Social Regeneration and Lifelong Learning

The University of Teesside is pioneering several new initiatives to encourage wider access to higher education. Innovative schemes such as the Meteor Programme and the Student Ambassador Scheme aim to raise the aspirations of young people who would not traditionally consider continuing their studies after leaving school. The new Centre for Lifelong Learning is addressing the Government's commitment to deliver additional adult educational and training opportunities.

The Meteor Programme, in partnership with Safe in Teesside, Middlesbrough Council and local schools, is supported by the Government's Single Regeneration Budget to give a taste of university life to primary school children. Teesside has a low participation rate in further and higher education, with only five per cent of young people in some areas going to university. The first group of 320 Meteor pupils came from six schools in central Middlesbrough - Abingdon, Ayresome Junior, Breckon Hill, Newport, Sacred Heart and

St Joseph's - which are all within walking distance of the campus. They made their first visit in February 1999, returning in July for the first week-long Meteor Summer School. Here, they met up again with a cohort of University student mentors who had kept in contact with them throughout the spring and summer terms.

The Summer School saw the pupils taking part in a wide range of activities, including visits to the University's Virtual Reality HemispheriumTM, using the Internet and discovering more about photography. They also took part in a special 'What's My Line' quiz, with University staff describing their jobs. The climax was a mini-graduation ceremony in July 1999, when all the Meteor pupils processed from the University to Middlesbrough Town Hall for a ceremony presided over by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Derek Fraser and the Mayor, Councillor Michael J Carr.

The student mentoring scheme will keep the pupils in touch with the University as they progress through secondary school, as will the BT-supported Connecting to Success initiative - the IT element of the Meteor Programme which won a national higher education award from BT's Community Partnership Programme. This funding will be used to help connect the participating schools with the University via a local Meteor radio station on the Internet, an interactive web site and e-mail for mentoring.

Another successful student mentoring programme is the Student Ambassador Scheme - supported by Tees Valley TEC - which involves students working with young people in secondary schools in Middlesbrough and Stockton.

Supporting initiatives to widen the participation of older age groups in higher education is another aspect of the University's work. The new Centre for Lifelong Learning is committed to expand and develop activities such as Access work with local colleges, the University Certificates in Professional Development and the Summer College. The Centre will also be working with schools on developing a coherent set of guidelines and policies across the University for Accreditation of Prior Experience and Learning. Details of the new Passport Scheme were unveiled by the Centre this year. Piloted at Hartlepool College, the Scheme will be developed through the University of Teesside Partnership of FE colleges and aims to help local students progress from further to higher education.

The University's Summer College enjoyed its most successful year yet, with over 300 students signing up for a variety of short courses, ranging from maths to essay writing. The College is a successful bridge to full or part-time university study. Students are taught on the campus and at five partnership colleges: Darlington, Bishop Auckland, Hartlepool, Redcar & Cleveland and Stockton & Billingham.

The University is an important partner in the East Middlesbrough Education Action Zone, alongside Middlesbrough Council, Middlesbrough FC, the Diocese of Middlesbrough and South Tees Employment Service. The East Middlesbrough Zone contains 20 primary, secondary and special schools. The University has played host to several taster sessions aimed at motivating pupils to think beyond their GCSEs to further and higher education. One group from the five secondary schools explored the practical worlds of science and technology at the University as part of the Local Education Authority's Design and Technology Summer School, run in conjunction with the Gatsby Foundation's Technological Enhancement Programme.

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