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Children’s University Scheme Launched at KSA

An award scheme that celebrates students’ commitment to after-school activities has been launched at KSA.

Year 7s were given a talk this week on the Children's University, a national programme designed to encourage young people to participate in extra-curricular activities. Developing new skills shows young people that learning can be fun, while raising aspirations at the same time.

KSA has an extensive enrichment programme with lots of clubs to choose from - the next step will be getting the clubs accredited with the Children's University. This will allow students to start recording the number of hours they complete. Once they have achieved a certain number of hours, they have the chance to 'graduate' at a special ceremony at The University of Northampton.

Humanities teacher Natasha Franklin is leading the initiative which is open for students in years 7 to 9. She said: "It's all about encouraging participation in enrichment across both the primary and secondary phases and engaging students in groups they wouldn't normally get involved with. It's also about officially recognising those who already put lots of hours into after-school clubs.

"The students asked lots of questions in assembly so there is obviously interest there. They'll each get a Passport to Learning so they can log what they're doing."

There are three levels in the certification scheme - undergraduate, post-graduate (where learning outcomes are expected, such as displays or publications) and doctorate (where students take on leadership roles). Students who already belong to an after-school club that gets accredited will be able to backdate their hours from when they started.

Students Rachel Keevil and Sophie Campbell are already part of the Children's University scheme thanks to their involvement in clubs outside of school.

Click here for the programme of after-school clubs at KSA.