University of Portsmouth takes Summer School into pupils' living rooms

At this time of year the University of Portsmouth would normally welcome Year 10 students from across the city and further afield to take part in a residential programme aimed at inspiring youngsters and giving them a taste of what university life is like.

Normally, the university’s Summer School residential would see students staying on campus to take part in a number of activities, workshops and visits.

However, with coronavirus restrictions making it impossible for youngsters to visit the campus the university has decided to take student life into pupils’ homes. The week, which runs until July 10, will see pupils using social media and online webinars to take part in activities and find out more about university life.

Sessions will include a virtual tour of the campus, subject taster sessions and an ‘ask the expert’ webinar to find out about topics including student life and managing your finances. As would be the case during a normal Summer School programme the pupils also get to take part in a range of challenges and a student quiz evening with prizes up for grabs.

The university’s head of recruitment and outreach, Sarah Watkins said: ‘The Outreach team and Web & Digital team have done a fantastic job of transforming our residential into an engaging, interactive online event in a really short turnaround time. We have packed the Virtual Summer School full of great content and activities to provide a real taste of university life.’

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Over 275 students from 60 different schools will take part in the event. Pupils will keep a digital scrapbook of what they have covered with the week culminating in a remote graduation ceremony with an ‘inspiring message from cosmologist Dr Jen Gupta’.

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