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Year 10 students from Atherton High School, Fred Longworth High School, Harper Green School, King’s Leadership Academy, Little Lever School, Mount St Joseph Catholic School, Rivington & Blackrod High School, Sharples School, Smithills School, St James School, St Joseph’s R.C High School and Westhoughton High School had a fantastic day at Lancaster University celebrating their graduation from The Sixth Form Bolton RAY (Raising Aspirations Youth) Programme.

RAY is a one-year programme for gifted and talented Year 10 students. It’s designed to equip the students with the necessary skills to excel in their studies and involves a range of activities, seminars and visits which broadens their horizons, teaches them new skills and helps them to make new friends.

As part of the programme, the students have attended five sessions at The Sixth Form where they have worked in mixed groups with students from other schools. As well as a Debate Night and World of Work session, they were also able to choose a subject area or strand that interested them. The strands offered were Creative Artists, Criminology and the Modern World, Future Engineers, Future Leaders, Marvellous Medics and Money Mavericks. The RAY group attended two sessions focussed on their chosen strands where they took part in engaging activities related to those subject areas. These included a lung dissection in Marvellous Medics and a photoshoot in Creative Artists.

In their final session, the RAY group visited Lancaster University which gave the students the opportunity to enjoy a range of activities. In the morning, they had a campus tour which provided an insight into university life and the benefits of undertaking a degree-level qualification. During the second half of the day, the students enjoyed a study skills session delivered by student ambassadors. They then experienced a graduation ceremony, celebrating their RAY achievements and receiving their completion certificates from a member of Lancaster University staff.

Simon Christian, RAY Lead Coordinator and Senior Leader, felt the programme overall had been a huge success and said:

"I would like to personally thank all our excellent RAY graduates from 2023-24. You have thoroughly enjoyed your academic sessions, as well as developing fantastic employability skills. It's been a pleasure to see your development of emotional skills, alongside study skills that will assist you with your GCSEs. Therefore I wish you every success in your future studies, knowing how much you have benefited from your hard work with us at The Sixth Form."

Jill Whitham, RAY Co-ordinator, was really positive about the Lancaster University trip and said:

'This year's RAY programme has been a great success and students have really enjoyed the opportunity to experience life at sixth form, by trying out different subjects, and being able to develop important study and employability skills. The RAY programme culminated in a visit to Lancaster University, where students gained an insight into university-level study and ended the day with their RAY graduation ceremony.'

The students really enjoyed the programme. Year 10 Atherton High School student, Liam Mitchell, said:

After attending the RAY Programme, I can honestly say it has been an amazing experience, giving me an important insight into the post-16 world of college. Complete with a brilliant trip to Lancaster University organised by the wonderful staff at B6. I'm so glad I've completed the programme and it has certainly benefitted my knowledge and experience of education after high school.

Find more information on the RAY Programme here.