Ely College joins forces with Anglian Water and the RAF Youth Engagement teams to give students an insight into industry.

Students at Ely College have had their eyes opened to future career opportunities through nation-wide Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) programmes, which have included visits to the school from Anglian Water and the Royal Air Force (RAF) Youth Engagement Team.

On Wednesday 31 January Anglian Water visited Ely College Year 9 students to work through real world challenges faced when working in the public utilities sector.  Students completed the Water Supply Challenge and Lego Build Time Trials by working in small teams to design, build and test their own ideas to solve the issues at hand, putting their STEM skills and knowledge to the test.  

As part of a series of STEM days across all year groups, students were also visited in October by the RAF Youth Engagement Team. They build structurally efficient towers, investigated kinetic speed cars, explored the world of robotics and learnt basic coding. Inspired by their centenary anniversary, the RAF workshops also offered some interesting historical context to their innovative advancements in technology to inspire students to pursue a career in the service.  

Sam Craven, Science Curriculum Leader, said of these STEM partnerships, “Ely College is committed to ensuring that our students are prepared for the world of work, and that they understand the careers that can be available for them. Particularly in the case of STEM careers, they are aware of the skills and qualification they will need.

“We work with organisations like Anglian Water and the RAF Youth Engagement Team to connect with industry and provide our young people with opportunities that enable them to apply theory into practical experiences, helping them to understand that working hard during education can lead to a rewarding career further down the line.”

The dedicated STEM days build on the diverse curriculum already offered at Ely College, as the school seeks to create the next generation of digitally smart students to support the growing technology led world we live in. These active enrichment workshops allow students to simulate real life engineering missions using their design technology, maths, science and engineering skills as well as personal, learning and thinking skills.

Richard Spencer, principal of Ely College, said: “Through the experiences, projects and placements that take place in STEM programmes, our pupils can put their creative thinking into action and learn vital skills such as time management, team work and problem solving. By collaborating with partners and agencies, our students are learning more about local employers and national industry.

“We would like to say thank you to Anglian Water and the RAF Youth Engagement Team for visiting Ely College and giving our students a taste of working in these industries.”

       

Physical Education Survey

Can parents / carers please direct their child to the following online survey.

We are interested in hearing about your healthy active approaches to life and how we can potentially support those who currently don’t engage highly in school, after school or local sports clubs.

Please help Ely College PE department shape your experiences both in school and out of school by completing the following survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ECAhealth201

The survey looks at health and physical activity levels in our students and responses will help to shape our curriculum and extra-curricular offer.

You responses will help us to decide on the sports that we prioritise moving forward and where we look to establish local school sports links.

Deadline is Friday 9th February. Thank you in advance for you valued input.

Talking FreELY and Ely College are working together to provide an event ‘by students, for students’ with the aim of encouraging them to talk openly about their mental health.

The mental health of children and young adults has been increasingly in the news in recent months, with organisations such as Young Minds campaigning for the government to place more emphasis on preventative measures and to give young people a voice when it comes to their own mental health.

The event will follow a similar format to events held previously by Talking FreELY, on this occasion, with the signature ‘talking volunteers’ and pop-up cafe being run by Bishop Laney Sixth Form students, as they invite younger students and other local schools to join in the discussion as part of their annual PLEDGES and Futures Day.

Anthony Sigrist, CEO of Talking FreELY, says ‘We are delighted to be working with Ely College. Incidence of mental illness amongst young people is increasing more rapidly than within any other age group yet it is often overlooked. Projects like ours are essential in supporting our young people and making a lasting impact on how society perceives and tackles mental illness, now, and in the future.’

Principal, Richard Spencer added to this: “Talking openly about mental health is critical to identifying issues and targeting support. We are so pleased to be working with Talking FreELY, and are honoured to welcome Natasha Devon on 22^nd January as we celebrate another positive PLEDGES and Futures Day centred on personal well-being. We hope that this event will bring together Ely people to share perspectives, experiences and solutions.”

From 4pm the event will open to the general public with a Talking FreELY pop-up cafe and a discussion hosted by renowned mental health writer, campaigner and pundit Natasha Devon MBE.

Natasha tours schools and colleges throughout the UK, delivering talks as well as conducting research on mental health, body image, gender and social equality. She regularly gives evidence to the Education and Health Select Committees, representing the interests of teenagers and teachers. In 2016 she was named one of the 500 most influential people in Britain by The Times and Debretts and was awarded an MBE for services to young people in 2015.

The event will be free of charge, for all to attend. This event is not just for teens and their parents. Join the conversation as other local mental health and wellbeing organisations will be attending to share information about their projects.

Ely College students visit children and teen cancer wards after an epic ‘12 Hours of Sport’.

Twelve students from Ely College were selected to be part of a special trip to Addenbrooke’s Hospital today (19^th) to offer holiday cheer and gifts to children on the cancer wards after sweating for 12 hours to raise money.

The students all participated in the ‘12 Hours of Sport’ event, which gives Key Stage 3 students at Ely College the opportunity to raise money on behalf of the Malcolm Whales Foundation (MWF).

