In partnership with the Isle of Ely Rowing Club (IOERC), Ely College is pleased to announce that it has been successful in securing just under three thousand pounds of funding to continue and extend the reach of its successful rowing programmes.

Building on the successes of the last three years which has seen over 250 students ‘take up the oars’, this award will not only give more student the chance to experience rowing for the first time on our stunning local waterways, but also establish new programmes and partnerships. No longer just a taster, they hope to incorporate more competitive aspects as well as Holiday Camps, a Post-16 intensive course and a summertime Trust wide rowing regatta.

“This successful bid will allow us to extend our reach further” commented Jason Coe, Assistant Principal at Ely College. “With a view to developing competency and longer term engagement, we’ll welcome our Bishop Laney Sixth Form students to join us, with the potential for them to become youth leaders.”

“Working across Meridian Trust, we hope to extend our ‘Chance to Row’ programme to more schools in the region. We already have strong links with The Boat Race Company, the university teams and East Anglia Youth Rowing; the latter also being successful in this round of Love Rowing grant bids. We look forward to teaming up with them and sharing good practice.”

Love Rowing, the charitable foundation for British Rowing, announced funding for 25 projects across the UK, with a focus of bringing more people into the sport of rowing. Sally Corander from Love Rowing commented: “… this year we are supporting more projects than ever before! These funded initiatives will provide young people from low income household families, ethnically diverse community groups and people with disabilities the opportunities to learn to row and enjoy the benefits the sport brings.”  Love Rowing received a record number of very strong applications for the grant round which made the review process extremely difficult.

  

Jason Coe also commented on behalf of the College and IOERC: “Both myself and Richard Maxey are delighted to have secured this further funding to broaden opportunities and exposure to rowing across East Cambs. Love Rowing’s support will enable us to give a diverse range of students a chance to engage in a sport not only that has competitive pathways but undoubtably brings about social, emotional and mental wellbeing benefits. Whilst the college programme continues to grow, this bid allows us to share our experience across our wider community, something crucial to all of us at Ely College.”

 

 

Parents, teachers and friends of Ely College, part of Meridian Trust, hosted over 40 stallholders at its Christmas Market on Thursday 24th November, raising over £2,500 for school resources.

 

Organisers were overwhelmed by the generosity of the many parents and carers who have donated items for the raffle, tombola and bottle stalls at the event, which was the first of its kind since Covid.

Bev Saddington, Chair of the Parent Teacher Friend Association (PTFA) of Ely College said “We were incredibly well supported by local businesses who bolstered our grand raffle and tombola. Prizes included tickets to see Michael Ball at Ely Cathedral and many vouchers for various local restaurants and coffee shops.”

  

Simon Warburton, Principal of Ely College commented “What a wonderful evening! I’d like to express my heartfelt thanks to the PTFA for their amazing efforts in bringing this event to life. I know how much work went on behind the scenes and I’m in awe of their relentless commitment to supporting our college community”

Bev added “Despite the poor weather, we still had an amazing turnout. It was lovely to see the college ‘jam-packed’ with so many from the community enjoying the festive atmosphere. Huge thanks to our PTFA for their hard work; as well as the stallholders, local businesses and, of course, our parents.”

The evening raised over £2,500 which will be used to support the students’ learning.

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Ely College student Bryony Brodie who not only attended the England Schools U15 1st round trials, which is a great accomplishment in itself; but was ALSO successful and made the next round squad!!!!

She has been picked to represent South East ESFA U15 team in November for the next round as they play the South West. With her sights set on the English Schools' Football Association 'England Schools Team' we'll be following her progress, but so far what an AMAZING achievement!!! #excellence #PLEDGES

The girls in attendance were from Charlton, MK Dons, London City Lionesses, Tottenham, Essex RTC & Arsenal. The trial was 3 x 30 min match. Bryony played left back & x2 LW and assisted on an only goal. When she was in defence the score was 0-0 for a well played strong match. WELL DONE BRYONY!

On Wednesday 21^st September, Ely College welcomed representatives from both Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Clubs and The Boat Race Company (BRCL) for a day of workshops, competitive training exercises and inspiring conversation.

The College, which is part of Meridian Trust, prides itself on extending the boundaries of learning. Principal of Ely College, Simon Warburton said “our vision is to provide an education that’s inspiring and equips students with the skills they need to succeed beyond the classroom and today has been a perfect example of that.”

Mr Coe said “I’m thrilled that we’ve been able to offer this opportunity to our students and I’d like to thank everyone who’s been involved in making today happen. I’m also delighted that our ongoing partnership with local rowing club, Isle of Ely is proving so successful. Over 180 students so far, have been able to try rowing, thanks to this partnership. Rowing is a sport that most students wouldn’t have ever considered before, so it’s a wonderful opportunity.”

As part of the day, student athletes from Oxford and Cambridge Boat Clubs ran interactive workshops, covering topics, such as achieving a balance between academia and sport and lessons to be learned from success and failure.

