We would like to share with you this lovely poem written by Year 10 student Jiaolin Chen. Our EAL team were very impressed with her original poem and suggested that Jiaolin translate it into English and enter it into the 'Mother Tongue, Other Tongue' competition.

This Laureate Education Project is a multilingual poetry competition that celebrates cultural diversity and the many languages spoken in schools in the UK.

Below is also a short explanation from Jiaolin. We wish her every success in the competition.

记忆中的那双手          The Hand in the Memory        

        - 致我的母亲                   - To my Mum 

陈娇琳                          by  Jiaolin Chen                                                                                                                   

手，记忆中的那双。                                            Hand, the hand in the memory,           

摊开时，默默的拉着小手，                                 when spread out hand,       

然后一起前行。那是一份爱                                 Silently holding little hands,                  

紧握时，紧紧的握着小手，                                 Then forward together, this is love            

那是一种力量，也是一种鼓励                             When clasping the hands.                   

鼓励着我迈出人生第一步。                                 Tightly grip the little hands.                  

再一次摊开手，                                                     It is a force, it is also a kind of encouragement.    

慢慢的放开了小手，                                             She encouraged me to take the first step in life. 

挥舞着双手.                                                           Once again, spread out hand,                  

是别离，也是期盼                                                 slowly let go off the hands. Waving the Hands   

默默的擦着脸，留下的是感动。                          Is the separation, it is also expectations          

当双手并在一起。                                                 Quietly wipe the face, leaving behind the       

是祈祷，也是一种寄托。                                      Moved                                   

如今这双手，依旧温暖，但慢慢的变粗糙           when both hands together                   

泪眼朦胧，心心想念记忆中妈妈的手。               Is prayer, is also a kind of sustenance.          

记忆中的那双手，我会把它藏在心里，               Now the hands are still warm, but slowly become

因为女儿对妈妈的爱永远不变                              coarse. Teary-eyed, miss the memory of my

                                                                                Mum’s hands

                                                                                Hand in the memory; I will put in my heart.

This poem’s title is “The Hand in the Memory”. This is my own poem; I wrote this poem in 2015 and I wrote this poem to my mum. In 2002 my dad came to England, he had been in England for 14 years. Over the years I had been living with my mum in China.  My mum loves me very much. When I was young my mum was “Silently holding my hands,” protecting me.  When I was 7 years old, I went to school “Tightly grip my hands”. She encouraged me when I needed to leave her, she prayed for me. So I wrote this poem. I want to say thanks to my mum, and let her know that “Daughter of Mother's Love never changes.”

Sixth Form students at Ely College took part in a Stress<Less Campaign run by the charity MIND last week.

The aim of the campaign was to train students to help support other students through the stress of exams. The training was very informative and interesting and gave the students various strategies to help them through the exam season.

Read more here: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Hundreds-Cambridgeshire-students-helped-month/story-29288826-detail/story.html

Ely College PSFA are holding a Disco on Friday 13th May at the College for lower school students; Years 7,8,9.

Sophie Martin, Chairperson of the PSFA, has been delighted by the offers of help from both parents, carers and staff, but if anyone else would like to offer help on the night please contact her on smartin@elycollege.co.uk.

We are hoping that the disco will be another huge success, helping the PSFA to raise funds for the college.

Further events are already being discussed, and we are all very much looking forward to meeting many more volunteers into our PSFA.

It has been an amazing week for Year 11, Hair and Beauty students at Ely College.  In order to complete their Level 1 Hair and Beauty coursework, each student needed to create a final image based on a theme that included hair design and styling, nail art design and fantasy make-up art. Their extensive research and practice runs culminated in a photo shoot.  Chosen themes included 'Flower Fairies', 'Cheshire Cats', 'Mermaids' (...alive and dead), 'Bat Woman', an 'Ice Queen', 'Butterflies' and 'My Little Ponies'. 

City and Guilds Unit 112: 'Create a Hair and Beauty Image', really engages learners to research, plan and create.   All technical skills learned throughout the Hair and Beauty course are brought together to showcase the students skills and creativity.  It was a proud time not just for the hardworking students but for Hair and Beauty teachers Jo Bonnett and Julie Constable who were overwhelmed by the efforts and enthusiasm achieved by each student.  

The students commented on how much they enjoyed the whole process and re-creating their designs for the photo shoot. Reflecting on the experience, they were amazed how their confidence has grown and how much experience they have gained from the course and photo shoot; they agreed they have learnt many additional life skills including, focusing on the task ahead, being  flexible and the importance of team work.

The students have strong aspirations to continue within Hair and Beauty and all are progressing to either Cambridge Regional College, College of West Anglia, Ely 6th Form or have secured various hair dressing apprenticeships. 

Below is a brief gallery of their wonderful work:

Ely College students are preparing to unleash their imaginations for a creative writing competition launched in conjunction with the Ely News.

As part of our literacy drive launched last term, we have joined up with the local newspaper to run a short story competition. All students in Years 7, 8 and 9 will be taking part and the rules are... there are no rules! Students can write a piece of fiction on any subject they choose.

The only stipulation is that the stories must be no longer than 600 words. They will have until 6th May to write their stories, after which a judging panel – made up of Ely News Editor Wendy Davey and Reporter Jordan Day, along with College Principal Evelyn Forde, Head of English Emma King and Anne Shaw, from the Learning Resource Centre – will begin the task of reading and selecting the winners. Prizes will be awarded in four categories: one for each year group and one for Special Educational Needs students.

Ely News Editor Wendy Davey said: “We are passionate about writing and literacy and so when we heard the college was launching a literacy drive earlier in the year we thought it was a great opportunity to link up and have some fun. It’s a great way of encouraging students to have a go... try a style of writing they might not have tried before, and let their imaginations take over."

“We hope the students will enjoy this project and we’re very much looking forward to reading the stories they write. You never know, we may even discover a future author!”

The winning students’ work will be published on the Ely News website, along with two runners up in each category, and the winning four stories will be published in the paper.

Ely College Principal Evelyn Forde said: “We were thrilled when the Ely News approached us about their idea of a story competition. The timing has been perfect as we are working hard to improve literacy throughout the school. Whether students have a natural flair for writing stories or not, the chance to produce a piece of creative writing is often very appealing and imaginations go wild!"

“We shall launch the competition this week during our Year 7, 8 and 9 assemblies and I am proud to be on the judging panel with other colleagues from the college. This initiative gives us a fantastic opportunity to share with readers some of the talent we have here at Ely College”.