Widening Participation 2013-2014

Report compiled by Grace Kimble

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Yearbook

Contents

1. Welcome to Widening Participation at RVC 3

2. Summary of activities 4

3. Events by month 5

4. Case studies: Schools 6

School Partnerships

Generating Genius/ Royal Society of Chemistry

Camden Biochemistry Masterclass, CRUK

5. Case studies: Public and community outreach 10

Cheltenham Science Festival

Royal Institution Family Fun Days

Green Man Festival

6. Night at the Vet College 14

7. Sutton Trust Summer School 15

8. Brightside Trust 16

9. Farm visits for schools 16

10. Looking ahead 17

Acknowledgements 18

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1. Welcome to Widening Participation at RVC At the RVC, we are committed to attracting the best and brightest students no matter what background they come from. We want to ensure that applicants to the RVC, and to other universities, are not held back by social and economic barriers and that our student cohort reflects the diverse society we live in. This is why we provide activities, events and courses that help to widen participation not only here, but across HE in general. As a Higher Education Institute our Widening Participation aims are: • to ensure that our commitment to equality of opportunity is reflected

fully in the recruitment, admission, and subsequent support, both academic and non-academic, of students from all backgrounds;

• to make information about the veterinary and related professions, and about the requirements of entry to these professions, more widely available;

• to continue to facilitate the development of the profile of the veterinary and related professions so that they more closely reflect the communities that they serve;

• to make a positive contribution to the quality of education and student aspirations in the districts in which its campuses are located;

• to provide a national lead and focus in widening participation in the veterinary and related disciplines.

Widening Participation is part of the RVC Access Team. This Yearbook summarises activity in Widening Participation in the year 2013-14. Staff Jon Parry - Deputy Director of RVC Access Grace Sim - Outreach Development Manager Isi Adeola - Outreach Development Assistant (appointment commenced May 12th 2014)

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2. Summary of activities

How many people did we meet? 20 273

Where did we work?

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3959

5947

10367

Primary pupils General public/teachers Secondary pupils

Widening Participation 2013-14

3. Events by month

In addition to Afternoon Anatomy and visiting schools for outreach sessions, we also undertook new projects and specific initiatives as follows in 2013-14.

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Month Date Audience Event Location

September 16-20 Secondary pupils RVC On Tour London, Cambridge Kent Surrey Hertfordshire

September 25 General Public Udder Marathon Watford

October 17 General Public RVC Lates RVC Camden

February 15 General Public Ri Family Fun Day: Life is fantastic theme

London

February 18 Prospective students

Dairy Day RVC Farm

March 14-23 Schools Science Week RVC Camden and schools

April 8,15 Prospective students

Lambing Days

RVC Farm

April 10 Prospective students

Dairy Days RVC Farm

April 23 Prospective students

Generating Genius, funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry

RVC Camden

April 25 General Public Night at the Vet College RVC Camden

May 17 General Public Ri Family Fun Day: Materials London

June 6-7 Schools and General Public

Cheltenham Science Festival

Cheltenham

July 21-25 Prospective students

Sutton Trust Summer School RVC Hawkshead

July 29 Prospective Students

Museum Open Day RVC Camden

August 13-18 General Public Green Man Festival, with Society of Biology, funded by Society of Endocrinology

Wales

4. Case studies: Schools

4.1 Partnerships

Jim Cannon, former Widening Participation Officer, laid the foundations for a partnership with St Joseph’s school in Holborn. This partnership has been cemented this year through visiting the primary school to gather baseline data, then carrying out four dedicated activities during Science Week (March):

Year 3: A Day in the Life of a Vet activity

Year 4: Structure and Motion Lab activity

Year 5: Hearts and Health with Professor Caroline Wheeler Jones

Year 6: Afternoon anatomy session, filmed by ITV for Young Vets!

The school also helped our ‘Furry Friday’ campaign, by wearing animal onesies to raise money for the animal care trust, in April. Finally, post-visit data were gathered to explore the impact of activities for children’s learning.

