Latest News
News and Updates from the CU team
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Welcome To The New Academic Year
Wed 28 Sep 2022We are Back!
With a whole new range of exciting opportunities and an amazing new partner.
Autumn is here and we are all beginning the new academic year together, full of promise and opportunity.
Hermione Wood, our brilliant textile artist is already visiting Hallfield School ,having finished the wall hanging with St Josephs and Leila is due to deliver this academic year’s first first-aid training to the students of Soho Parish.
Thanks to the kindness of Axis builders, we are launching a community football project in October and are excitedly anticipating the launch of our Forest School Community Project.
We are delighted to say that we are eagerly awaiting the training of another two dog mentors and to meeting new contacts at October’s TES event.
We have booked over 600 cinema tickets, thanks to into film, and have 360 nursery children and parents attending in November who are all booked in already.
Our incredible friends at the palaces are training community access guides in September and we have 3 colleagues attending, making access to palaces even easier for new guests.
The great team at Finastra have launched their poetry competition and we can’t wait to meet the winners in October.
Black History Month Poetry Competition
“Finspire 2022”
Finastra ESG invites kids at your school to a poetry competition to mark Black History Month 2022, celebrating inclusion and equity.
The competition, which will be moderated by poet Nelson Brooks, asks children in year 6 Primary Schools to write a poem on Black History Month. The Finspire Poetry Competition gives children the platform to build up confidence and showcase their talent and be inspired, challenged and empowered.
Entry Deadline: 5 October 2022
Finastra ESG is excited to announce the opening of our Black History Month Poetry Contest (Finspire). We want to hear kids’ original poems reflecting on black history, culture, experience and/or social justice issues such as racism, prejudice, unconscious bias or microaggressions.
Submit poems via our online form or email. Winning contestants will be invited to a spoken word poetry event on the 13th of October at our office in Paddington.
POETRY CONTEST RULES
All Year 6 primary school students are invited to join.
Poems must be original and must be submitted via the online formor email (including name, age, email address, name teacher, name school and poem)
Poems may be rhyming or non-rhyming (see notes below).
Poems should provide reflections on black history, culture, experience, and/or social justice issues.
English-language entries only, please.
Author grants Finastra permission to post the poems on our website and marketing materials.
Poems are judged on the basis of originality and uniqueness.
One entry allowed per youth.
All entries must be the original creation of the submitting author.
All rights to the entry remain the property of the author.
The author agrees to present their winning entry in a spoken word production on 13 October 2022 taking place at Finastra, 4 Kingdom Street, Paddington, London, W2 6BD. The event takes place from 9.30 – 15.00.
60 finalists will be contacted by 7 October 2022.
Prizes:
First prize: £100
Second prize: £50
Third prize: £25
Judges:
Nelson Brooks
Jay MukheyDorothe Blake
Our Mission: To inspire and embrace young people’s strengths and talents via a poetry competition, helping children of many backgrounds to find confidence and inspiration, and engaging them in extra-curricular and wider activities that help them aspire to satisfaction and fulfilment through their opportunities later in life.
Please contact me directly if you would like to get involved with any of the September and October schedule, we can’t wait to get started! -
Holiday Fun
Fri 01 Apr 2022Hello Everyone,
Happy Holidays to you all!
I have some great opportunities for your children over the holidays and after too so thought I’d let you know
The Electric Barge and Floating classroom have a free puppet Barge Project to book into :
A 4 day shadow puppetry project as part of Westminster HAF programme, 12pm – 4pm on the Monday 4th, Tuesday 5th, Wednesday 6th, and Thursday 7th April
5 places available. The project is suitable for children aged 6 – 11.
Free to attend for children who are eligible for free school meals. Limited places available for £10 for all other children. Snacks and lunch will be provided.
Parents can book a place for their child via their website: https://www.thefloatingclassroom.co.uk/easterpuppetclub
Dream Arts are running a free Drama Project at City of Westminster College
Happening from 4th of April till 7th of April
10am till 4pm at the City of Westminster College. And is completely for FREE
If your students want to come email Angela the name of the participant, emergency contact/ email address at angela@dreamarts.org.uk
Please bring a friend if you would like to it would be great for the project to have your support!
WCU Holiday Club
I am running an April and June Club
9:00-3:45
Mon –Fri
Monday –Thursday
Register SWILSON@QUEENSPARKSCHOOL.CO.UK
Sign in on Monday with me if you get a spot via email
Queens Park School
Droop Street
London W10 4RN
Little further Afield?
