Students in Schools

The 'Students in Schools' scheme places student volunteers in local schools, to help school children raise aspirations and encourage them to continue into higher education. University students develop their personal and employability skills. The scheme has been established for over 20 years and each year several hundred students visit over 40 local schools including primary, secondary and special schools. 

We are very pleased to be working alongside the University of Reading in their 'Students in Schools' scheme for a second year. Last year we had five students who came into school to provide additional support in the classroom, this year we have 16! The students have been placed in every year group across the school, so children in all classes will be supported by them at some stage. As well as students gaining valuable experience in communicating their knowledge and ideas, they improve their self-confidence. Teachers welcome the extra help and the children enjoy having a new face and interaction in the classroom. Typically they will make 10 weekly visits of 1 or 2 hours during the Autumn and Spring term due to exams in the Summer term, however many students decide to stay longer and last year one student decided to apply for a post-graduate course in teaching.

With around 150 languages spoken in schools in the area, Reading’s international students are perfectly placed to support children with little-to-no English. This year we are lucky enough to have volunteers who can help our new arrivals from overseas. We have Arabic, Bulgarian, Polish, Russian and more  working with our children in their native language and helping them learn English.

We look forward to another year working alongside the University of Reading.

Art Lab

ArtLab's philosophy is concerned with how we make the most of our young peoples future’s, by bringing a wide range of children from across different social backgrounds into contact with cutting edge art and technology projects. The aim is to help educators, parents and children understand the value that art brings when combined with technology, offering amazing opportunities and potential careers within the fastest growing sector in the UK, the creative economy. Underlying this idea are a set of core educational values concerning the deeper understanding of computing, digital media and new technologies that will form part of a vibrant cultural and economically viable society both today and in the future.

Year 5 and 6 were extremely lucky to take part in 2017. Different group had different projects to complete such as designing a superhero or making a musical instrument.