Storm Lillian might have been causing chaos across the North West, but nothing could dampen the spirits of everyone involved in this year’s Return to Learn Day. For the second year running, the team at Go Higher invited potential mature learners to experience a full day of talks and tours on campus.
The day was (high) kicked off on a musical note, with Dr Freya Jarman (below left) leading listeners through the history of the multiple meanings of singing high notes in Western music. Covering everything from Tiny Tim to Barbara Streisand, our visitors quickly warmed to the topic and were keen to share their own insights and experiences. We hardly had time to pause for breath, before Heather Johnston from Sydney Jones Library delivered an informative talk on KnowHow, the University of Liverpool’s skills support service. Go Higher and KnowHow work closely together all year round; we know that many mature students may not have written anything vaguely academic for many years, and may never have used a referencing system – the Study Skills team at Go Higher are there to support your learning throughout the whole course, and KnowHow provide the university wide support for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Lunch provided an enjoyable opportunity for guests to chat informally with not only professional services and teaching staff, but also current and former Go Higher students. Peer support plays a major role in the success of Go Higher, not only within a year group, but more widely as a mentoring system for students to continue that contact even after they have started their undergraduate studies.
The University of Liverpool is the only university in England with an Irish Studies Department, and Dr Sean Haughey outlined the degree course content, as well as reminding us of just how many Go Higher students decide to study with this close and supportive department. Sean also gave us a taste of the sort of lecture students might expect, asking just how divided society is now in Northern Ireland. Combining contemporary cultural references such as Derry Girls, with recent government polls on schooling opportunities, Sean suggested that social attitudes towards mixed communities are far more positive than are often put forward by politicians and the press.
Thankfully rain had stopped by mid afternoon, and although it was still too wet to take the campus tour, attendees were welcomed for a guided tour at the iconic Victoria Gallery and Museum in Ashton Street. https://vgm.liverpool.ac.uk/ Our on campus bookstore, Blackwells, kindly offered attendees a discount for any purchases made on the day.
The afternoon was completed by a lecture from Go Higher’s sociology lecturer, Dr David Ellis (left), who discussed his research in a talk titled ‘Towards a Sociology of Debt: Cultural Change in Britain and Beyond’. David explored the deregulation of banking by the Conservative Party in the 1980s, and the impact that it is still having today. A major point of discussion was what constituted ‘credit’ and how it differed from ‘debt’. There were so many comments and questions following this that we reached the end of the day before we knew it.
Just in time for visitors to leave, the sun came out – but we hope to see many of them return as students in September.
White Rabbit image by John Tenniel, from the Project Gutenberg edition of Alice In Wonderland (public domain).