Check out westminsterchildrensuniversity.co.uk
https://www.westminsterchildrensuniversity.co.uk/
Have a go at the pre-accredited Easter Challenge
https://www.childrensuniversity.co.uk/media/1427/easter-challenge-sheet-2022-002.pdf
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Visit our virtual classroom
Mon 17 Jan 2022Copy and paste the link to see our virtual classroom
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vRYre2gwyvzQ9DNxYSWyWVhwCocIoRjvZlyJOvEtVLBMcfJ0Z0drzUY6Jg6z-9syo5TNpijdIXyWpPw/pub?start=false&loop=true&delayms=3000
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Happy New Year Everyone
Tue 04 Jan 2022WCU New Year Events January-March 2022
Happy New Year everyone and welcome back! We are looking forward to a fun-filled year together in 2022.
Song-Do
Song Do have created some more information and videos to enhance understanding of what they are offering out to schools. https://www.songdoo.com/for-educationWe are looking forward to working with Song Do this year so, please express your interest with us.
July Holiday Opportunities
Earlier this year, the YHA asked for feedback on whether there would be interest in arranging a group residential break as part of our YHA (Youth Hostels Association) programme and what you might like to see as part of that programme. A huge thank you to everyone that took the time to fill that survey in for us.
Express your interest now to get involved
https://forms.office.com/r/4sqMr4svEK
GreenStarz Academy
To ensure access to Physical Education Greenstarz Academy will be launching an online platform and curriculum in March alongside the Digital academy Project.
The curriculum and one-way streamed videos will challenge and engage young people through guided activities and competitions.
YouTube Digital Academy
In collaboration with the Prince's Trust, the digital academy will allow students remote access to professionals within the online community.
Students will watch streamed seminars and learn about the industry, influence and critical thinking to prepare them for engagement with the online universe.
Music and Maths at the RAH
Book up your schools free music and maths sessions available for KS1-4.Discover Music & Maths workshops are part of the Hall’s Engagement programme and are free of charge. We are unable to offer these workshops to independent schools.
We invite you to complete the Register your Interest form to indicate your school’s preferred availability.
February Holiday Camp
Based on the success of our WCU Winter Camps we will be offering Holiday provision from 9:00am-3:45pm Monday to Friday at Queen's Park School, W104DQ.Please look out for the booking form to fill and return , we have limited spaces so get your places booked!
If you have any questions and still need to book your launch/Tim Maynard/First Aid or Ignite, please contact me on 07368103790 or swilson@queensparkschool.co.uk
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Two Great November Competitions and what we are doing at WCU
Mon 08 Nov 2021Westminster Windows art competition
Submissions for Westminster Windows art competition at Christmas in Leicester Square – submit by 12 November
Westminster schools, Year 1 – Year 8, and special schools are invited to run an internal competition for their pupils to design a Winter Widow that reflects the connections made and kindness received and/or given during the pandemic. Entries are also encouraged to be a response to Global Climate Change, so where possible, please be creative and use upcycled materials. Each school can then select up to five entries for submission to the Winter Windows competition. Successful designs will be selected and enlarged to A0, framed and rear lit and displayed on the north side of Leicester Square in a free exhibition.
This year, entrants are asked to illustrate the theme of a ‘Connection and Kindness’.
• What do connections look like to you, how do you make them and how did they make you feel?
• What acts of kindness did you experience during the COVID-19 lockdown?
• Did you go that extra mile and make a connection by being kind? How does being kind and making connections look and feel?
• What colour and patterns do these feelings make you think of?
Westminster Winter Windows provides schools with a project to base art classes on and children an exciting opportunity to see their work publicly exhibited.
Project guidelines
• Please email ruth@underbelly.co.uk to note your interest, further information will be sent to you on receipt of your email
• One or more classes can apply per school
• We suggest this is offered to Year 1 – Year 8
• Please submit all entries by no later than 12 November 2021
• All designs should be submitted on A4 or A3 paper, portrait orientation so that they can be scanned and sent to us
• Please used upcycled materials wherever possible (ie.using scraps and left-over materials to create a collage. Pen, pencil, crayon or paint collages may also be used, but please avoid using metallic )
• If you have more than 5 Winter Window designs from your school, please run a heat to select up to 5 window designs for submission
• We can only accept portrait orientated applications
• This year we can only accept entries in a digital format. Please scan your entries or send high resolution images of 100-150dpi at actual size and email ruth@underbelly.co.uk
• Please scan each entry individually and save with the pupil’s name, age and the name of your school
• Successful designs will be selected and informed on 14/15 November
• Windows will be available for schools or parents to collect post event.
The event is run by Underbelly in partnership with Westminster City Council. For any queries, please contact Ruth Fisher, Event Producer at Underbelly on the details below:
Tel: 020 7307 8480
Email: ruth@underbelly.co.uk
Website: christmasinleicestersquare.com
WCC’s Climate Action Classrooms competition by 19th November for the chance to win exciting prizes
With the United Nations Climate Change Conference currently underway in Glasgow (COP 26), everyone will be thinking about how they can play their part to help to tackle climate change.
