Shape is a new Arts, Youth and community delivery partnership

Our Services
Shape is an arts and youth and community delivery partnership. We offer a range of project delivery, training and consultation services to educational establishments, public and voluntary sector, community groups and individuals.

Shape Projects,
Our services are bespoke; the list below will give you an idea of our services. If you can’t see what you want here but think we may be able to help you please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Project Delivery

• Holiday provision/project for young people
• After school provision/projects for young people
• One off event (issue, topic or occasion)
• General project design and delivery (e.g. health, arts, awareness raising)

Training
• Delivery of accredited programme for young people - arts award/module of ASDAN CoPE AoPE or short course
• Behaviour Management, Confidence Building, Sexual Health,
• Working with groups
• Basic Youth Work training, (Youth work values and practice)
• How to set up a youth groups/Youth Club
• Youth Work Training – For young people, community groups
• Volunteer Training / Managing Volunteers - for community groups
• Setting up a Community or Youth group, structure, administration, and organisation and getting on your feet!


Consultation
• What Young People / Public want from services
• Consultation to set up projects
• Consultation on specific issues

Contact Us

www.shapeonline.co.uk

Address: We are based at the Hat Factory,65-67 Bute Street, Luton,LU1 2EY and are supported by Luton Cultural Services Trust

Emma Van Nieuwenburgh:
Mobile: 07895309498
Email:emma@shapeonline.co.uk

Fiona Wustrau:
07989518757
Email: fiona@shapeonline.co.uk

What is new at Education Recycle

Just thought I would inform you all of what is new at Education Recycle and its related sites - Why not take a look for yourself - so much has been happening.


Visit http://www.hertfordshire.educationrecycle.net/ if you are looking for anything for pre-school aged children, primary or secondary - Most of the items are educational in nature from School Uniforms to laptops - all second hand and all FREE or at a reasonable price.

Advantages of Distance Education - A Boon that Creates Magic

Are you considering upgrading your skills for advancing your career in the right direction? Do you wish to earn a degree from a foreign university without compromising on your commitments? If so then, it is time that you enroll at a program awarding advanced degrees via distance learning. Well, all by now know the advantages of a distance education program. Flexibility, convenience, affordability, and accessibility are the four major pillars that owe the appeal of a distance learning program. However, the learning program that until a decade back did not enjoy much acceptance among the learners suddenly witnessed a ray of light that made it the talk of the town.

Advancement of web technologies that enable a learner and an instructor to connect and communicate independent of time and distance accounts to the appeal of distance learning and online programs in 21st century. Since, advancing skills and supporting the knowledge with performance has become the main key to survival in the current job market, it has become essential for the students to enroll for programs awarding advanced degrees that certifies performance integration in an individual. The advanced approach of distance learning helps in realizing the dream by simplifying learning and teaching.

Distance learning in the present age has upgraded from becoming a part-time educational program to an actively integrated learning experience endowing the students with a better, improved learning experience empowering them self-enrichment, and strengthened self-confidence. Here is a look at the advantages of distance education -

·        Accessibility - It allows the students to enroll at a college program sitting in the comfort of their house. This opens the door to enroll at a university of east sitting at north, crisscrossing the length and breadth of the country.

·        Flexibility - this helps the learner design a learning schedule according to his or her won convenience fitting the study hours amid all other commitments. You learn when you can.

·        Convenience - you can learn and log onto the class from the comfort of your living room couch, office desk, or from the train, car, and bus during traveling to work and coming back home. Restriction is an unheard word in the domain of distance learning.

·        Self-paced Learning - You can log onto the class, submit assignments, or talk with your teacher anytime and anywhere. Here, you design learning and set class hours without any restriction. You can wish to learn a new lesson at one moment and review a previous lesson the other moment; all at your wish.

·        Affordability - a number of courses offered via distance learning are said to be affordable helping students restricted financially to advance their career without any hassle.