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4. Case studies: Schools

4.1 Partnerships (contd.)

In addition, we have worked in close partnership with Wroxham School in Potters Bar. In addition to Student Ambassadors visiting the school, teachers have helped us develop materials for the Nancy Rothwell Anatomy Drawing Award (run in collaboration with the Society of Biology). Pupils in Year 6 applied to be part of our Pupil Panel, to help develop materials for ‘The Great British Bioscience Festival’ in November. The festival is funded by the BBSRC; RVC Access and the Structure and Motion lab co-wrote a successful grant to be part of the festival. Pupils visited Hawkshead and met researchers; Professor Alan Wilson, and PhD students Richard Harvey and Jade Johnson. Two pupils were chosen as presenters for film clips to introduce the structure and motion lab, and they enjoyed an afternoon of filming at RVC!

With the appointment of Outreach

Assistant Isi Adeola, we will be

building on our partnership work

with secondary schools.

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4. Case studies: Schools

4.2 Generating Genius and Royal Society of Chemistry

Generating Genius aim to develop STEM talent, particularly for secondary pupils from diverse backgrounds.

During the Easter holidays we held a day specifically for Generating Genius students to visit the RVC and take part in chemistry activities, lead by Dr Donald Palmer and Professor Peter Chantler. This day was funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry, who also attended and gave a talk on ways to raise attainment in Chemistry.

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4. Case studies: Schools

4.3 Camden Biochemistry Masterclass with CRUK

In July 2014, RVC worked with Camden Council and Cancer Research UK/the Francis Crick Institute scientist Maria Ocampo-Hafalla to deliver a Biochemistry masterclass for local Year 12s. Students attended from Camden secondaries , and in addition we welcomed students form neighbouring boroughs Islington and Enfield.

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5. Case studies: Public/community outreach

5.1 Cheltenham Science Festival

RVC Access were invited to take part in the Cheltenham Science Festival via following up a contact from Professor Alan Wilson’s work with the BBC for the show ‘The Secret Life of Cats’ .

We helped develop a show for the BBC Science Tent ‘Running, Jumping, Flying!’ in which Isi Adeola assisted Alan’s presentation. We have taken aspects of this show development to use in a show ‘Adapatable Animals’ which will take place at Gravity Fields Festival in Grantham, in September 2014 (fully funded by Gravity Fields festival).

In addition, we made new activities to explain research at RVC, for our stand; for example, toy Cheetahs on a printed cloth of a savannah, which was made using an image from GPS collar data! We aim to visit Cheltenham Science Festival again next year.

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5. Case studies: Public/community outreach

5.2 Royal Institution Family Fun Days

RVC’s involvement with the Royal Institution arose through following up possible opportunities arising through having lent them a sheep to dissect fro Christmas lectures!

Our first event at the Royal Institution took place in February, where Renate Weller presented three fascinating lectures on ‘The Horse as the Ultimate Athlete’. She was supported by RVC staff and students demonstrating equipment and specimens.

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5. Case studies: Public/community outreach

5.2 Royal Institution Family Fun Days (contd.)

We were subsequently invited back in May for their following Family Fun Day with the theme ‘Materials’. The Structure and Motion Lab lent us collars, some of which had chew marks from having been on lions in Botswana! Others were part assembled; the combination of authenticity and electronics were a great draw for visitors. This doubled as a trial of activities for the BBSRC Great British Bioscience Festival.

This visit cemented our continuing involvement with the Ri; they have stated they wish us to be part of their events long term. In addition to Family Fun Days we will also be taking part in their Lates evenings for adults. The next Lates event is October 24th, with the theme ‘Attraction’. We will again be with the Society of Biology, and we will re-use materials developed for the Green Man Festival.

The next Family Fun Day has the theme ‘Blood’ and will be held on October 11th. Karen Humm, blood transfusionist from the Queen Mother Hospital, will be presenting a talk. We will also have table top hands-on games for visiting families.

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5. Case studies: Public/community outreach

5.3 Green Man Festival

The Green Man Festival took place in the Brecon Beacons, August 13th-17th 2014. RVC worked jointly on a proposal with the Society of Biology, to apply for a place in the interactive science area ‘Einstein's Garden’. This grant was successfully awarded by the Society for Endocrinology, and we presented information about animal hormones, as a way to inspire visitors to consider science differently.

