Our Children’s University philosophy at Queen’s Park Primary School

What’s our vision for Westminster Children’s University?

At Queen’s Park Primary School we seek to offer opportunities for our children to engage in extra-curricular activities. The Children’s University is designed to:

u     raise aspiration, self-esteem & confidence

u     encourage curiosity and a love of learning

u     enhance motivation and build resilience

u     introduce new life experiences

u     offer progression in learning and personal skills development

Why Queen’s Park Primary and the Children’s University?

u     We understand the need to inspire, challenge and empower children. We look for opportunities for our children to gain further experiences to enrich their learning. By joining the Children’s University we will ensure all children have access to extracurricular learning that would give them rewards including a University graduation.

u     We want to raise the aspirations of our children and for them to know that University is accessible for all. We want to enrich their learning through links with Universities and local places of interest, after school clubs hosted across a range of schools and workshops provided by local businesses.

How do we deliver Children’s University?

What is the impact of Children’s University

1. Attendance Children who participate in CU activities have, as a consequence, better attendance records than children in the same school who do not participate.  This has been a consistent finding from 2007 to the present.

2. Attainment There is evidence that not only do CU-engaged children attain more highly than their non-CU counterparts but that there is a positive correlation between the length of time  children are involved with CU activities  and their performance in tests and exams.

3. Achievement Achievement also encompasses what has been realised by the CU Trust itself, measured by its growth and outreach over five years.

4. Attitudes Changes in attitudes for Children’s University attendees has been a consistent finding over the last five years.

5. Adventure Surmounting obstacles, testing yourself against more ambitious challenges, has been shown to encourage determination and perseverance.

6. Awards Children’s University awards have their own special currency, as parents and children attest to the excitement of learning in new ways and in new contexts. Passports play a vital role.

7. Agency Agency may also be applied to the Children’s University itself, an agent of change in a systemic sense, in respect of changing local management, initiative and innovation and, in a deeper sense, affecting the way in which we come to understand and evaluate learning.

8. Aspiration To be able to succeed in other contexts, to visit places beyond one’s own immediate neighbourhood, to see the inside of a university for the first time is demonstrated in the data as extending horizons of the possible.

9. Adaptability The value of Children’s University is also measured by adaptability - of children and young people, of teachers and schools, and of the educational system itself. 

10. Advocacy Perhaps the most significant measure of advocacy is the spontaneous adoption of the Children’s University by people and organisations in other countries. That it has such international appeal and relevance is hugely significant.

Partnerships

We seek to engage with businesses, charities, volunteers and authors to provide experiences for our children. These partnerships are developed to support across all 9 schools in the Westminster Children’s University Network.

Partnerships add to the opportunities provided to our children both within the school curriculum and wider.

The partnership with the University of Westminster provides on campus activities as well as voluteer mini lectures and further supports the STEM element of our curriculum.

Parents

We support parents in having the confidence to access activities across Westminster. We encourage engagement in extracurricular activities including visits to sporting events, social action activities and a host of other opportunities.