Venture Matrix Students Support School Pupils Exploring Hate Crime

Guest Post by Natalie Whelan

External Relationship Officer (Schools and Colleges) – Venture Matrix

More than 130 school pupils from across South Yorkshire have recently visited Sheffield Hallam University, as part of a four day criminology event, in association with South Yorkshire Police. With the help of Venture Matrix undergraduate students, pupils were able to explore a range of crimes affecting the local community, from hate crime to burglary, among others.

South Yorkshire Police initially set a brief for students to support local school pupils in exploring the issues around four specific crimes; hate crime, cyber bullying, bonfire night crime and burglary. Following this brief, over 120 undergraduate criminology students set about designing, and then delivering, a variety of engaging activities for school pupils, to explore the causes and solutions of each type of crime.

More than 135 pupils took part in the events, learning from real case studies and undertaking practical activities, such as court room drama roll plays and creativity tasks, looking at solutions and ways to promote help services. Pupils also undertook reflective tasks to help them understand and reinforce what they had learnt throughout the sessions.

One pupil from University Technical College when reflecting on the event said;         “I learned so much about hate crime and the different categories. We learnt how to solve the problem of hate crime and we got a chance to talk about it openly. I really enjoyed it!”

Natalie Whelan, External Relationships Officer for Schools and Colleges within the Venture Matrix team, commented: “The events not only provided pupils with the opportunity to learn about the causes & solutions of real crimes, but also gave them an opportunity to visit the university, engage with our students and raise their aspirations. The events were also a valuable opportunity for our students to engage, interact and support the local community, which really helps them to feel part of Sheffield.”

Venture Matrix offers Sheffield Hallam students the opportunity to work on real-life projects as an accredited part of their degree. The students who take part get the chance to apply their academic theory within a practical situation, whilst developing key skills which will help them to realise their full potential and succeed after graduating.

If you’d like to find out more information about Venture Matrix please call us on 0114 225 4468 or email venturematrix@shu.ac.uk

Did you know that Sheffield Hallam’s Student Union advice centre is a third party reporting centre for hate crime where both students and staff can report a hate crime or incident in complete confidence either by phone or in person?