We recently spoke to teacher Tiffany Pope from Penpol Primary School in Hayle, Cornwall about her top tips on running The Scholars Programme for a primary school.
Penpol Primary are now in their third year of running The Scholars Programme, where PhD students deliver university-style learning for groups of Year 5 or 6 students. The programme is designed to help students improve on academic skills and boost their confidence about seeing higher education as a future possibility.
Read on to find out more about Tiffany’s top tips on running the programme and how we can support your primary school in providing university-style learning for Key Stage 2 students.
“We take the choice of students very seriously, targeting students who don’t necessarily have that self-belief that university study is something they can do.” – Tiffany
Penpol focused on 14 Year 5s and spent time carefully selecting the students they believed would benefit the most from the programme.
As a social mobility charity, we work with the students who most benefit from the support of our programmes. We ensure at least 70% of students who take part in The Scholars Programme meet at least one of the following criteria:
“I made regular contact with the parents to keep up with how the students were doing and keeping up with the work.”
We know that parental engagement is a significant factor in students’ success, particularly at primary school age. We host two online information events for parents and carers to get involved and learn more about what their child will experience on The Scholars Programme – a Launch event at the start of the programme, and a Next Steps event towards the end.
“When selecting your lead teacher or support staff, someone who knows the children is key.”
At Penpol, the deputy head took care of the practical logistics of the programme, while a lead teacher and member of support staff were involved in supporting the students. They were all engaged from start to finish, so they knew that they were confident supporting the programme.
We offer lead teachers and their teams a range of resources to help run the programme smoothly, including planning packs, task checklists and teacher information webinars. Schools also work closely with their assigned Programme Officer, who can offer help and support.
“It could just drift on, but you might not get the best out of the programme – you have to buy into it.”
Penpol used Pupil Premium funding for the programme and needed to ensure it had a strong impact. They invested time and planning into embedding The Scholars Programme into their school timetable, annual calendar and programme of extra-curricular activities, to ensure it ran smoothly.
The Scholars Programme has proven impact on GCSE attainment and university progression. It also helps primary schools build a culture of value for higher education, student leadership and celebrating success from an early age. We have a range of extra optional resources, such as in-school graduation resources, displays and mentoring resources, to support this.
“The second year, we made changes from the first time we did it – the lead teacher and students all gave feedback.”
Penpol evaluated their experience of the programme and made changes to their student selection and staff support in the second year they ran their programme.
We provide primary schools with a full impact report to support internal evaluation and reflection, detailing student attendance, final assignment grades and progress across key skills such as critical thinking and university self-efficacy.
To learn more about the benefits and practicalities of running The Scholars Programme for your Key Stage 2 students, complete our short enquiry form and a member of our School Partnerships team can get in touch with you.