Celebrating 2016!

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 36,420 children and young people are registered with CU in Sheffield and have collectively gained 1,990,813 credits in total so far. That’s 382,496 hours that children and young people have taken part in during 2016, and over 4,000 children and young people who have started collecting CU credits just this year.

• There are now 195 Learning Destinations (and counting!) across Sheffield. This year, to our family of Learning Destinations, we have added 49 new Learning Destinations including 1st Blackamoor Brownies, 2nd Beighton Rainbows, 129th Sheffield Rainbows, 172nd (St Peter's) Greenhill Brownies, 183rd Sheffield Brownies, AG Sports Coaching Group, Amanda Holland School of Dance, Arches School Sports Partnership, Blast Off - a launch to success, Curtain Call Performance Group, Dancemasters, Discovery STEM Education, Ecclesfield Red Rose JFC, Enjunior, Graves Health & Sports Centre, Grow Theatre, Hallam Cricket Club, Humm Music Productions, Jay Love School of Dance, Just Dance Studios Ltd, Middlewood Rovers JFC, Norfolk Park Tenants and Residents Association, Oakbrook Junior Badminton Club, Parson Cross Initiative, PerformiX, Russian Club OK, Sarah Villeneau Ceramics, Sheaf Scouts Swimming & Lifesaving Club, Sheffield Diving, Sheffield Ju Jitsu Academy, Sheffield Wildcats Roller Hockey Club, Speaque, State of Mind Karate and Kickboxing, Steel City Aikido Junior Club, Steel City Stars, Stepz Dance Academy, SwimRayz, Ta-Dah Dance & Princess Party Palace, The FA Skills, The Foundry Climbing Centre, The Old School Café, The University of Sheffield - faculties of science and engineering, Thorncliffe Bowling Club, Thorncliffe Health & Leisure Centre, Westfield Junior Badminton Club, Whirlow Hall Farm, Why Weight, Woodhouse Juniors FC (Under 7s) and Yorkshire Artspace! Phew!

• There are currently 68 schools subscribed to Sheffield Children’s University. New additions include: Beighton Nursery Infant School, Stannington Nursery Infant School, Limpsfield Junior School, St Thomas More Catholic Primary and Oasis Academy Don Valley

• During 2016, Sheffield CU have given out nearly 6,000 Bronze Awards, 4,000 Silver Awards and have had a fabulous 2,161 Gold Award winners who have been invited to attend one of our fantastic award ceremonies at the Town Hall, University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University and City Hall. That’s a 26% increase in Gold Award winners when compared to last year!

• We hosted our 50th Gold Award Ceremony at the prestigious Diamond Building, a brand new state of the art facility that is part of the University of Sheffield. We were very excited to celebrate this important milestone at such an amazing venue in partnership with the UOS Outreach Team and to look back at all the fantastic ceremonies we have hosted over 8 years at Sheffield CU. Our first ceremony in 2009 had 70 children from 5 schools, and now, we have over 2000 children and young people attending 10 ceremonies per year! 

• Due to increasing numbers of award winners, our award ceremony structure began to change during 2016 and we were thrilled to work in partnership with Sheffield Hallam University Outreach Team and Sheffield International Venues to host our primary award ceremonies in the Pennine Lecture Theatre at the University and Ballroom in the City Hall for the first time. These changes were very well received by the schools and families who attended, and we hope to expand on this next year. We also did our first ‘Mannequin Challenge’ with over 400 children and families at the City Hall this November. You can find the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N9v9tBwJUg

• We appointed our first CU Patron, Chris Brailsford! Chris comes from the Parson Cross area of Sheffield and is keen to share this story of ‘learning in his own time’, just like all our CU members. Chris has worked as a teacher and in the Council Housing Department, but later on in life, he decided to do an evening course in drama, and this extra learning led him to his other passion, acting! Whilst Chris is keen to remind people that he is no ‘Hollywood superstar’, he has appeared on popular TV shows and in films but also on our very own Crucible stage too!

