School soccer stars rule Britannia

On Friday 23rd May 2014, Newcastle-under-Lyme College sponsored a Schools football tournament at the Britannia Stadium- home of Stoke City F.C.

The ‘Play on the pitch’ schools tournament featured local schools from across Stoke on-Trent, Staffordshire & Cheshire, giving pupils the chance to follow in their heroes footsteps on the famous turf.

The tournament was run over a three day period, with the first two days focusing on Primary schools, the third and final day involved pupils in Year 9 & 10 from the following secondary schools: Madeley High School, Wolstanton High School, COOP Academy of Stoke on-Trent, Birches Head Academy and Shavington High School.

The tournament was split into a Year 9 section and a Year 10 section, the Year 10 section was incredibly contested with Madeley narrowly defeating Wolstanton in the final. It was a tight game with few chances, until Madeley scored a breakaway goal to seal the win.

During the final itself, the Madeley pupils were unaware that they were being watched by their own Assistant Head teacher Mr Hope, who was enjoying the hospitality in the NULC School Liaison Executive Box.

Players from Madeley High school were also given the opportunity to be interviewed in the press area after their victory, with Aaron Robinson and Jack Kennedy answering questions. Jack commented ‘The day has been ace, very enjoyable and we won the tournament!’ Aaron added ‘It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to play on the pitch at Stoke City and we loved it’.

 

The event was also very well received by staff at the respective schools with Mark Rogers Head of Physical Education at COOP Academy of Stoke on-Trent commenting ‘It has been a fantastic opportunity for the pupils to play on the pitch at the Britannia, a day they will never forget’.

 

The event was jointly sponsored by both NULC and Stoke City F.C goalkeeper Asmir Begovic and his charity The Asmir Begovic Foundation. All students that participated in the event were able to speak to NULC Academy of Sport staff to find out about what sports they can get involved in when they study at NULC.

School Liaison E-newsletter goes live!

On 15 May 2014 School Liaison sent our first Year 9 & 10 E-newsletter to school pupils.

The E-newsletter includes information on forthcoming events including the Year 9 & 10 Open Day on Saturday 21 June. Also, information on what is new for 2014 including our brand new Golf Academy and the purchase of Gradbach Mill, located between Leek & Buxton, which is to be used as an outdoor activity centre!

Future editions will include exciting information about the college, competitions, revision tips and much more!

If you haven’t received the E-newsletter yet and would like to, please send your Name, Email Address, School Name and Year to schools@nulc.ac.uk and use the subject: E-newsletter.
For more information on our Year 9 & 10 Open Day please click here.

Thistley Hough Academy welcomes construction roadshow

On Wednesday 7 May 2014, Newcastle-under-Lyme College Construction staff took to the streets to promote Painting & Decorating, Joinery and Bricklaying courses. 

The Roadshow at Thistley Hough Academy in Penkhull was aimed at raising awareness for the skilled trades. The Painting and Decorating department ran interactive demonstrations in the food hall where pupils got the chance to learn basic decorative effects such as creating a heartwood grain using a wooden instrument called a ‘rocker’. 

There was a lot of interest from the pupils, with Years 8,9,10 and 11 all asking the lecturers about full-time courses and discussing what jobs there are in the industry. NULC lecturers were on hand to discuss each trade and were able to pass on their advice to the enthusiastic pupils.

Amongst the many students attending Melvina Kearns, Year 8, was able to have a go at creating a heartwood grain using the wooden ‘rocker’. She commented "It was good to have a go at something different."

Thistley Hough Information Advice and Guidance (CEAIG) Manager Sue Greenhalgh was delighted with the response to the Roadshow "The demonstrations were stunning, insightful, engaging and pitched at the right level."

Search and Rescue

A group of Year 10 and 11 pupils from St. John Fisher Catholic College joined NULC for a taster in Public Services on Thursday 1 May 2014.

The pupils began the day with a relay warm up race followed by various fitness drills including isometric holds and core transitions. The session finished up with a Rounder's game to increase team building skills and prepare them for life in the forces.

Bryony Watkins, Year 10, commented; “This session was really interesting, it was great to experience something new and challenging.”

After a tour of the college facilities, everyone enjoyed a great lunch, getting their energy back ready for the afternoon’s activities. The pupils were put into three teams and were given roles of Police Investigators that were holding a search and rescue mission. Each team had a lead Inspector who was in charge of a certain area of land to search.

The teams were taught how to make a successful search and rescue and how important strong communication skills are when reporting back to the control centre. Team two worked fantastically well together and managed to find and cordon off evidence relating to the ‘disappearance of a 17 year old boy.’ All of the pupils worked extremely well together and communicated effectively  to piece together what had happened at the scene.

