Admissions

Dave Smith and the Great University Mystery

Meet Dave. A young boy who has been put in new and very different situation. His sister Ally has just departed for her own Higher Education experience, but Dave doesn't have a clue about university! He doesn't understand why she is going and what will she do there. For the past two years students have been going on an exploratory journey with Dave and his friends and discovering what university is really like.

Working with 35 schools from 2012/13 and over 1300 children per year, the University of Oxford’s Primary School Outreach programme - Dave Smith and the Great University Mystery - has been running successfully since 2011. We engage with Year 5 and 6 students from schools across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes and Swindon.

Aims and outcomes

The 2 hour interactive workshop aims to:

Introduce the concept and context of university and post-16 education.
Raise the aspirations of participants.
Introduce study options and careers that they may not have considered.
Introduce FE and vocational study information.
Leave students positive and excited about their future in education.

Day visits to the University of Oxford

After this workshop, we also offer the chance for any of the schools that get involved to have a chance to visit the University for themselves on our popular day visits.

Activities have included a trip to the University of Oxford’s astrophysics department to make a comet and discover the stars in a planetarium, learning some Ancient Greek and about heroes and legends in the Classics department, exploring the city’s museums, and meeting current undergraduate students.

Additional information for schools

All workshops and resorces are funded by the University with financial support being offered for schools interested in a day trip to Oxford. All sessions are delivered by members of staff from the university's Widening Participation Team with support from current undergraduates.

In addition, all children taking part in the 2 hour workshop are given a free book courtesy of Oxford University Press.

Content for the new programme has been designed to fulfil the aims of the KS2 national curriculum framework.

Booking a workshop

To book a workshop please contact James Slattery on 01865 270543 or by email at james.slattery@admin.ox.ac.uk.