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Ely College

Ely College

All the latest News from Ely College

Page 22

  • Year 9 University Trip

    Published 03/05/16

    On Wednesday 27 April, Year 9 students attended the Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) Campus in Cambridge for the day as part of a joint project run by ARU and University of Cambridge (UoC).

    Students were given a tour of the campus and had sessions on Goal Mapping and Finance. 

    At the end of the day the Year 9 students had a presentation from three groups of Year 10 students who had already spent a day with both universities, allowing them to put together information and personal insights into what it was like being a university student. Each group took it in turns to talk about the range of courses available, student social life and accommodation. 

    Hearing real experiences from their school peers was a genuine way to get the message across to our young people who are starting to research and make choices about their futures post-16.

    At the end of the presentation, there was Q and A session with the Student Ambassadors, who helped throughout the day, so students also got to hear first-hand what it was like being in higher education from those currently at ARU and UoC.

    We hope that the programme showed the students that anyone can go to University if they aspire to.

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  • Hair and Beauty Photo Shoot

    Published 03/05/16

    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:

                      

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  • SIMS Learning Gateway Link now available to parent/ carers 

    Published 29/04/16
    We are delighted to introduce our online service which will provide you with access to information about your child’s progress, achievements and behaviour whilst at College. The system will also allow those of you who have provided us with an e
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  • Short Story Competition

    Published 15/04/16

    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”.

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  • Battlefields Trip

    Published 24/03/16

    57 Ely College students visited the First World War Battlefields earlier this month. The three-day tour included memorials, trenches and cemeteries in both Ypres and the Somme. Highlights include a journey underground at the Wellington Quarry and two members of the group laying a wreath at the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate.

    It was the 11th time the trip has gone ahead and we hope that another group will be going out to pay their respects in November. The Battlefields trip compliments the learning of Year 9 History work and also provides them with a fantastic opportunity to develop socially.

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  • Kenya 2016

    Published 08/03/16

    Mr Sirot-Smith, Ms Watkins and a team of Year 10 and 11 students from the college gave up their half-term break in February to volunteer at two schools in one of Africa’s largest slums.  The team was working in Nakuru, Kenya helping the two schools provide education for some of the area’s poorest children.  Over 600,000 people live in the Nakuru slum, which is the fastest growing town in Africa.

    They completed the building of a new classroom for Ungana Academy and repaired several classrooms at Jubilee Academy.  In addition to the building work the volunteers worked alongside the teachers in classes, taught lessons, organised sporting activities and carried out community visits, taking much needed provisions such a flour, sugar, cooking oil and soap to families in dire need.

    The trip also included a visit to the Nakuru dump, upon which over 200 families live and scrape together a living.  Many of the children living on the dump attend schools supported by African Adventures with whom the Ely team were travelling.

    In their luggage the group took over 21 bags of school shoes, children’s socks and underpants, all  donated by the Ely College community as part of the ‘Show You Care’ appeal.  These were gratefully received by the schools’ children, few of whom had ever received new clothes.

    The trip was capped off with a visit to an elephant orphanage and a chance to feed giraffes at the Nairobi Giraffe Sanctuary.

    Team member Jessica-Ellen Ball commented:  ‘It was the best week of my life.  I am so glad I came; I never thought that I could make such a difference to the lives of others.  It was an amazing experience that I would recommend to anyone.  I can’t wait to come back again.’

    The team have spent the last year fundraising for the trip and plans are already being made for another trip next year.  Many of the students are keen to return, such as Neve Armstrong, who celebrated her 15th birthday during the 10 days.  She commented: ‘It’s been an emotional and challenging trip but has been the best thing I’ve done. It really has been life changing and I will return.’

    Team leader and Director of the Sixth Form, Mark Sirot-Smith added: ‘I am so proud of the team; it was a privilege to have been a part of such a hardworking and dedicated group of volunteers.  Despite the appalling poverty and lack of resources at the two schools, the team saw first-hand how love and education can change the lives of these children.

    ‘By coming here our students have really made a difference and their work will benefit hundreds of children now and in the future.  The directors of the two schools were amazed by how much they achieved and how they were always looking for more to do.  They all have new families in Kenya and will be missed.’ 

    Planning will soon begin for the next volunteering project with African Adventures.  If you are interested in being part of that team please contact Mr Sirot-Smith at msirot-smith@elycollege.co.uk.

    Below is a small selection of photos from the trip but more can be found on the Ely College Kenya facebook page.

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  • Ely Students Consider Top UK Universities

    Published 07/03/16

    On Thursday 25th February 2016, a number of student from Years 10 and 11 at Ely College joined other ‘high flying’ students from a range of secondary schools destined for Russell Group Universities.

    The PiXL student conference took place in the Marriott Hotel in Peterborough and was designed to enthuse, excite and inform students on how to prepare for careers such as Medicine, Law, Politics and Science.

    “It was great to see our students excelling in a truly academic environment.  Of the schools present, Ely College students where noted as being the most engaged and eloquent when responding and participating with questions from the floor."

    Attending teachers also reflected: "I am positive that these students will achieve high academic standards and are destined for very successful careers”.

