Bordesely Green Girls School has a whale of a time at Cambridge

Bordesley Green Girls School pupils conquered an engineering challenge and met the Cambridge Whale on a one-day visit, organised through the school’s Enterprise programme, and hosted by Selwyn College Cambridge.

The aim of the day was to encourage the Y10 pupils at the Birmingham state school to be ambitious in their hopes for higher education.

Two current Engineering students from Newnham College, Malithi Hennayake and Emily Woodhouse, helped lead the challenge and talked to the girls about their experiences as female engineers.

Malithi said: "Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics are often seen as boys’ subjects but girls shouldn’t let that put them off.  Engineering and the other STEM subjects are highly valued by employers. The girls really enjoyed the practical tasks in the challenge and I hope we’ve inspired a few new scientists today."

Other events in the programme helped the girls to imagine what it might be like to attend a world class university like Cambridge. They explored Selwyn College, one of the 29 undergraduate colleges at Cambridge where students live and study, and took a tour of Cambridge’s Sidgwick Site which houses the Arts faculties and where many students attend their lectures.

Over lunch, the group met Mike Sewell, admissions tutor at Selwyn College, and discussed their ambitions for the future. Sewell emphasised the enormous benefits of looking widely for the best available courses, including those at top Universities.

Natalie Allen teaches at Bordesley Green Girls’ school, and accompanied the students to Cambridge. She said of the visit, "I think it made some girls really think not just about their learning and subject choices for the future but also about the realities of living away from home and being in a new environment. Some of them said it definitely made things clearer for them, and even if they don’t consider Cambridge they feel more informed about what’s involved."

The day was rounded off with a walk into the city centre and a visit to the world famous University Museum of Zoology. The Museum houses specimens collected and used by Charles Darwin , including animals collected during the Beagle voyage. Above the entrance the 70-foot skeleton of a Finback Whale is on display, drawing the attention of the whole University to a heritage of collections and the responsibility of caring for them.

Laura Carter, the Schools Liaison Officer for Selwyn College who ran the day, said "In just a few hours the girls started to talk about how they could see themselves actually living and studying here, which was a huge leap from how strange it all seemed to them when they first stepped off the coach.

"Visits like these enable pupils from all over the UK to actually visualise themselves at a place like Cambridge, and start to realise that we might just be for them after all."

Mike Sewell said "We were delighted to welcome the students from Bordesley Green Girls School.  Sometimes people tell us that they are hesitant about applying because they worry about fitting in. When they come here, they can see for themselves that Cambridge is home to students from all backgrounds and all parts of the country – and the world. Anyone considering making an application is welcome to get in touch with the University and organise a visit to find out more."

NOTES

AREA LINKS: The Area Links Scheme was established in 2000 to enable the Colleges of Cambridge to get to know specific regions better, and to give schools and colleges a more personal and direct way of staying in touch with the University.

GEEMA: the Group to Encourage Ethnic Minority Applications was set up in 1989 to ensure that talented UK black and minority ethnic (BME) students were not deterred from applying to the University of Cambridge. Since GEEMA was founded the number of UK BME undergraduate students studying at Cambridge has increased considerably. The full-time GEEMA Coordinator and current undergraduates work hard to raise the awareness of academically able (ie Gifted and Talented) BME students in the UK that studying at Cambridge is achievable.