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The Riverside Stadium’s Hardwick Suite hosted our termly PfS Celebration of achievement event on Thursday 10th December.
More than 100 students, teachers and family members turned out to see young people who’ve been involved with the Playing for Success and Double Club projects over the last school term. Australian international and upcoming Boro star Rhys Williams was on hand to present certificates and prizes out to the pupils of the latest Playing for Success project for their efforts. Pupils were given special prizes for outstanding work including cinema tickets, a match day experience, i-pod shuffles and even a signed away shirt.
Students from Kings Manor school in Middlesbrough have been studying science with us at the Study Support Centre. The students have investigated the speed of sound through measuring the echos around the Riverside Stadium and they’ve been finding out which shin pad offers the most protection in our own, custom built, shin pad testing rig.
Part of any experiment involves creating a report but rather than write this report in the usual manner, students from Kings Manor created an audio podcast of their findings.
Scale plans of the Riverside Stadium
Working with scale plans of the stadium
Calculating the speed of sound
Analysing the echos
Shin pads tester demonstration
Preparing the shin pad tester
They were shown how to use GarageBand, a multitrack audio editing and composition software and used state of the art professional grade microphones to capture sound effects and their own voice for the podcast. Click below to hear the results…
Pupils that have attended the Playing for Success project over the last ten weeks have been creating their very own website advertising a unique tour of the Riverside Stadium. Each page on the website looks at a different area of the stadium in which each pupil has used literacy skills, podcast recording, Video recording and photographs to advertise their work. This montage shows just a flavour of the work the pupils have produced including photos from their tour.
We’ve been working with young people from Ormesby school to improve their maths and we’ve been making use of the excellent resources on Maths-it.org.uk. Here’s a link to the Maths-it resource web site. You can browse the podcast archive and supporting materials. Click on the image below to access the Maths-it site.
Learners from Middlesbrough’s primary schools taking part in the Playing for Success project were once again wowed by the centre TV studio. One moment they’re stood in front of a green screen and the next they’re transported into the Boro Press Room giving an after match press conference live on camera.
MFC Study Support were there to witness Middlesbrough announce Gordon Strachan as the clubs new manager. Gordon who previously managed Coventry, Southampton, Leeds and most recently Celtic, takes a role in management for the fifth time hoping to help Boro get back to the Premier League. Strachan takes over from Gareth Southgate who was released of his duties just hours after a home victory over Derby County, only a week ago. We were there alongside professional broadcasters such as SkySports, BBC and Tyne-Tees to film the conference as it happened in which the new gaffer talks about his time out of football, his reasons for coming back and what his thoughts are on Boro’s bid for promotion.
Our film project has received even more backing from Boro superstar Adam Johnson. He took the time out from one of our Playing for Success sessions with students from St. Joseph’s to lend his support to our campaign.
Adam Johnson with Adam Heward and Tony Coleman
During the session he answered questions, posed for pictures and signed autographs before students from Trinity College and Kings Manor arrived to carry out some scientific experiments.
Adam Johnson with Adam Heward and Tony Coleman
Adam with students from St. Joseph’s
Adam with students from Kings Manor
Adam with students from Trinity College
Adam enjoys a game of FIFA 10
They wanted to find out if playing video games had a physiological effect on the gamer. Strapping themselves into heart rate monitors they played on Guitar Hero and even challenged Adam to a game of FIFA 10 on the Xbox 360. The match was Middlesbrough Vs. Newcastle with Adam representing Boro of course. The game was full of twists and turns and the heart rate recordings reflected this. First the Boro took the lead but Newcastle came back to equalise. Then a corner from Adam’s in game likeness led to a towering David Wheater header to win the match and send Adam’s opponents heart rates soaring.
Boro’s tricky left winger, Adam Johnson attended the MFC Study Support Centre to answer questions from the pupils of St. Joseph’s school.
Adam with students from St. Joseph's
This was a special treat for the pupils who have been part of the Playing for Success project at the centre, working on their literacy skills. ‘Jinky’ talks about making his Boro debut, playing in Europe and life in the Championship as well as the personal qualities that have helped him become successful.
Playing for Success are applying to the prestigious First Light movies organisation for funding to produce films involving local youngsters and we’ve got the backing of Boro defender Chris Riggott and new signing Kaleb Folan.
Boro stars Chris Riggott and Kaleb Folan with Adam and Tony from PfS
First Light is the UK’s leading initiative enabling young people to realise their potential via creative digital film and media projects.
Our last film, Mobile Bullies, has previously been short listed for a national film award but Playing for Success are looking to recruit a team that will help us take home a trophy at next years awards ceremony.
If you’re between 5-19 years old and have a passion for acting, script writing or film production we want to hear from you.
Students from some Middlesbrough’s primary schools were giving the opportunity of taking part in a Transition Summer School. The aim was create situations for the students to practice key skills that they will need to make a successful transition from primary to secondary school.
The first activity that the students took part in was a cookery course in association with What’s Cookin’ Kids at Middlesbrough College. In the aspirational environment of a professional kitchen and under the guidance of an expert chef the students prepared healthy fruit kebab snacks, a wholesome tuna pasta for lunch, sweet chocolate chip muffins for desert and a convenient sandwich to take home. These activities encouraged the students to call upon and develop their preparation and organisational skills.
Next, the group traveled to Carlton Outdoor Education Centre A.K.A Carlton Camp. Here the students would embark on numerous outdoor activities designed to test their communication and team work skills such as orienteering, climbing and puzzle solving.
Gateshead was the next destination for the group where they took part in musical activities in the stunning surrounds of The Sage on the banks of the river Tyne. The focus of the day was being creative and taking risks. The students were encouraged to do their own thing and stand out from the crowd, letting their creativity flow. The students worked in groups to produce musical rhythms using drums, co-ordinating their beats and taking freestyle solo’s occasionally. Later they were involved in a freestyle rapping session that everyone was part of. Every one created a verse that was then put into a track and put onto a CD.
On the last day the students joined us at the Study Support Centre. Here the students created TV adverts for the cooking project that they took part in. Using footage that was shot on the day the students used iMovie to create their own advert and used the centre’s microphones to record a voice over for the add. The best bit was yet to come as the students entered the Riverside TV studio to record their personal promotions for their adverts in front of the green screen. This was then imported into iMovie to give their adverts a more persuasive edge.
Finally it was off to the Fenton Lounge at the Riverside Stadium where friends and family were invited to celebrate the students success. The whole week had been captured on camera and the footage was show in a presentation to give the attendees an idea as to the activities that their children had been involved in. The awards evening featured special guest for the evening Boro’s own David Wheater who kindly presented certificates of achievement, posed for pictures and signed autographs.
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alt="Middlesbrough Council"
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