Yesterday I came across this project and I thought it was a brilliant initiative. I now feel I need to share it here with you.
Hull Children’s University is a great example on how informal learning, close mentoring and fun are essential to encourage our kids (our future) to acknowledge their own potential and thus be motivate to learn and develop their own skills and competencies. It is initiatives like that will challenge our young kids in a positive way and pass on the message that they too can have a bright future ahead of them... that they too will haev a chance in the job market…that they too have something to contribute to society, even if that is not what school results may suggest or what might be insinuated by their family background.
As it says in its website The Children's University is an innovative and dynamic project that raises children's self-esteem, achievements and learning aspirations through the delivery of out of school hours literacy focused programmes.
The project started in 1997 and aimed ‘to provide out of hours, extra learning activities and experiences for youngsters aged 7 to 11 years. It initially targeted pupils in the 20 schools which were ‘bottom of Hull Primary Schools league tables’ for attainment. Since then it has developed and partnered around 45 Hull Schools offering exciting learning experiences with a difference, filled with fun and delivered with energy, to youngsters from all backgrounds and with varying abilities, aged 7 to 14 years’.
As part of this initiative a lot of effort is put on the mentoring component, not to mention the innovative strategy. Learners are engaged in a very personalized and innovative way and that is the magic of this project. Education can indeed change people, boot their condfidence, give them purpose. But for that to happen the way we approach education needs to change too. The kids of today are so willing to learning as those from the past generations – they just require different ways of being engaged and mentored.
This is indeed a project to follow!
