The majority of the Widening Participation & Outreach team’s activities, especially sustained engagement programmes, are offered to a targeted group of schools and colleges in Hounslow, Ealing, and Hillingdon.
We work with students in Year 6 up to Year 13 in these institutions (as well as mature students), and we aim to target these activities towards students from groups underrepresented in Higher Education. We also offer lighter-touch opportunities for students, including one-day campus visits, tailored workshops in school, support from Student Ambassadors and hosting a talk or stand at your existing options evenings or parents’ evenings.
Find out more about the groups we aim to work with in our targeting and eligibility section.
At the busiest times of year, we may have limited capacity, but we aim to be flexible and we would be very happy to receive your enquiry. To ask about working with the Outreach or Student Recruitment teams, please complete our visit request form or email schools.colleges@stmarys.ac.uk.
For 2024/25 we are offering two free Saturday Clubs, both targeted at 13-16 year olds from underrepresented backgrounds.
You can find out more about the National Saturday Club programmes and apply on their website.
Find out more about activities available for Primary School students, as well as the online resources for the Ealing Children's University on our Primary page.
Find out more
This academic year, we are running our Summer Residential for 2025 alongside an attainment raising programme called ‘Think Ahead’. This is where we work simultaneously with the Year 9’s who are attending the Summer School with Year 10’s who attended the year before, supporting students with GCSE options, study techniques, careers options and more. We also plan to work closely with parents with this project, providing them with tools and assistance in supporting their child.
If you have a request relating to Key Stage 5 UCAS Support (making university choices, personal statement support etc), please complete our visit request form and either the Student Recruitment or Widening Participation and Outreach teams will respond to your enquiry.
For more support with Key Stage 5 initiatives, please contact us at schools.colleges@stmarys.ac.uk.
We're happy to hear from Teachers & Advisors with enquiries or suggestions for activities, and aim to flexibly fulfil these requests when our capacity allows. Take a look at other options below, and please feel free to get in touch via schools.colleges@stmarys.ac.uk.
- Campus visits; a part-day or one-day campus visit to St Mary’s can provide a tour/ scavenger hunt, taster subject session, and information advice and guidance session. Our approachable Widening Participation Student Ambassadors make the day fun and informative.
- Ad-hoc workshops in school/ college; if you are hosting Careers Focus days, or off-timetable enrichment days and would be interested in a workshop from St Mary’s, please get in touch. Sessions could include topics such as ‘introducing university’, ‘making choices’, ‘time management’, ‘Student life’ and so on. We would be happy to discuss your requirements, and we will aim to meet your request if we have the staff availability.
- Careers fairs, options events, parents’ evenings; the Widening Participation and Outreach and the Student Recruitment teams are happy to take enquiries for your events via our visit request form.
- Student Ambassadors; within the Student Ambassador team, a group of Widening Participation Ambassadors are DBS checked and trained for outreach activities with Year 6 and upwards. Widening Participation Ambassadors inspire and engage the students they work with. If you would like to ask about how they can support your students in school or college, please get in touch.
Previous event highlights
National Careers Week 2024 took place between Monday 4th to Friday 9th March 2024. It is a one-week celebration of careers guidance and free resources in education across the UK that occurs once a year.
The St Mary's Outreach team have developed resources to support KS3-4 students, their parents and carers, and teachers.
You can still use our NCW2024 resources
Get involved in the NCW2025 campaign
Next year’s theme for National Careers Week 2025 is “Empowering positive change through careers education.” Visit the National Careers Week website for free resources and events, and to find out more from employers including NatWest Group, NHS, Young Enterprise, WorldSkills, and UKHospitality.
To keep up to date on our campaign for National Careers Week 2025, follow us on Instagram @outreachstmarys.
In June 2023, the Outreach team collaborated with Kingston Council, Surrey Community Action and the Association of Friends, Families and Travellers, to raise awareness and support inclusion of Gypsy Roma & Traveller young people. As part of the Richmond Arts & Ideas Festival we hosted a performance of ‘Crystal’s Vardo’ on Saturday 24th June 5-6.30pm. View the poster for the performance.
‘Crystal’s Vardo’ is a theatre production about a teenage Traveller called Crystal who is being bullied at school. It aims to provide a rich and detailed account of the Traveller communities and their histories. It highlights the persecution that has been faced by the Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities throughout history, and how this is still being manifested today. Find our more information about the show and its wider aims.
Facts and figures
- There are over 300,000 Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller people in the UK – that’s around one in 200 people.
- A survey carried out by Traveller Movement, a national Gypsy, Roma and Traveller charity, found that, in 2017, 91 per cent of the 199 respondents had experienced discrimination and 77 per cent had experienced hate speech or a hate crime.
- According to Ofsted, Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller children remain the most at risk of being bullied within the school community.
For more facts and figures, see the Teacher Resource Pack for 'Crystal's Vardo', supplied by Friends Families & Travellers. https://www.gypsy-traveller.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Crystals-Vardo-Teachers-Pack-final.pdf
Get involved
This show is part of broader outreach and engagement work which St Mary’s is developing with the Gypsy, Roma, Traveller, Showmen and Boater communities. We would love to hear from students or staff with a connection to these communities – work with us to help develop these relationships!
Email wideningparticipation@stmarys.ac.uk to contribute your thoughts and experiences, and to find out more information about upcoming outreach and engagement projects for Gypsy Roma Traveller Showmen and Boater communities. We would love to hear from you!
Over this three-day, two night Residential, pupils live on campus like real university students, and participate in a range of taster sessions on academic and extracurricular life at university. We work with a few of schools that meet our targeting criteria, and host some of their year 9 students, who stay in halls on campus, meet, and work with current university students and are encouraged to think about their futures.
