Summer school underway

Nagty students in Dance workshop at Lancaster.

Talented youngsters from all over the country arrived at Lancaster University this week to take part in a two week summer school run by the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth (NAGTY).

NAGTY, based at the University of Warwick, exists to develop, implement, promote and support educational opportunities for gifted and talented young people, as well as providing support for parents and educators. NAGTY was established by the government with a remit to co-ordinate the development and delivery of education for the top 5 per cent of the population, up to the age of nineteen.

Students on this year’s summer school are aged between 12 and 16 and are taking part in a diverse range of courses including art, biology, dance and creative movement, maths, music and sociology.

This is the fourth year that NAGTY has run their summer school at Lancaster and, while this is the first experience of summer school for some students, others are regular attendees.

One student on the sociology course said: “This is my third year at a NAGTY summer school and they’ve been so different every year. You get to meet loads of new people and the courses themselves are really interesting. You get the chance to do things that you just don’t get to do in school.”

Another student said: “The campus at Lancaster is really nice. It’s really clean and modern. Living in halls really gives you a sense of what it’s like to be a student here.”