Celebrating 2014!

The festive season is upon us and the year is drawing to a close, and there is only one thing to do.

Celebrate!

Highlights this year include:

· Over 26,800 children and young people are registered with CU and have collectively gained 1,255,842 credits in total so far. That’s 311,569 hours that children and young people have taken part in during 2014, and nearly 4,500 children and young people who have started collecting CU credits this year.

· We celebrated a very special milestone – since CU began in the city, the children and young people of Sheffield have clocked up over 1 MILLION HOURS of learning in their own time. Follow this link to view our special celebratory video: http://youtu.be/wKZJRpdEYJ8

· Sheffield CU achieved QiSS (Quality in Study Support) Advanced status, the final level of a 3 step award, after a very rigorous external validation process during the summer. We were thrilled to achieve this prestigious accolade which demonstrates that we deliver quality provision that makes a real difference to children and young people. The achievement of the three quality marks evidences excellence in a variety of areas including raising attainment and achievement and engaging learners with a variety of needs.

· There are now 124 Learning Destinations (and counting!) across Sheffield. This now includes Sheffield International Venues who joined in June and accredit all taught lessons across their 9 sites. Other new additions include Awesome Walls, Chapeltown Karate Club, Sheffield Young Carers, Constance Dance Centre, Sheffield Star Mandarin School and Sheffield Sea Cadets. We have also begun a process of re-validation for those providers who have been Learning Destinations for over 3 years.

· During 2014, Sheffield CU have given out nearly 4,500 Bronze Awards, 3,000 Silver Awards and have had a fabulous 1,484 Gold Award winners who have been invited to the Town Hall or Universities to receive their Award.

· There are currently 63 schools subscribed to Sheffield Children’s University. New additions include: Oasis Academy Fir Vale, Oasis Academy Watermead, Greengate Lane, Bankwood, Grenoside, Mosborough, Brunswick, Sacred Heart, Lound Academy, Totley All Saints, St. Mary’s Catholic, Gleadless, Arbourthorne and St Mary’s CE.

· A policy for engagement with Home Educated children and young people has now been developed so they are able to collect credits for their ‘out of school’ activities. We have had the first few families sign up to this scheme and look forward to welcoming lots more!

· Our team has appointed a new apprentice to join the Sheffield CU ranks. Cara Clarke will join us early in the new year and will work alongside Sakina Kingswood inputting data and producing award certificates.

· The Sheffield CU Forest School programme has grown significantly during 2014 with 240 Lydgate Junior school children taking part in 6 weeks of woodland adventures. Our lovely Helen has worked with 120 Y6 children also from Lydgate, each spending a day learning how to cook on a fire in a woodland setting, including a very tasty vegetable stew! The Autumn term saw delivery of 6 sessions to FS2 and Y1 classes at Totley All Saints. Activities included treasure hunts, leaf bingo, bug hunts and cooking pizzas! Early plans are now being drawn up for a Forest School skills sharing session, building on the Forest School project in a box some of our CU schools took part in last year. This session is planned for late Spring/early Summer – details will be provided in the new year.

· This year’s ’project in a box’ a Games Compendium developed in partnership with our friends at Imagination Gaming, has been a fantastic success! 25 boxes were made available exclusively to our CU schools and included everything needed to deliver at least a 6 week programme of out of school gaming sessions. The boxes were snapped up by our schools who will be brought together to take part in special Games Tournaments which will take place at Gleadless Primary School, Malin Bridge Primary School and Chaucer School in the new year.

· There are have over 30 successful applications to the Acorn Fund. This initiative was launched last year and gives each CU school the opportunity to bid for up to £250 of grant funding to create, grow or sustain a CU out of school activity. The application must come from students in school, as the idea is to encourage and empower children and young people to become fully involved in the development of activities in school, as well as interacting with school staff and their peers to survey need, identify gaps and consider sustainability. Clubs funded during the Autumn term include Horticultural Club, Lego Club, Archaeology Club, Puppet Club and Radio Club.

