Seasons Greetings...

A very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to all our colleagues, followers, friends, parents/carers and most importantly, to the children and young people of Sheffield. See you in 2012 for what promises to be a very exciting year for Sheffield CU!

Fantastic Friday Facts!

Its been a busy few weeks here in Sheffield CU HQ as we prepare for our Autumn Award Ceremony - or should I say Awards Ceremonies, as we have so many fantastic children collecting their hours, we can't fit them all in to the Town Hall at once!

Over 235 primary school children will receive their awards this November from 20 of our CU schools. We are very much looking forward to welcoming them and their parents/carers to the Town Hall and celebrating their fantastic achievements.

With the new academic year comes our brand new extended awards system direct from National Children's University that means children and young people can now receive awards for taking part in 1000 hours of activity. We can't wait until we are presenting our first 1000 hours award, as National CU informed us yesterday, they are sure a Sheffield child will be the first in the country to receive this honour!

We have also designed new badges to go along with our new awards, and hope that our children and young people will enjoy collecting them. Here is the first sneak peak of our Doctorate Level Bronze, Silver and Gold badges that children will receive at 830, 865 and 900 credits!

Finally, here are some fantastic Friday facts from Sheffield CU:

• During last academic year (2010-11), 9,361 children and young people took part in 203, 602 hours of learning in their own time.

• Over 2000 CU programmes of activity were registered with us in 2010/11 from 70 schools.

• Since Children's University began in Sheffield, 13, 519 children and young people have taken part in over 430,000 hours. On average this is 30 hours per child, which is our Bronze Award. Amazing!

Hype Dance Company Gear Up for Fright Night!

We recently paid a visit to the fabulous Hype Dance Company - one of our newly validated Learning Destinations where children and young people who have a Passport to Learning can collect credits for taking part in a variety of open access community dance classes.

Hype specialise in Hiphop dance and provide classes in ballet, modern, jazz, tap and contemporary for anyone aged 2 and a half +.

Our visit saw young people preparing for a showstopping performance at this years Fright Night, giving up their own time and showing great commitment to learning.

For those young people at Hype who are prepared to make the extra commitment and work hard, they can audition to become part of Hype Dance Company.

See Hype dancing Fright Night away in Sheffield City Centre on Sunday 30th October 2011.

Getting in on the Act

Lights, camera, action!

For 10 young Sheffielders the ‘Getting in on the Act’ summer school provided a perfect opportunity to learn how to operate a camera, record sound, conduct interviews, and produce professional films.

‘Getting in on the Act’, a joint venture between Sheffield Children’s University and SHIFT (Sheffield Independent Film and Television), offered young people the chance to try their hand at making and producing a film, whilst also discovering what it takes to get a start in the cultural industries.

Bridget Kelly, Chief Executive of SHIFT, said, “We’re making a documentary about how young people get into careers in either the media or theatre, and we want to do that because we see young people coming through all the time and finding ways in, and they have really useful information for other young people. We really want the young people’s passion to come through in the film.”


“We’re aiming to give people skills, so they’re learning to use cameras and sound recording equipment, and they’re learning to relate to people. If you’re interviewing the CEO of the showroom, and you might have dyslexia, then that’s a fantastic confidence boost and a fantastic achievement if you can do that. So we’re aiming for young people to get every ounce of creativity and confidence building out of this experience.”


‘Getting in on the Act’ was opened up to young people through various routes. Some of those who attended are still at school, others are members of The Showroom’s membership scheme, Interactive, and others are part of SHIFT’s Foundation Learning Programme, which offers personalised learning for young people with few or no qualifications.

Colin Pons, a vastly experienced freelance film producer (with a formidable back catalogue of films to his name, including indie hit The Acid House), acted as the production mentor for those involved, gently guiding them through the film making process.

“The idea is to give people media skills but also to increase their communication and life skills through the process as well. We’re doing an interview with the CEO of the Showroom Workstation and some of these young people could go the next 5 years without meeting someone like that so it’s really important to put them in these sorts of situations.”

For the young people who attended ‘Getting in on the Act’ provided a unique opportunity and one they clearly enjoyed.

Samantha Ward, 17, said, “I think it’s been really interesting, learning about all the different things involved, and learning all the different parts. I hadn’t really thought about a career in film but what I’ve done for the last 2 days has been really enjoyable and I’ve got a lot more confidence from doing it.”

George Willey, 18, said, “We’ve been learning so much stuff. I didn’t realise how much you can do with a camera, there are almost limitless things you can do and things you can make out of film, especially with all the editing and stuff. It’s really my first time behind the camera but I’d like to take it on more if I can.”

Dane Marsh, 17, said, “I think it’s been really good. I’m the soundman, so I’ve learnt a bit about that, how to listen for sounds that we need or don’t need. It’s interesting and yeah I think I’d like to take it on as a career.”

The two week project ended with a fully produced 13 minute film and a screening at The Showroom cinema.

For more information visit http://www.shiftmedia.co.uk/

Becoming a Learning Destination...

There are hundreds of organisations across Sheffield providing learning activities that children and young people choose to take part in in their own free time. From Brownies, to swimming lessons and dance classes, to musuems and libraries, there are many opportunities in our city for children and young people to be inspired, and try something new.