In addition to the above-mentioned advantages that dominate the appeal of distance learning, a number of other factors too, hold onto the appeal of the program. Here is a look at few other pointers that offer an extended beneficial approach for learners enrolled in programs awarding advanced degrees -

·        Real-time learning

·        Learning flexibility for executives

·        Accessibility for physically handicapped learners

However, all these advantages of distance education is owed to advancement of web technologies that enables the students communicate and connect with their instructor and course over tools like video conferencing, discussion boards, chat forums, and other communication tools. Advancing your career through advanced degrees has been made easier by the venture of distance learning in the digital world.

One small step for most, one giant leap for Emily Jones – looking for my confidence!

So I am on a mission to find my lost confidence, I know it is somewhere but I lost it a while back and I am having trouble finding it again...

I am a what I call a naturally shy person, it is in my make-up – passed down on my Mother’s side, but I am fed up with feeling that low level fearfulness that lays in the pit of my stomach and which shows itself in so many different forms and at times when I need the most courage.

Physical symptoms include redness of the cheeks which spreads across the nose and out to my ears, a shaky voice when speaking in front of people, loss of concentration, an inability to hear what someone is telling me even though I am desperately trying to listen, negative voices in my head telling me what I am doing wrong at that very moment – i.e. “hello, I am your negative voice and I wasn’t sure if you were aware but at this very moment you are standing funny, your voice sounds a bit shaky, that last thing you said was not funny, the person you are with is not interested in what you are saying because it is stupid...oh and you are laughing way to loud!” That voice is enough to send me packing, running back to my house with my head hung low!

Guest Blog - Distance Education Paves the Road to a Shining Future

“Knowledge is Power” and ‘learning is lifelong’ - these two thoughts beautifully complement each other in the present age of 21^st century where education holds a significant position. Technological and communication advancement in the last few years have held a massive influence in both academic and professional sectors worldwide. Distance learning that until a decade back heavily relied upon postal service witnessed a new ray of light under the influence of tech-development, while the professional sector turned global featuring an international approach. With competition becoming stricter, upgrading one to the latest technological skills and advancing approach in the professional sector holds the key to surviving through the odds and challenges that the changing economy might throw upon you.

Guest Blog - Online Learning and Higher Education Accessibility - Finding the Connect

Is online learning a practical alternative to traditional learning? This is probably the most common question that runs in the mind of every professional and student willing to fit into the shoes of the flexible mode of learning. Though, it is hard to bank upon the worthiness of this latest form in learning yet, it can be said that the venture of education into the online world certainly holds reaping benefits for many. It has made higher education accessible for many who were by some reason or the other unable to enroll in the traditional learning set-up. Furthermore, the introduction of online education has also made learning flexible and accessible designing it according to your own needs.

Online Learning Changes in Teaching and Learning - The Twisting Tale of Learning - Written By Robert Williams

Distance learning that has been in the world of education for long witnessed a recent surge in the age of 21st century – the era of Internet and communication technology developments. Well, with distance learning witnessing a change by becoming net based and tech-infused learning, it is imperative that it also brought around a twist in the tale of learning. Online education, the latest innovation in delivering knowledge resulted in Online Learning Changes in Teaching and Learning. Educators found a new way of learning that is far more flexible and convenient offering beneficial approaches for them, while teachers too had to give into a new role of becoming online instructors.

Are children taught the right lessons in school or are the subjects outdated and of no use ? - Your views

I have been asking the question whether parents think that their children are being taught the correct subjects in school. Do you think that the lessons taught are teaching our children to survive in this modern day and age or are the lessons / subjects outdated. If so what lessons would you like to see on your childs' timetable ?

Well I wasn't prepared for how strongly you all felt about this subject and the debates are still raging on and I am sure will continue to for a long time yet.

I would like to thank all that took part and these are my findings...I am no way qualified to say if the subjects taught are the right ones but what I am going to do is feedback what parents have said about this interesting subject.

Guest post from fun-as-a-gran - http://fun-as-a-gran.blogspot.com/2011/04/fun-as-gran-my-blog.html

Vegetables in Disguise

 A Great Blog written by Fun-as-a-gran, she gives us a great recipe which makes vegetables fun for the children - and it is cheap too...

