Building aspiration through the Honours Programme

Leaders from New VIc, a sixth form college in East London, explain how collaborations between sixth form colleges, universities and other institutions can support more able learners and play a part in diversifying the school and college curriculum.

Working with more able learners in a diverse and non-selective sixth form college means exciting opportunities for us as teachers, but also the challenge of supporting our students to make a successful application to a research-intensive university. Some of our students are first generation university students, and often lack knowledge of research-intensive universities and the confidence to make an application. As managers for the Honours Programme, set up in 2015 to support our more able learners, our aim was to demystify the admissions process, give students the opportunity to experience the kind of learning they would do at such a university, and, most importantly, help students to appreciate how their own diverse backgrounds give them something unique and valuable to offer the universities they are applying to. Moreover, it meant developing our own expertise as teachers and subject experts, in collaboration with university partners, to best support our students in developing the crucial skills needed to make a successful transition to a leading university. 

Five years on, we now operate a range of super-curricular programmes in collaboration with university partners which allow students to engage with research-intensive universities, taking part in seminars and research projects which develop skills essential for success at degree level and in the wider world of work. You can see a full list of these programmes at the end of this article, but here we explore one student’s experience of the Honours Programme and the outcomes to give you a taste of how it works in practice. Ameera Ismail, initially began on an A-Level science Programme at New VIc, but on attending one of our Honours Programme seminars run by Dr. Toby Green of King’s College (on the topic of African music), she made the decision to change to a humanities A-Level programme, which had always been her passion.  Ameera was also actively involved in a number of programmes unique to New VIc, including the one year academically intensive Wad-HAM and King’s Classical Reach Pramme, developed by New VIc in collaboration with Wadham College, Oxford University, and King’s College, London. Ameera studied topics as diverse as the influence of the classical world on the present day and an interdisciplinary study of civilisation and barbarism through time. She credits these programmes with helping her to develop the skills and confidence needed for an Oxbridge application and developing different areas of interest outside of the curriculum. As part of the Honours Programme, Ameera also had access to personal statement and admissions test workshops and mock interviews run by external partners and New VIc subject specialists.  She is now in her second year studying a BA in History at Mansfield College, Oxford University and is thoroughly enjoying specialising in medieval British and European history.  Ameera said the intensive reading she had to do during the Honours Programme helped her to prepare for undergraduate tutorials and deepened her ability to think critically. She also thought that being able to engage with university lecturers during the Honours Programme gave her the confidence to contribute to seminars, which she now views as ‘interesting conversations, rather than intimidating interrogations!’ Ameera has also created a Film Society at Oxford University with a turnout of over 100 students from across the university and is the Feminist Society’s representative and Equality, Diversity, and Gender Equality Officer at her college. She maintains that the Honours Programme enabled her to develop the leadership and public speaking skills required in these roles. Ameera has since played a key role in supporting and mentoring our current Honours students and has been a real inspiration for them.

Below we illustrate some of the ways the benefits of this kind of collaborative work, and some tips for teachers wanting to develop their own partnerships with universities and other institutions.  

Benefits of working with universities for students and teachers

• Sharing experiences of the issues and challenges of supporting students transitioning between the various stages of their education, from school to college to university, and develop strategies.

• Developing innovative programmes which broaden students’ interests and cultural horizons and develop their research skills.

• Exploring wider historical debates and their contemporary relevance, allowing students to engage with their own personal histories.

• Increasing the percentage of our students being made offers and invitations to interview from Oxbridge.

• Working together as teachers and lecturers to push for curriculum reform and greater diversity within the curriculum.

• As teachers, developing ourselves as subject experts and professionals via opportunities to engage with academics and learn more about current debates in our subject area.

• For universities, having the opportunity to engage with a larger pool of potential students from a wider range of backgrounds who can bring different experiences and ways of thinking.

Tips

1. Take part in teachers’ networks hosted by universities; attend teacher training workshops and conferences and network with staff from different institutions; approach university lecturers - they are often as keen to work with and develop knowledge from you as you are from them. The time invested in this is well worth it and the skills and knowledge developed will save you time in the long run.  

2. Consider research publications with university partners - this is a great opportunity for professional development and to re-engage with your subject at a deeper level.  

