Students from Sponne School spent the day in the Study Centre today. They took part in a number of activities including a stadium tour, team building games, stadium orienteering and ICT comic strips. The day was very successful and some of the students made the following blog contributions: 

My day at the study centre was really good. I got really wet when we were outside. It would have been better if it wasn’t raining, but I still had a lot of fun. Annon

Today we went to the Cobblers Study Centre and it was great. Everyone enjoyed themself. We saw the players train and we looked around the football ground. - Leanne 

George Husbands - I really enjoyed coming to the study centre because we did loads of thing like……Stadium tours, team games, watch the players train, go on computers and XBOX 360!!

I don’t think anybody that comes here goes home unhappy.

Hi I am Jessica Mouton for a school in Towcester and I have came here to have a

Good day out at Cobbler’s stadium to have a tour around there. It is sooooooo big.I saw some players one of them was called Wesley and aswell when I was walking around the stadium. We went into their changing room and we saw a lonely little spider in their ice bath that they fill with ice to un-tense their muscles.

I really enjoyed the day at the Cobblers Study Centre, having a stadium tour, using the computers, also watching the 1^st team train in gruesome weather.

 So if anyone comes here it will be a brilliant time and you will go home with loads to say!    Robson Kightley

 Today was GREAT I really enjoyed it. The games were good fun because we all had to communicate with each other which made it quite hard. The best part was the tour when we got taken around the stadium and got to watch the Cobblers train.

By Demi Hillyard

My day out to Cobblers study centre was awesome I got to go all around the Cobblers Stadium and got to talk to Andy Holt. I then got to watch all the team train including my favourite player Jason Crowe. He is well good! My day out to the Cobblers Study Centre was wicked. - Callum Townsend

I really enjoyed my time at the study centre.

My favourite bit about it was the tour of the stadium because we got to see all around the rooms and the dungeons, where my friends locked me in for a little joke. And my other favourite bit was watching the Cobblers train on the training pitch.

By Harry Peters

Volunteering as a Mentor at the Cobblers Study Centre is continuing to be an extremely rewarding experience. Thirteen students walk in through the doors on the first day of their experience here, shy and uncertain of what to expect. In a few short weeks the students charge through the doors, excited about their new challenges. It is my pleasure as a mentor to be a friend to these students, helping them to improve their Literacy, Numeracy and ICT skills through games and challenges. As some of these students have never experienced using a computer before it is wonderful that they are learning these new skills. Orienteering, Smoothie making and the Club Challenge are just a few of the experiences which I am proud to be a part of, supporting, guiding and building confidence in the students which will last throughout life. I have made some wonderful friends in the students who I have supported, many who feel sad on their final departure from our centre, and the staff here continue to make my work fulfilling and enjoyable.

Gail Taylor - Student at the University of Northampton

On the 3rd of May the Cobblers Study Centre welcomed a group of children and staff from the WBA Study Centre to Sixfields. The group are taking part in a Gifted and Talented project, run by the study support centre at WBA, that will take them to a number of study centres in football clubs around the country. The group  participated in a range of activities during the course of the day including the Stadium Orienteering Challenge, team games and a sequencing activity based on the life of Walter Tull. The day was rounded - off with tickets to the Cobblers final match of the season against Tranmere. The day was a great success and children from the Cobblers Study Centre can look forward to a return visit to the Hawthorns next season.

The Study Centre is currently running a leadership programme for Northampton School for girls. The programme is being run in partnership with the Community Programme, with Darren Norton delivering the JFO (Junior Football Organiser) course to the students. The four Year 9 students from NSG attend the study centre for 3 hours per week during which time they receive an hour of JFO course instruction and two hours of Playing for Success type activities. The programme is designed to develop leadership skills, build confidence and raise self-esteem in young people and has proven to be very successful so far. The four students will ultimately plan and run a football festival for children from the local community. As part the course requirements they have already planned and run two very successful practical sessions at Upton Meadows Primary School. The feedback from the school has been very positive and the NSG students were able to make a significant contribution to the school community. This programme is the latest new project piloted by the Study Centre, bringing together a number of partners to ensure its success.

1 April 2008

Another successful Playing for Success term was brought to a close with the presentation evening on the 1^st April. Parents, carers, teachers and friends were invited down to the club to celebrate all that the young people have achieved over the course of the programme. Presentation Evenings are always popular and this was no exception with the Executive Restaurant filled to capacity. Mark Bunn and Liam Doleman were on hand to present certificates and goody bags to the young people from the following schools:

Kingsthorpe College

Kingsheath Primary School

Kingsthorpe Grove Primary School

Kingsthorpe Village Primary School

Green Oaks Primary School

Whitehills Primary School

The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School

All Saints CEVA Primary School

After announcing the winners of the ‘Champions League’ competition, there was just enough time to get some autographs signed and pose for a photo or two.

The next PfS programme starts on the 21^st of May and we are pleased to welcome the Daventry schools in to the centre for the very first time.

On Wednesday 23 January the Women’s Farming Union (WFU) spent the day in the Study Centre promoting the Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA) Farmhouse Breakfast Week. The centre was transformed for the day as the WFU set up an interactive display including posters and items for the children to look at and touch relating to a variety of areas of farming. A number of children from Upton Meadows, Lyncrest and St Luke’s primary schools joined us in the centre at various times during the course of the day. The children were treated to bacon rolls, apple juice, locally grown apples and a ‘farming in the classroom’ session on British farming delivered by the WFU. The ‘farming in the classroom’ session was fun and informative for the children drawing on their own experiences and increasing their awareness of British farming and healthy eating. Great fun was had by all and the children left the centre buzzing with excitement and their new found knowledge of the countryside.

A big thank you must go to the WFU for giving up their day to work with our local schools and share their knowledge and experience with the children.

  The new Playing for Success term has started in the Cobblers Study Centre. We are very pleased to welcome children from Kingsheath, Kingsthorpe Village, Kingsthorpe Grove, Whitehills, The Good Shepherd, All Saints, Sunnyside and Greenoaks primary schools. We are also pleased to have a number of students from Kingsthorpe College visiting the centre on Monday afternoons. The children will spend the next 10 weeks attending the centre on specific days to take part in a variety of activities in and around the study centre and stadium. During this week (week commencing 21 January) the children spend time introducing themselves, designing personalised name badges using the computers, setting up their learning log and completing a number of team challenges. Next week is the real introduction to the Northampton Town Football Club when the children will experience the stadium tour and have the opportunity to create their own comic strip tour using photos taken around the stadium.

 An Excellent start to the ‘Coaching for life’ scheme.

Run by the Cobblers Study Centre and Football in the Community young people aged between 13 and 19 years old have started to attend the Coaching for life scheme organised by Connexions.

The Centre is getting them started this can be the hardest part. However, we are able to help and identify achievements and skills so they can produce a CV. This can seem like an impossible task. You just don’t know what to put in or what to leave out. You may feel you’ve done nothing and achieved nothing that’s relevant.  The programme is designed through a series of workshops to provide help for the young people so they can focus on goals and encouragement to attain those goals.