Hi there!

Happy New Year! Three weeks in and there's already lots going on! 

What we really want is for young people in 2018 to achieve so do take advantage of all the amazing opportunities available. That's why this newsletter starts with an interview with the BBC News at Ten's youngest ever reporter! She gives her tips to other young people who want to become journalists. 

Read on to be inspired by someone who used to be a `crowd person' but now speaks in front of large audiences. This newsletter is also packed with opportunities for young people ranging from STEM to table tennis. As Sir Jack says "if you think you can, you can!"

Trudy Kilcullen MBE

CEO, The Jack Petchey Foundation

At the age of just 20 Izin Akhabau became the youngest person ever to do a report for the BBC News at Ten! She began her journalistic career through a piece for the Jack Petchey Foundation. Izin told us how this came about and gave a little advice for other young people who want to become journalists.

Read our interview with Izin

This month, the Mayor’s Fund for London in partnership with the Jack Petchey Foundation ran the first Teacher Training sessions for the Count on Us Secondary Maths Challenge 2018 at City Hall. Almost 100 Maths teachers from 69 schools across London attended the training, where they learnt all about the programme, and even had the chance to challenge each other at some of the activities!

The Count on Us Secondary Challenge is a London-wide maths tournament for Year 8 & 9 pupils, culminating in an exciting final at City Hall in the summer. This is the fourth year it has been run by the Mayor’s Fund for London and the Jack Petchey Foundation. The final Teacher Training session for this year is running on 2nd February, so it’s not too late to sign your school up to take part. 

Email to find out more 

The annual Jack Petchey Table Tennis Individual qualifiers are here again and it’s a fantastic opportunity to give young players of any level a chance to compete against players from other schools near you.

There are five different zonal qualifiers, with the top four players in each event qualifying for the Jack Petchey London Finals in June.

Age groups available include those for primary and secondary schools, with both boys and girls events. 

Find out more

First Give have their new programme in place in secondary schools across Greater London and Essex including 100 supported by the Jack Petchey Foundation. Those 100 schools allow over 18,000 pupils to take part in the programme which provides young people with the opportunity to develop their skills in public speaking and advocacy, as well as fundraising, volunteering and social action.

During a fully resourced eight lesson scheme of work, students learn about social issues in their community and find out about local charities that work to address them. Each class is then given the tools to take action and will put together social action plans and presentations in support of their chosen charity.

The programme in each school culminates in a First Give Schools Final which will bring together students, charities and local figures from the community. Here each class delivers inspiring presentations in support of their charity. The class deemed by a panel of judges to have done the best in their public speaking and in their social action will win a £1,000 grant for their chosen charity.

There are still places left for the 2017/2018 academic year. Apply now!

Find out more

Run in partnership between the Jack Petchey Foundation and Media Trust with YouTube and the London Evening Standard, the Vlogstar Challenge is a free vlogging training programme and competition for young people. It offers 16-25-year-olds in London and Essex the chance to use vlogging as a platform to raise social issues and build confidence.

Schools and youth organisations are invited to sign up for a free vlogging training workshop. Workshops are delivered at your organisation for groups of 25 or more young people.

Find out more

Young people that take part will then be invited to enter their vlog into the competition with the chance to win some amazing prizes, including camera equipment and mentoring from YouTube.

Find out more

To see last year’s winner, Isaac Harvey share his experience

click here

IET Faraday Challenge Days run in partnership with the Jack Petchey Foundation give students in London and Essex the opportunity to research, design and make prototype solutions to genuinely tough engineering problems. At each event teams compete to win a prize for themselves and a trophy for their school.

Thanks to the funding from the Jack Petchey Foundation, the events are free of charge and set up and run by IET's team of STEM professionals to give you the time to focus on your students.

The IET Faraday Challenge Days are one day STEM activities for six teams of six students. The 2018-19 season's Challenge Days are designed for Year 8 students (aged 12-13 years).

The winners of each event win prizes for themselves and a trophy for their school. The top five teams from across the UK get an all-expenses-paid trip to the National Final in July each year to compete for a cash prize of up to £1,000 for their school. Last year one of the schools we supported in London won at the National Final!

Download the application form and get it back to IET before 23rd March and they'll let you know whether their Challenge Leaders will be coming to your school between Sept 2018 and June 2019!

Find out more

This year, Children & the Arts is launching a visual art challenge for young people aged 11-14 in London & Essex, supported by the Jack Petchey Foundation.

