King’s Hawthornes students offered valuable career insights with Merseyside Young Health and Life Scientists Programme

Ambitious Year 10 students from King’s Leadership Academy Hawthornes recently attended the University of Liverpool as part of the Merseyside Young Health and Life Scientists Programme.

This three-year programme offers health-related activities and support for young people in Years 9-11 who are from under-represented groups and have the potential and interest in studying health and life sciences subjects at university. The university reaches out to its partner schools and invites young people to apply for the programme, allowing them the opportunity to benefit from valuable careers advice and get a taste of university life. Students are prioritised based on a range of indicators such as living in an area with high levels of deprivation and being from a home where neither parent has attended university. Students who have a genuine desire to study a health sciences subject and have strong prior achievement in maths and science are also prioritised.

This unique programme aims to boost student confidence and motivation, provide curriculum enrichment, enhance knowledge via immersion in real-life health and life sciences settings, and support students to make informed choices. The young people who take part in the programme work closely with current university students, benefitting from a range of health science activities as well as generic sessions on topics such as career options, student finance, team building, communication skills, and life as a university student.

Students at King’s Hawthorne’s were asked to write a statement explaining how they would benefit from the scheme, with Careers Leader Yasmin Hagan then selecting the final participants.

The seven current Year 10 participants joined the scheme last year and will see the programme through until Year 11, before being supported to progress onto post-16 health science-related career paths. The school has also just enrolled a new cohort of Year 9 students onto the programme.

The recent Year 10 visit to the University of Liverpool allowed King’s Hawthornes students to take part in a variety of activities, depending on their ‘stream’ – the career pathway they are most interested in. The students in attendance have chosen Medicine, Psychology, and Health Sciences as their streams. They participated in a range of fascinating practical activities including a lambing demonstration, taking blood pressure, DNA extraction, and gel electrophoresis.

The students thoroughly enjoyed the experience, with one participant saying, “It made me definitely want to go to university!” Another loved the exciting array of activities they took part in, saying; “I learned how to diagnose eye diseases, ear diseases, learned more about how asthma takes effect, and what alcohol does to people. The experience was great!”

The Merseyside Young Health and Life Scientists Programme is a fantastic scheme which King’s Hawthornes is delighted to be involved in. Yasmin Hagan stated:

“The programme is an opportunity to offer bespoke insights into career opportunities for students who have a real interest in this sector. Students build on experiences over the three-year programme and engage in a range of practical activities led by university students and key professionals. This is an in-depth exploration of careers within the NHS and Life Sciences."