How many of you struggle to get vegetables into your children? Most of the time mine were quite good at eating them. When my own children were young they had sweets once a week, and my younger son did not want a 10p mix-up he always had a raw carrot from the shop, the shop owner use to think this was quite funny, but she would take the carrot he picked through the back, top and tail it and wash it for him and he would happily walk down the road eating this whilst the others swapped sweets for what they like and what they didnt as the mix-ups were pre-made up. He loved carrots that much especially baby carrots and I remember my mother-in-law buying him a pound of baby carrots to eat with his Christmas dinner one year and he ate the lot and nothing else, but he was a strange commodity and not all children are that willing.

How to make your community smarter by Recycling Education - Blog by: Emily Jones

Emily Jones

This is the latest news report from the Education pages of the BBC News and it is not a pretty editorial; “Many pupils living in poverty come to school hungry, tired and in worn-out clothes, a survey by the ATL teachers' union has suggested.


More than three-quarters of 627 primary, secondary and college teachers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who responded to the survey believed they taught pupils living in poverty. About 40% said the problem had increased since the recession. More than 85% of the teachers who responded to the survey said they believed that poverty had a negative impact on the well-being of pupils they taught.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-13081777#


Since setting up Education Recycle we have found many children in Hertfordshire who are living in poverty, and whose family cannot afford the uniforms and equipment needed for school. This is why we have set up our community site to give a platform for members of our local community to exchange, give and take educational items – all for free.

We believe strongly that the best way out of the poverty trap is through education, but how can children change the cycle of poverty if they do not have the needed items for school? We have heard many heartbreaking stories on our journey of setting up our site of children being bullied for wearing the wrong school uniform or ill fitting uniform. Children being punished for wearing the wrong uniform or not having the correct books and children not being able to join in with school activities, for example P.E because they do not have the equipment. I had a Mum in tears at my front door the other day because she could not afford the very expensive school uniform – we found her the uniform and she was given it for free.


A bit of my own story; I was on benefits and had no way out of the poverty trap but I decided to change my future to show my daughter that it could be done. I embarked on a law degree at Hertfordshire University. It has been a struggle – the books every year come to about £300 a year, the travel, the laptop, the paper, the printing costs, the trips...the list is endless. I have had to do my degree without a lot of the equipment needed, but I am in my 4th year and I will finish and I will get a good job. Education will get my family and I out of poverty, but it is hard studying without heating because we have run out on the meter! Imagine then how hard it is for a child...


No parent wants to have to say “No” to their child to going on a school trip or “No” again to them wanting to go swimming but believe me when it comes to a choice of eating, heating and roof over their heads that comes first. Do you really believe that parents with very low incomes want their child to be in a school uniform which they know is far too small...NO, but they often have no choice. I believe that if these children were given the chance to do these activities, school trips and had the items to have hobbies and their school work, it would give them the confidence in themselves to not want to be jobless , to go on benefits or to go on to crime in adulthood – all they need is a bit of belief in them.


If as a community we stopped thinking it wasn’t our problem and that it was the parents fault then we maybe could start moving forward. I think that it is important to look after all of the children in our community and this way give all children the chance to do well as adults. No child starts life with the dream of being on the benefit system, they have bigger and better dreams than that.


To me it is simple; if we start looking after each other we can achieve so much more as a community.


We run the site as a family from my husband, the children to the grandparents – there is in all 11 of us in the family running the site, picking up uniforms from local schools, e mailing and doing fun runs! We make nothing from doing this and my new husband and I spent our wedding gift money to build the site but we are not in this to make money -we wanted to prove that “community” still exists and prove that our theory was correct that by working together as a community change was possible...only time will tell!


All I know is that we care about the children down our street and I would not want one of them to not be able to reach for their dreams because of lack of money. All children deserve a chance and as adults we should all work to make it possible for each and every one of them to reach their full potential.


Please support us and sign up to our site and start advertising your no longer needed school items – www.hertfordshire.educationrecycle.net


We would like to say thank you to Cllr Lynne Sparks and the Howe Dell Childrens Centre for supporting us and donating school items to us from the start.


Emily Jones

What should I do if my child is being bullied at school? Blog by Tring Anti Bullying

This is a great post and a must read - It is supplied by tringantibullying.co.uk - visit this site for loads of advice - We love this site at Education Recycle.

