30 Jan 2020
Sir Joseph Banks High School is fortunate to enjoy close working relationships with leading universities. This affords our students many opportunities that enrich learning and prepare them for life beyond school.
For many years Joey Banks students have participated in U@Uni Summer School. 2020 was a special year for U@Uni Summer School. The students who attended are part of an exciting new pilot program which, upon completion, will see them guaranteed a place at UTS.
Beginning at the end of Year 10, the U@Uni Academy is a two-year intensive program that introduces students to university life through on-campus activities, workshops, mentoring and tutoring.
“We are deliberately looking at a student’s potential based on their 21st century skills; collaboration, creativity and leadership. It’s about giving them an opportunity to come to university and to really shine,” said Verity Firth, Executive Director of the UTS Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion.
This marks the beginning of the journey for this first cohort of students.
From 6-17 January, students visited the UTS campus and participated in a range of workshops in their field of choice: Science, Media, Design, Engineering and IT, Business and Health. Using the skills they learned, students created their own projects including computers games, documentaries, clothing design and more.
These projects were displayed at an exhibition on the last day of Summer School. Parent, teachers and the wider community were invited to celebrate the success of these students and congratulate them as they embark on this exciting new adventure. Students even received some words of wisdom from Mark Scott AO, Secretary of the NSW Department of Education, who gave a keynote address at the event.
“The cohort of students this year was bigger and more enthusiastic than ever,” said Emlyn Dodd, Program Manager, UTS U@Uni Academy.
“The students really valued working with UTS staff and mentors, and said the experience has either reinforced or reshaped what they want to do after high school.”
“Before Summer School when I thought of uni, it wasn’t that much to me. But then I got the hands-on experience here and it has changed me and I want to come to uni now,” said Year 11 student Boris Tran.
“They are an amazing group of students and we are so excited to have them,” said Ms Firth. “We strongly believe in their potential and can’t wait to see all the incredible things they achieve not only during the Academy program, but at university and beyond.”