Programmes Spotlight – Sutton Scholars

Sutton Scholars is our flagship programme for younger students in years 8-9 (ages 12-14). The programme runs at five leading universities, and gives disadvantaged students two years of structured support to develop their skills, find out what university is all about, visit the campus, try out subjects and make well informed decisions.

At the University of Warwick, Sutton Scholars were asked to write short essays on personal topics, a task designed to introduce them to essay writing, independent study, and give them confidence to develop thoughts and ideas.

In response to the prompt ‘What Warwick Sutton Scholars means to me…’, one student answered:

I didn’t think I would’ve come to scholars, I thought I’d be the ‘odd one’ – I wouldn’t fit in…I was wrong.

Exploring a new opportunity is hard at first, but when being open to new groups which you’re allocated to and playing welcoming games, Couldn’t be a better way to get to know one another. Everyone one should know the saying, ‘Be yourself’ And it’s true, Acting untruthful isn’t easier, it’s even harder, You have to maintain that act of not being yourself, Whereas being yourself, It comes freely. It makes making new friends easier and for the people around you, It makes it easier for them to get to know your personality. Despite me feeling ‘odd’ I never was, I acted myself as I usually would and I couldn’t have asked for better friends.

Therefore, I was made feel part of the family – The Warwick Sutton Scholars family.

Whether it was speaking aloud, or creating a presentation, ‘Team Positeam’ and many other welcoming team mates, showed the greatest of respect and confidence towards one another. It made all the difference.

To myself, and I’m sure to the rest of us, I think Warwick Sutton Scholars has the meaning of ‘Belonging, A family, and for most, the opportunity of gaining confidence and self-esteem.’ We all work hard and show that motivation and respect to bring the true colours of team work despite gender, or religion, whatever it may be. It doesn’t matter to us. We’re all a team and that’s what matters. We all hope to show inspiration to everyone around us. To proof we can define all odds and proof what everyone’s truly about.

To find out more about Sutton Scholars and our generous partners who fund this programme, click here.