Sixth-Formers present at Wadham: the Charlie Hutchison project

The Charlie Hutchison projects connects sixth form students from East London to Wadham. It allows Year 12 students interested in studying History, Politics and other arts/humanities courses to take part in a series of webinars looking at the life of Charlie Hutchison, the first black British volunteer in the Spanish Civil War.

The project culminates in a visit to the college.

“…because they had been involved with the project for several months, they were much more comfortable and confident,” said Asha, a volunteer and student in History & Politics. “They asked many more questions.”

And the day visit is packed with time for questions. Asha and other Wadhamites gave them the college tour and a chance to hear first-hand accounts of student life. They also had a seminar with post-doctoral researcher Temi Ogunye on Cancel Culture.

The cohort’s teacher said: “The students got to ask lots of questions and were encouraged to think about topics that were either new to them or less discussed, creating a very fulfilling experience.”

But the students also had to respond to questions. Each of them gave a presentation on the project’s namesake, Charlie Hutchison. Afterwards, Wadham undergraduates raised probing questions as a taster of the tutorial experience.

Fin, a third year in Economics and History said, “Charlie Hutchinson represents a fascinating yet relatively unknown part of British history, so it was great to see different aspects of Charlie’s life given the attention and analysis they deserve.”

Chloe, a third year in History said, “It was a joy to hear students present their well-researched and thought-provoking work, I think I learned more from them than they did from me!”

The project has been developed in partnership with NewVIc, a Newham Sixth Form, and the Marx Memorial Library.

Wadham will be working closely with NewVIc and MML to continue to develop the programme and run it again for schools in East London next year.