Planning your Easter fun?

Are you planning your Easter fun? The Children's University Passport to Learning newsletter which includes details of activities happening across Sheffield during the Easter is now available!

Click HERE, or the link at the side of this blog to start planning now!

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. There's also an up to date list and contact details of our validated Learning Destinations. If you don't have a Passport to Learning yet, don't worry! You can pop into Sheffield libraries across the city and buy one for the bargain price of £2!

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2 MILLION HOURS - we did it!

With your fantastic help and continued support, we have reached another very significant milestone here in Sheffield and it’s time to CELEBRATE!

Children and young people in Sheffield have clocked up over 2 MILLION HOURS of learning in their own time.

Children from Prince Edward Primary School

Since Children’s University arrived in Sheffield, 37,000 children and young people from across the city have been taking part in a wide range of exciting and fun learning activities out of school time. These activities have taken place in and around school, or in the community at ‘Learning Destinations’ across the city and every single hour has been recorded, awarded, and celebrated by Sheffield Children’s University.

Children from Southey Green Community Primary School & Nurseries

That’s because we feel it’s really important to add value to existing activities and reward and celebrate children and young people for choosing to learn in their own time. Not only does it increase their confidence, self-esteem and motivation, it has a real impact on their learning. Extensive local and national research shows a clear link between participation in CU activities and increased attendance and achievement at school. Children and young people who take part in CU activities not only do better in school than non CU students, they also do better than they were expected to.

Children from Fox Hill Primary School

We love to celebrate here at Sheffield CU, and we have lots of reasons! Just less than 3 years ago we celebrated achieving 1 million hours with over 24,000 children and young people involved, 50 schools subscribed, 100 Learning Destinations, 25 ceremonies, 5,000 Gold Award winners, 30,000+ Bronze and Silver Awards and 10,000 Passports to Learning in circulation.

Today with over 2 million hours recorded, rewarded and celebrated, there are a whopping 37,000 children and young people with CU credits! We currently have 70 schools subscribed to CU and over 200 Learning Destinations! We have hosted 54 special Award Ceremonies and presented over 10,000 Gold Award winners (100, 200, 300 hours etc) and 50,000+ Bronze and Silver Awards. There are 15,000 Passports to Learning in circulation too! WOW!!!

Children from Hartley Brook Primary Academy

Of course, none of this would be possible without our fantastic schools, Learning Destinations and partners. Through their hard work, dedication, and willingness to go above and beyond, we have been able to grow and develop CU in Sheffield to reach this magnificent achievement. And to the army of children, young people and families of our city who are part of CU in Sheffield - you are an inspiration.

There will be a press release shortly, but we couldn’t wait to share this special news with you first!

Katie, Helen, Sakina and Molly

The Sheffield CU Team

The Sheffield CU Acorn Fund

Towards the end of last year, we were thrilled to be able to offer another round of the Sheffield CU Acorn Fund to children and young people at our CU subscribed schools. 

Students from Yewlands Academy receive their cheque to fund their Animation Club

For those who don't know, the Acorn Fund is awarded to groups of children and young people from any Sheffield Children’s University school to use to develop out of school clubs and activities in school. The idea is that just like a tiny acorn grows into a huge oak tree, children and young people can use a small amount of money from the Acorn Fund to grow a wonderful club or activity in their school. The opportunity to bid for funds through this project is one of the many benefits for schools who are part of Sheffield CU, and enables us to empower children and young people to take ownership of their out of school programme and encourages consultation and good practice.

Children from Oughtibridge Primary School receive equipment for their Acorn Funded Nature Club!

This time around, 15 groups of children and young people from our CU schools put together successful bids and were awarded with the funds requested to develop and deliver their own CU activities in school. We were very impressed with the amount of research and consultation that was evidenced in many of the applications we received and were delighted to be able to support the start up of 15 different CU clubs!

Children from St Mary's CE receive their Acorn Fund cheque alongside their Headteacher Lynn Thorne

Some of the fantastic activities this time included climbing/bouldering club, coding club, archery club, nature club, table tennis, gymnastics, sensory club and even animation club! Specially designed cheques were sent into schools to be presented to the children and young people who made the bid and many of the clubs are now up and running in schools. HUGE congratulations to all the children and young people who took part!

A pupil from Southey Green Primary proudly receives their Acorn Fund cheque!

CU spotlight on....Sheffield Music Hub Changing Voices

A cambiata choir for boys to discover the power in their voices

As children progress through school, there is often a drop in the number of boys choosing to sing, and many secondary school choirs are made up almost entirely of girls. But the truth is that Boys DO sing! They just need the music they sing to be appropriate to their changing voices, and their changing expectations as they mature.

