This summer, 150 Year 10 state school students from 32 schools spent a week living at Eton College for free to develop skills for success in life. These students were participating in the free, co-ed summer school Eton Connect, Skills for Success. The summer school’s one-week courses ran throughout 11 – 29 July 2022.
Eton College asked all participating state schools to nominate pupils to take part in this residential summer school who would make the most of the opportunity and particularly benefit from the experience. Eton Connect, Skills for Success teaches students skills-based learning, covering topics such as public speaking, verbal communication, resilience and creative problem solving.
I feel as if I learnt a lot and it gave me knowledge that is important throughout my whole life, not just in a school environment.
Adam, Harlington School
Whilst academic catch-up provision has been driven throughout the education sector since the Covid-19 pandemic began, the aim of this summer school was to teach valuable soft-skills that enhance students’ skills whilst off-setting any deficit caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The summer school’s course content was adapted from online distance learning courses made available on the EtonX platform to all state school pupils in the UK during the first lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It’s been an amazing experience meeting everyone… and experiencing all those moments. The staff were just as much as or even more enthusiastic than us kids and I love them all.
Abdul, Cumberland Community School
As part of the summer school, Eton College offered an additional week of provision for 30 students whose summer school was cancelled last year when a teacher caught Covid-19. Eton College invited them back to attend the first week of this year’s Eton Connect, Skills for Success, which provided them with free full board and all the skills-based sessions they would have studied last year. 60 students then attended each of the following two weeks of the summer school.
The range of activities students took part in included tennis, swimming, delivering presentations, making an Eton Mess, a careers lecture, performing in a talent show and celebrating everything they had achieved during the week at the final night’s BBQ and disco.