    Above we have included some student feedback offered directly after the event. All students were very positive and are looking forward to further opportunities offered at Ely College to explore higher education.

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  • Cryptography Competition

    Published 07/03/16

    Cryptography Competition

    Since the start of the year a number of students from Ely College have been meeting in teams to compete in the 2016 Alan Turning Cryptography Competition that is currently running across secondary schools nationwide. Now in its fourth year, the School of Mathematics at the University of Manchester developed this web-based competition, and now monitors its progress with regular updates to a leaderboard where over a thousand schools are ranked.

    With weekly chapters released online, the story follows characters Mike and Ellie, two code-breaking kids who get caught up in cryptographic adventures. Students must solve a number of cryptographic problems as they go through each adventure. The problems do not need any sophisticated mathematics to solve, neither do they require the use of computers. Instead, logical thought and problem-solving abilities are all that is required. Over the course of the week before the next puzzle is released, students work against the countdown to gain the maximum number of points to take them up the rankings.

    Meeting with Mrs Szymanski on Mondays afterschool, Ely College has four teams;  ‘Arsenic Oxide’, ‘Cypher Pros’, ‘Rubiks Riddlers’ and ‘Calculator 5’. These students have shown us some excellent Ely 8 attributes and have even been leading their own learning by challenging each other with further cryptographic puzzles outside of school, meeting up to enjoy the social benefits of team work as well as the brain teasers on offer each week. Earlier this month we had some exciting news for our new Cryptography Club.

    The University of Manchester inform us that team ‘Rubik Riddlers’, which is comprised of team members George Sivyer, Lukas Bonilla, Zach Wymer and Aidan Rogers have won a spot-prize for their quick work during Chapter 1. While there are a limited number of highly sought after prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in the final rankings, these spot prizes are chosen at random from all teams who have solved each Chapter once the subsequent Chapter is released. Each team member won a £10 amazon gift voucher.

    Congratulations to the Rubik Riddlers!

    There is much to celebrate amongst the other teams as well. All our student have risen up the leaderboard in the last few weeks with their quick solutions, beating other local schools we know are also in the competition, such as King’s Ely and Comberton Village College. Well done all of you! Keep up the good work.

     

    Arsenic Oxide:                                                63

    CypherPros:                                                   164

    Calculator5:                                                    278

    Rubiks Riddlers:                                             301

     

    The Mavis Bateys (Kings Ely):                         610

    Epic Decoders (Comberton VC):                    215

    The Turinators (Comberton VC):                    756

     

    If you are interested in Cryptography and want to learn more, or want to play along with the challenges each week please follow the link here. You don't need to be an expert mathematician or a computing whizz to take part. You just need to be good at problem-solving and thinking logically.

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  • Y10 Parents’ Consultation Evening

    Published 29/02/16

    The Y10 Parents’ Consultation Evening is scheduled for Tuesday 8th March.

    We are trialling a new, easy to use online appointment booking system for Parents’ Consultation Evenings, which allows you to select your own appointment times with teachers. After you have chosen your preferred time, you will receive an email confirming your appointments. We are confident this will be an improvement to the previous system and welcome your feedback.

    Appointments can be made from now and will close at 2pm on the day of the Parents’ Evening. Should you wish to make any changes after this time please contact the Pastoral Support Assistants team, by telephone on 01353 667763.

    Please visit https://elycollege.parentseveningsystem.co.uk to book your appointments. A short guide on how to add appointments is included below. You will need to login with the following information:

    Student’s first name, student’s surname and date of birth, (as per the College’s records).

    If you do not have access to the Internet or encounter any other difficulties, please contact the Pastoral Support Assistants team, one of whom will be happy to add appointments on your behalf.

    This trial of new technologies has come out of direct feedback from parents and carers and we look forward to working with its users to continue to improve communication with the wider college community.

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  • Lads and Dads, Mums and Sons Launch 

    Published 12/02/16

    As part of our drive to improve literacy at the college and to close the achievement gap for our boys, on Wednesday evening we launched our ‘Lads and Dads, Mums and Sons’ project which was held in our Learning Resource Centre. Families took part took part in reading games, book challenges and fun reading-related activities. 

    A spokesperson for Ely College said: “It was lovely to welcome so many families into our library for the evening. This project is just one of the many ways we are working with parents and carers to engage them in their children’s learning, and is part of a wider programme of literacy support for students". 

    As well as our Lads and Dads, Mums and Sons evening, we have provided dictionaries for all of our Year 7 students this term, with grateful support from a local charity. We’ve also signed up to the Premier League Reading Stars programme through the National Literacy Trust.

    To coincide with World Book Week, we have arranged for renowned author, Julian Sedgwick, to visit Ely College and talk to students about his books, so lots of exciting literary events to look forward to!

    We will also be working with local primary schools and inviting their Year 6 students into Ely College to spend some time in our library and work with our Learning Resource Manager Mrs Shaw so they start to become familiar with college and some of the resources that will be available to them.

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  • Ely College Valentines Disco

    Published 01/02/16

    The newly formed  Ely College PSFA will be holding a Valentines Disco on 12th February 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 a huge success and a great launch to our new PSFA enabling  the college 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.

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