University College School, Hampstead case studies (37)

Impact of partnership work done in 2023 (ISC annual Census 2024)

• 20 state schools involved
• 1001-2000 state school pupils involved
• 150 staff hours given

Academies or free schools sponsored

• Westminster Academy
• LAE Stratford

Impact Statement

The development of the partnerships programme at UCS continued throughout 2019.

Staff at UCS recognise the mutual benefit which arises from working in partnership with colleagues at other local schools – at both primary and secondary level. We have worked for a number of years with Westminster Academy (WA), UCL Academy and LAE, Stratford. From January, we have also worked with Michaela Community School (MCS) for the first time.
In 2018-19, UCS seconded three staff to LAE, Stratford to support the teaching of maths, English and Spanish. These teachers found the experience to be hugely rewarding and a second group of UCS staff will be seconded to LAE next year. One UCS teacher teaches Latin at WA every Friday afternoon. This is a well-established placement and his lessons remain ever popular.
“The UCS teachers on secondment have been exceptional. Each brought a wealth of subject knowledge to their respective departments and have built strong relationships with colleagues and students.” James Kane, Assistant Head at LAE, Stratford

Professional Development
In November, seven teachers from UCS presented at a “Teach Meet” CPD event for teachers at LAE. In February, LAE staff presented to UCS staff at a similar twilight event. MCS will open a Sixth Form in September 2019 and a number of their staff have worked closely with our teachers in helping to prepare resources for new A-Level courses.

Project Shakespeare
During the spring term, UCS pupils perform a matinee of a Shakespeare play for local primary school children. In the weeks leading up to this performance, staff from the drama department lead workshops in these schools to help support the pupils’ understanding of the play.

Enrichment Talks & Teaching
On Wednesday afternoons, UCS teachers contribute to the series of enrichment talks at LAE. Pupils at LAE have heard from members of the English, History, Politics, Physics, History of Art, Maths and Chemistry departments. The UCS Chemistry department have also organised revision classes for LAE pupils in advance of their A-Level exams.
“We have been delighted to host numerous colleagues from UCS to deliver guest lectures as part of our LAE Lecture Series. Our students have benefited greatly from these insightful and entertaining talks that have covered new subject matters or approached familiar topics from a new angle. They have helped to broaden our students’ horizons, exposed them to new ideas, and have helped to spark passions, both new and existing. We are incredibly grateful to our colleagues from UCS for their continued support.”
MARK CHADWICK, Assistant Head at LAE, Stratford


Invaluable University Preparation

Higher Education Fair
In late March, Lower Sixth pupils from UCL Academy, Westminster Academy and LAE, Stratford joined UCS pupils in attending a university fair held in the UCS sports hall. Pupils met representatives from 37 universities and some gap year companies who were ready to provide guidance and advice for university life.

Overseas University Fair
In early March, Lower Sixth pupils from Westminster Academy and UCS attended our annual Overseas Universities fair where ten universities from Canada, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy were represented.
“The scale and structure of the STEM interview evening meant our students got tremendous value from the experience. The series of three consecutive interviews allowed them to embed learning, and to make rapid progress towards being ready for the real thing. From an interviewer’s point of view, working with students from other schools was both refreshing and useful.”
JACK BROWN
Lead Teacher of Chemistry, London Academy of Excellence, Stratford
 
UCS works closely with pupils from a number of state schools to support their applications to leading universities. Pupils in Years 12 and 13 attend a number of events run at UCS to help prepare them for this potentially life-changing move.

These events include:

STEM Interview Evening
During late November, Upper Sixth pupils applying to study a STEM course at either Cambridge or Oxford University were put through their paces at an interview evening held at UCS. Pupils from UCS were joined by their counterparts from LAE, Stratford and each were given two or three 30-minute academic practice interviews. Old Gowers, teachers and parents with a background in STEM acted as interviewers and the evening gave pupils invaluable preparation for the assessment at these leading universities.

Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) Evening
In early November, Upper Sixth pupils from UCS, UCL Academy, Westminster Academy and LAE, Stratford who were applying to study medicine at university, were invited to attend a practice interview evening held at UCS. Each pupil was given nine short interviews in a process designed to replicate the experience they might have if applying to a university which uses the MMI system. Pupils were asked, amongst other things, to discuss team skills, empathy, NHS Hot Topics, ethics and their work experience.

Internship Fair
Summer internships are a great way of gaining work experience and in November, UCS pupils were joined by L6th pupils from LAE Stratford at UCS’s first internship fair. Over 20 organisations gathered in the Great Hall and pupils were able to discuss career opportunities with the representatives and how to apply for work experience.
 
