For all our latest news please click on the news section above.

February 2010

Bradford teenagers rub shoulders with media royalty

 

Fleet’s Street royalty shared their top tips with Bradford’s budding young journalists at a Journalism Week event run by Leeds Trinity University College.

 

Students from four Bradford Sixth Forms - Belle Vue Girls, Carlton Bolling College, Greenhead High School and Tong High School – got to meet media experts including Helen Boaden, Head of BBC News and Alan Rusbridger the Editor of the Guardian newspaper. 

 

Bright Futures for Calderdale Students

 

Year 9 students from schools across Calderdale were invited to a conference where they took part in activities focusing on the skills they will need for a successful future.

 

The conference was called Bright Futures – Skills 2 Succeed and all the young delegates were part of Calderdale Aimhigher. The two hour conference started with an icebreaker to bring students from different schools together and help them to get to know each other. Teams of students then took part in different activities focusing on employability skills and essential skills to succeed. 

 

Looked After Young People set their sights on Higher Education

 

The seventh annual dinner for looked after children was held in Leeds to encourage young people to attend a higher education summer residential programme for Year 11 students.

 

Leeds Aimhigher negotiated additional places for looked after children from the University of Leeds and Leeds Metropolitan University to participate in this scheme – the offer from HEIs has now been extended to students from other West Yorkshire districts.

 

The two-hours event was packed with films, talks from looked after young people and university staff. Sophia Coad and Lesley Smith from Thomas Danby College, shared their enjoyable experiences of attending the university residential last year.

 

January 2010

New appointment

 

Caroline Holas-Clark joined the Aimhigher West Yorkshire team as Data Research and Analysis Officer.

 

Caroline’s three key areas of work will be:

• pulling together all the data available on progression throughout West Yorkshire and producing reports to show evidence of impact,

• working with the five Aimhigher West Yorkshire districts to ensure a consistency of data reporting,

• developing the Aimhigher West Yorkshire student monitoring and tracking system.

Strategic priorities

 

Jonathan Higgins, Director of Aimhigher West Yorkshire, gave a presentation to the Area Partnership Committee - the governing body comprised of key stakeholders - entitled 'A strategic perspective on the direction of widening participation'.

 

The presentation highlighted the strategic priorities for Aimhigher West Yorkshire and how they tie in with key national policy documents, including Unleashing Aspiration, the final report from the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions led by the Alan Milburn, and Lord Mandelson's ‘Higher Ambitions’ paper that sets out a course for how universities can remain world class.

 

Gearing Up For Summer Schools

 

Students and parents from Wakefield are getting the message about the great range of Summer Schools on offer this year across the Yorkshire and Humber region.

 

A series of presentations in schools across the district have ensured Aimhigher students in years 10, 11 and 12 are aware of what’s on offer. These have been followed by workshops to help the students with the new on-line application process.

 

Yorkshire and Humber 14 – 19 Challenge  

 

Starting in February, 250 young people from Kirklees and Wakefield will experience university taster visits to find out what it’s like to be a university student as part of the Yorkshire and Humber 14-19 Challenge.

 

November 2009

Pupils prepare for a healthy future

 

Tomorrow’s Health Professionals Today is being launched in West Yorkshire this month to show school pupils the full range of career opportunities in the health sector, other than training as a doctor or nurse.

 

Richard Wilkinson from Aimhigher Bradford explained the thinking behind this new initiative. Richard said: “Students tend to have a very narrow view of health related careers with many aiming for medicine, with pharmacy as an alternative.

 

“We want them to look at the full range of degree courses that can lead to great careers in, for example, radiography, podiatry, occupational therapy dietetics and specialist nursing areas like mental health and operating theatre practice.”

 

Associates Scheme

 

Aimhigher West Yorkshire is taking part in the exciting and innovative Aimhigher Associates Scheme and has a target of recruiting 255 Associates and 1,277 learners from local schools and colleges.

This national programme aims to bring real benefits to the learners through their engagement with an Aimhigher Associate.

 

Associates are undergraduates who have been recruited from one of the five participating universities within the area.  Interest from potential Associates has exceeded expectations with over 500 applications and training is well underway.

 

September 2009

New Director for Aimhigher West Yorkshire

Jonathan Higgins has now started in his role as Director of Aimhigher West Yorkshire.  Jonathan replaced Maura Wilson who retired in July 2009.

Jonathan has brought a wealth of experience to this important role. Before taking up this role  Jonathan was the Director of Studies/ Vice Principal 14 – 19 of the United Learning Trust, Sheffield Springs Academy.  Until December 2006, he was the Aimhigher Co-ordinator responsible for establishing of the Sheffield Aimhigher partnership.