Alannah Burdess is a Classics Undergraduate at Oxford University and a Cox for the University Boat Club. “It’s fantastic that students at Ely College are being introduced to rowing at a relatively early age. My advice to them? Keep going and most importantly, remember to have fun. Even at a competitive level, we always try to have fun. Being active every day and working towards a common goal with the squad has undoubtedly had a positive effect on all aspects of my life, so it’s great to be able to share my rowing journey with these students and hopefully inspire them to find a passion for the sport”

The Boat Race Bursary, funded by Gemini has been awarded to the college, enabling Assistant Principal, Jason Coe and his team to immerse students in a sport which has historically been perceived as financially, physically and even mentally inaccessible to most.

Furthermore, thanks to a partnering programme with the local rowing club, Isle of Ely, students have been able to access regular expert coaching and use rowing equipment from the club.

Athletes included Cam Spiers, CUBC (Goldie 2021, 2022)

Elena von Mueller CUBC (Blondie 2021, 2022)

Julia Lindsay – OUWBC Student Athlete (Blue Boat 2021, 2022)

Alannah Burdess - OUBC

Siobhan Cassidy, Board Member of The Boat Race Company Limited and stroke seat of the winning Cambridge Blue Boat 1995 said:

“The Boat Race Bursary, funded by Gemini, is delighted to support Ely College Rowing Club under Jason Coe’s inspirational leadership. The collaboration between Isle of Ely Rowing Club, Ely College and the British rowing community makes this project incredibly special.

“We founded the Bursary to drive projects just like this one. We believe that sport can build a better future for all. We support coaches, leaders and experts in the heart of their local communities to open our sport up to young people who may have never considered rowing before. We would like to thank Gemini for funding this valuable work.

“Oxford and Cambridge athletes swapped stories with the Ely College rowers about their shared experiences both in and out of the boat. We came away from today feeling inspired. It reminded us of how we started out on our own rowing journeys and how far that experience has brought us, together. We look forward to sharing the water with this new generation of junior rowers.”

 

A spokesperson for Gemini said:

“The projects we have chosen to sponsor provide life-changing opportunities to make sport and rowing both inclusive and accessible to young people who would otherwise be excluded. The popularity of the sport has grown tremendously over the years, and we are excited to help grow the sport further by bringing it to a more diverse and inclusive audience.”

Ely played host to the 2021 Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, due to concerns over social distancing amid the Covid-19 pandemic. This was the first time the iconic race had taken place outside of London since the Second World War and this lasting partnership shows the legacy of this event in inspiring a new generation of rowers in Ely.

To find out more about Ely College, please visit: www.elycollege.com.

 

Photo Captions:

1. Student Athletes, Boat Club Company & Ely College Staff
2. Cam Spiers – student athlete for CUBC talks to Ely students about his rowing journey
3. Alannah Burdess – Student Athlete for OUBC, overseeing the Erg race
4. Group photo of all involved in the day

We will be shortening lessons on Tuesday 19th of July to close to students at 13:05

On the 16th and 17th June, Ely College saw the triumphant return of their Science Festival! This two day event is weeks in the making, as Year 8 hosted their Science Fair on day one and Year 7 families joined us on day two.  With restrictions preventing the event last year, staff and students wanted this year's Festival to come back with a BANG and they certainly exceeded all expectations!

Over the last month of so, Year 7 and 8 students have been working hard in their science lessons to come up with an investigation which they can then plan, test, evaluate and present. There was a huge variety in the projects they came up with including dissections, titrations and 'flying teabags'... with some very interesting results.

  

These projects allowed the KS3 students to have their first independent attempt at following the scientific method; to take on a whole project that they could take ownership for, from start to finish. It also meant that, for Year 8, they were able to submit their projects for the Bronze Crest Award. CREST is a scheme that inspires young people to think and behave like scientists and engineers. Find out more here: https://www.crestawards.org/ 

  

It was so nice to see how proud the students were of the work they had produced and a really nice opportunity for parents to see what they’d been working on; some of them visiting college for the first time. Mr O'Neil, Science Teacher and lead on this year's two day Science Festival event commented: "Verbal feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and we hope that the science fairs will be as popular next year."

  

Mr Warburton who attended the festival each day, engaging students in their presentations and asking questions, commented on the two day event: "It was wonderful to see so many parents and carers give up their time in the morning to visit our science fairs and talk through the students’ projects with them.  It was already a hot day without all the Bunsen burners on, but the students loved being able to show their science investigations to such a wide and expert audience."

"After a period of not being able to welcome parents into college, to see at first hand the quality of the students’ work and their interactions with each other, I was thrilled to see so many visitors.  We will look for more opportunities to invite parents and carers in to College in the future."

Well done to everyone who took part and thank you to families and staff who visited to engage with our students. This is an amazing experience for them and counts towards their PLEDGES record and awards.

  

Didn't spot your child in these photos? There are many more on our socials. Please head over to @ElyCollegeMT to see photos on Facebook and @elycollege to follow us on Twitter.