Accessible Facilities
We passionately believe that when our facilities are not being used by our pupils, they should be made available to members of the local community:

UCS-Highgate Summer School
Every summer, UCS and Highgate School organise and provide facilities for two summer schools for children from selected primary schools in Camden and Haringey. In the academic summer school, pupils take lessons in subjects such as Music, DT, Languages and Science and in the sports summer school, pupils get the opportunity to learn new skills and sports using the sports facilities at the two schools. In the summer of 2019, 195 children attended the summer schools held at UCS.

Swimming Pool (& lessons)
Our swimming pool in UCS Active is used on a weekly basis by various primary schools. In addition to this, on days when the pool is not being used (such as on UCS staff INSET days) sports staff at UCS have given free swimming lessons to pupils from Westminster Academy who have little experience of being in the water.
“The pupils really have had a fantastic time – they’ve enjoyed all the activities, lessons and the sports. At lunchtime, they have all spoken about how enthusiastic the teachers have been and have loved meeting children from other schools. They are all smiling which means they’ve clearly had a wonderful time.”
SEAMUS MACGIBBON - Teacher, Richard Cobden Primary School

Playing Fields
The UCS playing fields are adjacent to Hampstead School. Pupils from Hampstead School use the facilities there for their Games lessons every week.

Language and Science Immersion Days
When exam classes go on study leave in advance of their GCSE and A-Level exams, groups of local primary school pupils are invited to UCS to experience a morning of taster lessons in either science or modern languages taught by UCS staff. Ten of these events were run in 2018–19, meaning 350 primary pupils enjoyed a taste of Science or a Modern Language new to them (either Italian, German, Spanish or Mandarin) at UCS.

Kentish Town Primary School Day
In June, Year 12 UCS pupils organise a whole day of activities and lessons for pupils from Kentish Town Primary. For pupils in Years 1–3, these lessons are conducted in Kentish Town but pupils in Years 4–6 travel to Hampstead to spend the whole day having lessons in Sport, Science, Swimming and DT in UCS.
“We attended two immersion days during the summer term. The children loved how independent they could be in science and it brought out a real maturity in them which is great in preparation for secondary school. They loved the games (and prizes!) in languages.”
MS BROSTER - Teacher, St Luke’s Primary School

“We attended two immersion days at UCS and both were thoroughly enjoyable. In the laboratory, the pupils relished the opportunity to have hands on experience and use equipment they hadn’t previously had opportunities to handle. There was a real sense of a ‘buzz’ in the labs – the children were really engaged. The language event was equally enjoyed and was particularly useful as many secondary schools have started asking children about which language they would prefer to take and so this gave them an opportunity to experience languages other than French.”
MRS MULLER- Teacher, Hampstead Parochial School
 
Bringing Pupils Together
Often, the most rewarding partnership activities, for both staff and pupils, are those which enable pupils from different schools to collaborate. This could involve pupils of different ages teaching each other or pupils of similar ages working collaboratively on a joint project. These are some examples of our recent work in this area:
- Sixth Form Partnership Programme
- Sixth Form pupils at UCS are given the opportunity to volunteer at local schools and charitable organisations on Friday afternoons throughout the year. Approximately 130 students participate in this programme every term which amounts to over 5000 hours of voluntary work every year. Pupils found working in primary schools to be particularly rewarding and in 2019, we introduced two different types of placement: one group of pupils were taught to knit and the hats which they made were donated to “The Big Knit”; a second group of pupils were taught to bake and the cakes and biscuits made were given to Single Homeless Project in Hornsey. “The residents haven’t stopped talking about all the amazing food,” said Zoe Baxter, Services Manager at SHP. “We love linking in with the local community like this.”

Middle School Volunteering Programme
Twenty six Middle School pupils at UCS run maths mentoring clubs at ve primary schools every Friday morning before school starts. Some schools use these sessions to support pupils and others use them to stretch their more able pupils.

Lower School Volunteering Programme
A group of Year 7 pupils volunteer on Friday lunchtimes at a local school for pupils with special educational needs. The pupils play chess, help the pupils with puzzles and assist with the gardening club.

Enrichment Talks
Pupils from partnership schools are o en invited to UCS to hear from headline speakers. In 2018–19, pupils from WA attended talks at UCS by Lord Robert Winston, Tulip Siddiq MP and Nicky Morgan MP.

