Whilst down there they experienced lectures, tutorials and mock-interviews, in addition to touring the University of Cambridge and its Colleges.

Jamie Doran, who is interested in studying Natural Sciences, commented, ‘Cambridge is the most breathtaking place I’ve ever been to; we were all astounded by the sheer grandeur of the place’.

Students were also invited to attend the University of Cambridge Science Festival, in which they could choose from demonstrations on everything from Dark Matter to Darwinism, Gambling to Glaciers. Rebecca Shannon, who is interested in reading Geography, enthused, ‘the activities about glaciations were out of this world and made me consider Cambridge University properly’.

Overall, students left feeling excited, stimulated and committed to working harder. Jamie summarises the sentiment of the group by saying, ‘all in all our trip was fantastic, whether it be the unbelievable amount of intellectual conversation between us all or the amazing city of Cambridge, all of us are really determined to get a place!’

Dale Bootan, Jessica Wainwright and Rachel Read were the first ever NLA team to take part in this long standing event. Competition was tough and included schools and colleges from across the North West including Merchants boys & girls schools, Blue coats and Winstanley College.

The theme of the day was drugs & the Olympic games. After a brief introduction to the tasks the students were taken away to the University labs where they carried out a series of 4 tasks including a standardisation by titration and IR spectroscopy. After lunch a lecture was given on drug cheats in the Olympics – the lecture was given by one of the scientists who will lead the drug testing of athletes in the Olympics this year.

Although the team didn’t win this year they did very well for their first attempt and Mrs Stephenson & Mr Erickson, who accompanied the students, couldn’t have been more proud. We are all looking forward to entering again next year.

The Health students completed a risk assessment that was part of their coursework whilst the Child Care students took the Real Care Babies to find out about facilities for babies in the zoo and also had an Educational talk about the benefits to children who visit the zoo in the EYFS and KS1.

All of the students really enjoyed the day and were excellent ambassadors for the Academy.

Come along and have a look at what we can offer and you will also get a chance to meet with students and staff who will be able to answer any questions you may have.

The younger students absolutely adore the 6th form mentors and gain so much from working with these role models. The 6th formers are so kind and patient with the students and are developing amazing relationships.

It’s amazing to watch and see every week as they come up with new projects for the younger students to get involved with.

The 6th form invovled are Dale Bootan, Courntey Bowie, Ben Cunningham, Sean Dempster, Jonnie Lu, Danie Rowlands and Jessica Wainwright.

Mrs Stephenson is running the project with several members of the science department.

Day time activities included a variety of academic tasters and team building activities. All students were seen to be co-operating fully during all sessions, particularly during team building sessions where the focus was to introduce our external cohort to our internal cohort. The team building sessions were very successful and reports flooded in from students who themselves who were impressed by how well they were bonding with staff and students that they had only recently met.

On Thursday evening students had the choice of taking part in sports or watching a film screened in one the university’s lecture theatres, this was followed by a quiz in which students competed against each other and against a team of staff. A team students beat the NLA staff!!!

On Friday evening, to most the highlight of the trip, Lancaster arranged a disco at a non-alcoholic bar. Again, student behaviour was exceptional and again all of the staff and students could be seen to be developing relationships and building confidence. Before departing on Saturday morning, the students delivered the culmination of their academic experiences in a group presentation to all the staff and ambassadors from Lancaster, all NLA staff and students. Student commitment, creativity and humour was evident in each presentation and certificates were given to all of those who participated and an award given to the best team.

Sophie Freeman, John Davies; this year’s Head Girl and Head Boy were accompanied by last year’s Head Girl, Charlie Mullin. All three presented gifts of thanks to Gail Neville, the trip organiser, and set the standard for student commitment and attitude.

Lancaster provided a UCAS/Finance presentation for our students. The input from our cohort was very impressive and Gail later reported that, in all of the years that she has been running residential visits, she had never experienced such an enthusiastic attentive audience with such valid and considered questions.

Students took a great deal of information in during the residential and experienced student life for the first time. They approached the trip with maturity and interest, this was noted by NLA staff and Lancaster staff alike and set an example of student behaviour of which our academy can be proud.

In addition to this, students will be divided into mixed groups and given a team-building enterprise activity to complete. Along the lines of The Apprentice, the competition will be fun, challenging and a great way to integrate NLA with outside students quickly.

The Transition Week will also have a carousel of activities on Wednesday afternoon, from which students can choose four. The options will include World Development, Theory of knowledge, Volunteering, Enrichment, Leadership, Extended Project Qualifications, Higher Education and Student Voice.
The week will see quizzes and debates, bringing to life all the skills required in Sixth Form.

The week will draw to a close on Thursday afternoon will a celebratory assembly to mark the success of the students over the week and their official entry into Sixth Form.

Wednesday boasts a trip to the University of Liverpool where the students are participating in the Merseyside Higher Education Conference. This is an opportunity for all students to consider University, find out a little bit more, and make an informed decision on whether it is a feasible option for them. During the morning there will be stalls from over 100 Universities in the UK, which the students can tour, gathering information, and prospectuses and asking any questions they may have to those directly involved. There will also be presentations in a range of subject areas, helping to ensure that students make the right course choice. Everything from Maths to Media Studies, Computing to Criminology is covered, in addition to practical sessions on Student Life, Student Finance and Gap Years. The day will run from 8:30am to 12:30pm.

On Thursday morning students can either opt to do school-led sessions on UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) or Employability skills, based on whether they feel they want to go to University, or straight into employment. The UCAS sessions will look at everything from the advantages and disadvantages of going to University, the different types of Universities, picking the right course and writing a personal statement. The Employability Skills session will be centred around finding jobs, writing a CV and dealing with application forms and interviews.

Thursday afternoon will host a carousel of seven activities, from which students can choose any four to attend. The sessions have a broad scope covering skills, ideas and learning required for the transition to Year 13. The choice includes Leadership, World Development, Volunteering, Student Voice, Extended Project Qualifications, Enrichment and Theory of Knowledge.

Friday morning will round up the UCAS/Employability sessions with a visit from Connexions, whilst Friday afternoon gives students and staff the chance to celebrate student success over the past year and dedication over the transition week. Their final steps into Year 13 are marked with a cinema trip to the Plaza in Crosby.