That’s why Sheffield Music Hub is delighted, in partnership with The University of Sheffield, to be launching a brand new cambiata choir (Google it!), called Changing Voices to help boys navigate the sometimes difficult “middle years”, and to discover the power in their voices.

At Changing Voices workshops, boys from Y5 to Y9 will meet new friends from across Sheffield, discover the joy of singing and playing together, and learn about the unique possibilities they have as young male singers. Sessions will ensure boys with an interest in singing will keep that interest, and develop the skills and strengths they need to sing as men: whether in a rock band, choir, musical theatre or just on the football terraces! And if they have a Children's University Passport to Learning, they can collect CU credits too!

 The cost for the spring term is just £10. This covers 3 workshops, and a short performance at the end of the final one.

As well as Changing Voices, Sheffield Music Hub also offers Festival Choir for boys and girls who enjoy singing. Boys who are also attending Festival Choir (meeting on the same days in the afternoon) can come to both for £15 for the full term.

Workshop dates:

• Sunday 12th March 2017 – 11.00am – 12.45pm at The University of Sheffield, Firth Court, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN
• Sunday 19th March 2017 – 11.00pm – 12.45pm at The University of Sheffield Diamond Building, 32 Leavygreave Rd, Sheffield S3 7RD, Workroom 1 & 2
• Saturday 1st April 2017 – 11.00pm – 12.45pm at The University of Sheffield Diamond Building, 32 Leavygreave Rd, Sheffield S3 7RD, Workroom 1 & 2
• Further workshops and a performance will take place on 3 Sundays and a Saturday in June and July.

If you have any further questions, please contact peter.taylor@sheffield.gov.uk.

Visit https://www.sheffieldmusichub.org/sing-and-play/changing-voices for an application form.

Planning your February fun?

Are looking for things to do in the February half term holidays here in lovely Sheffield? Look no further as our February Passport activity newsletter is now available! 

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. To download it and start planning your all your holiday fun, click here: CU February Passport Activity Newsletter 2017

Collecting CU credits away from Sheffield...

Children’s University (CU) is all about rewarding children and young people for choosing to take part in extra learning in their own time both in and around school, and away from school too!

Our Sheffield CU records show us that children and young people with a Passport to Learning are taking part in extra learning all the time, from swimming lessons and dancing classes, to sports coaching, music lessons, arts and crafts, and outdoor activities.  We now have almost 200 different Learning Destinations here in Sheffield, awarding CU credits for participating in their learning activities.

However, we are increasingly seeing evidence of families visiting Learning Destinations beyond Sheffield which is fantastic.  Of course, the guidance applies to activities at Learning Destinations across the country, as they do in Sheffield. 

To be eligible for CU credits, an activity MUST be focussed on learning and we want to ensure you are squeezing every little last bit out of your trip! While you’re visiting, why not look for extra learning opportunities such as trails, quizzes, expert talks and ask your child about them afterwards?  You could teach your child to navigate round the attraction using a map, and perhaps even do some further research about something you’ve learned when you get home?  There are so many opportunities to learn all around us and our research shows that all that extra learning really can make a difference to your child’s progress and achievement back in school. We want to encourage all our CU families to develop their learning through the activities and visits they take part in and for parents/carers to look for ways in which they can help their children get the most out of these fantastic experiences.

To ensure we are fair and consistent in the CU credits we award for these activities, we will only award CU credits for the time spent taking part in learning activities, rather than the amount of time they spend visiting. Although valuable, time spent taking part in free play (i.e. not more focussed learning) as well as eating lunch, waiting in queues, visiting the toilets and the obligatory gift shops are not considered CU activity. We have amended our Diary Sheet to help you record your learning time more clearly.

There are Learning Destinations as far north as Scotland and as far south as the southern tip of Cornwall, so plenty to choose from.  If you’re going on holiday in the UK, then why not pack your Passport to Learning and visit a local Learning Destination while you’re there?  You can find all UK Learning Destinations on the CU Trust website: www.childrensuniversity.co.uk

But remember, so that we can award your CU credits when you return home, we need your child to complete and return a Passport Activity Diary Sheet which can be downloaded by clicking HERE or on the link to the right of this post.  Without a Diary Sheet, we are unable to award your child’s CU credits, and they can ONLY be collected at Learning Destinations on the CU Trust website.

We love reading about all your adventures at Learning Destinations across the country, and look forward to reading many more in the coming weeks and months.

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