A free, virtual summer camp run by Durham University students to help young keep learning during the school holidays is returning for a second year.
‘Learn with Us’ creates educational videos to help children continue their education in innovative and fun ways.
Subjects will include music, English, science, and geography, all taught via the project’s YouTube channel.
The videos are aimed at children aged nine to 11.
‘Learn with Us’ was founded in summer 2020 and won ‘Best Educational Volunteering Project’ at this year’s Durham University Student Volunteering Awards.
Giammarco Di Gregorio, the Psychology student at Trevelyan College who founded the project, said: “When children started missing school due to the pandemic, we wanted to help them stay motivated and engaged with learning. We were particularly worried about what summer would look like for underprivileged pupils and had some fantastic feedback from parents and children on our first summer camp. We’re so excited to be back for 2021.”
The first of the new videos was posted on YouTube on Monday 19 July. More will follow until Thursday 19 August, and then all videos will remain available online. Go to youtube.com and search for ‘Learn With Us Summer Camp’.
Since the project began, 31 volunteers have contributed almost 3,000 hours of their time, creating 62 videos which have been watched 5,000 times – that’s over 300 hours of education time.
One parent whose children took part said: “We really enjoyed the range of interactive learning materials available last year and look forward to exploring new themes and activities this summer. It’s great to have this type of resource available to support children who have missed out on a lot of formal education this past year-and-a-half.”
Another parent said: “My children really enjoyed the summer camp last year. It was great to see that they were able to put what they were learning into practice with their friends. So, we are all really looking forward to learning more this summer."
Student volunteer Isabelle Auty said: “It has been an amazing experience to work with like-minded, hardworking and inspiring people to develop a programme that has reached so many children, especially during the pandemic, when some have found it difficult to reach educational resources.”
Student Jude Hanlon, this year’s summer camp director, said “Every one of our volunteers holds the same passion and dedication to our summer campers. They go above and beyond to engage and inspire our pupils. I’m so proud and grateful to this team – the successes of this project are owed to their hard work, enthusiasm and generosity.”
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