Meet our experts: Carina Ancell
On work-life:
I love working at NewVIc because it is such an inclusive college with students from a wide range of backgrounds. Our students are creative, thoughtful and motivated and always surprise us with how they rise to the challenges presented to them. The teaching staff here are invested in creating the best quality learning experiences for the students they work with. Teachers at the college love to work collaboratively and share ideas and this means that we are often at the cutting edge of the latest developments in teaching and learning. Teachers here recognise that being inclusive means ensuring students regardless of their level of ability are able to exceed their potential.
On the most inspiring person you have met:
I am lucky as manager of the Honours Programme that I get to work with inspiring people on a daily basis. Our students often overcome many challenges to achieve their best and seeing the way they support each other and witnessing how their hard work and passion leads to such amazing results, has always inspired me. I have also worked with staff at leading universities, creating projects which we hope will encourage young people to feel confident in making applications to leading universities. These people are really creative and care a lot about the progression of our students.
On your teaching career:
I have been teaching at NewVic for 16 years and I am a manager of the Honours Programme for gifted and talented students and A-Level History teacher. Coming from a working class background and attending an ordinary state school, I understand the importance of good teachers as it was with their support I was able to gain a place at Oxford University to study history. In the time working at NewVIc I have helped to create some exciting and innovative programmes for our more able learners. We run weekly Honours sessions to develop students’ creative and critical thinking skills and to stretch them beyond the curriculum. We also give substantial support for students with their university applications and career pathways. We are the hub college for the King’s Classics Programme, which introduced students to the importance and relevance of studying classical history, and have devised a programme with King’s College History department, ‘History, Memory and Identity’ which encourages humanities students to consider how history is constructed and remembered, with particular reference to their own background/histories. Our students have been credited for their original archival research in conjunction with the Marx Memorial library, bringing the forgotten history of Charlies Hutchison, first black british volunteer for Spanish International Brigades, to life. I love the sense of achievement and confidence students gain from doing original research and the ways in which it speaks to their own personal histories. We also work closely with Wadham College in Oxford on an academically intensive study programme for our first year students. We have delivered various workshops at universities and national conferences and along with King’s College history professors have written upcoming articles for the Historical Association on ‘‘Memory’ as an approach to teaching 20th century history’ and for Teaching History on how the Harkness discussion method can enable our students to make a successful transition between college and university.
On student progression:
We have seen a year in year increase in the number of students going on to study at Russell Group universities. We have had several students making successful applications to Oxbridge and Medicine. Former students often come back to mentor and run workshops with our students and it is great to see how well they are doing in their careers.
Meet more of our experts at: www.newvic.ac.uk/experts
