Oxbridge Conference
Bolton School hosted and jointly delivered its inaugural Oxbridge Conference in January 2019. Approximately 100 students and staff from across Bolton took part, benefitting from a wide range of activities targeted at developing understanding of what makes a successful Oxbridge application.
Aims
The Conference was planned and delivered by Catherine Winder (Bolton School Girls' Division) and Paul Canning (Rivington and Blackrod High School) on behalf of the post-16 hub of the BLA (Bolton Learning Alliance) which is led by Joe Linden. When Catherine first attended the post-16 hub, colleagues were keen to learn more about the Oxbridge process and how best to support their students. Many of the schools attending the hub had very small numbers of applicants and wanted to learn from the experiences of a school with a larger volume of applicants and more links with Oxford and Cambridge universities.
The aims were:
- to build confidence in staff and students through learning about the application process and what to expect.
- to build a better understanding of what life at university is like, through the involvement of current academic staff from the universities and also five recent Oxbridge graduates.
- to promote progression to university
Staff and students who attended benefitted. Learning from the event could be cascaded back in school.
Background
Catherine Winder started attended BLA meetings and colleagues specifically asked for help with Oxbridge and early applications. It was clear that we needed a large central venue to deliver the event and so Sue Hincks (BSGD Headmistress) was happy that Bolton School acted as host. Spin offs from the conference have included (1) a boy from Rivington and Blackrod attending mock interviews at Bolton School (he was successful in being offered a place) and (2) a teacher from one of the schools taking part visiting Catherine at BSGD for follow up.
Resources
Bolton School Arts Centre as venue. Involvement of representatives from Oxford and Cambridge. Bolton School provided refreshments and lunch for all students and staff. Catherine Winder and Lisa Jones were involved in the planning and delivery.
Involvement of Old Girls who are recent Oxbridge graduates.
Workshop resources such as personal statements, reference material and interview question resources. The Conference was an all day affair and this impacted on staffing.
Impact
We conducted a review of the conference and feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Feedback was positive enough to warrant planning for a second conference in January 2020.
General Feedback:
‘very informative’
‘the day had some amazing information’
‘enjoyed it and leant a lot’
‘Thanks so much. Such a helpful conference’
‘information packs were very useful ... the day was very informative and well put together’
‘The day as a whole was very informative and thought provoking’
‘The activities were very useful in terms of analysing personal statements ... the interview task made me more positive about the process’
The talks specifically were rated 89% Good or Excellent.
Pupil Involvement
Bolton School Girls' Division - 20 girls
Bolton School Boys' Division - 15 boys
Bolton Muslim Girls School - 9 girls
Canon Slade - 13 students (mixed)
Rivington and Blackrod - 7 students (mixed)
Thornleigh Salesian College - 14 students (mixed)
Turton School - 17 students (mixed)
Bolton UTC - 4 students (boys)
Staff from each of these schools attended the event as well and benefitted from a networking lunch
Frequency
Yearly.
