Archive for the ‘Schools’ Category

Playing for Success Presentation (December 2009)

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

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.

Posted in Centre Activities, Kings Manor, Player Visits, Presentations, St. Joseph | 1 Comment »

Kings Manor Science Podcasts

Monday, December 14th, 2009

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.


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…

Fahad & Daniaal

[audio:http://mfcstudysupportcentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Fahad-Daniaal-Shin-Pad-Science.mp3]

Saif & Mackale

[audio:http://mfcstudysupportcentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Saif-Mackale-Shin-Pad-Science.mp3]

Saif & Sharif

[audio:http://mfcstudysupportcentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Saif-Sharif-Shin-Pad-Science.mp3]

Sohaib & Bellal

[audio:http://mfcstudysupportcentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Sohaib-Bellal-Shin-Pad-Science.mp3]

Sohail

[audio:http://mfcstudysupportcentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Sohail-Shin-Pad-Science.mp3]

Toseef & Shaad

[audio:http://mfcstudysupportcentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Toseef-Shaad-Shin-Pad-Science.mp3]

Posted in Audio, Centre Activities, Images, Kings Manor, Media, Schools, Science | No Comments »

More support for our film project

Monday, October 26th, 2009

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

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.

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.

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Posted in Centre Activities, Images, Kings Manor, Media, Player Visits, Schools, St. Joseph, Trinity, Video | No Comments »

Adam Johnson (PfS Visit)

Monday, October 26th, 2009

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

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.

Posted in All Saints, Centre Activities, Media, Player Visits, St. Joseph, Video | No Comments »

Presentation (July 2009)

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Learners from the Playing for Success and Double Club projects had their achievements recognised at our latest presentation in the Legends Lounge.

Former England World Cup and Boro legend Alan Peacock was on hand to present the learners with their certificates of achievement and special prizes.

Students taking part in the Playing for Success project have completed a 10 week literacy course based at the Study Support Centre. During this time the students have been creating their own website showcasing the Riverside Stadium and all it has to offer in the guise of a stadium tour. Their website included a press room video which was filmed in the centres TV studio infront of a green screen. The learners pretended to be news reporters and Boro superstars conducting a post match interview in a heated press room environment.

They also used the latest microphone and computer technology at the centre to create radio adverts for their stadium tour which were added to their websites.

Posted in Centre Activities, Media, Player Visits, Schools, Video | No Comments »

Media with Priory Woods

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

This week was the first in the series of sessions at the centre for Priory Woods. Learners are taking part in two different media courses.

One group will be making their own radio shows including their own jingles, news articles and an interview with with a special guest from within the radio industry. They’ll be using the latest professional level audio equipment including HHB Flash Mics, Samson CO3U Podcast Kits and GarageBand on Apple iMacs. They’ve already made a great start by interviewing Sara Fellows from BBC Tees who has great radio experience having presented her own show on various stations as well as traffic and travel. The interview had to be edited and so the learners moved on to the iMacs for a quick tutorial on GarageBand. GarageBand is so easy to use that the interview was almost fully edited before the end of their first session.

Another group from Priory Woods are taking part in a movie making course using video cameras and iMovie on Apple iMacs. This week the learners were shown a Study Support Centre favourite, Speed Stacks. They were given a little time to play with the Speed Stacks before being shown the equipment that they’ll be using over the coming weeks. Once they got to know how to operate the camera they recorded each other playing with the Speed Stacks. There was time for a quick tutorial on iMovie before they left so that the learners could begin editing their movies in the next session.

Posted in Centre Activities, Images, Priory Woods, Schools, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Forensics with Freebrough

Monday, June 1st, 2009

Students from Freebrough Specialist Engineering College were continuing their scientific investigations at the centre this week. There had been an incident at the centre and a replica of the Carling Cup, the only major trophy Middlesbrough’s ever won, had been stolen! The perpetrator of the crime was hiding in plain sight in the centre but proof was needed to apprehend the thief!

Fortunately the scoundrel had left clues that would reveal their identity in the form of foot and finger prints.

The students set about creating molds of the foot prints and dusting for finger prints and in no time the guilty party was identified.

In the audio file below, Charlotte, one of our class room mentors at the centre explains to students the different parts that make up a finger print.

[audio:http://mfcstudysupportcentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/fingerprints.mp3]

Posted in Audio, Centre Activities, Freebrough, Images, Media, Schools | No Comments »

Tollesby & Holmwood Speed Stacks

Friday, May 15th, 2009

Students from Tollesby and Holmwood were at the Study Support Centre this afternoon and were involved in creating a TV advert for our favourite game at the centre, Speed Stacks.

Before we got the cameras out to record the ad, students were given a set of Speed Stacks to play with so that they could get some ideas for the advert. A brief thought shower session followed where students came up with features and benefits of Speed Stacks which they wanted to promote in their ad.

Next we got the cameras out. Students were shown how to use the camera and what makes and effective shot. They filmed each other playing with the Speed Stacks and delivering lines to the camera.

The following week we asked the students to create a print ad for Speed Stacks using a digital camera and a computer program called Comic Life.

We think you’ll agree that the students from Tollesby and Holmwood have made Speed Stacks a must have item!

Posted in Centre Activities, Holmwood, Media, Video | No Comments »

Freebrough Sound Science

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

Students from Freebrough Specialist Engineering College have been attending the Study Support Centre this term, carrying out investigations all about sound.

During the first session students welcomed Chris Jackson, an Environmental Health Officer (EHO) with Middlesbrough Council. Chris spoke about many aspects of his job including a how to become an EHO and noise nuisances and also showed the students some interesting maps of Middlesbrough showing how sound levels differ throughout the area.

In a later session the students participated in an experiment where the aim was to calculate the speed of sound. Students recorded the echo created inside of the Riverside Stadium when beating a drum and analysed the sounds on the centre’s computers to get the most accurate figures for the calculations. Rather than simply writing their experiment in the usual manner they were then tasked to produce an audio podcast detailing their research and findings.

Below are examples of their fine work.

Lindsay & Hannah

[audio:http://mfcstudysupportcentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/lindsay-hannah.mp3]

Alisha & Connor

[audio:http://mfcstudysupportcentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/alisha-and-conner.mp3]

Lucy

[audio:http://mfcstudysupportcentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/lucy.mp3]

Yasmin & Lauren

[audio:http://mfcstudysupportcentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/yasmin-lauren.mp3]

Posted in Audio, Centre Activities, Freebrough, Media, Schools | No Comments »

Centre Activities – Press Room (March 2009)

Friday, March 20th, 2009

You could be forgiven for thinking that students from Teesside’s primary schools were in the Riverside’s Press Room during their visits this week. They were in fact in the Study Support Centre’s TV Studio in front of a green screen with the Press Room superimposed in the background.

The students took on the roles of either the Boro Manager or a player and Scoop Daily, a sports journalist asking tough questions.

These videos will be embedded the student’s own unique web site that they have been producing during their time on our Playing for Success project.

Take a look at some of the student’s efforts.

Posted in Captain Cook, Centre Activities, Corpus Christi, Media, Newport, Rose Wood, Schools, St. Joseph, Video | No Comments »