Barbara Pettitt works with our Community and Partnerships team to deliver Highgate’s Chrysalis Accelerator programme, which has been running since 2016, to support young people in care or have a social worker.
Highgate works with local Virtual Schools and our Partner Schools to recruit up to 25 secondary pupils for the course each year, led by Highgate staff and visiting experts, with support from Highgate pupils. We chat to Barbara to find out more about the programme.
How did the Chrysalis Accelerator project come about, and what are the aims?
National research indicates that educational attainment for children in care is significantly lower than their peers. We devised a course to run during the academic year, with a range of fun and informative sessions that pupils wouldn’t typically experience at school, broadening their skills and igniting their creativity and interest.
Our aim is to build self-confidence and high aspirations, as well as raising awareness of higher education and preparing pupils for the world of work. We hope it also creates a sense of stability for the pupils as they join us each month and develop a sense of community with other care experienced people, and the team at Highgate. It’s one of the most rewarding programmes that we do.
What kind of sessions do you run?
During this year’s course our popular Chemistry teacher, Dr Andrew Szydlo, delivered a hands-on car mechanics workshop, giving pupils the chance to practice their skills on a working engine. Another session enabled pupils to develop their design and technology skills with our DTE department (who have contributed to this programme since its inception), by devising and producing their own personalised LED light feature.
On a different occasion, pupils enjoyed a creative poetry workshop with our Head of English, devising collage poems using lines selected from a diverse range of books, sequencing them creatively to produce their own unique poem. Later the same day, they tried their hand at monoprinting, from selecting the foundation image to safely drying the finished piece.
Are the sessions all run by Highgate staff?
The partnership nature of the programme is crucial to its success – Highgate teachers, the community partnerships team, Chrysalis and Virtual School staff, all share their time and expertise so generously. We also rely on the excellent contribution of external partnerships.
For the last few years we have welcomed Matt Springett from Matt+Fiona, who delivered an interactive workshop on architecture, design and how youth can shape the built environment. Pupils worked in groups to build large bridge structures of their own conception, using limited materials to solve a complex problem while harnessing the power of teamwork, collaboration, and imagination.
A critical aspect of the Accelerator programme is the involvement of Highgate pupils, who come along each month to assist the teachers and help put the children at ease. Many of these pupils have supported the programme for years. They take time to build relationships and get so much out of the experience themselves.
Where do the sessions take place?
Many of our sessions take place at Highgate, but we also go on several off-site visits. This year, we went to LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art), to explore the wide variety of roles available within the theatre industry – backstage, design, lighting, production, etc. We had a fascinating tour of the facilities, including the wings, the fly tower, lighting grid and the stage manager’s box. Our final trip of the year was a theatre excursion to see The Lion King in the West End; a real full circle moment for the group, seeing how it all comes together. It’s encouraging to see that several participants are considering off-stage careers and opportunities going forward.
On another occasion, we visited University College London for a day of inspiring educational and informational taster sessions. Pupils learnt about the university application process and student life on campus, with insight from current students with care experience. It gave them an invaluable preview of university life and the support they can get if they attend. We took a campus tour and heard a fascinating presentation on Anthropology, using artifacts from UCL’s Object Based Learning Lab. It’s an important trip to show them that if you do your best, you can reach university.
What feedback have you had from the pupils/partner schools who attend?
Feedback is a vital part of the programme so that we can make improvements to maximise support for our amazing Accelerator participants. Extra sport sessions were added on request, for example, which have proved immensely enjoyable.
One of the pupils has been coming for years now, which is really rewarding. It creates a sense of stability for them, I think, somewhere that they go each month, and they don’t need to prove who they are because they know everyone.
Our partner at Islington Virtual School noted, “In the time that I have been involved with Chrysalis, I have seen young people grow in confidence and self-esteem over the weeks that they attend. They learn to connect and engage with young people and adults from different backgrounds. In addition, having a go at the different activities at Chrysalis also allows young people to enrich their own lives and explore things they might be interested in.”