• The Sheffield CU Forest School programme has grown significantly again during 2016. Our lovely Helen has been ‘branching’ out (sorry!) and has worked with Anston Hillcrest and Rosehill Junior School in Rotherham, delivering sessions that focused on the Hunger Games series. Back here in Sheffield, she has delivered general Forest School sessions with Foundation Stage at Athelstan and Emmaus, been cooking on the campfire with Lydgate Junior School and worked with Beighton NI to develop their Forest School provision. We have also worked in partnership with one of our fantastic Learning Destinations who have plans to deliver sessions in Waterthorpe and Walkley.

• This year’s ’project in a box’, a gardening box developed in partnership with our friends at Heeley City Farm has been very well received and 30 of our lucky CU schools will be starting or developing their own out of school gardening clubs using a fantastic set of equipment and resources supplied. All schools will be brought together at a special end event which will be focused on horticulture and growing your own produce!

• Building on the success of last year’s fantastic Samba project, we are working in partnership with Sheffield Music Hub again to bring Samba in a Box 2 to our CU schools. This fantastic project will engage with existing schools who were part of the project last year and also welcome brand new schools, giving them a chance to get involved and come together to receive FREE instruments, lesson plans, resources and support to develop a Samba club in school. This will culminate in a musical extravaganza at a city centre venue that hopes to replicate the success of last year which saw 400 children and schools playing in Tudor Square. This event will also coincide with BBC Music Day on 9th June 2017, and there is potential for 65 schools to be involved. As a result, our end event will be one that should not be missed!

• Festival of Fun was back and better than ever in 2016! We kicked off proceedings in style with a fantastic procession through the City Centre with Razzamataz Theatre School Sheffield, ending in the Winter Garden with a marketplace full of providers. There werelots of activities on offer including Awesome Walls, Broomhill Music, Hype Dance, Underbank Activity Centre and Sheffield Wildcats Roller Hockey.

• Free CU LIVE! activities have been taking place during the holidays, with some fabulous activities from Imagination Gaming, Museums Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University Outreach team and 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 25th February. More info will be available early in the new year.

• We were thrilled to work with the Herd of Sheffield and Sheffield Children's Hospital and Charity to have our very own elephant as part of the 'Little Herd' and also develop an exciting activity to coincide with the trail of elephants appearing across the city in the summer. Belinda the CU elephant, named after a competition with our members went on display during the Summer, and was covered in pictures drawn by children and young people in Sheffield depicting their favourite out of school activity.

• We welcomed our new apprentice Molly Hutchinson to the Sheffield CU team. Molly has been incredibly busy inputting data, preparing certificates and supporting award ceremonies, and has been an invaluable addition to our small team.

• And we are sure there will be lots more to celebrate in 2017! 

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, Pam and Molly

The Sheffield CU Team

A 'below the surface' look at our awards ceremonies...

Tonight's the night! The first of our primary Gold award ceremonies will take place in the City Hall Ballroom so it's time to to roll out the red carpet, ready to welcome our fantastic award winners and their families! 

As a team, we often get queries about the award ceremonies, how they work, and why they are as they are! We know that many people are unaware just what goes in to making them happen so we wanted to give you an insight behind the scenes. 

Of course, it would be wonderful if it all just came together in a short period of time but in reality, it take months of planning! So we want to take this opportunity to share the process with you, using an iceberg to help explain that what you see is far from the whole picture!

Introducing our new Sheffield CU Patron...

We are delighted to announce our brand new Sheffield CU Patron!

Chris Brailsford will take up this role and is very excited to be attending one of our Award Ceremonies this week as his first official engagement.

Chris comes from the Parson Cross area of Sheffield so already has a connection to many of our Sheffield CU members and their families. From an early age his passion was for English. Initially, he trained as a teacher, sharing this passion with many pupils over the years, something which he still does today. He particularly loves Shakespeare, poetry and storytelling and it was this that led Sheffield CU to Chris – our very own Helen was lucky enough to be taught a few English lessons in school by Chris, and those lessons inspired her to share this love of English ever since.

