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!”

This week Cobblers Study Centre Staff have been helping out with an English as an Additional Language (EAL) Summer School that is being held at the Steelbacks Study Centre. On Monday the group got to visit the Saints Study Centre to take part in Robolab. So far this week activities have included memory games, team games, punctuation trails, match reporting and the very energetic Punctuation Kung-Fu! There are lots more activites planned for a more in-depth look at the Summer School check Annas PfS on the Road website.

This morning Tom from our Kic.In2.Study Supporter to Reporter group interviewed several players about teachers that inspired them and what it is like to live in Northamptonshire. The work has been commissioned by Diane Woliter from the Northamptonshire County Council as part of a recruitment campaign to inspire teachers to move to Northamptonshire. The players were interviewed as they were leaving for their Carling Cup match against Southampton. Check back in a few days to hear the interviews online.

Follow the link for more information about the Northamptonshire Supporter to Reporters

Today at the Study Centre, the Junior Football Organisers have been putting their organising skills to the test by setting up and running a round robin street football tournament on the X-Box 360. Each junior coach had to select a European team and write a player profile of their chosen dangerman on the team. The tournament was then played out on the consoles. To conclude the junior coaches had to construct a league table based on the results.

The group were also treated to a brief visit from Northampton Town goalkeeper Chris Dunn, who popped in to sign a few autographs for the young coaches.

Today is the second day of the Junior Football Organiser Course at the Cobblers Study Centre. This morning the boys led different skill sessions and got to practise their coaching skills in small groups alongside professional coaches Stuart Gray and Ian Sampson who were training the Northampton Town First Team on the same pitch. After a brief rain interlude this afternoon the young coaches led their individual sessions and completed a round robin football tournament on the training pitch at Sixfields. Tomorrow the young coaches will be back in the Study Centre for a day of fun activities and sessions.

Today at the Study Centre fifteen young people from Northampton and Wellingborough are taking part in Day 1 of a Junior Football Organiser (JFO) Course. This JFO course is being run in conjunction with the Football in the Community Programme and has been funded by an Awards for All Bid. The JFO is an FA certificate course for students 14 – 19 years. The course focuses around mini-soccer, where students learn coaching, the rules, refereeing and all that is involved in organising a festival/tournament. The culmination of the course and assessment is the students having to organise and run their own mini-soccer festival.

Today the group were given a brief introduction to the award and put their practical coaching skills to the test straight away. Just after lunch the group were treated to a visit from Northampton Town Youth Team Coach Sean Parrish. They asked him questions about how to advance their coaching skills and what qualities and attributes a professional coach needs to advance.

We are looking forward to having the group back for Day 2 tomorrow.