Great to welcome back Julian Sedgwick last week to visit our Reading group students and talk about Julian Sedgwick Yoto Carnegie Greenaway Awards 'Carnegie Shadowing'. From now until June, students are encouraged to read as many of the 8 short-listed books as possible, they will then be able to vote for their favourite book!

There are 2 prizes awarded to authors, one is the librarian’s choice and one is the student’s choice. Carnegie is the most prestigious book award for authors of young people’s fiction. Julian very kindly gave his time to attend Reading Group after school to answer questions from the students about his short-listed book ‘Tsunami Girl’. He also showed them some of his notes from planning the material and shared with students how much it means to him to be short-listed for this award.

We wish him every success. As an official Carnegie Shadowing School, Students will be watching the award ceremony via a live link with London on 16th June.

On 20^th April students taking the Applied Science BTEC course visited the Wellcome Trust Wellcome Sanger Institute. They learnt about the research being done at the world leading centre for genomics including the crucial part they played in the understanding of the Covid-19 virus and the development of a vaccine.

They also had a talk from a researcher from the company Illumina who are leading the way in sequencing technologies to help better understand inherited diseases, including cancer. The students enjoyed this unique opportunity to see a working DNA sequencing laboratory and were able to have a go at using bioinformatic software.

Find out more here:https://www.yourgenome.org/   Huge thank you to Mr Fricker and Yourgenome for organising this fantastic trip!

We were proud to hold a hub event for secondary schools across Meridian Trust, sharing resources and creating opportunities for student collaboration. The three hub schools (The Ferrers School, Swavesey Village College and Sawtry Village Academy) played host to secondary schools across our Trust for an afternoon of activities, focusing on three subject areas: Geography, History and Modern Foreign Languages (MFL).

During the MFL session, students looked at other means of communication, centred on sign language. The objective of the session was to develop students’ ability to work in a team, to improve their communication skills, as well as to have a better appreciation of the diverse language needs in today’s world.

As part of the geography session, students in Year 7 looked at disaster management, considering different types of hazards, how we respond to these and trying to build and design earthquake-proof buildings. The aim of this session was for students to understand the link between engineering and geography.

For History, the three hub schools participated in sessions all focussed on investigating different types of sources. At Swavesey Village College where our Ely College students attended, they examined objects, artefacts and sources from The Fitzwilliam Museum which were created before, during, and after the transatlantic slave trade – these form part of the collection at the University of Cambridge Museums.

Guest speaker, Dr Zoe Farrell from the University of Cambridge visited Sawtry Village Academy to deliver a valuable talk on sources and material culture and provide students with in-depth knowledge on life in sixteenth-century Europe. Using sources from the National Archives, students at The Ferrers School reviewed Chamberlain and Hitler documents to explore the policy of appeasement before World War II.

We are so proud of our students for their hard work and for showing such an enthusiasm for learning. It was fantastic to see everyone working well together and making friends with students from other schools.

Well done to all the students involved, the three hub schools in particular for being such welcoming hosts and to Ross Perkins, Ines McMahon and Alan Lovesey, the subject leads for History, MFL and Geography, who collaborated to provide such a well organised and productive session for our students.

Read more via our socials here:  https://www.facebook.com/ElyCollegeCMAT/posts/2823601007939590

Leaving with their cars packed FULL of desperately needed supplies, we offer a HUGE THANK YOU to various Ely College staff who have facilitated the drop offs & storage of the many student donations this last few weeks. The generosity for our community to aid the Ukrainian Crisis is amazing! #SupportUkraine

Any further donations, or if you can volunteer in the local warehouses, we know that Ukraine Lifeline is a local effort that would greatly appreciate your continued support.

World Book Day - Photos coming soon!