They are recruiting young people aged 11-19 to join a Youth Panel and Art teachers to join a steering group. These panels will help develop the art challenge to ensure it appeals to both teachers and students. There will also be opportunities for young people to be involved in the judging of the competition and curating of the final event.

The Youth Panel and Teacher Steering Group meetings will be held at the same time on Tuesday 20th February from 4.30pm – 6.30pm in the Scott Room and the Meeting Room at Oxford House in Bethnal Green.

Register your interest in attending the panels by Friday 9th February by emailing

cicely.taylor@childrenandarts.org.uk 

Applications will open after Easter – please contact Cicely if you would like to be added to the mailing list.

This month saw Market Field School pipping crosstown rivals Doucecroft School to the title of Essex Panathlon Swimming Champions at the Aquatics Centre in London.

The two Colchester schools – both veterans of Panathlon competitions – were separated by only two points in the final reckoning at the prestigious 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic venue.

Student Charlie Latimer-Camilleri, 16, pronounced herself “exhilarated” by the experience.

“Tom Daley was here training this morning and winning this medal makes me feel a tiny bit like him” she reflected.

Find out more

Antonia Antrobus-Higgins is the Wandsworth Regional Champion 2016-17 and Runner-Up, Grand Final 2016-17. She has now written a powerful guest blog about her journey from 'Crowd Person Number Two' to "someone who speaks out against political injustices [and] encourages debate."

In her own words, she describes how the Speakers Trust training she received through Jack Petchey’s "Speak Out" Challenge! changed everything.

Read the blog

On Saturday 13 January 2018, Step into Dance ran their annual event celebrating Hip-Hop dance, Step into Battle.

Bismark Anobah, a Step into Dance teacher provided his account of the day:

"When I was asked to be a judge at Step into Battle back in November, I felt very honoured to be invited. I was involved last year so I knew what to expect: a thrilling day filled with battles, workshops and showcases. And I can frankly say that this year’s event exceeded all my expectations.

I was really impressed with the quality of the dancing, these young dancers demonstrated a real sense of maturity applying the right grooves and using their technique creatively. Judging, when the standards are so high is challenging. In my eyes all dancers were winners, they all took the courage to step on stage, some for the first time ever.

My two highlights from the day were, Jonzi D’s presentation, he has great stage presence and his knowledge of Hip-Hop theatre really delighted the audience. I was also pleased to be part of the Hip-Hop History Showcase. This provided the audience with an insight into the evolution of Hip-Hop dance and I took part, demonstrating the origins of Locking dressed in my funkiest outfit.

Step into Battle was a fantastic way to start the year. I now feel very motivated to train more, these kids are catching up!"

Find out more

The Foundation is pleased to share our revamped Achievement Award Badge which is being launched this term. Following feedback and suggestions from young people, previous award winners and coordinators we have come up with a new design.

The new badge seeks to improve the visibility of the Achievement Award Scheme and make the award winner known to others in their organisation. Alongside a change in the design, the retaining system has also been upgraded – moving from a butterfly pin to a safety clasp which will ensure that the badge stays attached to clothing and bags for all to see! 

Award winners from January 2018 will be awarded the new badge alongside their certificate, Notes from Sir Jack Petchey and their congratulations letter.

Shawn Bubala Katema received a Jack Petchey Achievement Award for seizing the opportunity to learn from local employers and develop his confidence at a Young Enterprise Employability Masterclass. Shawn received the award on Monday 15th January and spoke about how the session had helped him build up his confidence and start looking for work.

If you are interested in running the Masterclass for your secondary school students, please contact Michael Anderson at Young Enterprise.

Email here

Back in November London Youth hosted the Jack Petchey Woodrow Cup, a weekend full of fun, competition, personal development and a shared passion for football.

The Big Kid Foundation (BKF), based in Stockwell, attended the tournament for the second year running, and brought Hayden along. Hayden was relatively new to BKF and before this weekend had never before left the home comforts of Stockwell. He was understandably nervous and said on the Friday morning he was no longer able to attend through illness. His youth worker Andre worked hard to encourage him, even stopping at his house to collect him and reassure him prior to arrival.

Hayden soon loved the experience and asked several questions about his new environment. He took up every opportunity available from swimming to a campfire, and even got involved in the Youth Work Week campaign as you can see from the picture (Hayden is third from left).

Andre explained “This weekend is a fantastic opportunity for us to encourage teamwork and expose our young people to a new unfamiliar environment. Hayden is almost 13 years old and has never had the opportunity to leave Stockwell before. This is a unique opportunity, using football as the hook to get out and be presented with new challenges that will hopefully help build him as a person.”

Find out more