A belated Happy New Year to you all from everyone at the Cambridge United Learning Centre.

The first term of this academic year has seen some exciting times and important events take place with everyone involved at the Learning Centre.

The club has been performing very well and the second half of the season promises to be both entertaining on the pitch and to remind the supporters of the happier times, long may this continue. In reaching the third round of the FA Cup and the match at Wolves, everyone - particularly the players - can be very proud of what they have achieved thus far in the most famous club cup competition in the world.

In terms of what has been happening in the Learning Centre, it has also been very significant. At the end of November the Centre had its official opening by Kevin Brennan MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children, Young People and Families.

He was particularly impressed with the work that was being done and by the responses of the children from Cherry Hinton Junior School who were working in the Centre during the celebrations. There was also mention of the Cambridge United Learning Centre at the official 10 year celebrations that were held at Wembley Stadium the following week.

In this past term, the Centre has welcomed over 100 pupils to the Playing for Success sessions that take place after school. The students are always disappointed when the six weeks of sessions end and many ask to come back again!

As part of the club's contribution and to reward the students' hard work they are all given match tickets, one for themselves and one for an adult, to attend a home game that falls within their six week block. Many students come back to subsequent home games, which is largely due to the team being so successful. It is also satisfying to see and hear the comments from parents who are keen to attend the matches, particularly those who used to attend games in the past, as well as being enthusiastic about the work that their sons and daughters have been doing.

Another highlight for the Centre and the group from Coleridge School was the opportunity to see behind the scenes of the game against Rushden and Diamonds, which was televised by Setanta. The group got to visit the broadcast truck and ask the producer all sorts of questions related to how a game is broadcast. This was all very interesting and demonstrated how much work goes into broadcasting a live game.

In conjunction with the Anti Racism "kick it out" campaign, the Centre held a poster competition with the prize being a Mascot Package from the club. The students also learned about the campaign during the sessions.

Students have also been able to take advantage of visiting the club shop during sessions and perform various numeracy activities, which has been made easier with the new club shop design.

The Centre has also received significant sponsorship from Ridgeons, which has enabled us amongst other things to purchase some interactive voting consoles. These consoles work on the Bluetooth principle and allow students to vote or enter a response via a keypad.

The first team as well as the scholars have taken advantage of the facilities in the Learning Centre. As well as using the room to analyse their performances on video, the players have become experts in the use of Facebook and reading the online match reports from the club's website! So far at least nine first team players have been interviewed by the students during the sessions. This is always a real highlight for the students and staff that accompany them to find out what it is like to be a footballer.

Sessions have also benefited from the help of a number of volunteer mentors who have enabled the students to receive extra support during the sessions.

Away from the Centre, we are preparing to host a Regional Playing for Success Centre Managers meeting at the club later this month. It is also making significant strides towards the Quality in Study Support at Emerged Level, which is a national award of excellence.

In conjunction with Football in the Community, the Centre hopes to jointly host a family learning day on a Saturday as a pilot project and will look to host these on a more regular basis in the future.

As you can see, this has been an extremely busy half term but one that has brought many rewards. I hope that the second half of the football season is as exciting and successful as the first half and that the work that will be taking place at the Learning Centre mirrors this.

If anyone would like more information about the work that takes place in the Centre, or knows someone who works in a school and would be interested in booking in a place at the Centre, please give the centre a call on 01223 240191 or email pfs@cambridge-united.co.uk

Jez Daniel
Centre Manager/Teacher

[More Information: United In Learning]

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