For the past term, five students from Years 9 and 10 have taken part in The Scholars Programme run by the Brilliant Club. The Brilliant Club is a charity that aims to widen access to highly selective universities to students from state schools. The Scholars Programme is an academically rigorous and intensive programme that allows students to have weekly tutorials with a PhD tutor and to complete a university-style assignment. Over the course of the programme, the students researched and wrote a project on industrial villages in nineteenth-century Britain. We were delighted that all of the pupils from Didcot Girls’ School not only passed the course, but also received fantastic grades and glowing comments from their tutor.

On Thursday 6^th May, the students were able to celebrate their achievements in a graduation ceremony. Due to current restrictions, the ceremony took place online, however, this did nothing to diminish the sense of achievement and celebration of the event. The ceremony allowed students from across the country to come together virtually to be awarded their certificates. It was wonderful to hear our students’ names read out alongside other hard working and dedicated students from across the country.

The event was not only a celebration, but also a valuable source of informative and thought-provoking presentations from universities, keynote speakers and current university students. The first presentation was from Anne-Marie Canning MBE, CEO of the Brilliant Club. Her speech was inspiring and provided all the students and parents with an opportunity to reflect on the huge success of the students for completing such a demanding programme in such a difficult year. We then heard from Hannah Chukwu, a trustee for the Brilliant Club, an Oxford graduate and now editor at Penguin Books, on her experiences at university and the need to embrace everything with “boldness and kindness”. The final section of the event was hosted by the University of Warwick and students took part in a question-and-answer session on university life and university study.

All the students came away from the event with a sense of pride and anticipation for the opportunities that lie ahead. It was wonderful to celebrate the students’ hard work and success.

Well done!