CU LIVE! - Imagination Gaming

Thanks to the Imagination Gaming Team, who provided lots of fun and educational modern board and card games for families to try out in the Winter Gardens on Wednesday this week. Over a hundred people aged from 3 to 75 years, came to try their hand at games which develop thinking skills, numeracy, literacy and hand eye co-ordination.

There were some brand new games which Nigel from Imagination Gaming had discovered at a recent International Games Festival in Essen, Germany, which went down really well with all ages!

CU LIVE! in the Winter Gardens

 

Many thanks to the student volunteers from Sheffield University who put on a series of exciting activities as part of CU LIVE! this week. Over 150 children visited on Monday and Tuesday and had lots of fun decorating biscuits with smiley and scary faces

 

                                                    Extracting DNA from strawberries

                                       Learning about teeth and making them out of play dough

                   Trying on an interactive body tunic and learning about our internal organs

 

                         And making paper buildings and placing them on a map of Sheffield and creating the face of a judge on a paper plate.

 

A special thankyou from CU to Amy Jones and Meredyth Hayler from Sheffield University.

Young achievers celebrate their success!



Sheffield CU Passport to Learning children and young people receive their awards 

It was time to celebrate at the University of Sheffield this autumn as we held our 6th secondary awards ceremony at Firth Hall. Over 100 young people from 6 secondary schools, and 50 students who have been collecting credits with their Passport to Learning at Learning Destinations across the city were invited along to receive their Children's University awards.

A fantastic performance by Razzamataz Theatre School

The glittering celebration, hosted by the University's Outreach Team, honoured young people who have dedicated more than 100 hours to out of school learning activities in and around school and also at community and citywide Learning Destinations using their Passport to Learning.

 

One of our award winners tries on our new Sheffield CU caps and gowns!





A student from Forge Valley receives her award

The Chaucer Bezzies!

Firth Park stuents receve their awards

Students from Chaucer School receive their Awards

Jane O'Brien from Languages Sheffield speaks about the HoLA project 

 Sheffield CU also works in partnership with Languages Sheffield to ensure students who give up their time to learn their home language are celebrated and rewarded through the HoLA (Home Language Accreditation) project. Representatives from each of the language schools involved will also attended the ceremony to receive Gold awards on behalf of students for giving up their time to learn their home language.

Representatives from Sheffield Star Mandarin School receive their award

Huge thanks to the University of Sheffield for all their help and support. And a massive congratulations to all our award winners!

CU LIVE! - Chess fun at Fir Vale

 

Twenty five children and many parents joined the successful CU LIVE chess event at Firvale School. Andrew Ledger (International Chess Master) and Alan Potts (Hallam University) led the session. A junior chess champion, Sam Cobbold (Silverdale School), was also present to give advice,  having just returned from playing in the junior England squad in Romania. Andrew and Sam provided an impressive simultaneous chess display by playing twenty games of chess at the same time, with all the children attending.

 

The Chess Master Class covered the following topics:

• Middle game tactical themes e.g. 2 move checkmates
• Checkmating with a queen or a rook - and avoiding stalemate
• Pawn break-throughs

 

Children even took home a booklet of notes to help them improve their game.

 

One parent emailed CU to say:

“I just wanted to say thank you to all the people who were involved in the chess master class at Fir Vale School. I thought it was well organised, fun and the kids learnt new skills. Please pass my thanks on to all involved.  We look forward to the next one!”

 

 

Many thanks to Jeremy Hamm, Sakina Kingswood, Rashida Hassanali, Farshad Ali, Alan Potts, Sam Cobbold, Andrew Ledger, Phil Nichols, Richard Steele, Firvale School and all our volunteers for making this event possible.

 

Planning your October Half Term Fun?

There are some spooky happenings all across Sheffield this October half term - have you planned your holiday fun yet?

 

 

 

The Autumn Children's University Passport to Learning newsletter which includes details of activities across Sheffield happening during the October half term is now available! Click HERE to start planning now!

 

Children and young people who take along a Passport to Learning will be able to earn additional CU credits at these activities. There's also a list and contact details of our validated Learning Destinations.

