This morning the Gateway have been planning an imaginary camping trip to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup.  After being told that all the available hotels are already full the boys learnt to pitch a tent and design a flag for their tent so that it can be found in a busy campsite.    Next week the boys will be making their own ‘tent pitching’ manual outof the photographs they have taken in this session so that other people camping will know how to pitch their tent.

This evening our Playing for Success group from Falconers Hill Junior School completed the Lake Adventure Challenge at Sixfields Lake.  The young learners were challenged to photograph different landmarks and objects located around the lake such as the Northampton Lift Tower, The Saints Rugby Stadium, a roadsign and various wildlfie including swans, ducks and butterflies.  Back at the Study Centre the group have to download and print their photos and place them onto a points chart in order to gain Cobblers related prizes!  Chloe thought that evening was “better than expected, I enjoyed it!”

This evening at the Study Centre we have been joined by Danetre Secondary School.  They were challenged to Stadium Orienteering and the boys finished the course in record time!  Back in the Study Centre the group solved an anagram from all the letters they had found in the stadium and then had to make as many words as possible from the anagram.  One group managed to find 46 words (another record!!)

Today we had a treasure hunt in the stadium and my group called F.C Porto were the winners.  Our team was Thomas, Connor, Ben and Luke.  We were very proud of ourselves.  Then when we came back to the centre and we had ten minutes play.  Some people played with the dog and some went on the computers, some played table football.  After that we played a game a team game. It was hard for some people and easy for others.  Next we went inside and had to figure out what the word was. In the end we found out what the word was and we had to make as many words as we could out of the anagram.  We found about 21 words so that was good!  Finally we started making origami t-shirts out of paper.  By Thomas and Connor.

Hi I am Luke from Lyncrest and I took some photographs in the stadium today.  In the first picture you can see the whole pitch and the yellow hoses that water the pitch.  In the second picture you can see sunshine on the  goal.  The last picture is good because its dark and you can nearly see the owl on the edge of the stand.

A selection of photos taken by Danetre Students last night on their Stadium Tour:

Last night at the Study Centre we welcomed our Tuesday night PfS students from St. Lukes and Upton Meadows.  In their first session at the Study Centre the children were introduced to each other and the Study Centre staff.   We were also very lucky to be joined by Michael who is continuing to volunteer as a mentor at the Study Centre.  Over the course of the evening they were taken on a tour of the Stadium and given the challenge of creating their own name badges on the computers.  The group seemed very excited to be at the Study Centre and we are looking forward to having them back next week!

Liam from the Gateway blogs about Robolab:

“I made a lego buggy today and we raced them round the athletic track.  We had to program it to turn 360 degrees and then had to program them to drive in a straight line and park in the Cobblers garage.  I liked the session  :)”

This evening children from Chiltern and Lyncrest Primary schools were introduced to each other during their first PfS session at the Cobblers Study Centre.  Thomas and Ben have written a blog about this weeks activities below,

“Today was our first week at the Study Centre we went on a tour and we went to the locker rooms and I saw photos of Cobblers players. We went to the top of the West Stand and went to where the reporters sit. At the edge of the stand there are owls, they are at the stadium to scare off the birds. We played lots of games and also used the computers to make colourful name badges.  We have really enjoyed this week, we were not nervous but some of the group were before we came. The staff were not strict, they were friendly. We can’t wait until next week!”

Last night we welcomed pupils from Falconers Hill Junior School into the Study Centre to kick off this terms Playing for Success programme. In their first session, the year five group from Daventry were treated to an exclusive tour of the Sixfields Stadium. The group were  provided with digital cameras to take behind the scenes photographs of the Stadium which will be used in an activity in a few weeks time.  They also got a chance to run around the athletics track that surrounds the training pitch used by the Cobblers First Team.  Back in the Study Centre, the Falconers Hill Juniors made name badges and picked their ‘Champions League’ teams. They will be working in their ‘Champions League’ groups throughout the term to earn bonus points For a special prize at Presentation Evening. We look forward to seeing you all next week!