Graduation ceremony for school children held at the University of Bradford
All dressed up in gowns and hats, 25 pupils from Killinghall Primary and Co-op Academy Oakwood visited 6 July The University of Bradford campus to collect their certificates from the The Children’s University.
The Children’s University (CU) Trust is a national network of over 100 local centres. The overall ambition of the CU Trust is to raise aspirations of young people aged between 7-14 years, boost achievement and foster a love of learning. It is designed to widen access to higher education by introducing children to a broader range of learning activities. In order to ‘graduate’, children must complete at least 30 hours worth of scheduled activities, for example, by taking part in various sports and learning opportunities or by visiting museums.
Children in years 4-6 gain stamps for activities they take part in beyond the classroom. The total number of hours of enrichment completed between the 25 pupils was 2487.25. Some students achieved much more than the minimum 30 hours, Dawood Hussain 358 hours and Shayan Mugmal 323 hours. Different wording will be on the learner's certificate depending on how many hours they have achieved.
Anum Butt, Year 2 Teacher at Killinghall Primary School said:
“It is truly delightful to commemorate the achievements of our children and acknowledge the dedication they exhibit through their participation in extracurricular activities. Hopefully, having the opportunity to come to the university will inspire our children to think about the career paths they would like to take in the future.”
The University’s membership of the Children’s University forms part of its Levelling Up work. The CU scheme delivered by the University of Bradford is open to both primary and high schools in specific areas across the Bradford district, based on POLAR classification.
Anna Kilmister, Outreach and Recruitment Officer at the University of Bradford, said:
"Children's University is a charity that works in partnership with schools to help children develop a love for learning but also celebrates participation in extra-curricular activities in and outside of school.
"The University of Bradford works alongside Children's University to support children from the local area to work collectively on improving the options those children have whilst promoting the positives of learning.
"Engaging young people in learning not only develops their confidence and aspirations, but it is also extremely rewarding and fun at the same time."
More about POLAR
The participation of local areas (POLAR) classification, groups areas across the UK, based on the proportion of young people that go on to participate in higher education. The score looks at how likely young people are to participate in higher education across the UK and highlights how this varies across geographical areas.
POLAR classifies local areas into five groups - or quintiles - based on the proportion of 18 year olds who enter higher education aged 18 or 19 years old. Quintile one shows the lowest rate of participation. Quintile five shows the highest rate of participation.
To check if your school meets this criteria search based on your school postcode. If your school postcode has a POLAR4 young participation quintile score of 1 or 2, you will be eligible to join the University of Bradford CU scheme. Find general information about the Children's University here.
If you have any questions about POLAR eligibility please email: schoolsandcolleges@bradford.ac.uk