Kepier - Charity Football Match

On Sunday 25th November Kepier hosted a charity football match between the coaches and parents from Hetton Lyons FC and staff from Houghton Police Station.

This was to raise money for the Hetton Lyons FC Development U7's team to enable them to purchase waterproof jackets for winter training.

Peter Baker from Hetton Lyons FC has given some details below:

"The match went well. It was touch and go with the weather for people
dropping out and let down by a referee but a referee was found on the
morning and a full team turned up so i was delighted.
The police were overall winners of the Hetton Lyons Fc Charity Shield
winning 5-2 with a great game including two penalties.
 We raised £140 towards the cost of the development teams jackets
which is a great help.
Can I just say thanks again for your help and kind offer of the pitch.
It was a great venue and hopefully you can assist us with the rematch
next year".


A quote on the event from Dave Brennan our  community manager:_

"Kepier were delighted to support this fund raising event by providing their Astroturf pitch and changing facilities free of charge, and will certainly be supporting the event again next year".

Latest Newspaper Articles from the Sunderland Echo

Kepier coverage in the Sunderland Echo this week :-

SLIDESHOW: Sunderland’s efforts for Children in Need (From Sunderland Echo)

Sunderland ECHO readers have sent in photographs of how they helped Children in Need raise a record amount.

The event made £26,757,446 for youngsters who need it most, and an impressive £1,313,396 of that was raised in the North East and Cumbria.

Colleges and schools across Sunderland were among those who took part.

At Sunderland College, a Pudsey Bear decorated training plane, face painting and fancy dress were just a few of the activities held to boost funds.

Staff and students at all the college sites got into the spirit of the day by arranging more than 25 fund-raising activities.

Travel and Tourism students decorated their training plane in spots and simulated a safety check, take-off procedure and sold raffle tickets and Pudsey Bear merchandise from their cabin trolley.

Lots of young people at the Washington campus took part in a £10 challenge, which coincided with Global Entrepreneurship Week. The students had to raise as much money as possible with £10 and all the profits went to Children In Need.

Laura Mitford, enrichment officer at Sunderland College, said: “Every year we do all we can to support Children in Need.

“This year the students came up with some very creative ideas.”

At Kepier Academy, in Houghton, the staff and students held a host of activities and raised £400 for Children in Need.

Students at the Dairy Lane school were encouraged to wear something spotty, they held a penalty shoot out and sold cakes at lunchtime. Female members of staff, including principal, Nicky Cooper, were sponsored to remove their make up.

To help raise money for Children in Need, pupils at The Venerable Bede School in Sunderland did not bother getting dressed and made a donation to wear their pyjamas for the day.

This article was copied from the Sunderland Echo website see http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/education/slideshow-sunderland-s-efforts-for-children-in-need-1-5149101

GCSE Computer Science

Tom Mayer, our Head of ICT, has been working with our GCSE ICT learners -

on GCSE Computer Science, which is a new initiative that, rather than just educating children about how to use computers teaches them how the software that we use in them works.

As part of this, the learners have to conduct practical investigations into software, and Tom has been working with them on designing and developing a phone app which will work on any Android phone - this is not just in theory, the learners will use it on their own phones to test it and ensure it works.

Recent press Articles from the Houghton Star and Sunderland Echo

Recent press Articles from the Houghton Star and Sunderland Echo

Groundwork North East's free weekly activities

Green Activity

Groundwork North East runs a free programme open to all called Green Activity, delivered at 6 community allotments across the city. A ten week course covering aspects of allotment gardening, habitat creation and conservation, sessions are delivered by Groundwork staff and all tools and materials are provided.

As the nights are getting darker, spending time outside in the fresh air can really help lift spirits and sessions are a great way to learn new skills and keep fit!

Sessions are delivered at the following sites (see attached poster for more details):

• Shields Road Community Allotment, Ritson Road Allotments, Fulwell, Tuesday mornings
• Burnside Community Allotment, Houghton-le-spring, Tuesday afternoons
• Hendon Community Allotment, Corporation Road, Wednesday mornings
• Washington Community Allotment, Hollin Hill Road, Wednesday afternoons
• Tunstall Community Allotment, Tunstall, Thursday afternoons
• Summerbell Community Allotment, Marley Potts, Friday afternoons

For more information contact Claire Hutchinson at Groundwork North East on 0191 567 2550.

Groundwork Wild Walk programme (see poster for more details)

Groundwork also runs two 'Wild Walks' from Elba Park in the Coalfields on Wednesday afternoons and from Washington Arts Centre on Friday mornings. Walks are free of charge, last between 90 minutes and 2 hours and a are a wonderful way to see the countryside, keep fit and make friends. suitable for groups or individuals wanting to meet people and enjoy a country walk.

For more information about the Elba Park walk contact Andrea Baxter on 0191 567 2550 and for the Washington Walk contact Alison Ball on 0191 567 2550.

Community Allotments spaces!

Been waiting for an allotment for years? Want to take part in community activities? Do you want to join one of our community allotments, have your own space for growing fruit and vegetables and help to look after the garden?

We are currently looking for groups or individuals to take mini plots at the following sites:

• Burnside Community Allotment
• Shields Road Community Allotment
• Tunstall Community Allotment
• Summerbell Community allotment

Please contact Claire Hutchinson for details 0191 567 2550

Remembrance Day 2012

Kepier have this week been holding special events to mark the build up to Remembrance Day this coming Sunday.

Mr Forsyth from our History department has given a talk in morning assembly to each year group about the importance and meaning of the event, using images from the first world war and other campaigns to illustrate the sacrifices made by our service men and women. Mr Forsyth has also arranged for poppies to be sold in school all this week, and we are hoping to exceed the amount of money raised last year from this (which was almost £400). Special thanks from Mr Forsyth go to Val, Janice, Ann-Marie and the year 10s for making poppies.

On Friday 9th, Sergeant Liam Talbot from the Army Cadets came into school, and, with other cadets (who are learners from Kepier) paraded during our Year 7 assembly and when we observed the two minutes silence at 11am, a silence which was impeccably observed by all our learners and staff. Liam is an ex-pupil of Kepier, and it was lovely to have him back to lead this event. During the two minutes silence, the Last Post was played by Ben.