The KAN Student Journey: Aspire
The Aspire university access programme is launching in 2021, and will run in parallel to our longstanding Core programme. The intention of this development is to increase the number of students who can be a part of KAN. Aspire ensures that we will be able to retain the number of students on the Core programme and make our Core programme exclusive to students at KAN schools.
Year 9
In the spring a new Year 9 cohort is selected in collaboration with partner schools, ready to begin the programme in Year 10. We will begin to explore the journey towards higher education and the programme focuses on broadening their academic interests.
Year 10
Over the course of Year 10 students become familiar with the KAN ethos and start engaging meaningfully with their mentor. We begin to explore the journey towards higher education. They will participate in three online mentoring sessions and two meet-up days, one of which will be held at a top university and one at Sevenoaks.
Year 11
Students should use the KAN structures and culture to aid and facilitate their personal development and academic goals. They will be able to produce increasingly sophisticated academic work. In addition, they will be developing the ability to pursue individual interests and make compelling arguments.
The three online mentoring sessions and two meet-up days focus on preparing for GCSEs, for example study skills, tackling nerves and core subject revision. There will also be space for students to contemplate their upcoming transition to A-levels or the IB.
Year 12
As KAN students move into Year 12 they will reflect on their GCSE results and show initiative in seeking an increasingly personalised KAN experience, which will begin to take place at the autumn meet-up day.
Post Year-13 pathways are the focus of the spring meet-up day. The three online mentoring sessions will focus on academic extension and students are also supported in making choices relating to university applications and start to draft their personal statement with their mentors.
Year 13
Students are supported on the pathways they have chosen to pursue, with higher education being the focus of the autumn meet-up day and their three online mentoring sessions, for example finalising personal statements and preparing for interviews.
Finally, students graduate with a celebration day during the July residential week.
The KAN Student Journey: Core University Access Programme
Our Core university access programme has been running since 2013. In addition to everything that Aspire offers, Core students receive two residential events each year, starting with the summer at the end of Year 9. Initially these focus on academic extension, and then they begin to build university-style learning habits and study skills.
The residential event at the end of Year 9 and Year 10 is held at Tonbridge School, then at the end of Year 11 and Year 12 at the University of Cambridge, either Fitzwilliam or Queens’ College. Our Easter residential event takes place with all the cohorts together at Sevenoaks School.
From 2021 onwards, places on the Core programme are reserved for students at the KAN schools. This means that if a student moves school for Year 11 they will be asked to swap onto Aspire. It also means that committed Aspire students may filter into the Core programme if a place becomes available.
You can read about past KAN events here