Villiers Park
This year saw an emphasis placed on Villiers Park as a great opportunity for academically gifted pupils considering applying for competitive university courses in a range of subject areas at elite institutions.
The following students were awarded places:
Beth Doherty
Aimee Donaldson
Natasha Gillies
Jack Roach
Gemma Rooney
Sutton Trust Summer Schools
Sutton Trust Summer Schools provide a great opportunity for academically gifted students to experience university life. This was heavily promoted in Form Assembly and by email to Year 13.
This year saw a large number of applications with the following students being awarded places:
Rachel Barnes
Rachel Belshaw
Robin Walsh
UNIQ
UNIQ, the Oxford University Summer School, awarded a place to Natasha Gillies while Beth Doherty, who met the entrance requirements on an oversubscribed course, was invited to attend the university for a truncated version of the course over a weekend.
YASS
Miss Heather Gracey has established excellent working links with the Open University’s YASS programme. This continued throughout 2011-2012 with the following academically gifted students from Year 13 commencing their studies this summer:
Beth Doherty
Natasha Gillies
Amy Murtagh
Andrew McStea
Co-operation Ireland Leadership
In addition, the school was contacted by Co-operation Ireland in early 2012 to put forward two male pupils for their leadership programme in London. Jake Clements and Tony Gordon from year 13 were selected following internal competition. It is hoped that this link-up with Co-operation Ireland will continue into the future.
As noted above, these programmes were heavily promoted through Form Assembly, class announcements and the school email system. An effort will be made next year to expand the number of people applying for these courses (although major changes are being made to YASS and its funding method). Competition for places on the above courses is high and the entrance criteria often contain qualifications based on the socio-economic background of the pupils.
Last modified: August 30, 2012
