Notre Dame hosts secondary students for inside view on uni life

Document Type

Media Release

Publication Date

Winter 6-7-2007

Publisher Name

The University of Notre Dame Australia, Sydney

Publication Place

Sydney

Abstract

The University of Notre Dame Australia’s Sydney Campus today hosted around 120 secondary school students from across New South Wales for the annual ‘A Day in the Life of a University Student’ event.

The event is designed for secondary school students in Years 10, 11 and 12 to get a taste of what real university life is like, with opportunities to speak with staff and current students. Prospective students were also able to ‘enrol’ in two lectures that covered topics related to the Notre Dame curriculum. Example lectures included:

  • Education: Teaching Primary Science Constructively
  • Communications: An introduction to screen production
  • Law: Who is listening to you whilst you listen on your iPod? The Napster case in the U.S.A.
  • Philosophy: Philosophy, Catholicism & the Life of the Mind
  • Behavioural Science: Personality: what is it, who has it, why is it, is it?
  • Nursing: Treasure Chest
  • History: Digger Memories and Popular Protest: Australia and the Viet Nam War

Comments from prospective students were universally positive. “This is a great chance to get a feel for the differences between school and university life,” said Laura Lawson from Caroline Chisholm College. “I appreciated the learning environment – it was welcoming and enabled me to ask questions.”

Catholic schools were well represented amongst the 50 secondary schools from metropolitan Sydney and rural New South Wales. Bianca Patane from St Clare’s College and Josh Trovato and Pat Stewart from Waverley said they had enjoyed the day. “Although we only had 50 minutes for each lecture, we got a full overview of the things we might be studying at uni,” said Josh.

Prof Hayden Ramsay saw it as a great opportunity to showcase the Notre Dame approach to small-class teaching within a context of Catholic faith and values. “It is also a good opportunity to get to know some of the students who will end up enrolling in the coming years,” he said. Campus Minister and Behavioural Science lecturer, Anthony Crook added, “The level of comprehension by the students of university level learning material was impressive. Hopefully I will see some of today’s students next year in class at Notre Dame.”

Notre Dame’s Sydney Campus was established in 2006 at Broadway and currently has 1,100 students enrolled.

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