· Free CU LIVE! activities have been taking place during the holidays, with some fabulous activities from Imagination Gaming, Museums Sheffield, The University of Sheffield to name but a few! CU LIVE! will be back next year, and will be coming to a venue near you! This will kick off with a very special Sheffield Science Saturday delivered by our friends at Sheffield Volunteering and the student societies on February 28th in the Winter Garden. More info will be available early in the new year.

· February Freebie will be back and bigger than ever in 2015! There are currently 38 (and counting!) FREE CU activities for children and young people who have a Passport to Learning will be happening across the city during the February half term. Look out for leaflets and posters which will be available early in the New Year! 

And we are sure there will be lots more to celebrate in 2015!

Finally, we want to take this opportunity to say a HUGE thank you to you, along with all our colleagues, schools, Learning Destinations and partners for supporting our work and ensuring the children and young people of our wonderful city are celebrated and rewarded for their achievements.

We hope you enjoy the festive season, have a restful break and look forward to seeing you in the new year.

Merry Christmas!

Katie, Helen O, Helen N and Sakina

The Sheffield CU Team

Looking Past Limits - The CU Conference 2014

A few weeks ago we had a fantastic time attending the international CU Trust conference in Cheshire and 'Looking Past Limits' with our colleagues from local CU's across the country, and now across the world!

The CU Trust and local CU's pose for the annual CU family photo! Can you spot the Sheffield CU team?

We received updates from the central CU team including a first look at the redesigned CU website, and ideas on engagement of specific groups. We also listened to some very inspirational speakers including Kian Savile who despite serious health issues is an active member of his loca CU and Caroline Casey, social entrepreneur and founder of Kanchi who urged us to 'stop with the labels, as we are all extraordinary different and wonderful people'. 

Our colleagues from Austraila CU provide an update on on their development and challenges

Kian Collins, who in spite of serious health issues is an active member of his local CU, talks about the impact CU has had on him and his family.

The fantastic Lynn Upton provides an update from the CU Trust, and outlines the aims of the conference

Caroline Casey, social entrepreneur and founder of Kanchi, the Ability Awards programme gives an inspirational speech encouraging us to celebrate our differences

Professor Mick Waters talks about the child as a learner in the 21st century

It was lovely to catch up with our CU colleagues, make new friends and we look forward to forging stronger links with our international partners in Australia, China and Malaysia. 

A fantastic evening with our colleagues from the CU Trust, Kent CU, York CU, Essex CU and Lambeth CU

Huge thanks to the CU Trust team - Andrea, Penny and Michelle, and Debbie Bird and Lynne Upton for all their hard work. Here's to the next year - we feel there are exciting times ahead!

We were tasked with the best job - thanking the CU Trust for their support, guidance and professionalism throughout the year. We are very glad to have them on our side!

Celebrate! - Our 33rd Gold Award Ceremony

Our third and final Gold Award ceremony of the Autumn term took place on Thursday 20th November with nearly 200 children, parents and carers and school staff invited to the Town Hall to celebrate their achievements.

Children from Oughtibridge Primary School receive their Gold Awards

Children from 12 schools attended along with their parents and carers and were presented with their awards by Assistant Director of Lifelong Learning, Skills and Communities, Dee Desgranges. There was also a marketplace where some of our fantastic Learning Destinations displayed information about their activities and involved parents/carers, children in their demonstrations.

Pupil take centre stage to receive their Award

A special performance by Constance Grant Dance School was very well received by our audience!

During the ceremony, there was a fantastic performance from Constance Grant Dance Centre. There was also a brilliant performance from Sheffield Sea Cadets band who closed the ceremony with a bang!

A very excited pupil looks forward to receiving their award

Children from Watercliffe Meadow receive their Gold Awards

HUGE congratulations to our fantastic award winners, their parents/carers and school staff. We are so very very proud of all of you!

