Celebrating 2015!

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 32,300 children and young people are registered with CU in Sheffield and have collectively gained 1,608,4422 credits in total so far. That’s 352,580 hours that children and young people have taken part in during 2015, and over 5,500 children and young people who have started collecting CU credits this year.

• There are now 166 Learning Destinations (and counting!) across Sheffield. This year, to our family of Learning Destinations, we have added @The Academy, Active Kids (University of Sheffield), Alegira Arts, Amore Spanish Club, Castle Martial Arts, Chapeltown Pool, Charnock Ridgeway Junior Football Club, City Limits Dance Centre, Creative Explorers, Excel Dance & Martial Arts, Explore Learning – Hillsborough, Great Escape Game – Sheffield, Hallamshire Academy of Tennis, Handsworth Grange Sports Centre, Harmony Music School, High Green Gymnastics, Japanese Play and Study Group, Kip McGrath Education Centres (North and Central Sheffield), Longshaw Estate (National Trust), Makenki Karate Club, Noodle Performance Arts, Oakes Holiday Centre, Play in Dore, Pauline Quirke Academy (Sheffield), Red Karate, Se Habla Espanol, Sheffield Cathedral Heritage activities, Sheffield Fellowship – New Arrivals Programme, SHINE Health Academy, Stagecoach Sheffield Beighton, Star Strikers FCA, Underbank Activity Centre, Yorkshire Karate Centre, and a huge number of Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Rainbows, Brownies and Guides!

• During 2015, Sheffield CU have given out nearly 6,000 Bronze Awards, 4,000 Silver Awards and have had a fabulous 1,704 Gold Award winners who have been invited to the Town Hall or Universities to receive their Award. 

• There are currently 68 schools subscribed to Sheffield Children’s University. New additions include: Windmill Hill Primary, Ballifield Primary, Norfolk Community Primary, Shooter’s Grove Primary and Sheffield Inclusion Centre.

• During November, we invited children and young people to wear a Sheffield CU cap and gown throughout our award ceremony for the first time. We wouldn't have been able to introduce this fantastic opportunity to our award winners without the support of the Sheffield Hallam University Outreach team who very kindly sponsored the gowns to allow us to purchase enough for all our award winners. We have been collecting feedback on this development and the response had been overwhelming positive! We look forward to inviting more children and young people to have this experience at our ceremonies in the new year.

• We're thrilled to be working with Herd of Sheffield and Sheffield Children's Hospital and Charity not only to have our very own elephant as part of the 'Little Herd' but also to develop an exciting activity to coincide with the trail of elephants appearing across the city next summer. Of course children with a Passport to Learning will be able to collect CU credits for taking part! Keep your eyes peeled for more info in the new year!

• We have been overwhelmed by the incredible support for our work across the city. From schools, families and children and young people to Learning Destinations, fellow Council Services, the Universities, and other partners, we are so happy to hear how proud you are to be part of CU in Sheffield. Don't just take our word for it, here's Councillor Jackie Drayton, Cabinet member for Children, Young People and Families at Sheffield City Council talking about the real difference being part of CU in Sheffield can make: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap9idsIG7CQ

• The Sheffield CU Forest School programme has grown significantly during 2015. Our lovely Helen has worked with 120 Y6 children also from Lydgate Junior School in the summer, each spending a day learning how to cook on a fire in a woodland setting, including a very tasty vegetable stew! Helen also delivered a number of days with Emmaus CE/RC Primary foundation Stage both at Manor Lodge and Norfolk Park. In the Autumn Term, Helen ‘branched out’(sorry!) and worked with staff and Y6 pupils from St Bede’s RC Primary in Rotherham. She delivered a session with the pupils and two twilight training sessions with the staff team, supporting them to develop their outdoor area and Forest School-type activities in school curriculum.

• This year’s ’project in a box’ a Samba Box developed in partnership with our friends at Sheffield Music Hub, has been a fantastic success! 40 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 music and samba sessions. This project engages more schools than ever before, and the boxes were very well received by school staff at a special twilight session back in November. All schools will be brought together at a special samba event, which hopefully will link with the Rio Olympics and provide students with a fab opportunity to play with a professional samba band!

• During November, there were 23 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 Grow Your Own Cooking Club, Stop Motion Animation Club, Raspberry Pi Club, Lego Club and Sewing 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 Student Union volunteering 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 20th in the Winter Garden. More info will be available early in the new year. 

