Wheelers Lane visit Newman as part of Enabling Enterprise

26/06/2018 by Charlotte Knowles

children writing

Wheelers Lane Primary School in Birmingham is in its fourth year working with Enabling Enterprise, an award-winning not-for-profit social enterprise, set up by a team of teachers with a mission to equip young people with the skills, experiences and aspirations they need to succeed in life.

As part of the programme students from Wheelers Lane have been busy developing their essential skills in school by taking part in a ‘Crime Scene’ Investigation Challenge Day where they look to develop their listening skills and put their imagination skills to the test, however, it was at a recent visit to a university that put those skills to the test.

The students visited Newman University, Birmingham on 13th June and it was a fantastic opportunity for students from Year 4 to showcase what they had learnt with the support from professional business volunteers.

The day started off with the students using their listening skills by interviewing Newman Student Ambassadors to find out about their experiences at university and the essential skills required by students to study their specific course. Students from Wheelers Lane then went on a tour of the University, which allowed the teams to see the great variety of jobs people do on site to keep everything running smoothly.

Over the course of the day, teams explored what makes a university, before researching and designing their own dream university as a way of channelling their imagination skills.

The day culminated in group presentations to Student Ambassadors from the University, designed to persuade prospective future students to study there.

The day proved to be a great success with a teacher from Wheelers Lane commenting “So many students have been talking about how they want to study at university when they’re older today… It’s exciting to see them aiming high.”

Wheelers Lane are the third school to visit Newman this academic year as part of the Enabling Enterprise programme; Grendon Primary School visited at the start of the school year and Cofton Primary School visited the University in March of this year. Schools wishing to be involved can contact Enabling Enterprise directly.

The visits also provide Newman students the opportunity to assist with running sessions with the school children and further develop their skills.

A volunteer from Newman University said “It’s been so pleasant working with the students today. They’ve been so engaged with the project all day!”