The NSSW Higher Education Roadshow is well underway!
Having stopped on at numerous locations in Cornwall – including a fantastic community day at Truro’s Lemon Quay – the bus is now visiting schools and colleges across Devon. On top of this, the bus pulled up at Plymouth Piazza on Wednesday 26th September where our staff and student ambassadors shared their knowledge of HE with local parents and carers.
Next Steps South West, Higher Education Roadshow, Lemon Quay, Truro, Cornwall, 15th September, 2018.
On Monday the bus pulled up at Hele’s school in Plympton, where the school’s year 11s took part in various workshops, had the opportunity to ask question about higher education, and received USB lanyards pre-loaded with lots of helpful information and signposting.
In the morning the top deck of the double-decker was the setting for a Business workshop, where students worked in teams to attempt to create the tallest structure using only raw spaghetti, string, tape and marshmallows. The experience is designed to help students understand the key skills required in business, such as collaboration, teamwork and negotiation. Dr Sarah Preedy, Senior Lecturer in Business and Enterprise at Plymouth Marjon University said when people spend too long planning they don’t do so well, her advice in business – less talk more action. When asked why she agreed to take part in the Roadshow Sarah said:
“It’s valuable to gather feedback about what kind of activities young people enjoy, it informs course content at higher level.”
Downstairs lecturers from the University of Plymouth’s Adult Nursing programme, ran workshops on Adult Nursing Clinical Skills. The sessions really engaged the students getting them involved in taking vital signs observations using industry standard equipment, such as, taking pulse, temperature and using an oxygen saturation monitor. Later on, lecturers in Speech and Language Therapy from Plymouth Marjon University delivered a thought provoking workshop about alternative communication methods.
One of the students said of their time on the bus, “It has made me think about looking into the different kind of courses available”.
All the workshops are designed to broaden students’ horizons and challenge their perceptions about the courses available at higher education. Veronica Yeomans, Hele’s Careers Support Manager said “The NSSW Roadshow comes at just the right time for the year 11 students, it’s the beginning of an important year for them, and they will be asked questions about higher education at Christmas time. Within the school the bus has generated a lot of interest.”
The Roadshow is supported by student ambassadors from across NSSW’s partner institutions, they take an active role in helping school and college students understand what higher education is really like, from an insider’s perspective. Their involvement also contributes to their own personal skill development, Madeline Lord, a University of Exeter student of Politics, Philosophy and Economics said, taking part in the Roadshow is helping her “…understand if I want to be a teacher, it’s developing my teaching skills and techniques of different types of teaching methods.”
Competition time!
The bus will continue to tour Devon, visiting schools and colleges in the South, then travelling up to North Devon, before embarking on the final leg of its journey in Somerset. If you spot us out and about, take a picture upload it to social media, to be in with a chance of winning £50 of amazon vouchers, tag us @NextStepsSW and follow our page, #WeAreNCOP.