• Our team are hoping to appoint a new apprentice to join the Sheffield CU team in the new year. This role will work alongside Sakina Kingswood inputting data and producing award certificates.

• February Freebie will be back and bigger than ever in 2016! There are currently over 40 (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 2016!

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, Sakina, Helen N and Cara
The Sheffield CU Team

Sheffield CU - a degree in FUN!

Wondering why you and your child should be members of CU in Sheffield? Because you'll earn a degree in FUN!

Don't just take our word for it, here's Councillor Jackie Drayton, Cabinet member for Children, Young People and Families at Sheffield City Council talking about the real difference being part of CU in Sheffield can make.

If your child is not already part of CU in Sheffield, it’s easy to get involved! Check to see if your school is signed up by asking school staff. To collect credits away from school, just pick up a Passport for £2 from Sheffield libraries. Your child can use their Passport at any validated Learning Destination across the city to collect one credit per hour, and earn CU awards, some of which are presented at special citywide award ceremonies.

For more details visit:

Website: http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/cu
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sheffieldcu
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/sheffieldcu

Your voice is heard...

We just wanted to say a BIG thank you to all those who filled out our evaluation forms at the recent awards ceremonies. We always read each and every one, and take all comments on board. Sometimes its not possible, or difficult for us to address some of the issues raised, but we always work really hard to make changes based on feedback received to ensure our ceremonies are the best they can be!

As Sheffield CU has grown significantly and we now have more award winners than ever before, we are working with our schools and Learning Destinations this year to review our current ceremony structure and find ways in which we can try to address some of the challenges identified by us, and you! As a small team, we do need to try and balance our capacity with the number of ceremonies we have, but we are absolutely 100% committed to providing a fantastic experience for all our gold award winners. We will keep you up to date with any changes both here and on our blog, which will take time to implement, but in the meantime, thank you for your support and keep talking to us!

Celebrate - our final Gold ceremony of 2015!

This week saw the last of our three fantastic Gold Award ceremonies being held at the Town Hall. Over 200 children, parents and carers and school staff came along to the to celebrate their achievements for the final time in 2015!

A very proud parent/carer with their award winner

A very proud parent/carer with their award winner

Again this ceremony provided the opportunity for children to wear their Sheffield CU caps and gowns throughout the ceremony to receive their awards for the first time. This was made possible by the support of the Sheffield Hallam University Outreach team who very kindly sponsored the gowns to allow us to purchase enough for all our award winners.

Children help each other get ready in their special Sheffield CU caps and gowns

Children from 13 schools attended along with their parents and carers and were presented with their awards by the Lord Mayor, Councillor Talib Hussain ,Councillor Jackie Drayton, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families and Carol Castle from Sheffield Hallam University.

Children from Oughtibridge Primary receive their awards from the Lord Mayor, Councillor Drayton and Carol Castle from Sheffield Hallam University

Children from Stradbroke Primary receive their awards

During the ceremony, there were fantastic performances from Hype Dance and Constance Grant Dance, some of our brilliant Learning Destinations.

Constance Grant perform a Where's Wally inspired dance!

Students from Hype Dance showcase their street dancing!

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! Sheffield CU Facebook

Celebrate - our 42nd Gold Award Ceremony!

We had another fantastic opportunity to do what we do best last week, celebrate! We hosted the second of our autumn Gold Award ceremonies and welcomed 200 children, parents and carers and school staff to the Town Hall to celebrate their achievements.

Some of our fantastic award winners in their Sheffield CU caps and gowns

Some very proud award winners in their Sheffield CU caps and gowns

Again this ceremony provided the opportunity for children to wear their Sheffield CU caps and gowns throughout the ceremony to receive their awards for the first time. This was made possible by the support of the Sheffield Hallam University Outreach team who very kindly sponsored the gowns to allow us to purchase enough for all our award winners. It was fantastic to see so many children looking so smart and proud, and its provided some brilliant photos!

A very proud parent with their award winner

Some very proud parents with their award winner

Children from 13 schools attended along with their parents and carers and were presented with their awards by the Deputy Lord Mayor, Councillor Denise Fox, Sam Martin, Assistant Director of Lifelong Learning, Skills and Communities and Jenny Lawton-Hunt from Sheffield Hallam University.

Children from Mansel Primary receive their awards

Children from Greenhill Primary receive their awards

Children from Hucklow Primary receive their awards

During the ceremony, there were fantastic performances from  Hype Dance and Stagecoach Theatre School, some of our brilliant Learning Destinations.