The Climate Action Classrooms’ competition aims to help Westminster schools embed the climate emergency into their curriculum, engaging students on the impacts of climate change, fostering action and long-term climate-friendly behaviours.
The Climate Action Classrooms competition gives schools and young people the chance to showcase how they’re taking action and helping to spread awareness of the climate emergency.
There’s also the chance to win fantastic to trip to either the London Zoo or the Sea Life London Aquarium!
The competition is open until 19th November for pupils in Key Stage 2 (ages 7-11).
There are two categories - classroom action for entries by a class and pupil action for entries by an individual pupil.
Visit the website Climate Action Classrooms competition | Westminster City Council for full details of how to enter, prizes and terms and conditions.
Please share this with your geography and science teachers and encourage them to enter the competition.
If your school is taking part, please let our Climate Emergency Team know by contacting climateemergency@westminster.gov.uk.
Where possible, Cllr Robathan Leader of Westminster City Council, would welcome the chance to meet with you and your students to raise awareness about the climate emergency. Please do contact the Climate Emergency Team by 5th November, if it would be possible to arrange a visit.
We hope that the competition will be the start of continued engagement between WCC and Westminster schools on climate education, opening up opportunities for further curriculum support and climate action in the future.
Climate Change Awareness and Community Clear Up project
Westminster children’s University is an aspirational and extracurricular project created in response to the desire to provide free aspirational and educational opportunities for the young people of London. The project seeks to engage young people in activities that will help them transition from primary to secondary school and then maintain the positive trend in transitioning to further education and adult life. Our intention was to create a Multi-Disciplinary Project which would promote inclusion by including Auditory, Kinaesthetic and Visual elements to the overall project.
Sculpture, recycling and awareness
As part of our Climate Change Awareness and Community Clear Up project, year 5 visited the three recycled lions at Wembley Stadium last Friday. Faith Bebbington used waste cardboard, plastic cups and broken plastic seats from the venue in Wembley to create the two new pieces of art, which complement the existing recycle stainless steel lion made by artist Michael Turner currently guarding the ground. Ms Bebbington said: “I was delighted to be commissioned by the FA Group to create two lions for Wembley; partly as the stadium is such an iconic site and because I prefer my artwork to be accessible to the majority of people - rather than just art gallery goers.
Due to the kindness of one of our partners at Paddington Central Cognizant and the football Association we were able to bring the entire year group to the stadium on a stadium tour where they were able to visit the amazing beasts in person we feel that engaging children in artistic and creative endeavours is a great way for them to further explore the themes and topics which are most important such as in this case, climate control and what we can do about it.
Part of the beasts' internal structure is made from willow, used to create the curved shapes, and the rest from reclaimed wood collected by the artist. The standing lion has cardboard ‘fur’ while the sitting lion has 'fur' made of broken red plastic stadium seats, used plastic beer bottles, wooden knives, straws, cardboard food wrappers and used paper cups. Fishing line, parcel tape, and hot glue were used to stitch and stick the fur together, and the animal's eyes were made from eco laundry balls. Our friends at Veolia ,who we will be doing a community clear up with on the 18th, helped out too, All the waste was carefully hand-washed by the Veolia contract manager for Wembley Stadium before being delivered to Ms Bebbington. This was another element of the Lions sculpture which anchored their relevance to our awareness project and the over theme of the action we wish to take.
Creativity and sharing a message
There are a variety of ways to communicate with your audience, but one of the most beneficial is by using posters and visuals that can clearly display your message. When used correctly, these can catch the eyes of people and make them aware of an issue, product or service that they wouldn’t otherwise have known about. This powerful ability to stick in people’s minds can have huge advantages for any group looking to create awareness. As a year group we explored the key themes we wanted to raise awareness of and as a class designed Climate Action posters and planned a community event to further illustrate visually a need for change.
One of the key themes we have been focussing on is, how we can personally and as a group make difference to avoid further climate change? The posters and action the children have planned and produced use the key elements of successful poster making and are intend to communicate clearly which aspects of the theme spoke most to them. We then put these posters up around our school and made them publicly available on our website for maximum exposure. We then communicated with our partner schools to engage them in designing their own posters too as well as the next step in the planned project and promoted exploration of and engagement with the topic.
As an educational charity ourselves, we are invested in the enrichment of offer for and promotion of Volunteering and social action within younger cohorts; we are dedicated to offering a wider spectrum of learning experiences for the young people of Westminster. In the last year alone, we provided and 111,000 hours of extracurricular activity for the children of our partner schools. This means a target audience of at least 1600 students. We felt that this wider platform was a perfect way for the students to safely and confidently spread their message and recruit the further engagement of peers.
Repurposing food
Based on our own experiences through lockdown, we are aware that there is a high percentage of socio-economic need in our ward (in fact we are within the top 4% nationally for socio-economic challenge). Throughout lockdown we were able to create a network of volunteers and stakeholders who work together, through us, to collect and re-purpose wastage food .We did this by working closely with Fare share and Food Drop; as well as using the online platforms Neighbourly and Olio facilitate wider sharing and enable a diverse resource network.
