After a bright, early start with everyone meeting at the Sea Terminal for 6:15am (we had some rather excited individuals who arrived before 6:00am), we quickly got our bags checked in and we were swiftly onto the Sea Cat; many thanks to the IOMSPC for reserving our seating at the front of the boat. Although there were some weary eyes, a breakfast stop and a few games of cards sorted everyone out.
Upon disembarking the boat, our coaches were there to meet us and we loaded the suitcases (some extremely large ones!) and we were off – the first stop Liverpool Hope University. We arrived early and were greeted by Lauren and the Student Ambassadors. Students were sent on a campus tour before meeting in one of the new lecture theatres for a presentation on LHU and applying to HE. It was a great opportunity for our students to quiz both Lauren (Student Recruitment) and the Student Ambassadors with a range of questions including “why did you choose LHU?”, “what advice would you give me a student about to embark on Y13 studies?” and “how did it feel moving away from home and was it easy to make friends?”. The responses gave our students food for thought and all-in-all, a great start to the week!
We quickly departed for Edge Hill University, arriving ahead of schedule. We were met by Caitlyn, Niamh and the Student Ambassadors who escorted us (with our large suitcases) to the Creative Edge building. We left our luggage in one of the lecture rooms and headed for a much needed lunch break. After this, we moved to one of the bigger lecture theatres where the students went through a presentation with Caitlyn. The presentation was informative and engaging, looking at HE in general, the UCAS application process, EHU in relation to major cities in the area and finally, onto personal statement writing and how to make it effective. Students were then taken on a tour of the campus with the Student Ambassadors before arriving back to get rooming keys and heading off to unpack.
Our evening meal was thoroughly enjoyable and students then went off to explore the campus in full, with some students heading to the gym to work off ‘snacks’ from throughout the day. The rest of us joined in a game of ‘ultimate frisbee’ and ‘basket/netball’, with teachers and students taking to both sides and ultimately, honours even in the end. A massive shout out to all the students as throughout the day they listened, asked questions, were polite, well mannered and they were a genuine credit to our school.
A long and tiring day but what a start to the week – we can’t wait to see what’s in store tomorrow!
Mr S
