Help Your Club Develop - Become part of the Children's University?
So what is Children's University?
The Children’s University (CU) is an exciting national initiative which encourages children to take part in a wide range of worthwhile out-of-school-hours learning. Research by the University of Cambridge indicates that keeping a record and celebrating participation in these activities through the Children’s University has a big impact on success at school. Over 21,000 children in Sheffield are already earning points through clubs and extra-curricular activities held on school premises. In Sheffield we know that there are many more equally valuable opportunities beyond the school gate, such as activities run by your club/organisation. Sheffield Children's University Team is part of Sheffield City Council.
How does it work?
Children’s participation in all aspects of voluntary learning (such as taking part in football training) is credited through an awards system. Over the last year, a national Passport to Learning is has been introduced as there are lots of fun and exciting activities taking place outside of normal school hours in different places across Sheffield where children and young people can collect learning credits. These credits will be added to the ones children collect in some schools to earn CU Awards. We are inviting organisations such as yours that meet CU criteria to work with us to bring children the recognition they deserve for their commitment to learning in their spare time.
What will we have to do?
It's really simple - and FREE to join! If you decide that you want to join the scheme to be able to reward the children that attend your organisation, all you have to do is complete and return a registration form attached here. We will come out and pay you a quick visit to check that your club meets our criteria (although I'm certain it already does!), then you'll become a validated 'Learning Destination' and we'll provide you with all you need - registers, posters, stickers, leaflets, etc. in a welcome pack. From then on, all you'd need to do is check they have a Passport to Learning and record their name, date of birth and school of those children on a register (some examples attached for info), and then send that into us at least once per school term (3 times per year). We'll do all the rest and make sure those hours are turned into credits and added to the child's running total from school activities!
What do the children and young people have to do?
All the children and young people have to do is to buy a passport (£2) ask their parents to sign the consent form inside their CU Passport. They can then take the Passport to any of the registered CU Learning Destinations across the city such as museums, libraries and local clubs and take part in their learning activities. An ever growing list of Learning Destinations can be found on our website: www.sheffield.gov.uk/cu
What's in it for your club?
Lots! Once you have become a Learning Destination, your details will be uploaded onto the Sheffield CU website (part of Sheffield City Council) for all the children and young people of the city and beyond to see, when they are looking for activities to do and they'll also be uploaded onto the national CU website, so lots of free publicity! Already, lots of children and parents are contacting us, saying they have a passport, where can they go to use it? Don't forget, we are contacting you as one of your members has suggested you join the scheme! The Passport is a relatively new development for Sheffield Children’s University. Organisations are joining all the time.
You can choose to sell the passports at your club/organisation if you want to. We sell them to you at £1.80 each and you can sell them on for £2 each, retaining a 10% profit for your funds.
We also run various events, to which you'll be invited to have a stall as part of a market place, etc., and you'll have direct links into around a third of schools in Sheffield through us.
Because of the information we collect, we are able to provide you with data broken down by age, ethnicity, postcode, etc. which may help you with writing applications for funding, etc. This is an extra service so if you are interested, please contact us.
How do we get involved?
Simple! Just download the application form attached and send it back. We'll contact you, take care of the rest, and get you up and running as a Learning Destination in no time.
For more information, please visit www.sheffield.gov.uk/cu or contact Helen.Oades@sheffield.gov.uk
Case Study - Hillsborough Pumas
"It’s a fairly simple process to get setup, Clubs fill in the first form and email it back to the CU team.
Helen or Katie will come and audit a session. If approved you have to keep registers and
submit them (I do mine quarterly around school terms). I collate the registers from individual managers and send the registers back to Helen or Katie who in turn credit the hours to the children. Our participants were already enrolled on the scheme through after school learning clubs. Although we’ve added a few since."