Engaging your Year 9 to 11 students in online outreach and access during lockdown

We’ve noticed that there’s a large number of webinars available to students at Post-16 level, but the offer is a little thin on the ground when it comes to younger secondary school students. Luckily, the Schools and Colleges Team at the University of East London have created a series of free webinars aimed at Years 9 to 11 which take place every Thursday at 10.00am.

The current series will be running until the end of July 2020. The webinars are delivered by a mix of highly regarded specialists, UEL staff, and Curriculum Ambassadors. They cover a variety of topics including building resilience, subject tasters (for example psychology or computer science), and how to prepare for sixth form or college.

These have been running since mid-May 2020 and the feedback from the webinars has been consistently exceptional. The following results are from “What to do now you’re not in school” which was aimed at Year 11 students and covered the tools to investigate which careers would suit them, how to find out about different industries, and ways of getting tasters of the university experience. This took place on Thursday, 4th June 2020:

- 100% of the respondents agreed that the webinar provided clear information and was well structured
- 100% agreed that they have developed and applied research skills
- 86% agreed that they now have the tools to research career choices
- 71.5% agreed that they now know how to research next steps in education

All webinars are live and interactive so students can comment as well as answer and ask questions. We use Microsoft Live Events so we have no access to the participants’ audio or cameras, and students are not required to sign in to access the webinar. In addition, the Q&A box is moderated by two members of staff. All the dates are available on the Uni Taster Days website.

Regarding registering, the Eventbrite link is for you (as a staff member). Please send on the Microsoft Live Event link to your students who can access the live webinar at the prescribed time. You can send the Live Event link to an entire class (or more!) or just select students.

The Schools and Colleges Team will plan outreach and access in line with the changing rules and restrictions as well as a resource page where this series of webinars can be viewed.

If you have any feedback on the webinars or any suggestions on how we can assist you and your students please let us know by emailing [email protected] or sending a request via Uni Taster Days.