Digital Photography Course
In partnership with the Sir Hubert Von Herkomer Foundation, UCS hosts digital photography courses which are attended by UCS and WA pupils. The pupils work together on aspects of photography and their work is displayed in an annual exhibition at a gallery in the West End of London.
“It has been a pleasure to host the UCS volunteers. We, and the children, look forward to their weekly visits. They are a credit to you and your school and we look forward to hosting the next set of pupils next year.”
SONIA MALLICK - Headteacher, Kilburn Grange Primary

Entrepreneurial Challenge
During the autumn, leading perfumer Azzi Glasser ran an eight-week entrepreneurial challenge for Year 10 pupils from UCS and WA. The pupils worked together to design and market “The Next Big Scent” and they presented their ideas to a panel of judges at Estee Lauder.

UCS-Henrietta Barnett Symposium
The annual cross-curricular symposium, run by UCS and Henrietta Barnett is now in its fourth year. Year 8 pupils worked in groups to research and prepare presentations on “Issues in Contemporary Society”. The event provides an opportunity for pupils to learn from each other whilst working together towards shared goals and to apply and develop their research and presentation skills when working with new and unfamiliar material under timed conditions.
 
Maths in Motion
During the summer term, a dozen Year 8 pupils from WA spent the day at UCS’s Maths in Motion enrichment event. The day was heralded, by both pupils and teachers, as a tremendous success. The day started with 120 Year 8 pupils charging about the Senior School site in a maths treasure hunt, which tested the pupils’ problem solving skills, their teamwork and, at times, their fitness! Next was a series of eight fifteen- minute mini-lessons which looked into the mathematics of everyday motion, during which the pupils explored numerous topics including network problems and the flight of projectiles. The day concluded with a lecture from Zeeman Medal winner and renowned maths author Rob Eastaway, who discussed the hidden mathematics in games and sport.

“My pupils have found the whole day to be an enriching experience – a real adventure into unknown territory.” She added, “They really enjoyed getting to know the UCS pupils and particularly enjoyed the Caesar shift problem.”
RUDHA COCKAR - Head of Maths at Westminster Academy

LAE Visit Days
During the autumn term, Lower Sixth pupils from UCS House at LAE visit the Senior School at UCS for one day. The pupils spend half the day attending lessons and the remaining part of the day is spent working collaboratively with UCS pupils in small groups on a research project. The findings are presented at the end of the day and this setup enables pupils to build friendships, some of which continue long after the day has finished. In the spring term, UCS pupils visit LAE for a reciprocal visit.

Year 9 Community Challenge Day
In June, all Year 9 pupils spend a day working on a variety of local conservation projects. UCS works with e Conservation Volunteers, Hampstead Heath and GrowN22. is approximates to 650 hours of voluntary work and the pupils were pleased with their efforts.

Food Bank Collection
In June, all Year 9 pupils spend a day working on a variety of local conservation projects. UCS works with the Conservation Volunteers, Hampstead Heath and GrowN22. This approximates to 650 hours of voluntary work and the pupils were justifiably pleased with their efforts.

Year 7 Wash Bag Challenge
In April, after hearing a talk from Herts Young Homeless, Year 7 pupils organised a collection of toiletries. The boys collected and packaged the donated items together in toilet bags and each bag contained a message from the boys wishing each recipient well.

Charity Fundraising
Pupils at the Senior School of University College School usually raise over £45,000 per annum for charities. The majority of this fundraising takes place during the second half of the autumn term and UCS refers to this period as “Community Action”. Pupils nominate eight charities to receive the monies raised and these are a mixture of local and international charities. Talks on the work carried out by these organisations occur throughout the term and pupils are given the opportunity to design, organise and lead a variety of fundraising activities under the supervision of staff.

In the past, these activities have included: designing and selling tee-shirts, Battle of the Bands, football tournaments, teachers’ rap battle, and a sponsored 24-hour cycle. The passion our pupils have for charity work is astonishing and allowing them to lead the fundraising themselves gives them the opportunity to develop their skills in event management, public speaking, marketing, publicity, performance, accountancy and catering.

During 2018–19, the staff and pupils at the Senior School of University College School have worked in partnership with almost thirty schools including:
Westminster Academy
London Academy of Excellence, Stratford
Michaela Community School
UCL Academy
Argyle Primary School
Fitzjohn’s Primary School
Fleet Primary School
Hampstead Parochial Primary School
Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School 
Kentish Town Primary School  
New End Primary School 
Rhyl Primary School 
St Luke’s CE School 
St Paul’s CE Primary School
Swiss Cottage School 
Kilburn Grange School 
Richard Cobden Primary School
Rosary Catholic Primary School 

The Future
"University College School has deep-rooted connection with the local community. Our partnership provision continues to expand and I am always hugely impressed by the enthusiasm of our staff and pupils to embrace new ideas and ventures. We are proud of our work in a number of areas but we all agree the most impactful work occurs when UCS pupils work alongside pupils from other schools."

Edward Roberts - Assistant Head: Director of Partnerships & PR