Students arrived at the college before 7am and worked solidly for 12 hours in the gym and fitness suite, raising over £2000. Staff were very impressed with the dedication and effort shown, but also the leadership qualities that shone through on the day as students supported each other and steered their own pace to keep each other motivated. Mr Patman, PE teacher at Ely College and trustee of the MWF said “While we like to keep it interesting for them by facilitating games and different sports, this year students really stepped up and worked exceptionally well together.”

For going above and beyond, twelve students were invited to take £500 of the money raised and become elves for the day. They visited the C2 children’s oncology and haematology ward in Addenbrooke’s to deliver sacks full of presents, board games and puzzles that would benefit the ward for months to come and help to put a smile on poorly children’s faces this Christmas.

Year 9 student, Josh Lawrence, said: “A lot of kids are going through painful treatment now so they can spend recovery time at home for Christmas. It was nice to play a game of Connect 4 with them and put a smile on their face. They were so grateful for the gifts, as were the nurses at Addenbrooke’s.”

Ely College will continue to cherish their link with the Malcolm Whales Foundation and we look forward to next year’s fundraising efforts with the Dorset Walk in July. Any other local schools keen to join us for our 12 Hours of Sport 2018, are welcome to contact Mr Patman via the college.

Students at Ely College share their fascination with Rubik’s Cube puzzles and compete in House challenge

A common interest in Rubik’s Cube style puzzles has led to students collaborating in a friendly inter-House competition to speed solve this classic toy.

A maths lesson in cubed numbers with Mrs Goodey at Ely College shed light on a popular hobby shared by a number of students: “It was lovely to see passion and confidence in students as they shared their hobbies linked to maths and problem solving”. In their spare time, Year 7 Cameron Lamb and Year 10 Oscar Barter, push themselves to speed solve different types of Rubik’s Cubes. Both have competed in national competitions and their teacher was keen to help them share their hobby after they impressed their class mates. Demonstrations have prompted some friendly competition and the possibility of starting a ‘Session 6’ afterschool club.

Session 6 at Ely College extends the learning day to 4:15pm for students who wish to stay for after-school activities or additional curriculum assistance. Enrichment opportunities like inter-house competitions and extended curriculum day, including PLEDGES and Futures Days, allow students to explore leadership and personal skills that can be taken into their adult life.

 

 

Fourteen Year 11 students from schools across Cambridgeshire gathered in Westminster last Thursday night for the grand final of Lucy Frazer’s Parliamentary Inter Schools Debating Competition 2017. 

The competition final was judged by BBC special correspondent, Lucy Manning. 

The motion debated in the final was ‘this house would legalise all drugs’.  Arguments on both sides were well considered, well articulated and persuasive.  

The finalists, all winners of their school’s initial in house round, were representing Ely College, Soham Village College, King’s Ely, Bottisham Village College, Impington Village College, Linton Village College and  Witchford Village College.

Lucy Frazer MP reacted to the evening saying, “When I first came up with the idea to hold an inter school debating competition, I could not have known that I would have so much support and positive feedback from all the teachers who make the competition possible,  giving so much of their time to helping organise the students. Four years on, the level of commitment and calibre of debating is clear to see and I am glad I was not the one judging as it was so hard to choose a winner.  I hope everyone involved, including all the students who didn’t make the final, have gained a taste for how exciting it is to have the confidence to speak in public and that they will take this forward with them as they continue into higher education and the workplace.” 

The winning students were Katie and Ellen representing Soham Village College and Ely College respectively.

They agreed this accolade was a great end to the winter term and a nice early Christmas present! 

Katie said “It was a really great opportunity and really exciting to get into the final. I'm thrilled to have won and had the chance to visit parliament”. 

Ellen added “After working on these debates in school, we were all excited to enjoy the culmination of our hard work as we visited Westminster last Thursday. We entered the House and being there in person, in this iconic building, was very inspiring.  It has given me some strong aspirations for the future.  There was some hot competition and great debaters with a lot of experience.  I’m just so grateful for being offered this opportunity. I enjoyed the feeling of a debating environment and seeing how the House of Commons works; gaining an insight into the diversity of voices.  I had never done anything like this competition before, this is a new skill which I am keen to build upon.  We have discussed the potential for a Debating club which I’m sure would be well supported in school.”

Also present at the debate were representatives from the charitable organisation ‘Debate Mate’ whose philosophy that debating skills are the key to social mobility, higlights the importance of initiatives such as this.  

Lucy has involved Debate Mate at the initial stages of the competition for the last few years. Debate Mate organised a training day for students selected by schools in the constituency, sponsored by Marshalls of Cambridge.  

Representative Alex Dugan said,  “It was fantastic to see the progression in the students, from the first debating session in September to the final on the 7th December. Everyone spoke with confidence and brought some very interesting arguments, particularly when analysing the potential effects of drug legalisation on the NHS. We hope that they all carry on debating, and continue to develop the critical thinking and public speaking skills that debating develops.”