We had a fantastic first lecture for Scholars 2024 this week from Elaine Effard from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University.  Elaine shared her story of growing up in Horsley Hill in South Shields, and feeling like an ‘average‘ student in Year 10 when she was selected for a Programme similar to scholars. That sparked her realization that Oxford or Cambridge could be for her, and saw her studying her English
Degree in Cambridge just four years later.

She went on to introduce our Year 10 Scholars to the concept of Subversion and how stories build narrative over time that becomes the expectation. Our students dived in, demonstrating their critical thinking and impressed Elaine with the high level of discussion and contribution to the session. A brilliant way to start Scholars. Huge thank you to our students for representing Southmoor so well and of course to Elaine for her continued support to our Academy.