Harrow High School students engage in College

Harrow High School students engage in College Readiness Workshops

Today's high school students face many unprecedented challenges as they look ahead to making the best decision for them on what to do after their GCSEs. At Stanmore College, we want to help young people to make the right choice and to navigate the transition from high school to college.

To help with this, we offer school-age students the opportunity to get involved in a wide range of workshops either at Stanmore College or at their school, enabling them to explore their interests, enhance their skills, and introducing them to job-related study programmes.

Thursday, 25th November saw an array of interactive workshops delivered by experienced and highly qualified Stanmore College teachers to over 90 year 11 students at Harrow High School. The students were an absolute pleasure to teach and our staff were impressed by the effective questioning received from students about our study programme subject areas, entry requirements, learning and assessment methods and pathways to careers; Harrow High School staff and students are to be congratulated on their planning; it was evident from the sequence of questions received that responses would build on and extend students’ thinking.

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Business, Sport, Creative Arts and Media study programmes were so popular that extra seating had to be added and, despite the large numbers, Marshal Miller, Art and Design teacher, who also represented the other subjects listed above, held each and every individual students’ attention for the entire morning.

Laughter abounded as the students who had been divided into groups to use their innate competitiveness competed against each other in a charades type sports quiz. There was visible disappointment when the activity drew to a close before they realised they were about to embark on an equally enjoyable art activity. Students drew characters using adjectives to describe the body parts and the end result defined the high quality learning that had taken place.

The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) workshop took place simultaneously and the fortunate students present were quickly immersed in interactively building model drones. The students hand assembled and correctly wired their drones and were chuffed when told they were theirs to keep. Their faces conveyed the pride and satisfaction derived from their hands on achievements.

Students subsequently carried out simulated blood group testing and dismantled and discussed lateral flow tests to enhance their understanding of how the tests work. Stanmore College Deputy Head of the School of STEM and Curriculum Manager, Tom Padfield and teacher, Imthiyas Manarikkal, had the students feeling like young scientists and engineers in no time with the help of technicians, Ahmed Maruf and Emmy Rakipaj, who attended to the students eagerly queuing to do their part.

 

The third workshop was on Early Years and Health and Social Care. This was led by Curriculum Manager, Caroline Ryder. It too was interactive with students undertaking fun activities on how to encourage reading for children; a different way of thinking about how children engage. They heard and experienced hands on how books and resources could be used. They explored adult colouring in sheets and the benefits such as improved concentration and building patience and they undertook word searches and a hand washing quiz linked to infection control.

Students were told about the syllabus and how staff at the College used artificial baby dolls and cots to engage and help students learn about scenarios such as cot deaths. By the end of the workshop, those who had formerly thought that studying early years or health and social care might not be challenging declared they were re-evaluating their beliefs!

The College staff delivered advice and guidance at the sessions so that young people were equipped to make decisions on their future. The Harrow High School year 11 students had formulated their own clear ideas of the differences between high school and college, and A levels and study programmes, by the end of the event. They were also made aware of the Government’s new Technical Level (T level) qualifications providing 16 to 19 year olds with a technical alternative to A levels that meets the requirements of employers.