We make Summer Schools truly
memorable and transformative experiences
Rationale
Moving up to a new academic institution can be daunting for many students (and their parents). New environments, new people, new challenges, and new choices are on offer as students embark on the next phase of their academic education. Summer Schools are aimed at helping students build their confidence, overcome anxieties, and make a successful start at their new school or college whether that be through teambuilding or thinking skills development.
But how effective are they?
Research compiled and conducted by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), finds that on average, students who attend an intensive and well-resourced Summer School make approximately three additional months’ progress compared to similar students who do not attend a Summer School.
Thinking Skills
As students make progress ascending the educational ladder, they are exposed to ever-greater needs for independent learning and self-motivation. Our Thinking Skills workshops give your students the cognitive and metacognitive approaches they need for academic and personal success. We prescribe these following workshops as being ideal components within a Summer School schedule.
Thinking Big: Helping your students to adopt growth mindsets
The Lighthouse: A visual framework for action planning
CSI:Mind Mapping: Developing focused attention through analytical skills
Fast Track to Success: Making informed decisions about the future
Mind Mapping: Powerful techniques for visually organising information
Independent Learning: How to study effectively when on your own
Goals and Aspirations: Setting goals and creating a plan for success
Marginal Gains: Developing positive habits for incremental success
Positive Mindset: Helping students to maintain positive expectations
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A holistic programme
To create a balanced and holistic Summer School programme, we recommend specifying a variety of experiences. We have designed a set of teambuilding activities that develop problem-solving, collaboration, creative and communication skills. These activities encourage your students to make new friends, work with their new teachers and create meaningful relationships whilst engaging in discussion and accomplishing rewarding tasks.
Choose from the selection of teambuilding activities listed below:
Teambuilding Activities
Air Biscuits
Air Biscuits takes the seemingly innocuous activity of making a paper aeroplane and turns it into a team building thrill ride, cruising at 7 feet. The activity begins with some theory on design and aerodynamics before student groups undertake a series of creative challenges.
Superhero Challenge
This activity encourages students to consider key issues and current affairs that affect and influence our world on both the micro and macro scales. The challenge is for each student design a superhero with powers to tackle an issue which they have identified and is important to them.
Spaghetti Junction
This activity begins with the fundamentals of materials and engineering and encourages students to think about the strengths of certain shapes within construction. Following a discussion of what it means to think outside of the box, the students will undertake a competitive construction challenge.
Find your Flow
This activity introduces your students to ‘Flow Theory’, the seminal work by the Hungarian-American psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Your students will discuss the theory and how they experience flow in their own lives, before acknowledging their strengths and looking forward to the term ahead.
Talk Sport
This activity combines the development of confident communication skills with physical sports/PE. Through guided questions, students will build the foundations for future friendships. This activity can be delivered both indoor/outdoor dependent on the weather.
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Theseus' Ship
In the metaphysics of identity, the Ship of Theseus is a thought experiment that raises the questions of what makes something unique. The activity encourages students to think about what makes them, them.