Year 10 students celebrate Scholars Programme graduation

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News - 8 July

Smiles matched the bright sunshine at the celebration for graduates of Homewood’s Year 10 Scholars Programme (7 July 2021).

The students and their parents and guardians were celebrating their achievement in completing a university-style Physics course, run in conjunction with educational charity, The Brilliant Club. This included taking part in online tutorials on the complex subject of 'Symmetry in the Universe' with an Oxford University PhD researcher, Dr Lauren Martin, and submitting a final dissertation-style essays for which students were awarded university-type grades.

The programme, run with hundreds of schools across the UK, is designed to support students in developing skills and knowledge that will assist them in applying to the country’s top selective universities as well as help with their ongoing school work. The work is pitched at a Key Stage above their current study with the objective of developing their written and verbal communication, critical thinking and metacognition.

Speaking to the students in the presence of their parents and guardians, Homewood Principal Jeremy Single congratulated them on only achieved excellent results, including two 1sts and four 2:1s, but on the fact that they so red well above average for engagement, submissions and skills improvement. He also hoped that the experience would help them achieve better future exam results and allow them to believe that they could successfully apply to one of the country’s most selective universities.

A message read out from the external Scholar’s Programme team also praised the students' performance:-

"It has been a pleasure supporting the pupils from Homewood School and Sixth Form Centre over the last term. Pupils’ tutorial attendance and final assignment submission rates exceed both regional and national averages. This reflects the hard work and effort pupils put into the programme, and the support they received from their teachers and tutors. Their PhD Tutors were very impressed with the pupils’ effort, commitment and development during tutorials.

We are pleased to see that pupils developed key university readiness skills throughout the programme, as evidenced by their academic achievement in their final assignments. Pupils made particularly good progress in their levels of Structure and Presentation, which improved by 9 % from their baseline to final assignment. Pupils should be very proud of their achievements."

Also present to congratulate the students were Kate Farrell, Head of the I-College (back row, right), and Dr Claire Tyson (back row, centre) who co-ordinated the programme.

Last year, The Brilliant Club worked with over 12,000 pupils across the UK and in an independent evaluation of the programme’s impact, UCAS found taking part made it “significantly more likely” pupils would progress to a highly- selective university compared to a control group of pupils with matched characteristics.

Congratulations to Lillieann, Max, Emma, Joe, Harriet, Teddy, Jacob and Daniel.