"There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens
and lets the future in." - Graham Greene
The Children's University (CU) aims to promote social mobility
by providing high quality out-of-school-hours activities to
children aged 7 to 14 and engaging the wider communities as
learning partners in this process. An important principle of the
Children's University is that participation is voluntary and it is
intentionally something other than school - with a different feel,
different activities and often a different location, peer group and
staff. At the heart of its work is the ambition to raise
aspirations, boost achievement and foster a love of learning. It
enables young people to make the most of their abilities and
interests, regardless of the background into which they were born.
The Children's University aims particularly to reach children and
young people facing socio-economic disadvantage through the
targeting of grants to, and the promotion of activities in, areas
of deprivation. It is here, we believe, that the benefits of high
quality provision will be felt most.
(Inter)nationally and locally the Children's University is
lowering, where appropriate, the access age to 5. For 5 and 6 year
olds Children's University participation requires a degree of
demonstrable active engagement by parents, carers and the wider
family: the concept of voluntary participation for a 5 and 6 year
old is clearly different to that of, say, a 14 year old; a greater
degree of grown-up guidance and support will be needed. The
advantage of family involvement in 5 and 6 year olds' Children's
University learning is also immeasurable in terms of the Children's
University's aim to turn dreams in to aspirations: a 5 year old can
still dream about becoming an astronaut - it is the grown-ups who
need to share those dreams, encourage the aspiration, turn the
aspiration into ambition - and not erase that magic!
The ultimate testament to the effectiveness of the Children's
University is that young people give up their time to attend. They
begin to realise that learning can be "...a satellite
navigation system to better places in life…". The significant
increase in numbers over the past year shows they do indeed attend,
and the comments and recommendations of parents, teachers and the
children themselves show they are engaged and inspired too.
As a rule of thumb and to quote Abbey, a nine year old CU
student… "Children's University learning is like grown ups
university learning…!". It is learning which can be
"connected" to Higher Education course provision as exemplified on:
www.ucas.com/students/coursesearch
- in other words: if you can aspire to do a degree in it the
Children's University wants to know!
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