Aspiration Day at Peterhouse
6th February 2020
In January, 15 Year 10 students attended an Aspiration Day at Peterhouse, University of Cambridge.
We began the day with a walk through central Cambridge, looking at several different colleges and sights in the city centre.
Once we reached Peterhouse, the students had a session on why you might choose to go to university. We discussed a range of reasons for why you might want to go on to higher education: a passion for a subject; a desire for new skills; to meet new people; and to access specialised career paths. Peterhouse were keen to stress that students shouldn’t worry about paying for fees: such a small amount is taken off of your pay every month that it amounts to a similar cost to a monthly subscription for a Spotify account or a phone contract. Students then played a game working out what A-levels prior students had taken, followed by what degree they had gone on to study. This helped pupils to consider which options are necessary to support certain subjects at university. They then had to work out what jobs the students had gone on to have. It was really reassuring to see the wide range of careers that students went on to access, showing how studying a subject at university opens you up to a huge range of possibilities. Peterhouse’s message was clear: if you always choose subjects you enjoy studying, then you will find the right job for you that is both stimulating and rewarding.
We then had a tour of Peterhouse, followed by lunch and an afternoon session on different ways of studying at university. Students participated in a Socratic debate about the uses and abuses of social media – Cambourne students were fantastic at this, as every single student contributed an idea and built on the points of their peers. We then learnt about Cornell note-taking as an efficient way of recording information in lectures. Students were very positive about both strategies: I will certainly be using Socratic debating more frequently in my lessons, and I hope students will use the note-taking method in their GCSE studies.
At the end of the day, students had a Q and A with current undergraduates. They kindly answered all sorts of questions ranging from queries about work-life balance at university, to funding university study, to the extra-curricular opportunities and social life available! As ever, it was a really useful day and certainly succeeded in its aim to encourage our young adults to aspire for higher education.
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