Throughout lockdown, the IntoUniversity Manchester North (IUMN) team worked tirelessly to continue their engagement, providing both academic and pastoral support to students and their families. As restrictions have lifted and children have gone back to school, IUMN has been able to reopen their doors and the team have been working just as hard to create a new ‘normal’ for students attending their centre.

It’s just a month since reopening and the centre has booked in delivery with all of their partner secondary schools/colleges, and they have already begun delivering their Secondary FOCUS Programme face-to-face. These workshops are designed to focus on developing key skills and providing information and advice on future options. IUMN has also booked in face-to-face delivery with partner primary schools with the first Year 6 FOCUS week taking place at the beginning of November. Activities during the week include a self-guided tour of Manchester Museum along with an interactive, virtual workshop from a University PhD student studying Palaeontology.

Alongside face-to-face delivery, IUMN are continuing with some virtual learning. As volunteers are currently unable to visit the centre, mentoring meetings are still taking place via Microsoft Teams. This has been a huge hit with the mentoring pairs, with at least 11 University of Manchester student mentors continuing with their mentee for the 2020/21.

Finally, the staff at IUMN have continued to provide both academic and pastoral support to their students, with weekly phone calls to students and their families. They have set fun and engaging activities for primary students via the platform Seesaw, whilst the secondary students have access to ‘Future Readiness’ projects at home.

Now that the centre is back open the IUMN team are working harder than ever to continue to create a safe, welcoming and fun environment for all of their IntoUniversity students to learn, grow and thrive.

For more information please contact Abbie Mountford.