Foundation Vice Chairman Richard Stroud with Allan Arthur
The Yorkshire Young Achievers Foundation has funded visits for secondary school pupils.
The visits are being organised by St Catherine’s Catholic High School to give secondary school pupils an opportunity to discover more about what higher education can offer and how going to university can change their life chances. The trips will also encourage and motivate pupils to ensure they achieve their potential in their current school work.
Teacher Allan Arthur has set up the trips as part of a careers programme at the school. Following a pilot trip to the University of Leeds in December, he found pupils were inspired to achieve university places. He said: “I found that as a result of this trip, 50 per cent more pupils ‘definitely want to go to university’ and 92 per cent had found it a positive experience.”
The school has no funding for these activities and the grant from Yorkshire Young Achievers Foundation will enable it to cover transport costs and even stage careers events at the school, such as mock job interviews for GCSE pupils.
Foundation Vice-Chairman Richard Stroud said: “When we set up the Foundation in 2010, one of our key aims was to help young people in Yorkshire to achieve their true potential and these visits do exactly that by opening their eyes to the opportunities that are out there.”