Visit our Facebook page to view all the photos from the event! https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.811474018909575.1073741846.239129216144061&type=1&l=61c791f161

The Sheffield Sea Cadet band give a special performance after only 8 weeks practice!

Celebrate!

It was time to roll out the red carpet again as our 31st Gold Awards Ceremony took place on Wednesday 19th November with nearly 200 children, parents and carers and school staff invited to the Town Hall to celebrate in style.

Children try on University style caps and gowns

Families can purchase a number of CU souvenirs at the ceremony. All funds raised go straight back into providing activities

Very proud parent/carers celebrate their award winners

Children from 13 schools attended along with their parents and carers and were presented with their awards by Jayne Ludlam, Executive Director of Children and Young People and Families, and the Assistant Director of Lifelong Learning, Skills and Communities, Sam Martin. There was also a marketplace where some of our fantastic Learning Destinations displayed information about their activities and involved parents/carers, children in their demonstrations.

During the ceremony, there were some fantastic performances from Razzamataz Theatre School Sheffield. There was also a brilliant performance from Sheffield Sea Cadets band who closed the ceremony with a bang!

Children from Hucklow Primary School receive their awards

Children from Malin Bridge Primary School receive their awards

Sheffield Sea Cadets round off the ceremony will a special performance

HUGE congratulations to our fantastic award winners, their parents/carers and school staff. We are so very very proud of all of you!

Visit our Facebook page to view all the photos from the event! https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.809763685747275.1073741845.239129216144061&type=1&l=76e495727d

The big 3-0 - Our 30th Gold Award ceremony!

Our 30th Gold Awards Ceremony took place on Tuesday 11th November with nearly 200 children, parents and carers and school staff invited to the Town Hall to celebrate in style.

Children from Abbey Lane Primary receive their awards from the Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Councillor Peter Rippon, the Lady Mayoress and Assistant Director of Lifelong Learning Sam Martin

The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress congratulate the award winners

Children from 9 schools attended along with their parents and carers and were presented with their awards by the Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Councillor Peter Rippon, the Lady Mayoress and Assistant Director of Lifelong Learning, Skills and Communities, Sam Martin. There was also a marketplace where some of our fantastic Learning Destinations displayed information about their activities and involved parents/carers, children in their demonstrations.

During the ceremony, there were some fantastic performances from Mia and Lucy from Razzamataz Theatre School Sheffield. There was also a brilliant performance from Sheffield Sea Cadets band who closed the ceremony with a bang!

Children from Carterknowle Junior School receive their awards

Lucy from Razzamataz Theatre School Sheffield gives a fantastic performance

Children from Birley Primary School receive their awards

The Sheffield Sea Cadets band give a fantastic performance to round off the ceremony

The Sheffield Sea Cadets wow the audience with their performance

Members of the team were on hand to encourage the award winners to try one one of our special Sheffield CU caps and gowns, and our CU Souvenirs superstars Sakina and Leah were very busy making sure awards badges were securely fastened to newly purchased CU lanyards!

HUGE congratulations to our fantastic award winners, their parents/carers and school staff. We are so very very proud of all of you! A special thanks too to our spectacular events team - Sakina, Leah and Chris. We couldn't do it without you!

Visit our Facebook page to view all the photos from the event! https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.805393619517615.1073741844.239129216144061&type=1&l=c5f0335f3c

CU LIVE! - Fun in the Winter Garden

We had a fantastic October half term in the Winter Garden, where a number of free CU LIVE! activities took place. For those who don't already know, our CU LIVE! programme aims to provide free fun learning experiences for the family across the city.

Our friends from Imagination Gaming, Sheffield Volunteering and Museums Sheffield provided a number of fantastic activities for all the family to take part in during the week. On Monday, Weston Park Museum were encouraging children and families to think about and draw what they would like to see in Sheffield as part of the 'It’s Our World’ big draw art activity project.