Through the hard work of our volunteers, we have been able to re-purpose 70 tons of wastage food through food drop alone. Our work with neighbourly has had a similar outcome, 41.4k meals shared and a further 176k of water saved through Olio. We are currently continuing our relationship with Neighbourly and Marks & Spencer and continue to redistribute waste food (preventing it going from the shop to landfill and seeing repurposed); answering local food needs, as communicated to us in our locality.
Our year 5 have regularly been helping to unload and build weekly food parcels for our school and local community. This element of the overall project was inspired by the work initiated through the Mayor’s Fuel for schools project back in 2018 and we have continued to feed 20 families weekly through our own school food parcels (which we continue to deliver to the present day).
We are aware of the negative stigma wrongly attached to accessing what is sometimes considered free food through projects such as ours. We, as does the fuel for school project, believe in educating young people early in the environmental impact and benefit of repurposed seeing Food which will otherwise go to waste it is vital that our young people understand the wrong created by the processing of waste food and the waste itself. By looking at and taking part in repurposing this food for the prevention of these negative outcomes we are able to reduce the stigma felt in accessing such resources. This is particularly important as we are aware that there is a great need for additional services and food as we have seen through direct requests and signposting that has come to us for food support through the recent crisis. We believe that by actively taking measures to reduce this as a community we can make a positive difference to the amount of waste that occurs locally and we can encourage sustainable behaviour changes in the future.
Furthermore, we believe that by using educational experiences we can help our young people value and understand their immediate environment more fully and in a far wider, holistic manner; by doing this, we propose that we will be able to promote sustainable and purposeful behaviours as our young people mature. We feel that influencing behaviours within waste, food and the environment at a young age is a vital way to create a sustainable change for the benefit of everyone’s future and environmental benefit.
We have also been working with Joseph Dunston to distribute warm meals after school as part of our community action and year 5 have been actively engaged in this too ,handing out portions and creating interest each Thursday, after school. Our project, just as others do, will go some way to educating and relieving the recent burdens on our local families, creating education and support opportunities across the spectrum of participants through distribution and collection of resources, education and outreach through the collaboration of stakeholders and community cohesive approaches to delivery.
Community Led Social Action and Partnership
This November 18th we will be working with Millie Kent of the Climate Action Coalition to conduct a community based litter pick in collaboration with Queen’s Park Community Council. Millie Kent and Volunteers from Veolia will visit all of our local venues with our students on a giant litter pick .By sharing our project so far we will also be joined by Eco Committee students Essendine, St Mary of the Angels and St Peters Schools. The students will create poetry on the day as they reflect, to later be set to music and shared at Paddington Central by our choir in December. This will create a full day of community action with each year group and Sub-Committee taking direct social action on litter, pollution and Climate change.
We will collect the rubbish in a central public location to generate community awareness of littering and waste and to further influence more positive future behaviours by raising awareness through visual means as was intended by the three lions sculpture. We will record and share the day’s activities as well as gathering feedback which we will also upload to our main site. Our intention is for this project to be repeated yearly and be student led, to generate larger and more diverse actions.
All photos and Comms to be found at : https://www.westminsterchildrensuniversity.co.uk/forest-schoolclimate-actionecology-awareness-activ/
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Happy Holidays
Tue 19 Oct 2021Westminster Children's University October Holiday News
Hello everyone, wow it’s October! As the autumn break arrives we think it’s a great time to get exploring online and locally, so we have compiled our favourite opportunities for you to get involved with. We have some youth focussed and family events for you all and have included all you need to book up too, we hope you have a great break and find an activity (or two) that you really enjoy.
All of these activities are within walking distance for those in Queen’s Park and are completely free to all who attend.
Online Fun
Join in with WCU online*(Blue 7107) at:
https://www.westminsterchildrensuniversity.co.uk
Check out our newsletters and the many ideas for activities during the holidays all of which will earn you hours, you might even see yourself or work there too! We understand the need to inspire, challenge and empower young people. We look for opportunities for you all to gain further experiences to enrich your learning. We want to enrich their learning through links with Universities and places of interest, after school clubs hosted across a range of schools and workshops provided by local businesses and specialist providers.
*(Blue 3690) Register with the Dirt is good academy at:
https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/dirtisgoodacademy
The Dirt Is Good Academy is a brand new, free learning portal for kids who want to change the world! Our planet is an amazing place! But sadly, there are lots of threats that people, wildlife and the planet face today. Problems like this can feel big and scary and almost impossible to solve. Well, the good news is, you can make a difference, and that’s where the Dirt Is Good Academy comes in! Full of amazing videos, fantastic facts, brain-boggling puzzles and hands-on, real-life challenges, the Dirt Is Good Academy is a training platform for kids who want to change the world for the better, a.k.a. Change makers!