Katy Machin, Year 11, said: “The field search activity was really good and helped improve my knowledge of Public Services.”

When asked what he most enjoyed about his visit to NULC, Nathan Fuller, Year 10 pupil, replied: “I learnt some valuable information needed for a career in Public Services.”

Prisons, Wolves and how not to behave in society, The dark arts of Psychology and Sociology

A group of bright Year 9 pupils from Madeley High School had the opportunity to experience a typical A Level Psychology and Sociology lesson at Newcastle-under-Lyme College. 

The students who were about to make their GCSE choices, were given the opportunity by their Humanities teacher Mr Green to come to NULC and meet current students on those courses.

Assistant Head of 6th Form and Psychology lecturer Adele Richards talked about Prison life from a psychological state of mind and explained the effect of the imprisonment on their personalities. Marianna Glazewska commented: “I liked how we compared different prisons”.

Not just content with learning about prison life in Psychology, students were also introduced to the world of Sociology. Assistant Head of 6th Form and Sociology lecturer Jon Stanfield discussed how a society is formed and how our own role within our society affects others around us. The pupils were shown some incredible videos of how our own human society can be linked to packs of wolves and how their ‘pack’ instincts can be similar to ours was fascinating to the pupils.

Jenna French was asked what she enjoyed most about the taster she replied: “Learning about the baby wolves and people wolves”,

The taster day was designed to encourage students to consider choosing Humanities as a GCSE subject and how it can benefit students applying for Psychology and Sociology at A Level. Humanities teacher Mr Green commented about the sessions: “I felt the lessons were pitched perfectly with a good pace”.

If you are a teacher and you would like to bring a group of students to a taster at Newcastle-under-Lyme College, please contact the School Liaison Team; Gareth & Tara on 01782 254347 or email schools@nulc.ac.uk
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Newcastle Knights Basketball Team inspires future stars from Wolstanton

On 16 January 2014 Newcastle-under-Lyme College basketball team the NULC Knights were involved in a taster session for a group of Year 10 pupils from Wolstanton High School. The taster was to give the pupils an idea about what life is like as a player for the NULC Knights in a physically demanding training session at the College. 

The newly crowned Division 4 Midlands League Champions were on hand to offer advice to the visiting pupils on their own game and talk about what it was like to play for their famous coach.
NULC Knights Head Coach Shawn Jamison has been involved in basketball on both sides of the Atlantic for over 20 years, both as a coach and as a player. Shawn has experience playing for the world famous Harlem Globetrotters, showcasing his hoop skills when they played at the Wembley Arena and MEN in Manchester. Shawn has an impressive playing career too, representing the Los Angeles Clippers in the famous NBA league in the USA.

It’s clear that the Knights Head Coach is passionate about promoting basketball in this country and his players are very important to him. Speaking after the NULC Knights title win Shawn commented “I am delighted to be coaching such a talented group of students and players here at NULC. This win is a testament to the hard work and long hours the NULC Knights have put into training.”

Basketball is a growing sport in the UK and the pupils from Wolstanton certainly left the college with a greater desire to continue with the sport after they leave school.

If you would like any course advice or you would like the opportunity to experience a college taster before you apply then please ask your teacher to contact Gareth Hughes or Tara Wallbanks at schools@nulc.ac.uk or email 01782 254347.

Lego Robotics Taster

A group of Computer Science pupils from Ormiston Sir Stanley Matthews Academy had a fantastic day using our brand new Lego Robotics Kits. 
 
Leading the taster was Andy Snape, Assistant Head of 6th Form, along with Lesley Kelly, Subject Leader for Computing & ICT and Lucy Nevitt, STEM Community Developer. With their help and following a set of instructions the pupils had to build their own robot and were then challenged to programme the robots.

They were firstly programmed to move backwards and forwards and then moved on to turning the robots. Various challenges were set, including programming the robots to stop on a line and drive around the edge of a square without knocking the LEGO minifigures over.

The most technical challenge came when the pupils added the ultrasonic sensor so that the robots could detect distances and they then programmed the robots to navigate around a tricky maze.

Mrs McCracken and Ms Varley were successful in programming their robot safely around the maze and commented that the “Great college staff motivated the pupils and showed enthusiasm and enjoyment which had a great impact.”

Bethany Cooke said that the taster was: “Fun and challenging at the same time,” and Grace Wass enjoyed the day she explained; “The teachers were funny and the class was fun, I learned a lot.”

Many thanks to Mr Smart who helped to organise the taster; we hope to see you and your pupils again soon.

If you are a teacher and would like a group of pupils from your school to attend a taster at Newcastle-under-Lyme College, please contact the School Liaison Team on 01782 254347 or email schools@nulc.ac.uk.