenticeships, diplomas and flexible degree programmes alongside more traditional ones. Part of our innovative programme of delivery is to work with cohorts of pupils to encourage them to think positively about their progression options and opportunities.

Anecdotal evidence indicates that progression options are traditionally limited for learners from disadvantaged postcode areas. Limiting factors are believed to be: a lack of information and awareness of opportunities available beyond immediate family or social circles, and restricted evidence-based reference points (parents or siblings’) positive personal experiences of progression. We tested these beliefs by working with young people growing up in these communities.

Our pilot project, with one of our partner schools (Castleford Academy), worked with a school selected mixed gender group of twelve Year 9 learners to support their development as ‘action researchers’ charged with exploring options and opportunities available to them when they eventually leave school and progress to the next stage in their lives.



 

 

GCSE pupils from across the region opened their eyes to a future of Higher Education as they took part in a three-day summer school across six of our GHWY partner campuses



Hosted by Leeds Beckett University, Leeds Trinity University, Leeds City College, Bradford College, the University of Bradford and Wakefield College, with support from Leeds Arts University and University of Huddersfield ambassadors, the residential was co-funded by GHWY and the government’s National Collaborative Outreach Programme (NCOP) – which aims to increase the number of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in Higher Education by 2020.  The aim of the three-day programme was to encourage young people to aspire, apply, enter and succeed in Higher Education.



93 year 10 pupils aged 14 and 15, who will be taking their GCSEs next year, attended the summer school from Tuesday 18 to Thursday 20 July. Throughout the three days, the pupils stayed at Leeds Beckett University’s Kirkstall Brewery student accommodation whilst having the chance to visit a selection of the university and college campuses, taking part in a series of workshops and social activities.

The residential gave the young people the chance to find out about the range of courses and Higher Education providers on offer in West Yorkshire; give them the opportunity to take part in university-level workshops; raise their aspirations; inspire them to think about applying for university in the future; and give them first-hand experience of university life so they can picture themselves as students in the future.



James Kelly, NCOP Higher Education Progression Officer at Carlton Bolling College in Bradford, said: “I think the best activity has been the university taster sessions on the second day: these were engaging and a chance for them to dive in and have a look at what a higher education course could actually be like for them. It was also a good opportunity for them to mix in with other schools which is something that they’re going to have to do at university and was a rewarding experience.”

Comments from the pupils included: “The Class of 2023 residential was great: I didn’t think I wanted to go to university but it got me thinking about what I want to do and where I want to go in life.  I think it did the same for a lot of other people – it was really inspirational and a great experience”; and “The subject taster sessions gave us a great insight into what it would be like to study at university or college.  It was really interesting to find out how science subjects are taught and dealt with in a university setting.”

Alex Cooper, a Leeds Beckett student ambassador who graduated this month with a BA (Hons) degree in Business Management, commented:

“I think that the young people gained a real insight into what different institutions have to offer and the opportunities available to them. I think that the inclusiveness of the event made Higher Education feel accessible and possible for the young people involved. I hope that the event inspired them to think about their future and the abundance of paths available for them to investigate.”

The three days were themed in order to reflect a higher education student’s journey: making informed decisions about courses, sampling university and college-level subjects in taster sessions, and employability and graduation. The theme of the student journey was reinforced by a bespoke ‘Class of 2023’ work book designed by Kyle Prior (Leeds Arts University).

On the second day, the pupils had the opportunity to sample subjects including:  Forensic Science, Law, Social Work, Media Make Up and Special Effects, Civil Engineering, Photography, Textiles and Marketing. The employability and graduation events on the third day took place at Wakefield College’s Advanced Skills and Innovation Centre.



 

View and download the report below



 

The class of 2024 collaborative summer school was hosted by Go Higher West Yorkshire’s (GHWY) Higher Education partners from Tuesday 17th to Thursday 19th July 2018. 77 students attended the residential from 12 NCOP and GHWY target schools and colleges, comprising:

• Appleton Academy (Bradford)
• Bishop Young Academy (Leeds)
• Bradford Academy (Bradford)
• Carlton Bolling College (Bradford)
• Cathedral Academy (Wakefield)
• Cockburn School (Leeds)
• Dixons Trinity Academy (Bradford)
• Immanuel College (Bradford)
• Leeds City College 14+ Academy (Leeds)
• Leeds West Academy (Leeds)
• Minsthorpe Community Academy (Wakefield)
• Ruth Gorse Academy (Leeds)

 

The content of the Summer School was developed in response to participant and practitioner feedback from previous years (the collaborative Year 10 residential has run since 2015). The programme was structured around the ‘student journey’, with Day 1 focusing on pre-entry options and ‘freshers’ activities, Day 2 on study and the student experience, and Day 3 on preparation for the world of work and graduation. A central driver in the development and design of the programme was that it should provide students with an immersive experience of Higher Education. Alongside core staff, participants were supported throughout by dedicated Student Ambassadors from across the GHWY partnership. The programme had five substantive elements:

One of the UK’s hidden gems of the live events industry and learning is lifting the curtain on its secrets to encourage some of West Yorkshire’s most talented students to head to university.  Production Park in South Kirkby is the ‘go to’ location for the world’s top performers when planning their live events. A creative hub, it is home to every element of live events from set construction through to rehearsals and tour catering. It is also home to Backstage Academy where the next generation of live events technicians learn their skills and work towards degree accredited qualifications.

On Thursday April 26, we collaborated with Production Park to offer our Wakefield NCOP schools information and advice about the creative events industry. Students and their parents experienced a variety of performances, heard from students and professionals from the live events industry and then took part in workshops and demonstrations from some of the region’s best Higher Education institutions.

The students witnessed the diversity of courses and career options including planning, staging, lighting, catering, costume design and make up and had the chance to quiz live events practitioners. They also got an insight from Glen Rowe, MD, of Backstage Academy about his own career as a tour director of for Muse.

Minsthorpe Community College and Airedale Academy kicked of the day with their own incredible performances which had been planned by students from conception through to on stage delivery.

Glen Rowe said: “I have had a fantastically rewarding and diverse career in live events. No two days are the same because you are never in the same location for long. In addition, it is a growing industry contributing £90bn plus annually to the UK economy and offering opportunities to skilled and ambitious young people in sectors including planning, staging, lighting, catering, costume design and make up.”

“Here at Production Park we work with the world’s leading artists and their designers to bring their dreams to reality. The best way to demonstrate what we do and how we do it is to bring young people in and show them how they can be part of it.

“Our Access all Areas collaboration with Go Higher West Yorkshire is designed to prove that degree course are designed to be relevant and lead to rewarding careers. Our lecturers are industry experts, who still work in live events and help their students gain exciting work experience.

Adrian Brooks, Chair of Production Park said: “The live events industry is vibrant and thriving. Employment in the Creative Industries is growing four per cent faster than the standard UK rate and graduates from our Backstage Academy have great earning potential when they leave our degree courses. During their time with us they also get to work on actual major live events and get a real taste for the industry while seeing career opportunities they could never have imagined. The sector is constantly changing, and we want to promote these excellent opportunities to local young people and their families.”

Helen Sykes, Partnership Manager at Go Higher West Yorkshire commented: “This is a great event to highlight the wide range of higher education courses available and providers young people can choose from which offer exciting and vocational higher education qualifications.”

 

The following schools/colleges attended and took part on the day:

Airedale Academy
Wakefield College
New College Pontefract
St Wilfrid’s Catholic High School
Featherstone Academy
Kings School
De Lacy Academy
Outwood Academy Hemsworth