This year four hundred and twenty pupils took part in the Warwick Bright Stars programme, the University primary school outreach programme. At the start of the year, Warwick student ambassadors with the help of university departments, delivered modules in various subjects such as History, French, Law and Economics. The aim of the programme was to raise aspirations of local primary children from under-represented backgrounds in Higher Education. On Friday 16^th March, the pupils joined us in the Oculus with their parents and teachers to celebrate their achievements at our Graduation ceremony. The children presented their work and you can see some of the videos here: https://warwick.ac.uk/study/outreach/whatweoffer/primary/inschoolmodules

Professor Chris Hughes, our Pro-Vice Chancellor for Education welcomed them to Warwick and stressed the importance of Education and how Warwick aspires at being a learning centre in the community. The children reflected upon their achievements and resilience, sending rockets as high as the ceiling of the Oculus with Kate Redhead from the Primary Science Teaching Trust, before graduating under the applause of their proud parents and teachers. Certificates were handed out by Will Curtis, Academic Director and Paul Blagburn, Head of Widening Participation and Outreach. There was a lot of laughter, cheering and hat throwing and the proud smiles of these children reminded us all the importance of promoting social mobility and the impact our university can have in our community. In April and May, more children joined the programme to take part in our campus days organised with the support of the Chemistry department, Warwick Manufacturing group and the Arts Centre. The children watched Nick Barkers explosive chemistry show, and created crash test structures for their eggs with Peter Wilson from WMG to learn about how materials change state and shape.

More information about Warwick Bright Stars can be found here: https://warwick.ac.uk/study/outreach/whatweoffer/primary/