So what are the signs? Be it the falling leaves, getting your overcoat out of the wardrobe or just trying to remember which weekend the clocks change, the autumn is now upon us. For the School and College Engagement Team, this always means we are about to kick off another year of inspiring learners from across the city region and wider of the opportunities that exist within Higher Education, and help prospective students make informed decisions about their future study choices.
Over the summer – as well and the helping students find places through Clearing – we have been making the final touches to a number of new and exciting initiatives we will be introducing this year, some of which you will have seen at this year’s Teacher and Advisor Conference back in June, but I will outline just a sample of them below.
SHUBiz is our brand new interactive team building activity aimed at Y11/Y12 year groups. Developed around a premise of helping students in the early stages of thinking about University. It gets students to problem solve, consider potential careers and think about possible course choices. The students work as a team around three tasks – Business Set-up; Business Development; and Business Reputation, and over several hours, they will liaise with our student ambassadors, develop concepts and ideas and present to their peers. It’s a great way to get students working together, sharing ideas and thoughts with each other and start the process of thinking about the applying to university process.
We will shortly be launching our new Facebook page which will be a dedicated online space providing students with easy access to information, hints and tips, online guides and short videos designed to support their application to university process. Look out for the launch of this in the coming weeks.
October once again sees the team launch our STEMfest activity – a range of STEM related activity through the autumn term. This includes masterclasses, roadshows, and faculty tours giving prospective students and insight into STEM related subjects. Subjects covered are Bioscience and Chemistry, Healthcare, Engineering, Accounting, Banking and Finance, Nutrition, Computing and Media.
And this is just the start! In the coming weeks, we will be updating our email communications with schools, colleges and education partners to improve the way we share information with key stakeholders; we have just launched the 2017/18 school prom competition which proved a huge success with both students and staff last year; and we will be shortly welcoming students once again to our Open Days which start again 1st October. And of course, we are already in schools and colleges across the region and beyond delivering our Uni4U programme of activity in the classroom, assemblies, parent’s evenings and here on campus.
So whatever the start of autumn means to you, this season see the Schools and Colleges Engagement Team up and running once again and ready to provide the engagement and support to you, your learners and your institution, helping prospective students to develop their pathway through to Higher Education.
If you want to find out more about the work of the School and College Engagement Team here at Sheffield Hallam, you can e-mail us at sclo@shu.ac.uk, call us on 0114 225 4777 or follow us on twitter @SHUOutreach.
And finally – if you were wondering when the clocks change again, its Sunday 29th October! Now is it and hour forward or back….??
James Barraclough Head of School and College Engagement
Twitter: @BARRACLOUGH_JBA
