3
AUTUMN 2015
Raising Aspirations
Dame Ruth Silver gives us a
straight A in access excellence
I was shown the new college
build which will be a straight A in
shape it seems! Upon arrival at
the college we were greeted in
person by the Principal and the
Chair and treated to a fabulous
lunch and pudding courtesy of
the staff and students from the
hospitality department. Simply
delicious.
By Dame Ruth Silver
As Chair to the Commission
on Widening Access I want to
better support the ambitions of
Scotland’s talented young people
regardless of their background to
ensure that they can fully pursue
their post school educational
journeys and pathways. For
this reason, I am undertaking a
roadshow and a series of visits.
As a former Principal myself of
Lewisham College, a large bustling
and diverse college in London, I
was insistent that my journey to
understand access excellence in
Scotland must include colleges.
That was what brought me to
Ayrshire College and what a lovely
welcome and day out it turned out
to be. After being met in person
The Principal and Chair then
provided an overview of the
access work of the College but
mostly what came through was a
pride in its staff and its students,
for this reason they asked me
to listen to the stories of the
students and the staff themselves
as they felt they could best
tell the story of what access in
Ayrshire College was about.
“What a lovely
welcome and day
out it turned out to
be. I was shown
the new college
build which will
be a straight A in
shape it seems!”
Click here to view our
Widening Access
Case Studies Booklet
What followed was a session
with past and current students to
understand their journeys, their
barriers, how they overcame them
and what advice they would give
to others to help them achieve
their ambitions. The honest
stories told by the students
who had lived the experience
reminded me of the need for
choice and the need for flexibility
in our systems if the talent of
our young people is to be fully
released and recognised. There is
no one size fits all model or one
right or best route but what there
must be is flexibility and positive
experiences along a progressive
pathway.