Students from Stagecoach Theatre School round off the ceremony with a fantastic 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! Sheffield CU Facebook page

Celebrate - Our 41st Gold Awards ceremony!

It was time to roll out the red carpet and celebrate again this week as we hosted the first of our Autumn Gold Award Ceremonies and welcomed 200 children, parents and carers and school staff to the Town Hall to celebrate taking part in over 100 hours of learning in their own time.

Children from Angram Bank Primary School receive their awards

This ceremony was a little special as it was the first time children were invited to wear their Sheffield CU cap and gown throughout the ceremony to receive their awards. We have been collecting feedback about this development for a while and the response has been overwhelming positive!

We wouldn't be able to introduce this fantastic opportunity to our award winners without the support of the Sheffield Hallam University Outreach team who have very kindly sponsored the gowns to allow us to purchase enough for all our award winners!

Some very proud parent/carers with their award winner

Some of our fantastic Gold Award winners find their names in the programme!

Children from 12 schools attended along with their parents and carers and were presented with their awards by the Lord Mayor, Councillor Talib Hussain, Dee Desgranges, Assistant Director of Lifelong Learning, Skills and Communities, Councillor Anne Murphy and Peggy Cooke from Sheffield Hallam University.

Children from Concord Junior School receive their awards

During the ceremony, there was a fantastic performance from Hype Dance, one of our brilliant Learning Destinations as well as some student speakers from Brunswick Community Primary School who spoke about their out of school activities and being a member of Sheffield CU.

Pupils from Hype Dance perform at the ceremony

Students from Brunswick Community Primary School talk about their CU activities

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: Sheffield CU Facebook

Celebrate - Our 40th Gold Award Ceremony!

On the 14th October we worked in partnership with the Outreach at team at the University of Sheffield to host our 40th Gold Award Ceremony at Firth Hall, and it was our BIGGEST one yet! Over 200 young people from 4 secondary schools, and 89 primary and secondary students who have been collecting credits with their Passport to Learning at Learning Destinations across the city were invited to receive Gold awards for choosing to take part in over 100 hours of out of school activity.

Concord All Stars start the ceremony off with a real bang creating fantastic music using only dustbins!

The audience celebrate our award winners with a big round of applause!

Students from Firth Park Academy receive their Gold awards

There were fantastic speeches from Professor Zoe Ollerenshaw Senior Lecturer from the University of Sheffield, Sam Martin Assistant Director of Lifelong Learning, Skills and Communities, and Student Union Activities Officer Annie Gainsborough. We also had some spectacular performances from Concord All Stars, Sheffield Music Hub's Senior Flute Choir, and Sheffield Sea Cadets.

Sheffield Music Hub's Flute Choir perform to a full house at Firth Hall!

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

We also made a very special presentation to two of our fantastic award winners, who both managed to clock up a staggering 1000 hours of out of school activities to earn them our top award, the Gold Fellowship. Both students were presented with their CU certificates, and a special gift from the University of Sheffield.

Our Gold Fellowship award winners who have both taken part in 1000 hours of out of school activities

Students from Yewlands Academy receive their Gold awards

Sheffield Sea Cadets round off the ceremony with a brilliant performance

HUGE congratulations to our fantastic award winners, their parents/carers and school staff. We are so very very proud of all of you! A very special thanks to the University of Sheffield for hosting the event and to the Student Ambassadors who provided invaluable support during the ceremony.
Visit our Facebook page to view all the photos from the ceremony: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.978892965501012.1073741854.239129216144061&type=1&l=97a0706a3a

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 October 2015, there will be a number of FREE CU LIVE! activities as part of the Off the Shelf Festival taking place in the Winter Garden. Please see the newsletter for more details!

Knit one, pearl one...

One of our fantastic CU schools have been looking beyond the classroom into their neighbourhood for their latest CU activity. Gleadless Primary School have been working with their local community centre to deliver a knitting club to their children.

Children from Gleadless Primary School show off their knitted creations!

Members of the community centre were eager to pass on their expertise to children, so pupils and staff visit the centre each week to take part in their craft afternoon and learn some fantastic new skills as well as collect CU credits!

Organised by Mrs Rhodes in the junior office who liased with the community centre, the club has been very popular with both children, and staff! Catherine Udall, School Business Manager commented 'It's a lovely club and the members of the community centre are even trying to teach me how to knit too!'