On Tuesday a number of student societies including the Baking society, Science Brainwaves, Singapore Society, Law Society and Unicef showcased some of their activities. Children and young people took the DNA of strawberries, built their own pathogens (e coli, bread mould) out of plasticine and pipe cleaners, decorated biscuits, made chinese lanterns, cut out chinese characters and learnt to use chopsticks.

Wednesday saw Imagination Gaming hosting a gaming session, with children and their families playing a number of board, card and strategy game, including some brand new releases.

Finally on Thursday, Museum Sheffield were back making bats and pumpkin and monster face masks just in time for Halloween!

Children and young people who took part in these activities and brought along with Passport to Learning collected CU credits. There will be more CU LIVE! activities taking place soon - watch this space!

Celebrate!

Last week we worked in partnership with the Outreach at team at the University of Sheffield to host our 29th Gold Award Ceremony at Firth Hall. Over 100 young people from 4 secondary schools, and 77 primary and secondary students who have been collecting credits with their Passport to Learning at Learning Destinations across the city were be invited to receive Gold awards for choosing to take part in over 100 hours of out of school activity.

All ready for the ceremony to begin in Firth Hall.

A proud award winner tries on a Sheffield CU cap and gown

Proud award winners have their photo taken by Tempest Photography

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 also attended the ceremony to receive Gold awards on behalf of students for giving up their time to learn their home language.

There were fantastic speeches from Professor Zoe Ollerenshaw Senior Lecturer and Director of Widening Participation from the University of Sheffield, Sam Martin Assistant Director of Lifelong Learning, Skills and Communities, and Student Union Activities Officer Clio Symington. We also had some spectacular performances from Razzamataz Theatre School, and the Sheffield Sea Cadets

Professor Zoe Ollerenshaw talks to the audience about her uniform of learning

Students from Razzamataz Theatre School perform at the ceremony

Students from Parkwood Academy receive their awards

Children and young people who have been collecting credits in their Passport to Learning receive their awards

Student Union Activities Officer Clio Symington talks about learning beyond the lecture theatre through the Universities socieites

Sheffield Sea Cadets give a fantastic performance at the ceremony

HUGE congratulations to our fantastic award winners, their parents/carers and school staff. We are so very very proud of all of you! A special thanks too to our spectacular events team - Sakina, Leah and Chris. We couldn't do it without you!

Visit our Facebook page to view all the photos from the ceremony: http://goo.gl/5sQobY

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 October 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 or the link on the side of these page 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 2014, children and young people can also use their Passport to Learning to access FREE exciting and interactive learning activities for families called CU LIVE! 

These are taking place in the Winter Gardens Monday to Thursday between 10am and 4pm. Activities will be provided by The University of Sheffield societies, Imagination Gaming and Museums Sheffield.

Evidencing the impact - the Sheffield CU 2013 Participation and Performance Analysis

Any school, or Learning Destination will tell you that being part of CU and being celebrated and rewarded for taking part in out of school activities makes a difference. 

Here in Sheffield, we do lots of work looking at the impact of participation in these activities, through lots of data analysis, but also through case studies and anecdotal evidence collected from schools, providers, parents and the children themselves. With over 26,000 children and young people in Sheffield having over 1,200,000 Children's University credits between them, we have lots of data to work with!  For the first time we are able to publish a complete report which outlines the real difference being part of CU in Sheffield can make.

We are extremely pleased and very proud to share with you the Sheffield Children's University 2013 Participation and Performance Analysis which evidences the impact of out of school learning accredited and celebrated by CU in Sheffield.

This is our most detailed report to date and includes in depth analysis of the impact of participation in CU activities on attainment and attendance, using a variety of measures including progress and Fischer Family Trust estimates. These estimates show both estimated levels and grades for specific subjects as well as the 'chance' or likelihood of achieving a range of results.  Impact of the most vulnerable children and young people in our city is also examined.

