Crest students get ready for university at UCL
Going along with this theme of being ready for university, one of our core aspirations for the students has been put into action this year. Two of our students, Mandy Kong and Heena Malik, both in year 9, were enrolled in the Sutton Scholars Program at the University College London. During the course of the academic year, both students attended a series of Discovery Days in which they participated in workshops and curriculum based activities organised by UCL and some of their students. Each student was assigned a mentor who studied at UCL, and was there to give advice regarding how to take notes in lectures, how to plan your schedule and generally how to approach university life.
“Every student ready for university, every student a leader.” Mr.Ojja
Our two Crest students thoroughly enjoyed each session, where they worked with students from other schools to improve their academic and social skills, and had many taster lectures, which they found quite different to their normal lessons in school. They found themselves relying heavily on their own ability to be responsible and make sure they take notes when the professor is giving their lecture. On the plus side, there was a free lunch buffet at every session. After each session was over, a small piece of homework would be assigned to each student to help them further their knowledge in the subject for that day, and attempt some independent work. One of our students even won a prize for her writing assignment on the Neo-Assyrian Empire after the History themed Discovery Day. It wasn’t all based on campus, however, as they would regularly go and visit other places around London. The Sutton Scholars program was a fantastic opportunity for the students that attended, which definitely left them with a lot of knowledge on what university life is like, and whether they would like to study at one in the future.
Words by Heena Malik