First Impressions

It’s nearly the end of my first month at the Sutton Trust, and chance for me to look back at what I’ve learnt so far.  It’s been a whirlwind of meetings, programme visits, data sets and more PowerPoint presentations than you can shake a stick at, and I already have a very long to-do list.

I’m also very aware coming in new to an organisation gives you the chance to ask all sorts of (possibly stupid) questions that you can’t do once you’ve been in post for a while, so I’ve been making the most of that, and everyone has been very generous with their time and information (and has not yet told me that my question is stupid).

My background is in early years, and I know from previous experience what a huge impact intervention at the early years’ stage can have in overcoming disadvantage for children, so it’s great to see the impact it can have at secondary school level too.

One of the strands of our work with secondary schools is our Teacher Summer Schools. These programmes are a key part of our work in improving access to top universities for pupils from low and middle-income backgrounds. Teachers play a hugely important part in shaping the aspirations of their pupils, as well as guiding them through the minefield of the university application process – especially vital for pupils who don’t have any family members with university experience. Our teacher summer schools aim to give teachers as much information as we can to ensure they’re able to help their pupils get in to top universities – and in the process making sure that we overcome any preconceptions they might have that “this isn’t for me”.

So one of the highlights for me so far has been visiting the STEM teacher summer school we ran in conjunction with Kings College, Imperial College, and the Royal Veterinary College in London.  We offered fully-funded places to schools with low levels of progression to selective higher education institutions and were rewarded with over 25 incredibly committed and passionate STEM teachers and heads of sixth form who gave up a week of their summer holiday.

The summer school gave them the opportunity to visit each institution for the day (I gather the RVC visit was a particular treat), to receive STEM subject- specific support, and to take part in a workshop on student personal statements and teacher references. They also had the chance to see the student summer school that was running at the same time – with the hope that they will go back and encourage their students to apply in future years.

The week culminated in an evening event where I met many of the teachers, and I was delighted to hear from one who told me that on his way to London  he’d wondered what on earth he was doing giving up a week of his holidays but wouldn’t have missed it for the world; and we had a completely inspirational after-dinner  speech by Professor Robert Winston  talking about the summer holiday course he went on when he was 17 , studying sea-urchins off the west coast of  Scotland, that had really ignited his passion for science.  I’m sure all the teachers came away from the week equally passionate about getting more students into STEM. I know I did.

I’m looking forward over the next few months to visiting more of our programmes, and looking at where we can really add value. I’ll report back in due course, and keep you posted on the progress of my to-do list.