Some budding Masterchefs cooked up a storm at the Biggenden State School pancake breakfast to launch the CQUniversity ‘University Experience' program for students in Years 5 to 7.

Facilitated by the Student Support Centre Widening Participation team, Annette Thompson, Outreach Program Officer from the Bundaberg campus, arranged for two guest speakers to talk with the students about university and their careers. 

CQUniversity's Professor Andy Bridges told a group of school children from Biggenden about his learning journey.The first guest speaker was CQUniversity's Professor Andy Bridges, Acting Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Health, who spoke about his learning journey and how he was the first in his family to attend university.  Andy's humorous approach had the students giggling along with the not-so ‘nutty' professor, and he effectively delivered the key message that university is open to anyone, anywhere, anytime, once they finish high school.

The second guest speaker was Veterinarian Dr Nicole Vacher, owner of the Childers Vet Clinic, who spoke with the students about her experience at university and about her veterinary career. 

The students were very excited to have a vet visit their school and were overflowing with questions.

 Two students also performed a role play as a vet and a ‘patient' (a sick cat named Fluffy), which was lots of fun for the students.

Some of the feedback from the students was "It was fun!", "It was good because we learned a bit about how uni works", "Going to university is worth it" and "Even though university is hard work, it can be worth it in the end".   

Following the launch, the students will participate in two other guest speaker sessions, self-awareness workshops relating to education and careers, and later in the year they will travel to Bundaberg where they will explore the CQUniversity Bundaberg campus, and experience what a university is like. 

Pancakes all round at Biggenden State School.The CQUniversity Widening Participation team is offering about 40 programs to high schools in the Mackay, Bundaberg, Rockhampton and Central West regions that are underpinned by a Learner Progression Model adopted from the United Kingdom.

"This is part of an overall strategy by the Queensland Higher Education Working Party to ensure that schools in low-socio economic areas across the state are offered programs to raise aspirations towards higher education," CQUniversity Outreach Coordinator Stacey Doyle said.