If you would like to get in touch with the author of this blog see details below: Tring Martial Arts Academy, Professional Martial Arts and Fitness Instruction, Kickboxing, Tai Chi, Krav Maga and Cage Fitness - Free Trials in all our styles available please see our website for more information or call Chris or Paula on 0845 094 8805 / 07793 381322 / 07432 727602

Posted by Admin

Summer is almost over and now both parents and children are starting to think about the return to school, but sadly some kids aren’t going to be looking forward to it for negative reasons such as bullying. Whilst researching this latest blog post I was looking through various websites and found an interesting page published by Bucks County Council. I think it is telling that they no longer use the word “bullying” instead they refer to it as “relationship conflict”. Whether this is a dumbing down of the issue or an attempt at lessening the stigma that is attached to the victims, I thought the advice was well worth being re-posted here.

Guest Blog - Blog-Match.com - Being a Newbie is not easy

“I am way out of my depth with this Blogging thing” I thought it would be so easy, set up a page and start writing about my passion, children and education. How hard can it be? I am doing a Law degree; I run a family business and have a family. Blogging was meant to be a bolt on to my site, a fun way to get out the reason why we are running a site for free…but oh no… IT HAS TAKEN OVER MY LIFE.

Can my 16 to 19 year old get financial help in School or College ?

So my daughter passed her GCSE's and she is about to embark on her A levels ! But the cost of the text books, new clothes and field trips are quite high - so is there any help ?


What can 16 - 19 year olds get help with ?

"Schools, colleges and training providers have funds to help you if you’re studying or starting a full-time course from September 2011 and think you might struggle with the costs for your studies. For advice speak to student support services or your tutor.

Cleaning lunch boxes,socks and football boots- for going back to school - Part 2

Removing Odours from Lunch Boxes

Any container that holds food for extended periods of time will develop an odour Lunch boxes are no exception. Here are some steps to remove that “lunch box smell.” (Why is it that all lunchboxes smell of banana and yogurt?).

Back to school – how to make old uniform look new again

Sometimes school clothes that are looking a bit tired do not have to be thrown away but just need a little love and care to bring them back to life ready for a new school term.
Here a few tips that I thought may help us all to complete the mission of getting Kids back to school looking smart without it costing a fortune. Try out these cleaning tips...

Communicating with teenagers - By Guest Blogger Indu Khurana (Ms)

Communicating with teenagers

Teenagers are the beings that inhabit adolescence, and “adolescence” is the time gap or stage of development that each of us goes through in the transition point between childhood and adulthood.

It is a time of rapid and successive change: Physically as well as emotionally our systems seem to develop a mind of their own and to a degree become out of (our) control. It is often a time of conflict – with friends, parents, relatives, even ourselves. In many ways it is a time of not knowing, changing expectations, difficult feelings, not feeling understood by others, secrets, testing the boundaries, a desire for autonomy, an unreadiness for taking responsibility, and so many other contradictory things. It is a state of limbo, where we are neither one nor the other.

Top five free science experiments to try

When anyone says the word science it takes me back to the days of school, I think of boring lessons in with a professor talking about elements and formulas that I had no interest in...Well haven’t things changed – so many books and websites with cool experiments to do – try them they are so much fun. Here are my top five favourite for you to try too

1.       Ectoplasmic Gunk

In the book “Slimy Science and Awesome Experiments, by Susan Martineau - B Small Publishing”  it states that “one minute this gunge behaves like liquid, then it’s a solid” – so we tried it...

This is what you need

Cornflour

The Law on children working

General notes

The main piece of Legislation on this area is the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, but some is determined by by-laws – so the advice around seems to be, if you are unsure, to consult your local authority.

 

The cost of raising a child is £210,000 – a good reason to use Education Recycle

So why use Education Recycle?
Because the cost of raising a child until the age of 21 years old is at present standing at £210. 000 according to LV= this is up 50% from 2003 and this breaks down to £27.50 a day. Ouch!!

The cost of education, school uniforms, after school clubs and university fees has risen by 5.3% in just the last year -

Guest Blog from" Actually Mummy" ...Top ten list of low-cost activities

This week we have a Guest Blogger from Actually Mummy - http://www.actuallymummy.co.uk/.

