Local secondary school students get a taste of life as a college student
Over 750 Year 10 students from schools across Andover and the surrounding areas have spent the day at Andover College as Further Education students exploring the possible courses available to them once they leave school next August. The College created a series of 48 bespoke taster days for the students to provide a flavour of studying their chosen subjects at this higher level.
This year students from Harrow Way, John Hanson, St Edmunds, St Josephs, Stonehenge, Test Valley and Winton Academy attended.
From the College’s huge range of A Level and vocational based subjects, the 14 and 15 year olds each chose three 1-hour workshops. Stuart Barlow, Andover College’s Assistant Principal explains: “Making the change from secondary school to studying at a Further Education level is a very exciting element of these students’ development. As part of our role in supporting potential students for this next step in their lives we are keen for them to experience the subjects they could study once they attend college, but also meet the excellent teaching staff and get a sense of the fantastic life here on the campus.”
The taster sessions incorporated most of the Colleges A Level and vocational subjects. In the dedicated Sixth Form would be Biologists got to test samples for food consumed and diabetes. In Creative Writing witty one liners and masterful paragraphs were order of the day, whereas Andover’s next Richard Branson tried their hand at entrepreneurship in Business and Accounting.
In the Professions centre potential beauty students got creative with special effects make-up and hairdressers made their own extensions. Health and Social Care explored the causes of addiction and the Sports department put students through their paces with fitness testing and programming. The view of a car is very different once on a ramp, and for those looking to study motor vehicle there was the opportunity to fully explore the workshop and have a look under a bonnet or two.
Some curriculum areas at the College offer both academic and vocational qualifications such as Creative Arts and Performing Arts (rated Outstanding by Ofsted in 2014). Irrespective of the route taken the musically minded spent time in a recording studio, learning the art of mixing a track or taking their personal musical playing ability to a higher level. Artistic students were able to explore the different avenues open to their creative talents in photography, fine art, fashion textiles, design, graphics and 3D workshops.
For further information on the range of vocation courses available at Andover College please either visit www.andover.ac.uk or call 01264 36000.