Our first Yale session of the summer is heading towards its conclusion as we progress through Week Two in New Haven. Far from knocking the participants off their stride however, it seems to have only whet their appetites for their programmes.

This was evident on Tuesday as they knuckled down for a day of focused work. The participants have been working extra hard on their projects as they seek to iron out any creases in their work.

They were given maximum opportunity to do this with a full timetable of academic sessions either side of lunch, allowing them to work on the presentation side of their projects as well as the content.

After lessons, they kept their brains active with a challenging but enjoyable Scavenger Hunt around town, however it seemed that that academic bug had bitten everybody as the majority of the participants retired to the cool basement to continue working when they returned to campus.

This was enormously gratifying for the ORA teachers, some of whom joined the group to help out. It has been fantastic for all the staff to see how keen the participants are to work, and how the programmes have captured their imaginations.

It wasn’t all hard work though, as many enjoyed an ice cream to refuel themselves – and cool off in the heat! The day was a huge success and the presentations are looking good. Hard work pays off!