We would aim to take part in more community and public events which appeal to non-science supporters next year; although we would aim to target a different event location for parity.

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6. Night at the Vet College

RVC Lates, RVC’s open night for adults, has transformed into ‘Night at the Vet College’ during 2013-14. Building on Jim Cannon’s initial concept, the events have been funded by The Physiological Society during this year.

In October 2013 we held an event focussing on Cardiology (The Physiological Society theme), which was attended by 200 visitors. The name was changed to make it more appealing to non-RVC supporters, and in April 2014 we held ‘Night at the Vet College; Chicken, egg…what next?’ to support Professor John Hutchison’s symposium ‘Chicken of the Future’. Please see here for evaluation reports:

• http://issuu.com/g.kimble/docs/rvc_lates_evaluation_gk_final

• http://issuu.com/g.kimble/docs/night_at_the_vet_college_final

We have repeat funding and October 2014 sees the theme ‘Supersize Animals’ to link with The Physiological Society theme ‘Obesity’. We are joined by the Francis Crick Institute science buskers, the Royal Institution, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Society of Biology amongst others.

Long term, we are looking to secure programme funding, which lasts more than one year for sustainability.

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7. Sutton Trust Summer School

RVC has a history of running residential summer schools for sixth form students. For the first time this year, the week was funded by The Sutton Trust, and lasted five days rather than 4. The group included 40% boys this year, and it was very useful to have the support of the Sutton Trust in terms of marketing and applications procedure. This has helped us welcome students from HEFCE Polar Quintiles 1 and 2 (low percentage of university participation) and meet our aims in regarding widening participation.

Students greatly enjoyed the week by all accounts. Their entertainments and hard work included making presentations for a mini conference on Day 4. They produced posters debating the statement ‘Being a vet is the same all around the world’. They visited the farm with Paul Christian; and had excellent lectures from Renate, Thilo Pfau, and Karen Humm, amongst others,

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8. Brightside Trust

The Brightside Trust is an e-mentoring scheme, a means of linking prospective and current students to provide support for applications.

This year, we have developed a ‘Virtual Work Experience’ programme which includes a certificate of completion. The development of this programme has taken into account lessons learnt by Jim Cannon, and we trialled it in Spring 2014. We are looking forward to running a subsequent Virtual Work Experience session from January 2015.

9. Farm visits for schools

We have started to run Dairy Days and Lambing Days as pilot programmes, together with the farm. These full day sessions for Year 12s are designed to allow students to gain an overview of sheep and cattle farming considerations. Initially, this has been a charged event. However, we are working with development to raise money for pupils to participate free of charge.

There is demand for visits for primary school pupils in addition, and several visits have taken place this year.

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10. Looking ahead: 2014-15

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Month Date Audience Event Location

September 17-23 Secondary pupils

RVC On Tour London, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, Hampshire