And the findings are fantastic! In 2013 at both primary and secondary, Sheffield children and young people involved in CU activities did better than their non CU counterparts and often exceeded their estimates. As they progressed through the CU Award levels, their performance improved, particularly once they had achieved the Gold Award for 100+ hours of participation. These findings are reinforced by previous local impact reports which have been produced in Sheffield on an annual basis since 2009.

This year Sheffield CU were also awarded Quality in Study Support (QiSS) Advanced status, the final level of a 3 step national quality assurance framework that schools and learning organisations can utilise to demonstrate that they deliver quality provision that makes a real difference to children and young people. 

You can find the report by clicking the link above, or the link on the right hand side of this page.

Sheffield Passports to Learning go GLOBAL!

Wow! What a wonderful summer of Passport to Learning activities we've had! Sheffield children and young people have taken their Passports far and wide, to Sea Life Centres, castles, museums, factories, forests, and even marine centres from up and down the country.
We held two competitions over the summer, encouraging Passport to Learning holders from Sheffield to get out there and explore the fascinating, exciting and inspiring learning opportunities across the country and even further afield!

Children and young people were asked to send in a picture of themselves with their Passport to Learning at a Learning Destination BEYOND Sheffield.  We had a brilliant response and after some very difficult judging, we are proud to announce the winner!

Libby and her Passport to Learning at the Yorkshire Museum, York


Libby sent us this great picture of her at the Yorkshire Museum in York!  She said she learnt about the Romans, dinosaurs and 'the old days' on her visit, and the best part was holding an owl!  Well done Libby!  A special Sheffield CU goody bag will be winging its way to you!

Our second competition asked for photos of Passports which had been taken to Learning Destinations and the winner would be for the Passport which had travelled the furthest.  We had many entries from children who had visited Learning Destinations in London, York, Hull, Doncaster, Cheshire, Derbyshire, and the list goes on...

However, the outright winner of the competition was (drumroll please!)...

Max in his taekwondo uniform in AUSTRALIA!

...Max!  He visited Australia where he took park in a taekwondo training session on the beach with his Learning Destination - Yong Gi Tae Kwon Do.  We're certain this was the furthest from our office in Sheffield!  Max said 'I completed an hour of taekwondo, practising my patterns and learning my new green belt pattern for my next grading.  The best thing was doing taekwondo in a different country and learning new steps'.  Well done Max - a CU goody bag is on it's way to you too.

Well done to all our children and young people for collecting so many credits at Learning Destinations throughout the summer.  Well done to all the parents, carers and families who made the extra effort to visit exciting learning activities outside of Sheffield   We hope you had a great time.

DON'T FORGET: If you visit a Learning Detsination outside of Sheffield, you MUST complete and return a Diary Sheet (www.sheffield.gov.uk/cu) so we can award your credits.

To find details of Learning Destinations beyond Sheffield, please visit www.childrensuniversity.co.uk/maps to search for your next adventure.

Millie's Passport Adventures!

Our lovely Millie has been out and about with her Passport to Learning all summer and has been having lots of fun collecting CU credits both in and outside of Sheffield!

She has met the Gruffalo in both Sherwood AND Dalby Forest, had fun pond dipping and taking part in a barefoot walk at Conkers, been on a bear hunt at the Botanical Gardens, met Victor the polar bear, the newest addition to Yorkshire Wildlife Park and travelled to London to meet the Queen (although unfortunately she was on holiday!). She will soon receive a Bronze Award for all the hours she has collected, and we can't wait to celebrate her achievements!

To all those fantastic children and young people who have been sending in photos for our summer competitions showing the credits they have gained both in and outside of Sheffield, just like Millie - thank you! The closing date is for submission is Monday 1st September, so please ensure you send any photos in over the weekend to be in with a chance of winning some CU goodies. Stay tuned for all the entries which will be posted here soon!