Lucy’s outreach team launched new initiative in collaboration with HomeGrown Plus
This March the outreach team welcomed 18 year 12 students to Lucy Cavendish College from Graveney School, Burntwood School and Hammersmith Academy in London for its very first ‘HomeGrown Plus Demystifying Cambridge Architecture and Design Day’. The event was run in co-ordination with teacher Neil Pinder, who has worked for over 25 years in inner city schools and successfully introduced architecture to the curriculum at Graveney School, where he currently works as Head of Product Design. Neil’s newest initiative is Homegrown Plus, which works to champion aspiring young architects from diverse backgrounds. By opening the doors to the University’s Architecture and Engineering faculty and staff, it introduced students from BAME and non-traditional backgrounds to the opportunities in these professions.
After being welcomed by the Access and BME Officers from College, students began their day by learning about the importance of the portfolio when interviewing for an Architecture degree by University Senior Lecturer in environmental design in architecture, Mary Ann Steane. Drawings often form an important basis of the portfolio, and this skill was the focus of the students’ architecture workshop. Led by Lucy Cavendish’s Director of Studies in Architecture, Benedicte Foo, the aim was to get students to practice their observational drawing skills by sketching the exterior or interiors of various spaces in College that caught their eye. Students could also try their hand at designing a brand-new space for the College, creating ideas for an allotment and a state-of-the-art music practice room.
Caitlin Law, School’s Liaison Officer at Lucy Cavendish College, said:
“It was excellent seeing how, over the course of the workshop, students who may have previously lacked confidence in their drawing skills were producing beautiful sketches of College. Having the support of professional architects Jaideep Chakrabarti, William Jefferies and Mike Tuck (who soon joins us as our new Director of Studies in Architecture) certainly also seemed to help students grow in confidence as the morning went on, and we’re very grateful for their support.”
After lunch in College students walked through Cambridge, enjoyed a tour of Trinity College, and went on to the Department of Engineering, where they took part in an engaging structural engineering workshop. Students were split into teams and tasked with building bridges made from paper. Their task was to see how much load their bridge could carry, and it was certainly fun testing the newly built structures to destruction at the end of the afternoon.
Caitlin concludes:
“The workshop was clearly a hit, and one of the students I met (by coincidence) at a UCAS fair a couple of days later even expressed her interest in studying engineering at university! Our thanks go to Outreach Officer Maria Kettle for such a great session.
We had a fantastic time welcoming student to College and introducing them to architecture and engineering, and we hope they left feeling inspired and excited about future possibilities. Thank you to Neil and his colleagues for bringing along such a wonderful bunch of students."