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Ely College

All the latest News from Ely College

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  • Adolescence (tv series) - further info links

    Published 13/05/25

    Netflix’s Adolescence had sparked a lot of conversation about boys, masculinity, social media and other online influences. If you are looking for support in navigating conversations with your child, or are concerned about online content they may be exposed to, please look at the resources below:

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  • 'Beacons of Excellence' at cross-trust Technology competition

    Published 07/05/25

    πŸ†Shout out to the other Meridian Trust teams! What a great day we had! Recently, several Year 10 students and our Year 12 Bishop Laney students were invited to compete in a cross-trust technology competition at Stratton School. Students were set a brief by the Rotary Club to design and build a flashing beacon 🚨

    With the Year 12’s attempting a more advanced version of the task, all the students got started and worked so hard in their teams to problem-solve and learn new skills. Ultimately producing some varied but fantastic work, they were judged on teamwork, their design portfolio, critical thinking and how well their chosen design worked in the final testing stages.

    πŸ₯‡We are delighted to announce that one of our Year 10 teams won 1st place and our other team came a very respectable 6th! Year 12 also did amazingly well, and although they were beaten to first place, we claimed 2nd and 3rd! Congratulations to all involved!πŸ‘

      

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  • 10 Hours of Sport

    Published 02/05/25

    TOP EFFORT from our Year 7/8s last week! 10 Hours of Sport for The Malcolm Whales Foundation has always created a real buzz in school and is something students look forward to each year.

    It was a long hard day, but staff kept the students hydrated and the sports / activities interesting with dodgeball first thing in the morning, the usual kickabout and some JustDance fun, as well as some fantastic inclusive & accessible sports. Our annual #10hoursofsport is always a day when we can say 'Teamwork makes the Dream work'! Check out this fantastic charity and please donate if you can: https://tmwf.co.uk/

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  • Carnegie Medal Winner Tia Fisher Inspires Year 9 Students at Ely College

    Published 25/04/25

    Ely College was honoured to welcome Tia Fisher, acclaimed author and winner of the Yoto Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice medal for 2024, for a special visit with Year 9 students.

    The event, organised by Librarian Anne Shaw, was a highlight of the spring term and formed part of the College’s wider efforts to promote reading and creative writing across the curriculum.

    Tia Fisher, whose award-winning young adult novel Crossing the Line has received national acclaim, spoke to students about her writing journey, the inspiration behind her work, and why she feels that connecting through creative writing is so important.

    Crossing the Line is a novel in verse aimed at teenage readers, using concrete poetry to explore complex issues and emotions. It was inspired by the true story of Tia’s friend’s son who became involved with a drugs gang.

    Celebrated as outstanding and important, the novel won the Yoto Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice 2024, the UKLA Award 11-14+ category 2024, was Children’s Book of the Week in The Times and is in the 2024 Reading for Empathy Collection.

    Tia’s talk was followed by a lively Q&A session and a book signing. Selected students with a passion for creative writing were invited to a writing workshop after the event, where they explored writing concrete poetry of their own.

    Principal, Simon Warburton, said: “It was a privilege to host Tia Fisher at Ely College. Her visit created a real buzz amongst our students and staff. We have a fabulous reading and writing culture here at Ely, and we’re passionate about providing positive memorable experiences for our students.

    “Tia’s words and experiences brought the world of literature to life in a way that truly inspired our young people. A huge thanks to Mrs Shaw, Mrs Clark-Hope and the rest of our hard-working English department for organising such a fantastic opportunity and sharing their passion for creative writing with our students.”

    For more information about Tia Fisher and her work, visit https://www.tiafisher.com.

       

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  • Year 8 Science Fair

    Published 22/04/25

    Welcome back - great to see happy smiley faces this morning after a relaxing break. Huge thanks to our various teams who were working hard over Easter to hand over the refurbished Needham's Tower and ready it for Bishop Laney Sixth Form moving in - more on this soon!

    For now its great to look back on what a fantastic Spring term we all had. As well as a successful Ofsted visit and loads of trips, we held our annual Year 8 Science Fair!

    Their experiments and presentations were a big success again this year, with a great number of parents turning out to view the hard work students' put into their projects.

    The top two projects will be selected to attend the Meridian Trust Science Festival Competition next half term. We look forward to seeing where Ely College places within the InterTrust competition!

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  • Year 11 Mental Wellbeing day

    Published 04/04/25

    What a gorgeous sunny day to celebrate the end of term and to enjoy our Year 11 Wellbeing Day! Preparing them for those all important final few weeks ahead, we welcomed 'Fix Up', who came in to run a fun and interactive assembly. They confirmed how wonderful our students are...

    The rest of the off-timetable day saw a variety of activities for students to be involved in – textiles stitching, dancing, clay pot making, mindfulness, boxercise, reading, creative writing, African drumming and the Ely MHST team came in to share ways in which to deal with different and sometime difficult thoughts.

