Hundreds of Year 9s Inspired by Interactive Fair!

This April we threw our doors open to 500 secondary school students to give them a taste of life at college and a chance to explore their post-16 options.

Visiting students journeyed through our wide range of subject areas, getting hands-on in a variety of activities. Students from Alderwood Senior School, Calthorpe Park School, The Costello School, Cove School, Eggars School and Fernhill School attended the fair.

Technology-minded students were wowed by working Lego robots at the IT stand, where they could learn from the student who built them what was involved. To add to the excitement, at the Engineering zone students had a chance to control robots themselves, fly drones and experience virtual reality with our Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets!

Students from Eggars School

Year 9 student Daisy-May from Cove School commented “It was very interactive which makes it easier to learn about the subjects. Everyone is very passionate about what they do here.”

For students who like to create and work hands-on there were a number of practical challenges to get involved with at the fair – whether it was using an electric drill at the Construction stand or tying the perfect bow out of ribbon at the Floristry stand!

At the Hair and Beauty zone, students could practice their hair styling skills on mannequin heads and discover their inner beauty therapist with nail art. The creative activities continued over at the Art stand, where Year 9 student Alicia from Fernhill School commented “I really enjoyed all the activities we could do. I liked the art – I made a book out of fabric and enjoyed looking at the art on display.”

Students from The Costello School

Students interested in Catering were able to test their piping skills at the fair with biscuit decorating. They also had the opportunity to taste some exciting new flavours, including edible flowers. Year 9 students Roisin, from Cove School, particularly enjoyed the activities on offer, commenting “I liked the catering stand, we had to guess what all of the different herbs were.”

Spider and snake skins drew many of the visiting students to the Science and A Levels zone, where they could test their knowledge with interactive quizzes. For those feeling up for a challenge, the Sport stand offered a chance for glory with a student vs student rowing machine competition.

Other activities students could get involved in included:

Taking on the challenge of our Business/Travel and Tourism Logo Quiz
Exploring anatomy and discovering the stages of child development with Early Years and Health and Social Care
Watching our current Music and Performing Arts students perform
Seeing themselves on a TV screen using our Media film equipment
Testing their command skills with Public Services

Gabrielle from Alderwood Senior School commented “It was really fun and interesting to see what you can do at college – the fair has opened my ideas to what I can do after school!”