Potential students get a taste of College life

30/07/2010

Current students outside the campus building

Over two hundred and fifty Year 10 pupils from schools across Mid Sussex including Downlands Community School, Oathall Community College, Warden Park and Chailey, spent a morning getting familiar with College life, when they visited the Haywards Heath campus for a taster day on 15 July.

On arrival, visiting students were presented with individual timetables, as well as directions to help them navigate the College, and maps, which were to prove invaluable for many! The first item on the day's programme was the welcome meeting, which was held at the College's state-of-the-art performing arts venue, The Hub. After taking their seats in the auditorium, the group was welcomed by Jane Turner, from the Admissions Office, who co-ordinated the event, and Student Support Information and Advice Co-ordinator, Nick Mercado, who gave a welcome address. He says "The taster day is the perfect opportunity for potential students to sample all aspects of College life. Not only do they get to attend sample lessons in their chosen subjects, check out the facilities, and ask loads of questions, for many of them, the taster day is their first taste of being treated as an adult in an educational environment - no uniforms and no 'school bells'."

Armed with their timetables and maps, the visitors were then responsible for finding their way to their scheduled lessons, with members of staff on hand at key locations to point them in the right direction! The timetable involved four half-hour sessions, with many of the students being introduced to specialist subjects that are not available at smaller sixth forms including Communication and Culture, Video Production, Technical Theatre and Music Performance, as well as the more traditional AS/A Level subjects. They were also treated to lunch in the common room, where they met their potential peers.

The taster day is an annual event at the College, and every year, potential students from the Mid Sussex area get the chance to try out the facilities and speak to members of staff first hand, before choosing where to continue their studies. Feedback from the day included comments about how much the students had enjoyed the variety and practical nature of the lessons, the quality of the teaching, the opportunity to make new friends, and the chance to experience what it would like to be a student at the College. After the event, Nick Mercado said "the day was a great success and it's fantastic to see the students getting valuable experiences from taking part."