Welcome to Welwyn Garden City
Extended Schools' Consortium

Tea & Tennis!

On Tuesday 6th July WGC Extended Schools ran a free Tea & Tennis event at Welwyn Tennis Club.

While the children played fun tennis games with the professional coaches, the parents sat in the sun enjoying strawberries and cream and a cream tea!

The children had the chance to pick up good tennis tips and the parents were able to pick up lots of information about what's going on during the summer holidays and had the chance to meet their local Support Worker.

Awards Well Deserved

Congratulations to Holwell, Lakeside, Panshanger, Peartree, Templewood and Welwyn St. Mary's Primary schools, and Ludwick Nursery, who received their Extended Schools Award on 21st June 2010, in recognition of providing access to the full core offer of extended services.

Race For Life

On Sunday 6th June the Welwyn Garden City Extended Schools team sprinted .... well, panted, sweated, crawled and moaned, their way along the 5km Race for Life trail. The team consisted of: Gill 'Kelly Holmes' Dowling; Julie 'Paula Radcliffe' Cunningham; Sian 'Zola Budd' Mill and Charlotte 'Sally Gunnell' Hegarty. The girls are not accustomed to exercise and fresh air and experienced true suffering, so all, and any, money donated for their pathetic effort was much, much appreciated! If you would like to donate please visit www.justgiving.com/WGCextendedschools

"New Year, New You!" Event

On Tuesday 9th February, Welwyn Garden City Extended Schools ran a "New Year, New You!" event as part of Feelin' Good Week, which ran from 8th-12th February. The event was ran to enthuse people to make a change this year - join a course, loose weight, get fit, join a club, volunteer, etc. A large amount of information around these areas was provided and the following people were on hand to help out:

HAFLS (Hertfordshire Adult and Family Learning Service) - run a large range of adult and family learning courses, many of which can offer a qualification and help people secure a role in a school, e.g. maths and literacy courses.

Estelle Chopra, Complementary Practitioner Tutor - offering free hand massages!

Extended Schools Parent Support Workers - on hand to offer information and advice on any parenting issues

Jenni Williams, Exemplas - offering a free course designed to help people get back into work

Lyndsey Peters, Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Club including the "Kids 2" programme, a nationally-recognised initiative involving parents and their children working together to learn more about how to lead a healthy lifestyle.

On the day there was also a free breakfast, a free raffle and a colouring competition for the children ... and all of this was totally FREE!

Celebration Evening

On Tuesday 8th September 2009 Welwyn Garden City Extended Schools celebrated the achievements of adult learners who have participated in a number of courses during the 2008-2009 academic year organised by HAFLS (Hertfordshire Adult & Family Learning Services), the WEA (Workers’ Educational Association) and WGC Extended Schools. 

The evening was attended by the Deputy Mayor, Cllr Howard Morgan, who congratulated the learners on their achievements and presented their certificates.

The courses the adults attended were "Keeping up with the Children in Literacy", "Keeping up with the Children in Maths" and the "Helping in Schools" course.  All of these courses were 15 weeks long, involved a large amount of course work and ended with either sitting an exam or handing in a substantial portfolio of work. 

The majority of learners had not participated in any form of education for a number of years and were using the opportunity to improve their skills in order to help their children and/or increase their chances of voluntary or paid employment.

One learner contributed to the evening by saying, “I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the fantastic courses that have, quite literally, changed my life.  Before starting these courses, I had worked for the same retail company for 18 years, I had very little confidence and no relevant qualifications to allow me to pursue a different career. But a year and 5 courses later I have now, with the help and support of the fantastic tutors, secured a position as a Teaching Assistant in a local school.  I hope that my experience, and those of everyone else celebrating here tonight, will inspire others to discover the wide range of activities, events and training opportunities the consortium offers.”

August 2009
	Splash & Chat! On Wednesday 26th August, towards the end of the long summer holidays, the Welwyn Garden City Extended Schools hired the Panshanger Primary School swimming pool and offered two free swimming sessions to Welwyn Garden City families.  The aptly named “Splash & Chat” sessions enabled parents to relax, have a chat and a cuppa while their children had fun in the water.   The sessions also give parents the chance to meet the Extended Schools’ Support Workers who were on hand to give information and advice, and who were very good at making nice, hot cups of tea!

July 2009
	Did You See Us at Kaleidoscope? The Kaleidoscope Festival on Saturday 18th July, held at Stanborough Lakes in WGC, was a great success. Hundred's of people turned out for the day and many of those came to visit us at our stand, to have a chat, pick up information and go home with lots of freebies! The Kaleidoscope Festival is organised by the Welwyn Hatfield Ethnic Minority Group with the support of members of the local community. The festival is a multicultural event highlighting and celebrating the cultural diversity found in Welwyn Hatfield.

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July 2009
Children's Art Day Comes to Welwyn Garden City
	As part of Children's Art Day on Thursday 9th July, WGC Extended Schools hosted an art event for local artistically Gifted & Talented children. The event, which was a watercolour session with a nature theme, was run by Annette O'Donnell of ArtSkool-Kids. The children created two paintings, one of which they took home and the other was displayed at Campus West over the weekend of Saturday 11th & Sunday 12th July. The children had a great time and produced some fantastic artwork which they were all very proud of.

