School’s cool for summer, say 4,000 holiday visitors to Imperial

Summer school pupils get a taste of real science in top university labs - <em>News</em>

Tuesday 25 August
By Abigail Smith

A summer break spent building robots and making chemicals glow in the dark is helping to boost the opportunities and aspirations of pupils at state schools, say the organisers of Imperial’s summer schools programme.

Throughout July and August this year the College has hosted over 4,000 visitors aged between 11-17 for both residential and non-residential courses lasting from one day to two weeks. They have taken part in activities that allow them to build on what they learn at school by trying their hands at practical science and engineering projects in well-equipped, cutting-edge laboratories. At the same time they get a taste of life on a university campus, helping to make higher education feel more attainable to them, especially for those who have no family history of it. Melanie Thody, Imperial’s Director of Access and Head of Outreach, explains:

"Many people, young and old, have a natural curiosity about how the world works. Unfortunately the pressures on school science curricula, coupled with the small number of science graduates going into teaching, means that the thrill of discovery can sometimes be lost in the classroom. Our courses aim to give young people with an interest in science and engineering the time and space to really explore both the concepts and the practical applications, in the sort of high tech labs they are unlikely to have seen before.

"A very valuable side-effect is that they get to come to Imperial and really settle into the campus. Hopefully they go home feeling that university is a comfortable and natural place for them to be, and that will influence their future choices."

This year’s summer school pupils have taken part in activities including building, programming and testing model cars to make them drive along a specified path, and trying out different chemical reactions to find out which ones they can make their own glowsticks with. They have also explored concepts such as animal research, to understand how drugs are developed and debate the pros and cons of using animals in medical experiments.

The courses are led and supervised by Imperial staff and student volunteers. Dr Jodie Kirk, Scientific Projects Manager and a leader of many of the courses, says:

"Many of the Imperial students who volunteer to help us over summer are only a few years older than the people they are mentoring. That makes it much easier for the pupils to relate to them, and lets them see that people who are not that different from them are studying science at university. That’s so valuable for their sense of what they can attain if they try hard enough.

"We're also extremely grateful to staff who volunteer their time over the summer, when they would be well within their rights to relax after a demanding year. Every one who we work with does a fantastic job of conveying their passion for science. Hopefully they enjoy themselves as much as the people they are helping – all our feedback suggests that’s the case."

Imperial’s summer schools programme is developed by the Outreach Office in partnership with widening participation organisation Exscitec.

More information about Imperial’s Outreach Office, including a full list of activities, is available at: www.imperial.ac.uk/outreach