Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange will host a very special graduation on Tuesday, October 30, when about 70 primary school students don the mortar boards as part of Check It Out day.

 

CSU Pre Entry Program Coordinator Ms Tonya Graham said the year 6 students, from The Year 6 students, from Parkes Public School and Parkes East Public School, will spend the day on campus and will take a selection of specially prepared classes to give them a first-hand experience of university life.

 

"We will run four classes on the day, all designed to be fun and encourage participation, and finish the day off with a mini-graduation where the students will dress in mortar boards and gowns and receive a certificate," Ms Graham said.

 

"The supermarket botany class will involve the kids identifying a selection of fruits, vegetables and other plants, and they will actually extract DNA from a strawberry in another class."

 

"There will be a nursing class where students place organs and other body parts on a mannequin and a class on acids and alkalines where they will do some experiments with liquids that change colour or bubble over when added together."

 

The Check It Out days are part of the University's Future Moves program, which Ms Graham said was designed to build aspirations for tertiary study among students in rural and remote NSW and Victoria.

 

"The program is directed at students who have the potential to succeed in tertiary education and who come from families with little or no experience of higher education," she said.

 

"By introducing them to the world of university study we’re hoping to encourage them to become more engaged in school studies and more confident in considering tertiary study as a realistic option."

 

The program is now in its second year and has received very positive feedback, both from the schools and students involved.

 

"Students often say, I never considered university but now I really want to go," Ms Graham said.

 

"Events like the Check It Out days are a great way to start a conversation with students and their families about what options are available to them after school."