You’ll learn about topics like global warming, green energy, water scarcity and plastic pollution, and you’ll discover your very own Change maker personality and matching avatar – who’ll accompany you on your Change maker mission!
By joining the Dirt Is Good Academy, you’ll be joining forces with other kids around the world to make the world a better place
*(Red 5206) Explore NatGeo Kids at:
https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/
National Geographic Kids is a children's magazine published by the National Geographic Society. Its first issue was printed in September 1975 under the original title National Geographic World. Visit them this holiday online to “Experience the coldest continent on the planet” in this month’s episode of “Destination World.” Even though the blistering cold keeps away all but the most adventurous explorers and scientists, a few surprises still hide above and below the ice in Antarctica!
*(Red 5257) Brush up on your coding at:
The goal of the Hour of Code is not to teach anybody to become an expert computer scientist in one hour. One hour is only enough to learn that computer science is fun and creative, that it is accessible at all ages, for all students, regardless of background. The measure of success of this campaign is not in how much CS students learn - the success is reflected in broad participation across gender and ethnic and socioeconomic groups, and the resulting increase in enrolment and participation we see in CS courses at all grade levels. Millions of the participating teachers and students have decided to go beyond one hour - to learn for a whole day or a whole week or longer, and many students have decided to enrol in a whole course (or even a college major) as a result. Use the link to access favourites like A.I for oceans, Dance Party and Star Wars.
Check out local learning destinations using the Children's University Site and visit.
https://www.childrensuniversity.co.uk/
*(Red 9617) Sports and Holiday Clubs
https://www.qpghub.com
QPG is a not-for-profit organisation, which started with a couple of local Community volunteers providing free weekly football sessions in Queen’s Park - with the intention of it being a small weekly gathering in order to promote healthy and active lifestyles - and almost two years later, the founder has opened a brand new Community Hub on Kilburn Lane. Visit the QPG Hub for holiday fun. Call them on: 020 8616 2170
Text on: 07802 826 609
Email QPG Hub: info@qpghub.com
*(Green 7285) Library Fun
Visit Queen's Park Library they have a wide range of workshops available and if you want to travel a little further, attend a Creepy-crawly Halloween workshop with @ZooLabUK , Next Tuesday 26 Oct, from 4pm to 5pm at Church Street Library. It will be a spook-tacular Halloween workshop, you can meet some amazing crawly creatures! To get involved in this Family community event, email: churchstreetlibrary@westminster.gov.uk to book your place
Celebrating Black History Month
On the 23rd of October Councillor Brian Nicolas is hosting a Black History Month Event*(Blue 0298) at the Porchester Hall Queensway W25HS. It runs from 6-11:00pm and is completely free. Contact Brian at brian@communityforall.co.uk or call direct on 07961359734 for music, dance and fun.
On Friday 29TH of October at the Beethoven Centre, Third Avenue W104JL there will be a community event Proud to be Black in Queen’s Park *(Blue 0298). So if: Food, Poetry, Art, Music and Photography are your thing visit with your family.
Email shuwanna@queensparkcommunitycouncil.gov.uk to book your spot!
*(orange4969) Local Parks and Garden’s
Sign up for the Wild Challenge- *(Blue 4471) and use the challenges to explore local parks .Go online at
https://www.rspb.org.uk/fun-and-learning/for-families/family-wild-challenge
The Woodland Trust-*(Orange 1999) has a huge range of outdoor (and indoor) activities and challenges. From Magical fairy doors to Messy mud pies, they’re packed full of outdoor fun. Search -treetoolsforschools.org.uk they also have crafts that you can make with objects you collect on your walk. As well as worksheets you can fill out to identify trees, seeds and flowers.
Remember that Paddington Recreation Ground has lots of fitness resources and Queen's Park has its own petting zoo, all are completely free!
Happy Lizzy Events
St Jude’s Hall, 71 Ilbert Street, W104QH
Saturday 30th October 6pm-8pm
Sunday 31st October 5pm-8pm
Come to St Jude’s for a spooky, interactive Halloween trail for W2, W9, W10 residents.
Culture Club
St Jude’s Hall, 71 Ilbert Street, W104QH
2pm-5pm
Tuesday 26th October
Thursday 28th October
Half term activities, discussion and fun at St Jude’s.
*We are including Stamp Codes for these activities so you can claim your WCU hours online as you go on the Children’s University Site
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An October "Hello!" to all of our amazing WCU schools and friends
Wed 29 Sep 2021Hi all !
A big virtual hug and hello from WCU
We are pleased to announce a brief outline of our 100% Free, October-December Offers so far with WCU.
