This February Half Term week Brasenose College was delighted to be involved in two outreach projects aimed to encourage and excite students from backgrounds that tend to be under-represented at the University of Oxford. On Monday the 13th February, we welcomed school students from the Slough and Windsor and Maidenhead Virtual Schools. These local authority virtual schools exist to champion improvements in the education of Children in Care, Young Care Leavers and adopted children. During the day, around 15 students had a trip to the Natural History Museum for a session handling artefacts and live animals, a presentation from the Schools Officer on Higher Education, a tour of the College, lunch in the Dining Hall and a Q+A with current undergraduate students. Jenny Lockwood, Virtual Headteacher for Windsor and Maidenhead, said "our students thoroughly enjoyed their visit to Brasenose college during half term. They gained useful insights into studying at Oxford and universities in general. For many they began to believe that a place at Oxford could be an achievable aspiration and have returned to school determined to work to their full potential. Most impressive was the warm and friendly encouragement they received from college staff and students". Comments from the school students included "I enjoyed learning just how much university alone can change ones life” and "Nice to be taken somewhere where you don’t think you can get too, but you can!”
On Wednesday the 15th February, Brasenose was proud to be involved in an Oxford University Student Union Target Schools Year 12 shadowing day, organised in conjunction with the Oxford African and Caribbean Society. Brasenose provided a hub for the Year 12s to be welcomed to Oxford, and for them to be paired with undergraduate students for a morning of shadowing. Then, some of the Year 12s came back to Brasenose for lunch in the Dining Room (as pictured), with some student helpers from Brasenose College and the African and Caribbean Society.
Phoebe Bradley, a second year English student who was involved in organisation of both days, commented “Brasenose's Access mission is to attract candidates from a diverse range of backgrounds, so events like these are at the forefront of what we do as a college. It was fantastic to see the visitors enjoying themselves and seeing Oxford myths debunked by our amazing student volunteers, and we immensely enjoyed being able to speak to such engaged and excited groups”