Shine

In Year 9, we work in partnership with Shine schools to select a small cohort of pupils to take part in a bespoke programme of activity through to Year 11. Selected pupils meet specific socio-economic criteria and are likely to gain the most from this supportive and immersive aspect of the programme.

Our Year 9 pupils will have the opportunity to visit our University of York campus to explore how higher education may interest and support their future goals. During the visit pupils discover what higher education is and explore our campus, as well as participating in interactive activities to understand living options and budgeting skills.

In Year 10, the Shine cohort have the opportunity to take part in an exciting two day, one night residential stay at the University of York. During the residential, pupils will explore teaching and learning methods at higher education through a range of interactive academic sessions. Our Year 10 pupils will also explore a variety of social activities, giving them the opportunity to meet other Shine pupils from across the region, and current University of York students. Importantly, we aim to build confidence and self-awareness through a range of supportive and strengths-based sessions.

The residential aims to give a unique snapshot of student life and help students to see higher education as an achievable goal.

In Year 11, our Shine pupils return to campus at the beginning of the academic year for the Shine Summit event which marks the end of their journey on the Shine programme.

Our final event aims to prepare pupils for success in their upcoming GCSEs by building confidence and developing practical study skills while motivating and inspiring pupils for the academic year ahead. During the visit, we also encourage students to monitor their wellbeing and share techniques on how to deal with pressure during this important year of their education and beyond. 

Our Year 11 pupils are introduced to the University of York’s range of Post-16 programmes, many of which prioritise places for students who have participated in the Shine programme. The aim is for our pupils to continue their self-development throughout their post-16 studies, and continue to discover higher education through continued support from the University of York. 

We recieve visit requests from schools and colleges across the country, asking our colleagues to attend their careers fairs or deliver talks relating to higher education. Our Shine schools are prioritised, and so wherever possible, we aim to attend all requests from our Shine partner schools. 

As a Shine team, we aim to support not only our Shine pupils, but the whole Shine school.  That’s why, in addition to our Shine programme, we offer our Shine schools the opportunity for us to visit their whole cohort of Year 9 to Year 11 students, to provide advice and support on a range of topics including: post-16 options, budgeting and more. Plus, we offer the opportunity to introduce higher education to their Year 7 and Year 8 pupils through our interactive workshops.

For our partner schools with a sixth form, we offer the opportunity to support their post-16 students in collaboration with our post-16 programme colleagues. 

The Shine programme values in-school colleagues within our partner schools. So, we offer the opportunity for teachers and advisors to attend CPD sessions with us, on topics such as supporting students to select their post-16 options, and more.