June 2009
	2009 Summer Sizzler Brochure Out Now!
	18,500 copies of the Summer Sizzler brochure are now available for families living in the Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield & Rural areas. Packed full of loads of ideas of what to do with or without your children during the summer holiday, and including a full out calendar for easy reference, the Summer Sizzler is an invaluable reference for all parents, carers and Grandparents. The brochure is being distributed via schools, nurseries, Children's Centres, leisure centres, youth centres, museums and libraries, so look out for your copy! If you would like to read the Summer Sizzler online or download it, please click here.

May 2009
Watch Out...the Face Painters are About!! A recent Introduction to Face Painting course took place in The Orchard Room at Peartree Primary School and saw faces transformed into butterflies, tigers and monsters!

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February 2009
Family Fun Event!
On Saturday 28th February Welwyn Garden City Extended Schools hosted a very successful Family Fun Event at Peartree Primary School from 10.00am to 12.00pm. The event was open to everyone and many people took advantage of the free refreshments and events taking place all morning. These included arts & crafts, football and Japanese Taiko drums, all of which were available for children and parents to enjoy. At the same time, parents had the chance to complete a questionnaire to express their views on their local area and the current facilities available, and suggest what they would like to see changed in the future.

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January 2009
Integrated Practice Support Workers Welwyn Garden City Extended Schools have recently appointed three new Integrated Practice Support Workers (IPSW) who are available to work with you and your child's school. For full details of the IPSWs and how they may be able to help you, please click here.
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December 2008
Christmas Competition Winners! Congratulations to Zoe Adams, Cheryl Hyatt and Kathy Riordan, the three winners of our Christmas Competition, winning free entry to Paradise Wildlife Park, a Fourball Voucher for Mill Green Golf Club and a Morrisions shopping voucher. Thank you to everyone who entered the competition and Good Luck next time!
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November 2008
Djembe Drum Workshop
A 4 week Djembe Drum workshop took place in The Orchard Room during November, after school hours so children and parents could learn together. The group learnt to development basic co-ordination and keeping a pulse, through to the mastery of more complex African drumming rhythms. The workshop built energy, communication and co-operation across the whole group and they were also introduced to African songs and harmony. And alot of noise was made!

October 2008
Family Gospel Choir
The first of it's kind in Welwyn Garden City took place on Thursday 30th October, held at St. Mary Magdalene church. The children and adults who attended learnt to sing a variety of Gospel songs, with plenty of clicking of the fingers and hand clapping, and lots of fun! If you are interested in joining a Family Gospel Choir, please contact us.

October 2008
	Autumn 2008 Newsletter We hope you received our Autumn 2008 Newsletter via your children's book bag. If not, contact us for a copy or read it right HERE.

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October 2008
"Reaching Up" - Community Mentoring Project Mentoring is a fantastic opportunity for a young person to receive personal support and guidance to achieve whatever they want to achieve and for the adult mentor to receive training, develop their own skills and contribute to a very worthwhile community activity. For more information, please click HERE.
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September 2008
Early Bird Breakfast Club Opens at Peartree Primary School The new Early Bird Breakfast Club opened at Peartree Primary School on Tuesday 2nd September 2008, offering childcare from 8.00am to 8.55am at only £2.00 per child. Come along for a healthy breakfast and some fun activities supervised by qualified staff. For more information or to register your child, please contact the school office on 01707 881033 or come along and book with Mrs Bresler in the dining room.
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September 2008
Creswick Children's Centre Open Day On Saturday 27th September WGC Extended Schools attended the opening of the Children's Centre at Creswick Primary & Nursery School. With loads of activities and glorious weather, the day was a great success

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July 2008

The first edition of The Summer Sizzler was delivered to 18,000 families in the Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield & Rural areas. The brochure was produced by the Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield & Rural Extended Schools and all 6 Children's Centres in these areas, including Old Welwyn, Codicote, Brookmans Park, Cuffley adn Essendon. The brochure is designed to help families organise things to do during the long summer break and includes a pull out calendar as an easy reference for planning activities. If you would like a copy of the brochure, please contact us.

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April 2008
Competition Winner

Congratulations to Shauna of Ludwick Way, Welwyn Garden City, who entered our online "find the secret password" competition and won a £10 Waitrose voucher. Happy spending! Many thanks to everyone who entered and good luck next time!

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May 2008
Wild Welwyn Walk

On Sunday 27th May a group of WGC residents took a walk on the wild side through
Sherrardspark Wood with Neale Holmes-Smith from the Herts & Middlesex Wildlife Trust
The circular walk took in brilliant Bluebell displays and an amazing Cowslip meadow. More walks will be arranged in the future, so visit our website regularly to ensure you don't miss out.

Awards Well Deserved

Congratulations to Creswick, Swallow Dell, Springmead, Holwell and Applecroft Primary schools who received their Extended Schools Award on Tuesday 4th March 2008, in recognition of providing access to the full core offer of extended services.