New College twinned with local primary school

New College has signed up to be part of an ambitious pilot scheme by Oxford Hub, twinning five local primary schools with Oxford colleges. 

Twinning will provide primary schools with access to college facilities and activities led by university students, like singing in the college chapel, workshops with academic tutors and lunches in the dining hall.

The colleges will also provide primary pupils with one-to-one academic support through Schools Plus, Oxford Hub’s free tutoring programme. Set up in 2009 to tackle educational inequality in Oxford, Schools Plus matches local children with volunteer tutors, often Oxford University students, to help them achieve their academic potential. The Twinning Programme builds on Schools Plus’s successes in supporting University students to share academic excellence across the city.

New College has been twinned with Wood Farm Primary School. 

Daniel Powell, New College's Head of Outreach, said 

'New College is proud to be one of only five Oxford Colleges to be partnered with a Primary School in our local community.  We recognise that we have a duty to serve our local community in any way that we can; the College must be a part of Oxford, and not apart from it.  We are excited to begin working with Wood Farm Primary School, Headington, helping to provide tutoring, as well as extra-curricular opportunities to the school community.'  

David Lewin, Headteacher of Wood Farm Primary School, said: 

'We’re delighted to be part of the new twinning project with Oxford University, and our staff are very excited about the possibilities it offers. We are passionate about our pupils having a strong sense of connection with the city they are growing up in, and all its history and treasures, and this project fits so well with our school values: Ambition, Beauty, and Connection. We’re looking forward to building a lasting and creative partnership with New College.’

The scheme will also match St John’s, Somerville, Trinity and Exeter Colleges with Rose Hill, St Frideswide, St Christopher’s and John Henry Newman Primary Schools respectively.

View the BBC coverage of the twinning programme

Cartoon of students, with logos of local primary schools and Oxford colleges either side