Chris is keen to share this story of ‘learning in his own time’, just like all our CU members. Later on in life, by now working in the Council's Housing Dept., he decided to do an evening course in drama, and this extra learning led him to his other passion, acting! Whilst Chris is keen to remind people that he is no ‘Hollywood superstar’, he has appeared on popular TV shows and in films but also on our very own Crucible stage too!

Chris said ‘I’m really inspired by the works of Sheffield CU and by all the fantastic children and young people in Sheffield. They are putting in the extra time and effort to learn more about something they love, and that’s a brilliant attitude to have.’

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 2016, 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!

Looking back over 50 Gold Award ceremonies...

Celebrating such a fantastic milestone this evening has given us a brilliant opportunity look back on all the amazing ceremonies we have had over 8 years at Sheffield CU. We are so proud to have welcomed over 6,500 children and young people who have taken part in at least 100 hours of out of school learning to receive their awards at both the Town Hall and the two Universities.

We are thrilled to be hosting our Gold Gold ceremony at the Diamond building and can't wait to welcome our new batch of award winners tonight, who are just as special as those that joined us for our very first ceremony back in 2009. At this ceremony, there were 70 children from 5 schools who attended. Now, we have nearly 1500 primary children, and over 400 secondary and Passport to Learning children and young people receiving their Gold Awards each year!

As always, we couldn't do it alone and want to say a HUGE thank you to all our schools, Learning Destinations, the Universities, Town Hall team and all the children and families who have joined us celebrate their achievements and who support our work every day. A very special thanks also to Penny Rea and Anita de Brouwer who championed CU in our city and along with Katie, hosted that first ceremony all those years ago. Here's to the next 50!

CU LIVE! - Free fun activities in October half term!

Have you started planning your October half term fun?

As part of this years fantastic Off The Shelf,
we will be hosting some fab FREE CU LIVE! activities in the Winter Garden during the October half term holiday.

• Monday 24th October - Museums Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University
• Tuesday 25th October - Sheffield Volunteering
• Wednesday 26th October - Imagination Gaming
• Thursday 27th October - Sheffield Hallam University

10am-4pm in the Winter Garden, Surrey Street, S1. All activities are drop in, so come on down!

Children and young people with a Passport to Learning will be able to collect credits for taking part, and there is lots of fun to be had with some of our brilliant Learning Destinations. Make sure its in your diary!

Sheffield CU Participation and Performance Analysis 2015

We are very pleased and proud to share with you the 2015 Sheffield Children’s University Participation and Performance Analysis report which provides detailed evidence of the impact of Children’s University in Sheffield.
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 35,000 children and young people in our city with CU credits, we have a lot of information to work with!


This builds on our previous report and includes in-depth analysis of the impact of participation in CU activities on attainment and attendance, and progress measures, as well as anecdotal evidence of impact through a number of case studies from individual children and families. For the first time, this report includes a detailed look at prior attainment as well as examining the impact on Pupil Premium, SEN and the most deprived (IDACI) children and young people in the city. It also includes analysis of progression routes for post 16 students which were introduced last year.


To view the full report, please HERE!

Our 50th Gold Award Ceremony!

We're THRILLED to announce that our next ceremony will be EXTRA special as it's the 50th Gold Award ceremony hosted by Sheffield CU. It's our Gold Gold ceremony!!!

This fantastic milestone means that there are now over 6500 children and young people who have received Gold Awards at ceremonies at the Town Hall and Universities since CU began in Sheffield. Amazing!

To mark the occasion, this ceremony will take place in the brand new, £81 million Diamond Building at the University of Sheffield. We've also commissioned the brilliant Snorkelingsheep Illustrations to produce a very special image that will be used for this event!

Letters have been sent to our secondary schools, and Passport award winners and should be received this week. We can't wait to see you there!

