“We're giving back to the local community”

Students from the Sciences Po campus in Reims have been involved in Cordées de la réussite – which might translate as Connecting For Success – since 2012. There are now about sixty of them volunteering in the programme, which aims to create links between higher education institutions and secondary school students from all regions and social backgrounds. They talked to us about an experience that has become a mainstay of local and voluntary engagement on the Reims campus.

“Nooooooo, the country is E-ri-trea, not Eriprea!” In the corridors of the Sciences Po campus in Reims, a small group of excited secondary school students are taking the role-play proposed by their student tutors very seriously. They’ve been asked to put themselves in an asylum seeker’s shoes and defend their case before mock evaluators. But before they do, they have to get to grips with the fake identity they've been assigned, without forgetting a single detail. At the end of the session, secondary students and university students debrief, each defending their position in this extremely topical debate. “That's the aim of these workshops for Cordées de la réussite,” explained Lyse Mauvais, one of the student tutors. “To encourage the school students to express themselves, get out of their normal environment and broaden their horizons.”

A change of environment
As well as role-plays and debates, there are cultural outings and visits to exhibitions. One afternoon a week, nearly sixty students from the Sciences Po campus in Reims run “Cordées de la réussite” workshops with students from the seven junior high schools, or collèges, in the area. The Sciences Po campus in Reims joined this national programme in 2012. “It corresponded to our values, and it complements what we do with the Equal Opportunity and Diversity Programme. Here, we decided to work with younger students,” explained campus Director Nathalie Jacquet. “For the students, it’s an exceptional experience. They take on huge responsibilities and work ‘without a net’, in the real world. It is exactly the kind of project we want them to get involved in.”

To meet the challenge, the Sciences Po students had to get creative, and they seem to have found the right approach. “Before, new tutors had to start from scratch every year,” said Emma Lacombe, a tutor and second-year student at the Sciences Po Undergraduate College. “Now we've set up a group of advisors – former tutors who can train the new ones, suggest ideas for workshops and outings and help them get organised.” This support is invaluable for what is a far from simple undertaking. “You find yourself in front of secondary students who often don't know what they're doing there and have trouble expressing themselves,” Emma added. “To start with they see us as teachers. The aim is to build a buddy relationship, to become big brothers and sisters to them.”

Gaining a sense of responsibility
What is the goal of the programme? To broaden the cultural and geographical horizons of secondary school students through a range of different activities. “We discover the city together. And when they start talking, they have a lot to teach us,” said Emmanuel Roullier, another Sciences Po student and member of the group of advisors. When it comes to guidance in choosing future study paths, “it's all done informally,” said Lyse Mauvais, “but we realise that what they really need is for us to listen to them.”

It can be a stressful experience, Emma told us, “with huge expectations and the responsibility that goes with them. But in the end, we learn an awful lot about project organisation, decision-making and communication.” As for gaining an open mind, it works both ways. “First, we’re getting out of our Sciences Po bubble and giving back to the local community,” said Emmanuel. “It's awesome when we see that we've managed to contribute something, like when a pupil went back to see The Imitation Game with his grandmother after we saw it in the workshop!”

Find out more
The Sciences Po undergraduate programme is taught on seven campuses in France: Dijon, Le Havre, Menton, Nancy, Paris, Poitiers and Reims.
 
Cordées de la réussite (Fr) aims to promote young people's access to higher education, whatever their socio-cultural background, by giving them the means and drive to get into top academic programme