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On Monday 15th May, Higher Horizons+ welcomed 30 students from Paulet High School and Sixth Form College to Keele University for a day of advice, guidance and academic taster sessions.

The event celebrated the end of the The Mentoring Project 2016/17, a collaborative experience implemented by Higher Horizons+ to support the school with HE advice and to develop essential communication skills.

Upon arrival, the school were led through the corridors of Keele Hall for a Heritage Tour and guided to The Old Library for their first session of the day, provided by Dr Michael Fay (Lecturer in Law at Keele University). Michael’s session ‘Morality and Murder’ reinforced the importance of critical thinking and provided an open platform for the students to partake in meaningful debates and consider their ethical principles. After the session, Michael Fay said: “I thought that was a great group of students and I really enjoyed the opportunity to get involved. I liked how some of the younger students were firm in their opinions, hopefully having a sixth form mentor has provided a really strong and encouraging role model.”

Throughout the day students received exciting insights into student life from Staffordshire University and Keele University Student Ambassadors along with advice and guidance from Helen Norman (Higher Horizons+ Hub Manager at Staffordshire University) on progressing to college and higher education.

After enjoying lunch in The Great Hall, the students were welcomed back into The Old Library for the Recognition Ceremony, featuring a live musical performance from Victoria McCrea, BA (Hons) Music student at Keele University. Ian McArthur (Headteacher of Paulet High School and Sixth Form) and Helen Norman (Higher Horizons+ Hub Manager at Staffordshire University) presented all of the mentors and mentees with certificates in recognition of their continued commitment to the project.

Keele University holds an annual Awards ceremony recognising the hard work of its Student Ambassadors across Recruitment, Outreach and Student Support Services. For the second year in a row, Higher Horizons+ sponsored an Award recognising the contribution of one Student Ambassador to collaborative outreach.

We had a strong shortlist this year. Many of the Student Ambassadors have worked on our events as representatives of higher education, sharing their journeys and experiences at Keele.

This year’s winner had not only worked on a number of different Higher Horizons+ events but also spent six months filling in as a part-time administrator behind the scenes, helping to organise events and supporting the work of Higher Horizons+.

She also researched, designed and implemented a face to face mentoring scheme within one of our target schools, organising a programme that saw Y12s mentoring Y8s within the school, and visiting Keele to get an experience of university life. The pilot scheme was so successful the Headteacher begged us to let them come to the celebration event at the end of the scheme so they could thank Higher Horizons+ in person for setting up the programme.