Celebrate - our final Gold ceremony of 2015/16!

This week saw the last of our four 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 this academic year!

Children from Southey Green receive their awards

Children from St Catherine's receive their awards

Children from 11 schools attended along with their parents and carers and were presented with their awards by the Deputy Lord Mayor, Councillor Anne Murphy.

Children from Oughtibridge receive their awards

Children from Windmill Hill receive their awards

During the ceremony, there were fantastic performances from Spotlight Theatre dance and Razzamatazz Theatre School Sheffield, some of our brilliant Learning Destinations.

Students from Spotlight Theatre School showcase their talents

Robyn from Razzamataz Theatre School Sheffield sings 'Quiet' from Matilda

Jodie from Razzamataz Theatre School Sheffield closes 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!

Visit our Facebook page to view all the photos from the event! Sheffield CU Facebook

Celebrate - our 3rd summer award ceremony!

With so many fantastic award winners this academic year, we needed to host 4 ceremonies at the Town Hall for Gold Award winners just to ensure we could fit everyone in! This week saw the 3rd of these ceremonies taking place, each as special as the last as it was a chance for us to celebrate the achievements of the children and young people across the city who give up their own time to learn, and have lots of fun too!

Lord Mayor, Councillor Denise Fox welcomes children, schools and families to the ceremonies

Children from Lydgate Infant School receive their awards

Children from 15 primary schools across the city invited to attend along with their families to receive their Gold Awards, which were presented by the Lord Mayor, Councillor Denise Fox.

Children from Mosborough Primary School receive their awards

Children from Shortbrook Primary receive their awards

One of our fantastic Learning Destinations, Stagecoach Theatre School, Sheffield Beighton also provided a performance during the ceremony.

Children from Stagecoach give a special performance during 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!

Visit our Facebook page to view all the photos from the event! Sheffield CU Facebook

Children from Watercliffe Meadow receive their awards

Celebrate - our 2nd summer award ceremony!

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

Children from Dobcroft J receive their awards

Children from Hartley Brook receive their awards

Children from 11 schools attended along with their parents and carers and were presented with their awards by the Lord Mayor, Councillor Denise Fox.

Children from Greenhill Primary receive their awards

During the ceremony, there were also some fab performances from Spotlight Theatre Dance—Spot on Street & Musical Theatre Junior Group and Razzamataz Theatre School Sheffield, some of our brilliant Learning Destinations.

Students from Spotlight kick off the ceremony with a special performance

Young children who take part in Spotlight Theatre Dance showcase their talent 

Students from Razzamataz Theatre School round off the ceremony will a fantastic performance

Students from Razzamataz perform 'We go together' from Grease

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 1st summer award ceremony!

It was time to roll out the red carpet and celebrate again this week as we hosted the first of our Summer 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

Children from 10 schools attended along with their parents and carers and were presented with their awards by the Lord Mayor, Councillor Denise Fox.

Children from Dobcroft Infant School receive their awards

Children from Beck Primary School receive their awards

During the ceremony, there was a fantastic performance from Noodle Performance Arts, one of our brilliant Learning Destinations as well as the Sheffield Sea Cadets who spoke of the real difference being part of the Sea Cadets has made.

Students from Noodle Performance Arts entertain our award winners

Sheffield Sea Cadets perform a demonstration drill

One of the Sheffield Sea Cadets talks to the audience about his experiences

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

Planning your summer fun?

The Children's University Passport to Learning newsletter which includes details of activities happening across Sheffield during the summer holidays is now available!

As well as our fantastic FREE Festival of Fun, our Learning Destinations are also delivering lots of fabulous activities right through the summer, where you can collect CU credits. We have pulled together this information into our summer activity newsletter, which you can view HERE or by clicking the link on the right of the page!

Children and young people who take along a Passport to Learning to all the activities listed in the newsletter will be able to earn additional CU credits at these activities. These are available from Sheffield libraries, and some Learning Destinations across the city. There's also an up to date list and contact details of our validated Learning Destinations.

