Primary pupils excited to graduate from St John’s College, University of Cambridge

Pupils from across the East of England and London celebrated their graduation events at colleges at the University of Cambridge last week.

Megan Goldman-Roberts and Shelley Hughes at St John’s College wrote an article about the ceremony at their college…

‘More than 50 school children from six different primary schools in the East of England have celebrated a graduation ceremony at St John’s College, Cambridge, after completing the Brilliant Club’s Scholars Programme.

The tutorials, which took place in the pupils’ own schools, explored in detail topics such as “Into the deep dark woods: A journey through literature”, “The healthy heart” and “Poverty and progress”. The classes aimed to provide a “supra-curricular” experience, complementing what the children learn at school and encouraging students to understand their subject, engage with ideas within it and inspire a passion for different areas of study.

Claire Bakashaba, a Year 6 teacher from Wayland Junior Academy said: “Completing the Scholars Programme at primary school age is really worthwhile for the children as it gets them thinking about the possibilities for the future as they make the transition to secondary school. The course has been challenging as many of the students had never written 1,000 words before, but the kids have made strides academically and had a lot of fun.”

While at St John’s the group got to explore the College with current undergraduates and learned about the structure of the University of Cambridge and the collegiate system. The students were set the task of creating their own college by making up a name, designing a crest and coming up with the story of their college’s history. One pupil imagined a college in the sky, founded by a unicorn and with a dragon on its coat of arms.

The schools who took part include Cromer Academy, Ludham Junior School, Caister Junior School and Hillside Primary and the pupils who were put forward for the programme had all demonstrated high academic potential at school.’

You can read the entire article here.