Kepier pupils find their voice

The above article appeared in the Sunderland Echo on 21/01/2013

Community Facilities are closed until 23rd January 2013

Due to the continued bad weather and problems accessing the site, all
our community facilities will be closed on Monday 21st and Tuesday
22nd January. A further announcement will be made on the website on
Wednesday morning.

Closure of Community Facilities on 18th January 2013

In view of the adverse weather forecast, the decision has been made
to close ALL our community facilities, indoors and outside, on Friday
evening and over this weekend. We apologise for any inconvenience this
may cause, but should the forecast be correct then we cannot guarantee
the safety of customers whilst here.

Outdoor Facilities

"Due to the current condition of our Astroturf and grass pitches, and
the adverse weather forecast, all our outdoor facilities will be
closed until Monday 21st January when the situation will be reviewed.
Our indoor facilities will remain open until 9pm on Friday 18th
January (subject to no further severe weather) - however, due to
concerns regarding further forecast snowfall and access to the site,
none of our facilities will be open on Saturday and Sunday 19th and
20th January. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause but
the decision has been made on the grounds of health and safety of both
staff and customers"

Kepier Christmas Charity

Kepier this Christmas have, as well as our usual contributions to the community with free carol concerts and donations of gifts from learners to local nursing homes also supported ShARP (Shiney Row Advice and Resource Project) with their ongoing quest to support local people by providing food parcels to the most needy in our community, a cause also supported by The Bethany Centre in Houghton.

This year at Kepier, staff were invited to donate tinned food, cakes, biscuits, etc to ShARP rather than send Christmas cards to each other - we felt that this was a wonderful way to enter into the true spirit of the season.

The appeal was a huge success, and below is a quote from Emma Frew, Project Manager at ShARP:

"ShARP would like to thank the staff at Houghton Kepier and members of the Bethany Centre for their generous support to the people in the Coalfields community for their donations towards Christmas food

parcels for people in need. We have been amazed at the level of generosity that has been shown in giving from local people. We will ensure that it is received by people in need this Christmas. For families who are struggling to make ends meet, these parcels will be a lifeline, and for the older more isolated people who will benefit, its warming for them to know that there are people out there who care."

"Many thanks to all who have made this happen."

Community Christmas Concert

On Monday December 17th Kepier hosted a free carol concert for the community, something we have done for many years now. The night was organised by our Head of Music Mr John Hall and music teacher Hannah Rudge, both of whom give up an awful lot of their own time to tutor our learners. We are also grateful to peripatetic music teachers Janet Tong, Mandi Quinn, Mr Langthorne and Mr Moon for their support both in the tutoring of our learners and on the night.

The event, as always, attracted an excellent audience of around 150 local people who were entertained by our school orchestra and school choir. This night is a lovely way to celebrate the final week of term, which for our school orchestra and choir (not to mention Mr Hall and Miss Rudge!) is an extremely busy one as they have been out performing in local nursing homes over the past few weeks.

Mr Hall said "I am extremely proud of the young people from Kepier who have been involved with this. They have given up a great deal of their own time to rehearse, and for some of them this was the first time they have performed in front of an audience. All of them have been fantastic".

Performing Achievements: Sophie

Performing Achievements: Sophie

Sophie is a dancer and has performed at the following venues:

Sunderland Empire
Newcastle Tyne Theatre
London Royal Albert Hall
Disneyland, Paris - twice!
Gala Theatre, Durham
Zazz Theatre, Houghton

Next year Sophie is also performing at Saddler's Wells Theatre, London.