For all the latest Festival of Fun info and updates:

Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/sheffieldcu

Follow us on Twitter: @SheffieldCU ‪#‎FOF2016‬

Booking now open - Festival of Fun 2016!

Today is the day! Booking for Festival of Fun 2016 activities is now OPEN! Act fast to make sure you bag your favourite FREE activity during the summer hols.

You can view our full programme of activities here: Festival of Fun leaflet 2016

Remember, to take part in Festival of Fun 2016, you MUST live in Sheffield, be school age and have a Passport to Learning. You can buy a Passport to Learning from a Sheffield library for £2 and use it during Festival of Fun and beyond!

For all the latest Festival of Fun info and updates:

Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/sheffieldcu

Follow us on Twitter: @SheffieldCU ‪#‎FOF2016‬

Festival of Fun 2016 Launch Event!

This year, Sheffield Children's University are proud to be hosting another fantastic CU Festival of Fun which features a range of FREE activities right across the city delivered in the run up to and at the start of the summer holidays!

Wondering what the Festival of Fun is and how to get involved? Want to find out more? 

Come along to our fantastic launch event in the Winter Garden on Saturday 16th July 2016, 10am-4pm. Families will be able to have a go at some fabulous FREE activities and there will also be a market place of Learning Destinations armed with all the info you’ll need to plan your summer activities! There will be a few surprise along the way too so make sure you don't miss out!

The activities will be FREE to Sheffield children who have a CU Passport to Learning. Not got yours yet? Don’t panic – you can buy one from Sheffield libraries for just £2 each.

For all the latest Festival of Fun info and updates:

Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/sheffieldcu

Follow us on Twitter: @SheffieldCU ‪#‎FOF2016‬

Download the full programme of activities: Festival of Fun leaflet 2016

Festival of Fun 2016!

Sheffield Children's University (CU) are thrilled to announce that the CU Festival of Fun which features FREE activities right across the city delivered in the run up to and at the start of the summer holidays is BACK, and BETTER than ever!

There are over 50 activities planned for the summer festival including a treasure hunt and activities at Hallam University, woodland fun, roller hockey, music, climbing and high ropes, archery, canoeing and kayaking, , martial arts, science, dance, drama, gaming and a special trail around Sheffield linked to the Herd of Sheffield. They are for children aged four to five years upwards, and some are aimed at families taking part together, as well as children with SEN.

The activities will be FREE to Sheffield children who have a CU Passport to Learning. Not got yours yet? Don’t panic – you can buy one from Sheffield libraries for just £2 each for Festival of Fun and then use it at Learning Destinations across the city when summer activities have ended!

CU Festival of Fun 2016 will kick off with a fantastic launch event in the Winter Garden on Saturday 16th July 2016, 10am-4pm. Families will be able to have a go at some fabulous FREE activities and there will also be a market place of Learning Destinations armed with all the info you’ll need to plan your summer activities – school holidays sorted!

Please note that booking for all activities opens on 1st July 2016. No bookings will be taken before this date.

Please see the full programme for booking information for all activities. You can view it by clicking here: Festival of Fun 2016 leaflet. Leaflets outlining the full list of activities will also be sent to schools, Learning Destinations and other partners this week so keep your eyes peeled!

Make sure you find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/sheffieldcu and follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SheffieldCU for all the latest Festival of Fun updates too!

Samba in the Square!

Hundreds of school children brought a real carnival atmosphere to Sheffield earlier this week by performing their samba rhythms in Tudor Square as part of our CU Samba Day!

Sheffield CU samba in the square

CU school pupils perform in Tudor Square

20 of our CU schools came together to perform a samba piece that they have composed have and been practicing since November in a fantastic event at the Crucible theatre. And the samba rhythms could not be contained in the building as they spilled out into Tudor Square and created a real carnival atmosphere!