Everyone at Ely College enjoyed 2022 #WorldBookDay thanks to the wonderful Ms Shaw in the Library Resource Centre and our fab English department. Free books for Year 7, World Book Day vouchers for everyone, author visits and inspiration talks! This is what it's about but it's also nice to get home and just find some quiet time to read

Of course we had another brilliant author visit from award winning and Carnegie nominated children's author Julian Sedgwick. Our Year 7's are inspired year after year by his visits! Poignant this year in particular as his latest book 'Tsunami Girl' offers insights into recovery after disaster.

After his talk & a very popular lunchtime book signing, our World Book Day (UK & Ireland) celebrations continued. Our short story competition winners earned an amazing indepth experience with Julian. The creative writing workshop produced some excellent ideas & we look forward to sharing some of their stories on our website.

As always a HUGE THANK YOU to Julian for supporting Ely College. With more WBD free books being handed out today and vouchers to spend at the weekend, we have celebrated tomorrow's #WorldBookDay is style!

Opening night of Ely College’s first whole school musical is a ROCKING success as students smash all expectations with an awesome showcase of talent. With shows on Friday and Saturday evening to follow, these sold out seats were the hottest tickets in town and elated audience members declare Ely College as ‘the school that truly rocks’!

With over 150 students taking part, the decision to put Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘School of Rock’ on as a school production was an easy one; this is the first school musical in a while but it is fun, witty, involves fantastic music and provided a wonderful opportunity to get as many students involved in the arts as possible. Jonathan Newsome, Musical Director and Head of Music at Ely College continued on to say: “Such high levels of students participation and the commitment they have shown is a testimony to the vision and ethos of the college; to provide the most enriching educational experience we possibly can. The students have, in turn, shared this with our exceptional community over three show nights!”

Catherine Seymour, Head of Drama at Ely College also directed and produced the show and commented on the array of talent at the college: “We can honestly say it has been an absolute pleasure to work with such a talented, enthusiastic and inspiring group of young people. These kids are going to have their names in lights one day! They have shown exceptional resilience during what has been the most challenging of circumstances, supporting each other and coming together to put on this amazing production.”

The musical, based on the 2003 comedy film starring Jack Black, features new music written by Andrew Lloyd Webber as well as lyrics by Glenn Slater and script by Julian Fellowes. With Year 10 student Alfie McCreadie smashing the leading role, it follows Dewey Finn, a failed, wannabe rock star who decides to earn money by posing as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school. There, he turns a class of straight-A students into a guitar-shredding, bass-slapping, mind-blowing rock band. While teaching these pint-sized prodigies what it means to truly rock, Dewey falls for the school’s beautiful, but uptight headmistress, helping her rediscover the wild child within.

Speaking of his decision to roll the show out to schools, Andrew Lloyd Webber said: “I’m delighted. I encourage teachers and their students to pick up their instruments, get going on the script and show the world everything they’ve got to give.” Ely College students have certainly taken this to heart and attacked rehearsals with an inexorable pursuit of ‘musical fusion’.

With what was described as ‘roof raising energy’ and seats limited due to Covid measures, parents and community members lucky enough to get a ticket had rave reviews to offer as they came down from the highs of such a spectacular show: “[I emailed] to say how brilliant it was and how blown away we were with the level of talent, from the acting and singing to the musicians and the behind the scenes team. The children were all incredible and the hours that they have put in to achieve such a high standard was evident. The dedication of your staff is always something we appreciate and it is clear that those staff members involved in this production have gone above and beyond to organise every little detail.”

The musical is especially relevant as we navigate changing measures and restrictions; it places a huge emphasis on togetherness, the impact of live music and the importance of protecting creativity in schools. Mr Warburton, Principal of Ely College described the show as a “love letter to live music, the arts in schools and learning”. A real feel good, high energy, positive show, he added: “It champions every one of our students, it champions music and being part of something together, playing live and putting yourself out there.”

Show dates run from Thursday 20 January to Saturday 22 January 2022. Tickets sold out back in November but everyone at the college is keen to build off the successes School of Rock has produced and look forward to more shows and musicals like it in the coming years.

Photo Slideshow below - more available on our Facebook page.