- After the holidays, we will be offering in-school activities
- Mon/Wednesday/Friday are free for booking :Arts Award ,School /Eco-Council (set up and sessions) or Mind-Up/Mindfulness
- My Dog mentoring training with the amazing Jenny Duckworth is complete, so if you'd like a class visit from a "school doggo" and Hector a Dog's Tale (dog story) author, do let me know.
- I am also available to deliver teacher inset training on Mind Up so again, please get in touch to book.
Last academic year we spoke about re-launches (and for Our Lady a Launch).
Please book these with me anytime from today
- For interested parties Biblio Buzz is launching at Alexander Palace They are keen to engage all schools but will be of particular interest to Haringey Schools
- In November it’s the Into-film Festival ,Here you can book out a whole Cinema for your school -FREE
- Below is a table of still free bookings
Name
Postcode
Date
Start Time
End Time
Event Title
Booking Capacity
Primary
Secondary
Bertha Dochouse
WC1N 1AW
2021-11-16
12:30:00
14:20:00
I Am Greta
50
No
Yes
Empire Haymarket
SW1Y 4RL
2021-11-24
10:00:00
12:25:00
Sparks Brothers
422
No
Yes
Empire Walthamstow
E17 7FD
2021-11-16
10:00:00
11:40:00
A Christmas Gift From Bob
266
No
Yes
Goethe Institut
SW7 2PH
2021-11-11
14:30:00
16:05:00
Mondscheinkinder (Deutsche)
35
Yes
No
Phoenix Cinema East Finchley
N29PJ
2021-11-22
10:00:00
11:35:00
The Voyage Du Prince (English Subtitles)
242
No
Yes
Rio Cinema
E82PB
2021-11-23
10:00:00
11:45:00
Sonic the Hedgehog (Autism Friendly)
391
Yes
No
Rio Cinema
E82PB
2021-11-12
10:00:00
11:40:00
Dear Future Children
391
No
Yes
Rio Cinema
E82PB
2021-11-10
10:00:00
11:35:00
Early Man
391
Yes
No
Vue Finchley North
N120GL
2021-11-17
11:00:00
12:55:00
Sonic the Hedgehog plus Journey Of A Film BAFTA short
200
Yes
No
Vue Fulham Broadway
SW61DN
2021-11-17
11:00:00
13:25:00
Sparks Brothers
285
No
Yes
Vue Romford
RM11AU
2021-11-19
10:00:00
11:20:00
Away (Autism Friendly)
422
No
Yes
Vue Romford
RM11AU
2021-11-12
10:00:00
11:50:00
A Dog's Way Home plus Journey Of A Film BAFTA short
422
Yes
No
Vue Shepherds Bush
W128PP
2021-11-15
10:00:00
11:35:00
Trolls World Tour
340
Yes
No
Vue Watford
WD257JZ
2021-11-18
11:00:00
12:55:00
Sonic the Hedgehog plus Journey Of A Film BAFTA short
70
Yes
No
Vue Watford
WD257JZ
2021-11-16
10:00:00
11:55:00
A Dog's Way Home plus Journey Of A Film BAFTA short
80
Yes
No
Event
Event Date
Venue Name
Available Seats
The Boss Baby 2: Family Business
2021-11-18
Vue Finchley Road
268
Horrible Histories
2021-11-10
The Gate, Notting Hill (Picturehouse)
122
Spirit Untamed
2021-11-11
Vue Finchley Road
267
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway
2021-11-17
Vue Finchley Road
45
I have some spaces on my personal bookings so if they are of interest get in touch!
Event name: Trolls World Tour
Location: Vue Shepherds Bush, West 12 Shopping & Leisure Centre, Shepherds Bush Green, Shepherds Bush, London, W12 8PP, England
Date: 15 Nov 2021
Time: 10:00 - 11:35
Certificate: U -250 seats
Get involved if you can its great
I have free seats at my bookings too as you can see, so have a look and if you're interested ,we can see what we can do
- If you'd like a coding experience at Paddington Central for a class or two please speak to me, Lucy Dillion is amazing and Finastra are taking visits again
- Cognizant have a full package of things STEAM /Coding opportunities for Secondary students please let me know if it is of interest -Cognizant Ignite. It’s more STEM-focused than before and the goal is to get more students to pursue STEM careers by creating awareness and excitement about the subjects. I will send you a direct booking link and brochure if you let me know you are on-board.
- I have two authors waiting to come and give class talks/resources please let me know if this is of interest so I can book for you
- Tim Maynard has some availability too
- Here at QP (W104DQ)
- We are opening clubs to all schools so of brochure of these will come your way in late October
- We will have a holiday club in October from 9-3:30
- I will send booking forms 1 week before break up
- Online we will pilot an online cooking and wellbeing club with pre-recorded content for access to this (in late October) in your own after school provision, please contact me directly
- Dream Arts Are Back; we run a pick up and drop off service from QP 9:30-15:30.Or parents can access directly
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Welcome everyone to the new academic year!