 During the October 2013, children and young people can also use their Passport to Learning to access new, FREE exciting and interactive learning activities for families called CU LIVE! These are taking place in the Winter Gardens everyday between 10am and 4pm. There is also a special free Chess Master Class happening at Fir Vale School on Saturday 19^th October between 1pm and 4pm. You can find leaflets about these events in any local library, or at school.

Autumn fun in the Botanical Gardens!

We are very excited to welcome our newest Learning Destination -
Sheffield Botanical Gardens!

 

 

From October 2013, you can have lots of fun taking part in two terrific trails and an Autumn Scavenger Hunt AND you collect CU credits using your Passport to Learning as well! 

The trails and hunt will be available from The Little Nature Shop at the Clarkehouse entrance to the Botanical Gardens daily from 10.00am-4.00pm and are suitable for children aged 4-7 and 8-10. And they only cost 20p each!

The Autumn Scavenger hunt involves collecting fallen leaves and fruits and nuts (bag and gloves provided). All the activities take an hour earning you one CU credit so wrap up warmly and wear waterproof shoes as you will need to walk on the grass!

There are also plenty of drawing and colouring opportunities on the trails so don’t forget to bring your pencils!

CU LIVE! is back!

Are you looking for things to do in the October half term holidays?

CU LIVE! is back and better than ever! During the holidays, you can use your Passport to Learning to access even more free CU LIVE! activities. If you don't yet have a Passport to Learning, don't worry! You can buy one at a local library for £2 and use it to collect credits at all our Learning Destinations.

Fun in the Winter Garden with Imagination Gaming

See below for details of the activities happening.

Date	CU LIVE! activity	Place	Time	Who is it for
Monday 28th October	Sheffield University   Meet Professor Fluffy and try science and craft activities	Winter Gardens	10am – 4pm	All ages No need to pre-book
Tuesday 29th October	Sheffield University   Meet Professor Fluffy and try science and craft activities	Winter Gardens	10am – 4pm	All ages No need to pre-book
Wednesday 30th October	Imagination Gaming ‘The power of play – Why Games work’	Winter Gardens	10am – 4pm	All ages No need to pre-book
Thursday 31st October	Museum Discovery boxes   Learn about spooky Halloween animals – related arts and crafts	Winter Gardens	10am – 4pm	All ages No need to pre-book
Friday 1st November	Museum Discovery boxes   World ceremonies – related arts and crafts	Winter Gardens	10am – 4pm	All ages No need to pre-book

 

On Saturday 19^th October, we are also hosting an extra special FREE chess master class at Fir Vale School.  Do you know any aspiring players or of a chess club who would like some extra tuition? Please pass this information along and encourage them to come along for a chance to learn from two of the best players in Sheffield! Details are below, booking is essential, and will operate on a first come first served basis.

CU LIVE! Chess Master Class

Improve your chess-playing skills with interactive tuition from two of Sheffield's best players!

Saturday 19th October, 1 - 4pm
Fir Vale School Dining Hall
Suitable for 8 - 14 year olds. Please book early as places are limited.
This is a FREE event. Refreshments will be made available but lunch is not provided.
Please note: to take part children must already understand the rules of chess.
To book a place email cu@sheffield.gov.uk or phone the CU office on 0114 203 9134.

Hats off to a new school year!

We have had a very exciting delivery at Sheffield CU HQ today - brand new graduation style caps, gowns and sashes! Well, we are a University after all...

Our Helen just couldn't resist trying one on!

This academic year children and young people who are invited to attend one of our award ceremonies will be given the opporunity to have a professional photograph taken with their certificate in a special Sheffield CU graduation style cap and gown. Tempest Photography will be attending each of our award ceremonies from now on, offering all award winners a free photo-shoot and the opportunity to order prints directly with Tempest following the event.

After a long period of collecting feedback from both parents/carers and children and young people, it was obvious that whilst some children and young people would love the opportunity to wear a graduation style cap and gown to receive their certificate, some children and young people were happier being able dress in their own clothes.

As a result, we felt we wanted all children and young people to have the opportunity to celebrate their fantastic achievements and feel special, but in a way in which they feel most comfortable. We hope all our award winners will give the caps and gowns a try, and of course we will continue to collect feedback on this development.

We look forward to seeing you in your caps and gowns at an awards ceremony soon!