The day started with a fantastic visit the BBC Radio Sheffield breakfast to talk to Toby Foster about the day ahead. Katie was joined by Millie, Martha and Millie from Dore Primary School who talked about their Samba Club and had fun explaining what instruments they had learned to play!

Katie, Millie, Martha and Millie arrive at Radio Sheffield

The Samba day was planned to give schools the opportunity to take part in a number of large scale performances and to learn new pieces. Children and young people who attended also had the opportunity to play with an established Samba band and performed some of their own compositions on the Crucible stage too.

CU schools performing on the Crucible stage

Each year, we work with one of our Learning Destinations to create a 'Project-in-a-box'! The idea is that we give our schools sustainable resources and lesson plans to start a unique out of school club. This is exclusively available to our CU schools, and is one of the many benefits of being part of our fantastic club! In the past we have had rocket science boxes, STEM themed activities, a games compendium and even a forest school tool kit! This year we worked in partnership with our friends at the Sheffield Music Hub to create Samba in a Box!

Last November, 40 staff from schools that are part of Sheffield Children’s University joined together in a session, where they received their very own Samba kit and supporting lessons plans. The Sheffield Music Hub led the event, introducing the staff to the instruments, and the rhythms and techniques of Samba styles before releasing them back to share their learning with pupils from each of their schools. Since then, they have been using their ‘Samba in a Box’ kits to hone their pupils’ Samba skills, perfecting a piece ready for this celebration event, which was a great start to the build up for the Rio Olympics!

We were joined at the Crucible by the Deputy Lord Mayor, Councillor Anne Murphy and Councillor Chris Peace who both joined in on the action and played their very own agogo bells!

Deputy Lord Mayor, Councillor Anne Murphy, Councillor Chris Peace and Head of the Music Hub Ian Naylor perform their solo!

Better still, the parade and music performed by our schools in Tudor Square made such an impact, it was featured on BBC Look North! We had a FANTASTIC day and want to say a huge thank you to everyone involved who made the day such a huge success. You can find more photos from the event by clicking here: Samba Day 2016

Celebrate! - Sheffield Hallam University May 2016

We rolled out the red carpet again this week for a very special CU Awards Ceremony that took place on Tuesday 17th May, with over 200 children and young people all poised to receive their Gold Awards for taking part in over 100, 200, 300 etc hours of learning in their own time.

Children and young people who have collected their CU credits using a Passport to Learning receive their awards

John Leech, Pro-Vice Chancellor at Sheffield Hallam University gives an inspirational speech

Sheffield Hallam University kindly hosted the ceremony, which took place in the magnificent Atirum and Pennine Lecture Theatre and there were inspirational speeches from John Leech, Pro Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of Development and Society, Nicola Rawlins, Director of Admissions and UK Recruitment, Sheffield Hallam University and Sam Martin, Assistant Director of Lifelong Learning, Skills and Communities.

Assistant Director Sam Martin congratulates children and young people on their commitment to learning

Students from Firth Park Academy receive their Gold Awards

Before the ceremony began there was a marketplace buzzing with some of our fab Learning Destinations. Tempest Photography provided an opportunity for a photo in our special Sheffield CU caps and gowns.

Students from CU secondary schools were presented with their awards along with children and young people who have been collecting credits away from school using their Passport to Learning.

Children and young people collecting their credits using a Passport to Learning away from school receive their Gold Awards

Students from Chaucer School receive their Gold Awards from our special guests

There were also fabulous performances from some of our brilliant Learning Destinations - Noodle Performing Arts and Stagecoach Rotherham.

Leah from Noodle Performing Arts sings 'Defying Gravity'

Students from Stagecoach Rotherham give a special performance

Huge congratulations to all fantastic award winners, we are very proud of you! Massive thanks to Jenny Lawton-Hunt and the Student Ambassadors from Sheffield Hallam University for hosting the ceremony and providing their support.

For more photos of ceremony, please visit our Facebook page!

Stagecoach Rotherham say 'So Long, Farewell' to our award winners and their families