Introduction
Birley Primary Academy is proud to be part of the Children’s University™ Scheme which aims to raise aspirations, celebrate and boost achievement and foster a love of learning, so that children can make the most of their abilities and interests.
All children throughout the academy have the opportunity to take part in Children’s University and extra-curricular activities. Children can collect stamps to demonstrate the number of hours of learning they have achieved in validated Children’s University activities. They will also be able to record their hours, give feedback on the activities and look for new Learning Destinations on the Children’s University website.
With lots of these activities on offer in school through our extra-curricular programme, every child should be able to complete 30 hours of ‘study’. Pupils can also gain hours outside of school with registered ‘learning destinations’ across the UK. When pupils complete their 30 hours of ‘study’ this will allow them to receive a Bronze award. Some pupils may go even further and achieve a Silver (60 hours) or even Gold Award (100 hours). Pupils completing over a 100 hours of learning activities are invited to a very special graduation ceremony which is held at the Town Hall.
As previously mentioned, to support children with accruing the hours, Birley Primary Academy offer a wide range of extra-currilar activities. However, we have begun to run activities in conjunction with Children’s University themselves. The first of these is called the ‘Built Environment Club’ which children in Year 5 are currently taking part in. Read more about this club and upcoming clubs that are being run in conjunction with Sheffield Children’s University below:
What is the Built Environment
The built environment is the catch-all name which refers to everything that goes into creating a building. From the very first building concepts, to scoping out options for locations and building design, to environmental considerations and impact, all underpinned by ensuring value for money and that your building conforms to legal requirements, there’s SO much that goes into the built environment…so many professionals with so many skills too!
Sessions include an opportunity for pupils to find out what type of role suits them and their learning styles, gain an insight into the role of a Property Developer, how to identify an appropriate site for a building and how to manage budgets to build a skyscraper. They’ll also learn about what inspires different types of architecture, as well as having a go at structural and water engineering – very important in the built environment – as well as landscaping, interior design and the importance of colour. Of course, all of this work needs to be underpinned by excellent legal work, project management and budgeting, so your pupils will learn about these three key areas too.
Yes Chef Club
Another club about to launch in conjunction with Sheffield Children’s University is ‘Yes Chef’. This is an amazing opportunity for children to develop their knowledge all around food.
Below is some more information about the project and what the sessions will contain: This year’s project has a strong focus on supporting families via their children and young people to eat healthily while on a budget. Sessions include topic areas such as:
- meal planning
- batch-cooking and using leftovers
- the role of food banks
- food-saving apps
- spotting best value and calculating whether special offers really are that special!
Each session will also result in a ‘takeaway’ set of top tips for parents and carers, supporting the pupils to share their learning with families at home, and weekly ‘home challenge activities’ to embed their learning as well as signposting information to sources of support in your local area. They’ll be able to collect recipe cards for each dish they cook, so they can share this with their families at home.
Need more information?
For more information about Children’s University speak to our academy’s Children’s University
Co-ordinator, Miss Wells – [email protected]