Wed 01 Sep 2021We’re back!
Welcome back everyone, here we are at the start of a whole new academic year.
We have lots to share with you all and are really looking forward to working together on some great new opportunities for the autumn/winter terms.
To book CPD and Visits, please email direct at swilson@queensparkschool.co.uk.
To access online activities please find us at https://www.westminsterchildrensuniversity.co.uk
Noble Manhattan
Are you interested in CPD for aspiring coaches and mentors?
If you are looking to accredit and upskill in this area we have some highly sought after and fully funded spaces with Noble Manhattan, the U.K's only accredited coaching trainers.
Contact me directly and ASAP to get your place on the coaching foundation course and be part of this great movement to bring in- house ,accredited and trained coaches to schools.
Mind-Up
We can now offer teacher training and insets for Mind Up, if you are interested in accessing this please let us know; this program is a reliable way to support wellbeing and mindfulness in whole school settings and we are excited to help support others in their own Mind-Up Journeys.
In-School Activities
From November onwards we are available to deliver Arts Award and Mindfulness in your settings. This will be available in 7 week blocks.
Please feel free to contact us with your preferences for the timing, theme and frequency of the sessions required.
We also have providers ready now to come and visit your schools to deliver workshops, these are one-off opportunities.
We currently have available:
- Tim Maynard -Invertebrates and Ecology (X2, 1 hour slots),
- L French -Youth First Aid (Day Training available)
- D Ackerman -1 hour author workshops
- Renata (Hector and Friends)-1 hour author workshops
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Congratulations and a graduation message
Wed 30 Jun 2021We have been so impressed this year about how hard everyone has worked to make sure that they’re still collecting their extracurricular hours. It’s amazed us, the commitment and hard work of all of the students adults who have managed to make this year a really successful one for extracurricular learning despite the difficulties that everyone has faced.
I will begin by talking to you a little bit about the numbers involved in this year‘s graduation, this year we will be celebrating 7 On-site graduations and there will be an amazing 1080 graduates. Indeed, the number of children who have joined us online this year has been increasing exponentially throughout 2021 and we now have 1400 online students
That’s not all, we finished our last graduation with 81,000 total extracurricular hours earned. This year you amazing lot have managed together to collect, across the 1080 graduates, an additional 33,000 hours. That now means our total now stands at 113,000 individual extracurricular hours and that is all thanks to your commitment and hard work
Because of this we would like to say a massive thank you to all of you and we hope that you will feel really proud of your achievements .Now although some of you may not be graduating this year, we would still like you to feel equally proud of all the hard work you’ve done this year keeping up with your studies and taking part in additional activities and interests which we know you have all been doing.
It’s been particularly difficult this year as there have been lots of restrictions on travel and being together and gathering together which is why today we are graduating outside and we ourselves have been spending a lot of time planning and facilitating outdoor learning .Some of you may have been to the floating classroom and if you haven’t I’m sure you will be going very soon, you may have even joined us at Forest School on Saturdays, which is another great example of outdoor learning with WCU and the floating classroom. If you haven’t yet done those things, there will be chances next year and there will be a member of the team Tim Maynard coming to visit you in your schools before you break up, which will be very exciting
This is just part of some of the work we are doing to provide you all with the opportunities to get back outside into the world and enjoy yourselves while learning. We have also identified the largest amount of hours and within your schools, as collated by your amazing coordinators; for some children there will be a small surprise gifts during gradations, just as an extra special thank you for all you have been doing.
Next academic year, we will be hoping to graduate again in February ; if you haven’t had a prize or certificate this time as you haven’t graduated, do not worry your chance will come in February and you have plenty of time from now all the way up until then to gather enough hours. Remember that six activities will give you enough credits to graduate next time we get together, hopefully in the much larger, town hall that we all love visiting.
We have lots of online projects for you to do at the Westminster Children’s University site and have created and accredited over 450 of these this year alone. You do not need a log in so get online and find something you are interested and have a go .Don’t forget to share your work back with your coordinator and you may well see it on the website if you do.
Next academic year, we will have afterschool clubs and several large outdoor learning and art projects for you to get involved in including running your own gallery, rooftop basketball, magazine publishing, textile art and outdoor learning.
We have been so pleased to see so many of you dressed up in your amazing gowns during graduations because what we are about is creating fun activities for you all and getting you thinking about your futures. With that in mind we have also have some other special guests joining us at different graduations including a filmmaking crew, are making a video about our local area which they will be sharing hopefully with you at our next graduations.
These filmmakers were actually students at one of our partner schools, St Peters. So not only is it really exciting to have them collaborate with us it was really good for graduates to be able to see how many different possibilities there are in the world for them as they grow up and that you all can become anything that your hearts’ desire.
