[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Children’s University at Queen Margaret University Edinburgh encourages children between the age of 7 to 14 to take part in out-of-school learning activities using Passports to Learning. In doing so it makes learning fun and raises aspirations and expectations of going to university amongst children from a young age. The recent report from the Commission on Widening Access, A Blueprint for Fairness, said there is no such thing as an intervention that is too early.
Iain Scott is dad to four children, two of which take part in Queen Margaret’s Children’s University. He is also a first year Nutrition student at the University.
Iain writes:
The Queen Margaret Children’s University Programme has been and continues to be a great experience for both my children. The CU allows my children the opportunity to experience the university, building aspiration and cultivating a potential for achieving their ambitions. On a personal note, as a university undergraduate student with four children, being able to share the wonderful learning opportunity and journey I am privileged to be going through, makes the CU even more special.
The Children’s University offers both the chance for children to be able to engage with the wonderful workshop experiences held within the university and also develop new interests and acquire new skills through participation in innovative and creative Learning Activities outside of the school day. Extracurricular activities such as music lessons and visits to places such as dynamic earth encourages them to broaden their experience out with the teaching environment.
The Children’s University offers my children the chance to raise their aspiration, self-esteem and confidence, achieved through the encouragement of curiosity and a love of learning. Early engagement with the university helps in building resilience and introducing new life experiences means that my children are giving the chance to further develop their potential and enhance their learning.
As a parent, my aspirations for my children know no bounds. Since becoming a mature student at Queen Margaret University, and the first in my family to have the opportunity to have the privilege of this experience, I want to share my dreams of a university education with my children and hopefully ignite their ambitions of achieving the goals in life!
[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”78668″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]More about the Children’s University
To date, 3,000 pupils within East and Midlothian have signed up to the Queen Margaret Children’s University. The Children’s University was launched at Queen Margaret University in 2013.
Twenty-eight school pupils graduated at the first Queen Margaret Children’s University graduation ceremony of 2016 on Saturday 27 February.
You can read more about the Children’s University project as a whole, including Children’s University Scotland here: www.childrensuniversity.co.uk/home/work-with-us/local-cus/childrens-university-scotland/about.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row]