Evidencing the impact - the Sheffield CU 2014 Participation and Performance Analysis

Did you know there are currently 30,662 children and young people in Sheffield with Children’s University (CU) credits? They have collectively clocked up nearly 1.5 million hours of learning in their own time. Also, 14,000 children and young people have a CU Passport to Learning which enables them to collect credits at validated ‘Learning Destinations’ (approved activity providers) across the city.

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 evidence collected from schools, providers, parents and the children themselves. With over 30,000 children and young people in our city with CU credits, we have a lot of information to work with!

We are very pleased and proud to share with you the 2014 Sheffield Children’s University Participation and Performance Analysis report which provides detailed evidence of the impact of Children’s University in Sheffield.

This builds on our previous reports and includes in-depth analysis of the impact of participation in CU activities on attainment and attendance using FFT estimates, and progress measures. It also includes anecdotal evidence of impact through a number of case studies from both schools involved with CU and Learning Destinations.

Impact on Pupil Premium, SEN and the most deprived (IDACI) children and young people in the city is also examined along with progression routes for post 16 students, which is included for the first time.

And the findings are fantastic! In 2014 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.

So what are you waiting for? If your child is not already part of CU in Sheffield, it’s easy to get involved! Check to see if your school is signed up by asking school staff. To collect credits away from school, just pick up a Passport for £2 from Sheffield libraries. Your child can use their Passport at any validated Learning Destination across the city to collect one credit per hour, and earn CU awards, some of which are presented at special citywide award ceremonies.

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

1.5 MILLION HOURS!

Well we are certainly starting the new academic year off with a BANG! We have done a quick count up this morning, and the children and young people of Sheffield have now collectively taken part in 1.5 MILLION HOURS of learning in their own time! That's 62,500 days, 8,929 weeks or 171 YEARS!

Since CU began in Sheffield, 30,898 children and young people have taken part in a wide range of exciting and fun learning activities out of school time and every single hour as been recorded, awarded and celebrated by Sheffield CU. What an amazing way to end the first week of term! 

Here's to a fantastic 2015/16!

CU Festival of Fun - tell us what you think!

Our first ever CU Festival of Fun was a great success!  Loads of you took part in the FREE activities on offer right across Sheffield and we've already received some brilliant photos from our Learning Destinations.










But we want to hear from you, the families that took part!











From chicken keeping at Heeley City Farm, to rugby with RuggerEds in Endcliffe Park, from detective work at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet to singing, dancing and drama with a range of other Learning Destinations (and of course, lots, lots more!), thousands of CU credits were earned through your Passports to Learning.

 

We want to know what you thought about the activities and where and when they took place.  So PLEASE take just 5 minutes to complete our online survey.  All the feedback will be used to make recommendations for future events like the CU Festival of Fun - but they wont happen without your feedback.  There is a CU goody bag on offer for one lucky respondent who is chosen at random.

To take part in the survey, please click here: CU FESTIVAL OF FUN SURVEY

We'd like to say a huge 'thank you' to everyone who supported CU Festival of Fun in any way, but most importantly to everyone who took part, had fun, and learned lots along the way!

The summer isn't over yet though - there are still plenty of activities happening all over Sheffield and beyond where you can collect CU credits.  Download our Passport Activity Newsletter by clicking on the image to the right of this page, and visit our list of Learning Destinations on our website: www.sheffield.gov.uk/cu

The benefits of Sheffield CU...

Being part of Children's University in Sheffield isn't just about collecting credits - there are LOTS of benefits for the children and families who take part. Sheffield CU can make a real difference, and here's why!

To find out more about CU in Sheffield, visit our website www.sheffield.gov.uk/cu

Still time to book FREE CU Festival of Fun activities...but be quick!

Our providers have been really busy this week delivering their fantastic activities across the city - everything from researching and presenting information about Sheffield's communities, historical detective work, Frozen-inspired singing and dancing, finding out how the brain plays tricks on you, to football, rugby and netball, circus skills and even finding out how a museum curator presents those artefacts for us all to see - all in 4 days phew! 




 





But the fun doesn't stop there!

There are still plenty of FREE activities to try, so download the CU Festival of Fun programme on the right, and get planning your next 10 days now.

There are still some places left on the following activities but be quick...they wont be available for much longer...