We love her Blog and she has kindly written for us at Education Recycle - she has written a top ten list of low-cost activities for the summer holidays, you must try them and let us know how you got on. Or feel free to post your own ideas!! We love to hear from you...So here it is Actually Mummy's take on an affordable summer...

The Top five Education related Parental Rights

In law parents have duties to their children and rights in respect to their children, it is important to note here that the rights are not absolute and they are subject to the principle that the child’s welfare is the court’s paramount consideration – this means that Parental wishes can be overridden by the court.  For example the court can restrain a parent from doing something which might adversely affect the child’s welfare. With this in mind, here are what I think are the top five Education related Parental Rights.

The Modern School Fete vs The Traditional School Fete

The good old days of hitting a stuffed sock that was dropped into a drain pipe is long gone or the naff raffle whereupon you would win a bottle of sweet sherry that had been donated by some ones Gran even though you were only 7 years old or the excitement when you put your hand into a bucket of sawdust to get your lucky dip prize...a key ring or a fridge magnet that fell off the fridge every time someone shut the door and eating a cake that had been lovingly made by your fellow classmates and had been overly decorated with everything from their Mums food cupboard. So I went to a School Fete and has it changed?

The diary of the virtual baby weekend

The Virtual Baby named Teddy



So my daughter was chosen to have the virtual baby for the weekend. She was really excited – but me as a parent was not so sure. I thought I would share the weekend with you, so you can see that it is something not to embark on without thinking it through. Believe me it will not just affect your daughter but the rest of the family as you will see through the diary entries throughout the experience. Not all bad though!! But a huge eye opener for all concerned – by the end, it will not feel like a plastic doll but like a real baby.

Worst Primary Schools to become academies

Worst primary schools to become academies

I am sure that all of you have seen the latest headlines that the worst 200 primary schools will be forced to become academies – but what does this mean? What is an academy?

I wasn’t sure so I thought that I would do some internet searching on the subject and share my findings.

The Art of Giving and the Feel Good Factor

The Art of Giving and the Feel Good Factor

Why give something away? Why help someone from your street? Why put yourself out for someone else? The art of giving, selfishly; do you partake in this activity or not? 
Are you a giver? Or do you think that everyone is out to gain something out of every situation and so give and risk the chance of feeling like you have given to someone and you have received nothing in return.

Welcome to our new Guest Blogger - Carly Jacques - "Cakes by Jacques"

We have great news ! We have now a new member to our team who is going to share her wonderful cake recipes with us. Carly is going to post a recipe to make cakes for all those special occassions when we could all do with a little bit of help !!

To start us off, Carly has posted a Ice Cream cupcake recipe - they look like real ice cream cones and I know that the kids are going to love them.

Check out the site http://www.hertfordshire.educationrecycle.net/ and start baking.

 Halloween is the next one - can't wait to see what Carly comes up with. Here is a little bit of information about "Cakes by Jacques" - if you would like to buy your cakes from Carly please visit her site http://www.cakesbyjacques.co.uk/

About Carly

My name is Carly Jacques, 'Cakes by Jacques' is a new enterprise for me. I have always been a passionate baker and I love creating beautiful cakes for family and friends. Since giving up a long nursing career (cancer care) to be a full time Mum to two beautiful children (Catherine and William) I am, at last, able to bake my heart out! 

All of my cupcakes and celebration cakes are handmade, by me, in my kitchen at home. Each is baked fresh to order to ensure the best possible taste experience. I believe passionately in good ingredients from locally produced free-range eggs through to unwaxed freshly zested lemons, fair-trade sugar, the highest quality Vanilla extract and high quality chocolate, I make every effort to create the perfect cakes. 

Each cake I make is a unique bespoke creation. I don't mass produce!

I also make cakes that cater for specific dietary needs (dairy free, egg free, gluten free, e-number free). They are so delicious you'll wonder how I did it! Cakes By Jacques is based in central St Albans, Hertfordshire and creates freshly baked bespoke cupcakes, iced biscuits, celebration and wedding cakes. 

To find the recipes go to "how to...Bake" tab on Education Recycle !

Have fun.