SERIOUS FUN ON SATURDAYS @ WINCHESTER COLLEGE

The grant recipient

Originally founded in the 14th Century, Winchester College is a boarding school for 700 boys. Its most recent Independent Schools Inspectorate report praised its outstanding curriculum, exceptional student achievement and strong teaching. It has a particularly good reputation for teaching beyond the syllabus, with specific lessons ('Divs') that encourage students to discuss and debate areas such as ethics, philosophy and politics.

The programme

  • 10 Saturday sessions combining practical learning into core subjects with a 'Div' (see above) that focuses on areas outside the curriculum
  • sample lessons include: science sessions on the Elements of Murder, the Physics of Ice Cream and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life; Composition; Art and Architecture; Sword Play and Aikido; and The Great Debate
  • for 24 11-12 year old students from Midhurst Rother College in West Sussex
  • sessions taught by staff from Winchester and Midhurst Rother, assisted by Winchester students acting as peer mentors
  • aims to improve students' academic performance and attainment, as well as their educational ambition.

The funding

SHINE has made a grant for development and running costs. Winchester and Midhurst Rother Colleges are both providing in-kind support for the programme.

Funding: £16,800 to Winchester College and Midhurst Rother College, over three years (2010-13)

Visit Winchester's website: http://www.winchestercollege.org/

Visit Midhurst Rother College’s website: http://www.mrc-academy.org/

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By the age of 5, disadvantaged children have a vocabulary almost one year behind that of children from middle income families|The Sutton Trust, 2010||Every year, well over 1 in 3 children receiving free school meals leave primary school with substandard maths and English - around twice as many as children not on free school meals|National Statistics, 2010||Last year, only 27% of students eligible for free school meals achieved five or more A*-C GCSEs (including English and maths) - around half the national average|National Statistics, 2010||Disadvantaged students that do perform well at GCSE are still less likely to go onto higher education at all, let alone to a Russell Group university|The Sutton Trust, 2010||Since August 2000, we have invested £14.5 million in projects in London and Manchester||This money is now helping more than 49,000 children from almost 2,000 schools