RAZZAMATAZ: Greenhill Library, Saturday 25th July
1.00pm-2.00pm (4-7 years) Frozen-inspired dance, singing and drama workshop
2.00pm-3.00pm (8-12 years) Pop and street dance workshop

RAZZAMATAZ: Crystal Peaks Library: Crystal Peaks Library, Monday 27th July
10.30am-11.30am (4-7 years) Frozen-inspired dance, singing and drama workshop
11.30am-12.30pm (8-12 years) Pop and street dance workshop

CONTACT: 07979 189177 to book a place now!





ACADEMY OF SELF DEFENCE: Woodseats Library, Wednesday 29th July
1.00pm-2.00pm (6 yrs+) Intro to Ju Jitsu
(no experience required)

ACADEMY OF SELF DEFENCE: Stocksbridge Library: Thursday 30th July
2.00pm-3.00pm (6 yrs+) Intro to Ju Jitsu
(no experience required)

CONTACT: 07738 909125 to book
a place now!

SHEFFIELD & ROTHERHAM
WILDLIFE TRUST:
Nature Near You @ Carbrook Ravine - activities in the great outdoors
Monday 27th July
10.30am-12.30pm (4-17 years)
CONTACT: c.smith@wildsheffield.com or phone 0114 263 4335 to book a place now!







PYJAMA DRAMA: CENTRAL CHILDREN'S LIBRARY, Satuday 1st August
10.00am-11.00am (4-7 years) The Tiger who invited me for tea
11.00am-12.00pm (5-7 years) The Dancing Dragon

CONTACT: 07787 111053 to book a place now!

CU Festival of Fun Spotlight on...

...Outdoors and Nature

If you enjoy the great outdoors, spending time in woodlands and parks and working with nature and animals, then the CU Festival of Fun 2015 is for you! 

Wincobank Hill

Spend time as a family in a fantastic ancient woodland, learning new skills, crafts and cooking on a fire.  Wincobank Hill is the setting and Penny Rea will lead you through your day of woodland fun!

Find their activities on Wincobank Hill (meeting at Wincobank Chapel) on the following date...

Tuesday 28th July, 10.00am - 3.00pm.  Fun for children aged 3+ and their families.  Contact Penny on 07980 143 776 to book your places and to receive more information. 

 

 

Or Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust are running a Nature Near You session at Carbrook Ravine (near Woodthorpe), exploring the ravine and beautiful wildflower meadow.  Join them to explore this area which used to be a huge deer park for the gentry of Sheffield.

Fun at Carbrook Ravine

Find the Wildlife Trust at Carbrook Ravine on the following date...

Monday 27th July, 10.30am - 12.30pm.

Contact them on c.smith@wildsheffield.com or by phoning 0114 263 4335 to book your place.

Fancy keeping chickens?  Many people do nowadays, so pop along to the Chicken Keeping Course run by Heeley City Farm to discover what’s involved.  You’ll learn everything from housing them in a safe, clean environment, feeding them healthy food, and making sure they’re happy. 

Chicken Keeping course at Heeley City Farm

 The chickens will be waiting for you on the following date...

Wednesday 29th July, 10.30am-1.30pm.

To book your place, contact them on 0114 258 0482 option 2.

For details of these and all the activities as part of CU Festival of Fun, please download the programme to the right.

CU Festival of Fun Spotlight on...

...Gaming

Our friends Imagination Gaming are back with their fantastic workshops under their motto – Learn to Play, Play to Learn.  They helped launch our CU Festival of Fun last Saturday with a day full of their brilliant games and now we're sending them out 'on tour' to a library near you!

The guys bring along an amazing range of board games, card games and strategy games which are sourced from all over the world!  We guarantee there’ll be at least one you’ve never seen before! 

Sessions are designed to be relaxed, social, friendly and for individuals and families too.

Gaming fun with Imagination Gaming

The Imagination Gaming sessions are simply drop-in so no need to book, and they’re happening all over the city during the CU Festival of Fun.  Make sure you pop along to at least one of them!

Find them on the following dates...
Friday 24th July, 10.00am-1.30pm, Ecclesfield Library
                              2.30pm-5.00pm, Parson Cross Library

Thursday 30th July, 10.00am-1.00pm, Frecheville Library
                                    2.00pm-5.00pm, Chapeltown Library

Contact them on 07957 449 572 for more information.  No booking required - just turn up!  Suitable for children aged 5+, young people and families too!



For details of these and all the activities as part of CU Festival of Fun, please download the programme to the right.