    Thank you to all the staff that ran sessions and made the day happen – and thank you to our lovely Year 11s for getting involved and enjoying the day. Hoping everyone has a restful break and Year 11: YOU GOT THIS when we all come back! #year11matters #wellbeingmatters - with Meridian Trust

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  • Aberdovey Trip 2025

    Published 01/04/25

    We are so proud of our recent Silver Mark Award with the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom and one of our favourite annual trips organised by Meridian Trust is the welsh wonder that is 'The Aberdovey Trip'! Yet again, it did not disappoint!

    We took twelve Year 8 / 9s to the outward bounds centre in Aberdovey, Wales where they embraced all the weather conditions of Snowdonia and every challenge that came their way.

    All the students involved had a brilliant time making the most of the opportunities to try and do new things; activities some of them they have never have done before, pushing themselves beyond limits they thought they could reach. Amazing work, thank you to the Trust and all the staff for taking them!

    #extendingtheboundariesoflearning

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  • Bishop Laney visit Cambridge Colleges

    Published 31/03/25

    Cambridge Colleges Catchup: Earlier this month Y12 got to visit St John's College in Cambridge and explore their stunning 'Old Library' and have taster lectures in Humanities and STEM subjects.

    A week later, Bishop Laney students had a fantastic day at the student-led conference on medical technology at Abbey College Cambridge. Such an inspirational day!

    One of our Y13 students was praised by professors and keynote speakers for raising the question of equality vs equity in AI advancements; asking how we can roll out what researchers have learnt at Addenbrooke's Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to lower income countries. Thank you to both colleges for having us. #extendingtheboundariesoflearning - with Meridian Trust

          

        

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  • 'Mother Tongue Other Tongue' multilingual poetry competition

    Published 27/03/25

    Wonderful to see our EAL (English as an additional language) students and their teacher gain the recognition their commitment and hard work deserves! Eight of our EAL students were nominated and shortlisted for the 'Mother Tongue Other Tongue' multilingual poetry competition and two were winners in their age categories!

    They attended the award ceremony last week at Murray Edwards College Cambridge and the winners confidently read their poems to a packed auditorium. All eight students are now published poets in the Routes into Languages East Mother Tongue Other Tongue 2024 Anthology.

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    'Mother Tongue Other Tongue' is a multilingual poetry competition that celebrates cultural diversity and the many languages currently spoken in schools across the UK. It is run by the University of Cambridge and the Routes into Languages Project which aims to celebrate languages, culture and to give the students the opportunity to appreciate their heritage, using poetry.

    Joelle Taylor, a poet supporting the competition said:

    “Some people use words as border patrols. Some use words as passports. Others use words as fences. Mother Tongue Other Tongue uses words as bridges”.

          

      

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  • Stunning success at Salon Skills Showcase!

    Published 25/03/25

    Students put their best foot forward last week at our 'Salon Skills Showcase' and we all took a step back in time with them!

    Such a brilliant event in our calendar and one that brings our sixth form community together with main school to inspire and spur students on in their studies! From Greek goddesses to the swinging 1940's and the rocking 80's; students showcase hair and beauty skills on the catwalk as well as their interpretations of era-fashions.

    It was an emotional farewell for our current Year 13s who have participated each year and are passing on the mantle, as many of the current Year 11s are set to join Bishop Laney in it's new home come September! A fantastic event, well done to all involved πŸ‘

      

        

      

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  • Congratulations to our Bronze Award Industrial Cadets

    Published 20/03/25

    Congratulations to Industrial Cadets!
    Several Year 9 students have been working towards their Bronze Industrial Cadets Awards with EDT. Their latest brief was to design 'a Theme Park for the Future' and the students had sustainability on the top of their agenda. After weeks of hard work, they completed their presentation in front of a panel of six expert engineers and answered questions about their project ‘on the spot’. They also produced a detailed and lengthy report with the final design attached.

    The students have worked really hard on this project that has taught them lots of different skills; teamwork, oracy skills for presenting, writing a technical report, using AI tools to their advantage and so much more. They are going to a celebration event in June at the University of Cambridge, where they will be presented with their awards and certificates. We look forward to seeing more from our new Industrials Cadets!

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  • Congratulations to the Design Ventura Winners!

    Published 20/03/25

    Congratulations to the Design Ventura Winners!
    Set by the Design Museum in London and sustainability company NoPla, the brief this year was to design a product to help families ‘make change’. As an internal, Inter-House competition over 50 of our Year 10 students presented their work for consideration. Students had to come up with a design, research it, cost it and ensure the whole product and idea fit the brief. The winning team were ‘Be Better’ who created a set of cards with prompts on them to help families make a positive difference to the world, themselves and others. We had several students who came as runners up/highly commended and 2 prizes awarded for best prototype and best presentation.

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