Molly Manning: Wants to study political journalism with the support of Seren

A FARMER’s daughter, an aspiring Kate Adie and a star gazer, join bright Pembrokeshire students reaching for top universities on the Seren Network.

Three inspiring Pembrokeshire teens are among a selection of youngsters in the county who have been chosen to take their places on an exciting new university network.

Jess Gibby, Molly Manning and Maximilan Thomas join the first 16 and 17-year-olds in Wales to be a part of the Welsh Government-funded Seren Network, after they received impressive results in their GCSE exams in the summer.

Now all three plan to use the support provided by Seren to apply for a place at their chosen universities.

The Seren Network was set up with the aim of assisting Wales’ brightest students to fulfil their potential academically and apply to the UK’s leading universities.

Launched by the Welsh Government last year, it follows a report by Oxbridge Ambassador, Paul Murphy, former MP for Torfaen and now Lord Murphy, who was appointed by the Welsh Government to examine the decline in Welsh applications and admissions to Oxford and Cambridge.

His report recommended that a national network of partnership hubs be set up to allow schools and colleges to share expertise and work directly with the UK’s leading universities.

More than 300 pupils attended the launch of the latest Seren ‘hub’, covering Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, at Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli this week to learn more about the benefits of the network.

Pembroke School pupil Jess, 17, usually spends her time helping her family run their farm and caravan park in Pembroke.

“My dad’s a farmer and we have around 60 cows,” she said. “I’ll help them move the cows, or help with the silage, or I can be cleaning the shower blocks. It’s very busy but everybody mucks in. Nobody in my family has been to university and I was nervous about applying.”

Jess, who achieved two A*s and seven A grades, says starting on the Seren scheme has boosted her confidence and she now plans to apply to university despite having been apprehensive about the idea of leaving home.

“I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do it, or whether I wanted to go to university at all, but I know now through Seren that I can make friends easily and the people I’ve met so far have been so lovely. Mr Jones, the head of sixth form, has talked me through everything and I’ve now applied to summer school and am looking forward to applying somewhere like Bristol or Bath.”

Fellow Pembroke School pupil Molly, 17, achieved two A*s, three As, two Bs and Cs in her GCSEs and plans to study political journalism at Bristol University.

“I’d love to follow in the footsteps of someone like Kate Adie and travel to Syria and Afghanistan and help refugees through telling their stories,” she said.

Molly, who lives in Pembroke, added: “It’s just me and my mum at home and she’s really proud that I have a place on the Seren Network. I’m dyslexic so it’s been hard at times but she’s really supportive and pushes me to go for what I want. I’m aiming high and am excited about the future, and about my Seren place giving me opportunities and opening doors to university and my future career.”

Pembrokeshire College pupil Maximilan, 17, lives ‘in a bungalow in the middle of nowhere’ in Castlemartin and plans to study physics at Cambridge.

“I watched a documentary on astrophysics with Brian Cox and I remember being enthralled,” he said. “I was given a telescope for my 14th birthday – I love the idea that we’re so small in the scheme of things.”

Maximilian was born in London and moved to Wales in 2012, when he said he was able to see the stars in the sky for the very first time.

“Where I lived in London there was a lot of light pollution so I remember staring up at the sky in the Welsh countryside and being amazed by it,” he said. “I could actually see the constellation of Orion – it was the first time I’d really seen the stars.”

Former Castle School pupil Maximilian, who achieved four A*s, two As and six Bs in his GCSEs, said he’s already been inspired by the Seren Network’s talks and workshops.

“We had an Oxbridge admissions talk that was really helpful and we’ve got to listen to brilliant speakers and I’m really enjoying meeting other students who have a passion for the same subjects that I do,” he said. “It’s really exciting to be on the Seren Network.”

Seren activities are designed to stretch and challenge the students beyond the A Level curriculum, giving them the chance to enhance their subject knowledge alongside a peer group of like-minded students.

Students will also have access to reading lists, and staff from leading UK universities including Oxford and Cambridge, while receiving subject support from teachers and information and advice about university applications.

Jon Jones, chair of the Seren Network Executive Group for the Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire hub, said: “The Seren Network is about inspiring students, helping them confirm previously-held ambitions, or question their futures by introducing them to new and exciting possibilities in higher education and beyond.

“We’re hoping the launch event will be a real catalyst to inspire further success from an already remarkable group of young men and women drawn from all 18 of the post 16 institutions across both counties of Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire.

“The Seren hub has worked hard to establish productive links with sector-leading university departments and we’re supported by an outstanding team of Heads of Sixth Form and FE leaders, all of whom are eager to see their own students realise and exceed their potential and achieve their ambition of university study at the highest level.”