We think its really important for children and young people to be rewarded for giving up their time to take part in these activities. To be able to do this, we need organisations to register as Learning Destinations so we can not only advertise their activities locally and nationally but also collect information about participation to be able to award children and young people with the credits they have earned. If you run an organisation, or know of any organisations which might be interested in helping us, please see below for answers to all the important questions on how to get involved!

So what is Children's University?

The Children’s University (CU) is an exciting national initiative which encourages children to take part in a wide range of worthwhile out-of-school-hours learning.
Research by the University of Cambridge indicates that keeping a record and celebrating participation in these activities through the Children’s University has a big impact on success at school. 9,000 children in Sheffield are already earning points through clubs and extra-curricular activities held on school premises. In Sheffield we know that there are many more equally valuable opportunities beyond the school gate, such as activities run by your club/organisation.

How does it work?

Children’s participation in all aspects of voluntary learning (such as taking part in your activities) is credited through an awards system. Currently, children can only gain their credits (one per each hour they do) through registers kept by their school. However, a national Passport to Learning is now being introduced (www.sheffield.gov.uk/cupassporttolearning) as there are lots of fun and exciting activities taking place outside of normal school hours in different places across Sheffield where children and young people can collect learning credits. These credits will be added to the ones children collect in school to earn CU Awards. We are inviting organisations such as yours that meet CU criteria to work with us to bring children the recognition they deserve for their commitment to learning in their spare time.

What will we have to do?

It's really simple - and FREE to join! If you decide that you want to join the scheme to be able to reward the children that attend your organisation, all you have to do is complete and return a registration form found at www.sheffield.gov.uk/culd. We will come out and pay you a quick visit to check that your clubs meet our criteria, then you'll become a validated 'Learning Destination' and we'll provide you with all you need - registers, posters, stickers, leaflets, etc. in a welcome pack.
From then on, all you'd need to do is stamp their CU Passport and record the name, date of birth and school of the children who attend in a register, and then send that into us at least once per school term (3 times per year). We'll do all the rest and make sure those hours are turned into credits and added to the child's running total from school activities!

What do the children and young people have to do?

All the children and young people have to do is to buy a passport (£2) ask their parents to sign the consent form inside their CU Passport to give permission for the Learning Destination to pass essential information to Sheffield Children’s University (ourselves). They can then take the Passport to any of the registered CU Learning Destinations across the city such as museums, libraries and local clubs and take part in their learning activities.

So what's in it for us?

Lots! Once you have become a Learning Destination, your details will be uploaded onto the Sheffield CU website (part of Sheffield City Council) for all the children and young people of the city and beyond to see, when they are looking for activities to do and they'll also be uploaded onto the national CU website, so lots of free publicity! Already, lots of children and parents are contacting us, saying they have a passport, where can they go to use it?
The Passport is a new development for Sheffield Children’s University. Organisations are joining all the time. You can choose to sell the passports at your club/organisation if you want to. We sell them to you at £1.80 each and you can sell them on for £2 each, retaining a 2% profit for your funds. They are also available for the children to buy from all libraries for £2.
We are also planning a large-scale event later this year, where we will invite all Learning Destinations to showcase their work and/or provide an information display, to which children, young people, parents, schools, other services and the press will be invited. Because of the information we collect, we are able to provide you with data broken down by age, ethnicity, postcode, etc. which may help you with writing applications for funding, etc. This is an extra service so if you are interested, please contact us.

How do we get involved?

Simple! Just download the registration form from www.sheffield.gov.uk/culd and send it back. We'll contact you, take care of the rest, and get you up and running as a Learning Destination in no time. For more information, please visit www.sheffield.gov.uk/cu

Passport to Learning - Get yours now!

Summer is here, and there are lots of fun and exciting activities taking place outside of normal school hours in different places across Sheffield where children and young people can collect learning credits. These credits will be added to the ones children collect in school to earn Children’s University Awards. To collect these credits, they need a Passport to Learning. These cost £2 and will be available to purchase at Sheffield libraries and some Learning Destinations from August 2011.

All children and young people have to do is to ask their parents to sign the consent form inside the CU Passport to give permission for the Learning Destination to pass essential information to Sheffield Children’s University (ourselves).

They can then take the Passport to any of the registered CU Learning Destinations across the city such as museums, libraries and local clubs and take part in their learning activities. Participation will be recorded on a register and the hours will contribute to the Awards Certificates sent to them through school.

Many children across the city are already busy during the summer holidays collecting their credits at various Learning Destinations across the city! To find out where you can collect your credits, please visit http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/cupassporttolearning

If you are part of an organisation who would like to register as a Learning Destination, please visit http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/culd

Firth Park Community Theatre

We met a wonderful group of people last week - members of Firth Park Community Theatre who were rehearsing for their next show 'Olivier'.

Thanks to everyone at Firth Park for being so friendly.

CU Case Studies

We are out and about over the next few weeks visiting various CU activities.

There are some great things going on out there ... film clubs, breakfast clubs, steel drums, and more!

Thanks to everyone who was willing to chat to me and pose for photos.

Below are some pictures from Hinde House's Film Club and Nether Edge Primary's Breakfast Club.

Children's University Awards

Sheffield Hallam University hosted this year's Children's University Secondary Awards ceremony.

Over a hundred children and parents joined us to celebrate their successes over the last 12 months.

Congratulations to everyone!