Banbury student's Aimhigher award win is encouragement for others
A Banbury student has won recognition for her involvement in an innovative education project. Lucy Bowler who is 17 and a student at Banbury School, was one of only six school students across Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire to be nominated for the Aimhigher MKOB Mentoring for Progression Awards 2008. Lucy was named runner-up for the School Mentee of the Year award.Aimhigher MKOB is part of a national campaign to encourage more young people and adults, who have the potential, to go on to some form of higher education, whether at university or college or through work-based learning. It launched a mentoring project to help identify and support people who wanted to take that opportunity. This is the second year the project has run an awards programme to recognise the achievements of those involved.
The mentoring process starts with a meeting between mentor and mentee to discuss the mentee's current skills and experience and their education/career/development objectives. The Aimhigher mentor then carries out some research to highlight opportunities that might help and they meet again to agree the mentee's next steps. This leads to the two working together to develop what's called a Personal Development Plan or PDP, setting out the mentee's goals and how to work towards them.
Lucy says: "I think that having a mentor has helped me to feel much more confident about my prospects in the future. My mentor has never failed to answer any of my questions and has been a trustworthy and inspiring source of help in planning my next steps. Having a mentor has been an invaluable source of information and understanding through my AS levels, so to win a prize was just a huge bonus! As a person, I feel that I perhaps have more potential than I have previously given myself credit for, giving me the confidence to pursue options that I would not have considered in the past. I would like to thank Aimhigher for the wonderful opportunity in taking part in the mentoring scheme, and urge others to do the same!"
Aimhigher MKOB Director, Jan Martin, says: "Lucy has faced difficult challenges at school but still shines through as a dedicated and thoughtful student. It is very encouraging for us to see all of the students involved in this project who, like Lucy, have great potential, get the confidence they need to take the next step in their education."
Banbury School's head of sixth form, Deborah Harris, says: "Lucy is an outstanding student who has taken every opportunity to improve herself this year despite personal issues and some health problems. She has benefited enormously from her involvement in the Aimhigher mentoring project."
Aimhigher MKOB partners include: Buckinghamshire New University, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford University, the Open University (Southern Region), seven local Colleges, local schools, two Economic and Learning Partnerships, Thames Valley Learning and Skills Council, Connexions, NextStep Guidance Partnership, employers and employers organisations.
For more information about Aimhigher email j.martin@aimhighermkob.co.uk or call 01865 487605.