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June Update
Mon 21 Jun 2021Congratulations to everyone
What a remarkable year, full of challenges, experiences and learning we have had! We would like to congratulate you on and celebrate your amazing work by saying well done, you should all be so proud! This year, despite restrictions, we have 1080 students graduating and can add 30,000 additional hours of individual learning to our total; making our new grand total for individual learning hours 111,000.Graduations are underway as are the celebration events and we are loving sharing and recognising all of your hard work.
Holiday Club in July
We believe that by using educational experiences and outdoor learning, we can help our young people value and understand their immediate environment more fully and in a far wider, holistic manner; by doing this, we propose that we will be able to promote sustainable and purposeful behaviours as our young people mature.
We feel that influencing behaviours within waste, food and the environment at a young age is a vital way to create a sustainable change for the benefit of everyone’s future and environmental benefit. Our proposed project will go some way to educating and relieving the recent burdens on our local families, in this one of the most difficult transitionary times we all find ourselves in, creating education and support opportunities across the spectrum of participants through distribution and collection of resources, education and outreach through the collaboration of stakeholders and community cohesive approaches to delivery.
With this ethos in mind, we provide we propose to run six weeks of activity throughout the summer holiday (daily 9:00-15:30) and continue this into the new academic year (workshops and outreach) to build upon our commitment to wellbeing and transition work .We will aim to offer 28 places for each Key-stage and a further 20 spaces for early years settings and have recruited in advance a dedicated team of facilitators to meet this aim.
By adding an environmental educational element to the overall offer (this will include working in meanwhile gardens and making mini-habitats for vertebrates as well as bringing an outdoor provider into school to teach children about biodiversity and the importance of looking after the local environment) students will be educated on the symbiosis both humans and our local wildlife and environment share aiding connection and engagement while supporting transition in September.
Alongside our usual program of activities we will undertake weekly projects. We will be spending each week on a new theme. Week commencing 26/7- in the first week we will work with the ecology centre at Hyde Park; Week commencing 2/8/ Week commencing 9/8-in weeks 2 and 3 we will host a KS1 and KS2 Cycling school; Week commencing 16/8-in week 4 we will run a KS2 Basket Ball Camp: Week commencing 23/8-Week 5 we will run a gardening and community planting project and in week 6 (Week commencing 30/8), we will be looking at Wellbeing, Mindfulness and preparing for the new academic year through coaching and mentoring.
Forest School Saturdays
We have been attending Forest school in June-July and will be continuing to promote outdoor learning throughout the summer and into next term. There will additional opportunities to joining outdoor learning and weekend projects. We have been visiting the Floating Classroom who are currently facilitating these and other sessions such as Life Afloat and We like Why? We strongly recommend that coordinators sign up for sessions as soon as is possible as they are in high demand and are amazing opportunities to learn and have fun.
September, Wednesday Wellbeing Club
The Students' Wellbeing Club will run on Wednesdays at Queen's Park School from 3:30-6:00pm during term and will additionally provide holiday provision (alongside holiday play provision).The first session will be on Wednesday September the 8th 2021.
This club will be taking place at Queen’s Park school, it will run for 7 weeks at a time from 4:00-6:00pm.
We ask that participants contribute £21 to cover the resources and basic costs of this club in advance. With hourly skills coaching rates generally ranging from £15 - £35 outside of London, and up to £50 in the capital and the cost of mentoring far exceeding this (beginning at its most basic at £75 an hour), we know that access to such services and the range of programs is very limited .We have committed to this minimal fee in keeping with our goal of making provision accessible regardless of financial position.
To book into this club in advance please contact swilson@queensparkschool.co.uk
First Aid Training
First Aid training is still available for staff and students and is now underway. This is a great way to empower students and staff preparing them for all eventualities. These sessions are brought to you free of charge thanks to our ongoing relationship with Axis Training Limited. To book this training for your school advance please contact swilson@queensparkschool.co.uk and we will arrange this for you.
Mindfulness Sessions and MHFA
If you are interested in promoting and embedding mindfulness in your setting get in touch, we are happy to help you set up MISP and Mind-Up should you wish to. Additionally, if you would like to add staff mental health first aid training, we have virtual sessions for you to attend at a greatly reduced rate. To book this training for your school advance please contact bcommins@queensparkschool.co.uk and we will arrange this for you.
Mayor’s London Trails
We have been working with city hall to resource London Walk Guides for you to do during the holidays; we have them now and are ready to get them to you. So if you are interested in London Family walks please let us know and we can get these to you before you break up for the summer. They are a great way of creating mementos of walks and experiences together as well as learning more about the city and what it has to offer. To access these resources, simply email us and we will drop them off to you.
What’s next?
We have lots for you to do over the summer online and in person and will share this with coordinators before you break up. We have 5 larger-scale projects planned and ready to go for September which we will invite coordinators to express interest in before break up and sign up for in September.
