Meteor takes five at Teesside

Over 550 local primary school children will be attending the fifth annual Meteor Summer School from Monday 30 June - Thursday 10 July at the University of Teesside.

The University of Teesside launched the Meteor programme in 1999 in collaboration with Middlesbrough Borough Council (funded by Single Regeneration Budget) initially involving six primary schools in central Middlesbrough. The programme now includes four schools from East Cleveland who are funded through the Rural Development Programme. It aims to raise the aspirations of pupils, aged 10 and above, by inviting them into the University for a series of short taster activities. Student mentors then work in schools with the pupils throughout the year, prior to the two-week Summer School that involves a wider range of activities. This year’s Summer School will end in two special mini-graduations for all the children at Middlesbrough Town Hall on Tuesday 15 July.

The pupils will process from the University down Albert Road to the Town Hall at 9.30am for the first graduation ceremony, which begins at 10am. The second graduation ceremony will commence at 1pm, but there will be no procession before hand.

During the week of the Summer School, the children will take part in:

Crime Scene Investigation - Using the University’s 16-room ‘Crime House’, the Meteor pupils will be challenged to collect evidence from a staged crime and help find the culprit

Virtual Reality - The kids will use the University’s famous VR centre to examine a gladiator, medieval fighting character and a strand of DNA

Starlab - A cutting edge planetarium where the children will journey through the solar system and into the universe beyond…without leaving the Main Hall!

Drama - A fun workshop using Chinese Philosophy and nursery rhymes to create vibrant pieces of theatre

Maths - Mind-boggling puzzles and games from Puzzle Man; while ‘Maths in a Suitcase’ provides hands-on practical maths challenges

ICT - Creating music using state-of-the-art computer software

Art - Producing greetings cards and puppets

Wendy Bell, University of Teesside’s Schools Liaison Officer (Primary), said:

“This year is really exciting for us as it’s our fifth Meteor Summer School for primary school children. We are particularly looking forward to this year's event as several of the activities have been requested by the children themselves, with many of them asking us to repeat activities that their brothers and sisters enjoyed in previous years. We have also seen a year on year increase of parents and VIP's attending the Meteor Graduation Ceremony at the Town Hall and we hope to see even more this year.”

Any members of the media wishing to attend any part of the Meteor Summer School are requested to contact: Stephen Laing or Mark Malik, University of Teesside, Press & Public Relations Department, tel: 01642 342015, fax: 01642 342930, e-mail: pr@tees.ac.uk, to make the arrangements. Please note: There will be no photograph opportunities on Wednesday 2 and Thursday 3 July.

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