September 26-27 General Public Gravity Fields Festival Grantham

October 5 General Public Udder Marathon RVC Hawkshead

October 11 General Public Ri Family Fun Day- Blood London

October 16 General Public Night at the Vet College RVC Camden

October 24 General Public Ri Lates- Attraction London

November 13-16 General Public BBSRC Great British Bioscience Festival

London

December TBC Secondary pupils

Kingston Maurwood College collaboration

Dorset

January TBC Secondary pupils

BSC Roadshow TBC TBC

February TBC General Public Ri Family Fun Day London

February 17 Secondary pupils

Dairy Day RVC Hawkshead

March 13-22 General Public Science Week Night at the Vet College

RVC Camden

April 7,9 Secondary pupils

Dairy and Lambing Days

RVC Hawkshead

May TBC General Public Ri Family Fun Day London

June 2-7 General Public Cheltenham Science Festival

Cheltenham

July 20-24 Secondary Pupils

Summer School RVC Hawkshead

11. Acknowledgements: October 2013 RVC Lates event

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In addition to staff named previously in this document, there are a number of acknowledgements we wish to make to the team involved in RVC Lates, October 2013. Particular thanks to Lisa Pritchard for co-ordinating the event - as well as running a dissection activity! With thanks to all researchers, students and staff who took part: Researchers and students Adrian Boswood, Alex Stoll, Amy Timpson, Andrew Hibbert, Andy Lessey, Ashton Faulkner, Caroline Wheeler-Jones, Charlotte Doze, Charlotte Lawson, David Winterbourne, Dirk Werling, Elaine Sherville, Esther Bijsmans, Frances Geddes, Imelda McGonnell, James Stephenson, Kim Smith, Liz Finding, Lizzie Robson, Nicky Talbot, Nicola Lotter, Sam Mirczuk, Sophie Regnault, Tierney Kinnison Staff Andrew Crooke, Chris Hobson, Hannah Croall, Jon Parry, Richard Evans, Sarah Nicoll Artist in Residence Geoffrey Harrison Student Ambassadors Alexandra Sampson, Amy Barstow, Charlotte Butcher, Claire Willis, Dina Tandon, Elaine Handley, Emily Stacey, Emily Turgoose, Gemma Cock, Hannah Darke, Hannah Holdcroft, Heidi Miner, Helena Diffey, Imogen Wainwright-Jones, Jen Oraze, Joshua Welland, Lucie Stratton, Monica Lee, Victoria Simons, Yuvani Bandara

Acknowldgements: April 2014 Night at the Vet College Staff

The following staff were involved in the April event, in addition to the RVC Access Team. Jack Sisterson (webpage), Angie Poole (IT) and Hannah Murray (Press release) provided support before the evening.

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Title Name Surname Role at Night at the Vet College Dr Siobhan Abeysinghe Activities stand 12: Inside the chicken mind

Richard Addison Photographer Ash Barnes AV support

Dr Veronica Brewster ILPH Dawn Brindle ACT stand 10 Peter Brown Creature curriculum staff stand 1 Nicholas Brown Chicken suit! Paul Christian Farm stand 5 Amy Clithero Directions student ambassador Andrew Crook Ostrich Dissection, specimens Nicola Davis Student ambassador- activity 1, Real Live Chickens! Rachel Drummond Art activity 9

Dr Jo Edgar Activities stand 12: Inside the chicken mind Winston Edwards Security, Portering and Cleaning services

Dr John Fishwick Farm stand 5 Dr Penny Fletcher Society of Biology 8

Francesca Gambuzzi Student ambassador stand 12 Grant Hampson Bar Geoffrey Harrison Artist in residence's studio stand 11 Jo Hedges Beaumont Veterinary Hospital stand 13 John Hunt Estates

Professor John Hutchinson Initiator, activities stand 7, 2 talks: Chickens: Living Dinosaurs? Mel Kilburn Catering Manager Christabel Maitland Education Co-ordinator, Royal Society of Chemistry- stand 4 Charlie Mays Pub quiz leader

Antonia Milner Student ambassador- activity 2, Anatomy Museum (drawing). Writing article

Tom Moody Lightwell, health and safety Liam Moore Director, Creature Curriculum- brought live chickens Henry Mosey Student ambassador stand 17- Prospectuses. First aid

Professor Mandy Nevel ILPH Sarah Nicoll Ostrich Dissection, specimens Rohan Oosman Lab coat outfit Jen Oraze Dissection room stands stand 16 Stephanie Panayianotou Amazing adaptations specimens stand 15 Joon Park Surgical gown outfit

Dr Heather Paxton Activities stand 7 SML Lisa Pritchard Lightwell key contact

Dr Jeffrey Rankin Activities stand 7 SML Dave Sherlock Jones Bar manager

Dr Martin Smith ILPH, 2 Talks: Food for Thought Anisha Tailor Outreach Officer, The Physiological Society- stand 3

Dr Jon Walton Activities stand 12: Inside the chicken mind Chelsea Warren Student ambassador stand 7 Graeme Webster Farm stand 5 Claire Willis Welcome desk student ambassador

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