Aspire UC Schools Outreach Program
Aspire UC delivers community and schools-based programs and activities which aim to increase awareness of, and raise aspirations towards, higher education for participants and their families. We work with a range of school and community partners within the ACT and surrounding regions. Our programs and activities are delivered by a team of current UC students who, as part of their role, share their own journey into higher education.
The Story Ground project is an ongoing engagement, teaching and research initiative within the Faculty of Arts and Design, 91直播, that brings together Indigenous story practices with the disciplines of creative writing and literature. Story Ground uses storying and writing to provide participants with opportunities to engage with contemporary and traditional Indigenous knowledge, cultural experience and creative practice.
The Story Ground Schools Outreach program aims to make tertiary study more visible and accessible to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander college and high school students, and will connect staff and students to resources from UC’s offerings in Indigenous Studies, Cultural Heritage, Creative Writing and Literary Studies.
Story Ground activities include secondary student workshops on campus and online, TQI accredited professional learning for secondary staff, and a range of cultural consultation and support opportunities for schools. These activities allow both staff and students to engage with Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing through creative practice activities and supported cultural engagement.
Dr Paul Collis and Jen Crawford
K-6 students | Rural/regional/remote primary schools
The Possible 91直播 Passport program is a free primary school program targeted at small rural primary schools within three hours’ drive of UC’s Bruce campus. The program aims to build students’ understanding of university, widen their knowledge of career pathways and options, and develop strong relationships between school students and the Aspire UC team. The program consists of a day long, in-school session delivered once a term to the entire school cohort, four times a year. These in-school sessions are each focused on a different career theme and include a variety of hands-on and play-based activities to showcase different jobs. The culmination of the program is a fully funded on-campus experience day in Term 4, where we invite all our school partners to visit UC and experience a variety of hands-on faculty workshops.
Year 9 students | Rural/regional/remote high schools
UC 4 Yourself is a free high school program designed for Year 9 students at rural/regional high schools within three hours' drive of UC. The program aims to build students’ understanding of, and aspiration towards higher education. The program consists of six one hour, in-school workshops which can be delivered in an intensive block or through a more staggered mode. Workshops explore soft skills important to future work and study, demystify what university is and why people go there, and encourage students to reflect about their interests and future aspirations. Upon completion of the in-school workshops, students are invited to an on-campus experience day where they participate in a range of discipline-aligned workshops and gain insight into what life as a university student might really be like.
Student Equity and Participation is committed to developing strong partnerships with communities, local organisations, and other higher education providers to increase awareness of and nurture aspiration for higher education, associated careers and pathways. Student Equity and Participation has ongoing grant projects with the Country Universities Centres Snowy Monaro, Southern Shoalhaven and Goulburn.
Aspire UC works closely with several key community organisations including The Smith Family, The Country Education Foundation, NRL School to Work, the West Belconnen Family and Community Service, Companion House, Migrant and Refugee Settlement Services and others.