3. Contact widening participation teams in universities you are keen to work with.  Think outside of the programmes that universities are currently running; with your professional expertise, you may be able to offer new ideas about how to engage learners based on your own experiences with students. As you know your learners better than them, it may result in some interesting collaborative work.  

4. Encourage your students to value their own backgrounds and experiences and share their stories; encourage their enthusiasm and allow them to help shape the project.  

5. Considering the output of any project is important. Ideally, students will have the opportunity to engage in ongoing reflections and evaluation. Don’t limit the output to written responses; consider creative responses as a way of developing students' curiosity and exploring ideas.

More Information on our Programmes 

King’s Classical Reach Programme: Developed in collaboration with the King’s Classics department, this is a bespoke course of 8 sessions which explore from earliest Greece to Rome and beyond, right up to the influence of Classics on modern history and current affairs. Students have the opportunity to study topic areas such as democracy and ideal beauty, and modern disciplines, from history to philosophy. The course covers a huge geographical area, sweeping from Roman Britain to the Black Sea, Cyprus and Persia, through to Egypt and Northern Africa Chronologically, students study the second millennium BC right up to the present day. Classics is traditionally perceived as an elite subject, but when King’s Classics Professor Edith Hall helped students to put on a production of Sophocle’s Antigone at UCL, the students were amazed to see the contemporary relevance of these plays through a discussion of universal themes such as power and patriarchy.  We discussed how these themes related to their own cultures.  Two of our students, never having studied Classics before, are now applying to King’s and Oxbridge for a Classics degree.  

Wad-HAM programme: Over the years we have worked in collaboration with Wadham College, our linked university in Oxford, to develop a range of programmes to support our students to develop higher level thinking skills and experience something of the nature of Oxbridge student life.  Students have taken part in seminars exploring civilisation and barbarism through the ages, through interdisciplinary study; last year we worked on a project with Toynbee Hall, a pioneering social settlement in the East End of London, where students explored how the charitable founders attempted to address the causes and impact of poverty in the East End of London. Students were surprised and interested to learn of the enduring links between Oxford and the East End and this led many of our students to feel more connected with the university. This year we are working alongside the Marx Memorial Library to explore the life of Charlie Hutchison, the first black British volunteer in the Spanish Civil War, and students will learn from Oxford lecturers how events in Charlie’s life are part of broader 20th century themes related to radical politics, working class life and the nature of post-colonial relationships between Africa and Britain.  This allows us to really engage our students with their personal histories, as they learn more about the contribution played by diverse ethnic groups in this country. We think this project is a really good example of experienced teachers working with universities to create unique and meaningful learning experiences with clear outcomes. 

King’s History, Memory and Identity Programme: This project, in collaboration with the King’s College History Department, has focused on enabling students to consider the use of memory as a means of gaining greater understanding of historical events, people and subjects and contributing to the development of public knowledge. A focal point of this work has been the use of historical sources and methods to study the development of contemporary British identity. Topics have ranged from multiculturalism in Brick Lane to black involvement in World War One, looking at how these groups have been represented in different histories. Students have commented that this has given them real pride in their own stories and something unique and interesting to research at a deeper level.  

New VIc African Studies Centre: The New VIc African Studies Centre will offer a programme of interactive talks and workshops 2020-2021 which will explore the history of Africa and the African diaspora. We have worked very closely with Dr. Toby Green at King’s College, who was instrumental in putting the Medical African Kingdoms unit on the OCR A-Level History specifications; term 1 of the programme offers training to teachers across the country who are delivering or considering delivering this unit. It will also appeal to teachers teaching Key Stages 1-4 who want to gain greater insight into Africa and its rich history. We are passionate about ensuring the curriculum is as diverse as possible to ensure that students can engage with their studies on a more personal and meaningful level and also a broader understanding of the world and the way it has been shaped. We hope it might also open up students' eyes to a broader range of degree options. Collaborations between college and university can potentially help to shape the agenda in education policy. 

Carina Ancell is History Lecturer and Curriculum Team Leader for Extended Studies and Alan Kunna is History Lecturer and Foundation Learning Manager at New VIc in Newham, London.