A visit to ARU

In May, 11 students from the Hewett Academy and Sprowston Community Academy in Norwich travelled to Cambridge to take part in a university insight day. This is the first trip that Villiers Park have run to Anglia Ruskin University and we are delighted to give students a snapshot of university life at ARU.

We were hosted by an amazing team of ARU Student Ambassadors who kicked off the day with a fun ice breaker challenge to get students working together. Then a short talk from final year student, Georgie, on her own motivations for coming to study at ARU and all the benefits it has brought her. This included the chance to study in the beautiful and historic city of Cambridge and also the 70+ student run societies on offer. Here the students got a sneak peak into the fun and more social side of university and also answers to their practical questions about housing and student finance.

Afterwards we were given a guided tour of the ARU Cambridge campus, made all the more inspiring due to the sunshine. Students were excited by the aptly named ‘Super Lab’ in the science building and the facilities in the Mumford Theatre. Once we had seen the sights it was time for an insight into Paramedic Science and Computer Science with the Student Ambassadors. Our students assessed a plan to tend to casualties at a roadside collision and reviewed the development process of a website. Here they were able to gain insight into the content and structure of these differing courses.

Throughout the day students were able to build a picture of how their own university experience may look in the future. Something which is key for students in Norwich which has been ranked in the bottom five out of 317 local authorities in England for educational attainment, skills and training. It is our aim on our university insight days to give students who may have no one in their family life who went to university an idea of the experience as a whole, so they can picture themselves there in the future.

Thank you to our generous supporters including the Diana Hiles Memorial Fund, The Educational Foundation of Alderman John Norman, Paul Bassham Charitable Trust, the Tesco Golden Grant Award for making this experience possible for our Norwich students.

Want to learn more about how we empower young people to reach their full potential? Check out how we work with universities here.