Leicestershire Virtual School

Day 4 Blog
On Sunday we had our final day at the werkhous building. We finalised all of our projects such as music, art and videography. At 3, we opened the doors to our space and had around 30 people in the first 5 minutes which was a great turnout! All the German young people were very nice and engaged in activities with us like playing music and drawing. In the evening we went to a traditional German house for a lovely home cooked meal which was exceptional! The food was great and the house was beautiful. I particularly liked the people, they were great to talk to and it gave us a unique insight into a real German lifestyle!
George

Germany
Day 3 Blog

Today was spent refining the details in day 2. I spent time choosing chords and laying them out in a DAW to make background noise for the main room with the theme of "Dream World".
Sydney spent a lot of time mixing paint for everyone and helping others in areas they needed aid. When she had spare time, it was spent decorating vinyls to go on display within the room.
Elle, to my surprise, took part in portraiture painting a photo of me on a vinyl cover which turned out absolutely fabulous. When not doing this, she was also with Sydney helping out others and painting other things.
George spent all of his time interviewing us all about "what our dream future" would be. For me it was change. All of these will be on display for an exhibition over the weekend with the German children.

Between us doing all of this, we were shown performances by other young children- what stuck out for me was a Ukrainian choir who sung in Ukrainian, German, and English.

The day overall was a success followed by a lovely meal at an Italian with so many choices. The food was perfect, and the company was even better. Thank you to everyone for making this happen
- Asa

Day 2 Blog

I enjoyed the day today on our Germany trip because we started the art and we got to meet a few of the German exchange students. It was good to talk to them because I learnt quite a bit of German as I’m trying to learn more.
I liked that we all had the chance to work on different types of art today as it broadened my opportunities and put me out of my comfort zone like using paint of fabric which is new for me as I am usually more into performing than painting. Elle started portraits of us all.
I also got to try some special German biscuits which were very nice and the meal in the hotel was lovely too (a nice big steak for me!)
In the evening, we sat and wrote the blog and played some card games – Sam taught us the Leicester shuffle which was both amazing and hilarious (Sam may have written this line!)
I am looking forward to tomorrow and continuing art and musical things and seeing the German students and meeting the rest of them again.
George.

First Virtual School Residential trip aboard !

Four excited young people , two Virtual School staff and five Creative Mentors from the The Mighty Creatives set off yesterday for a four day trip to Germany to take part in an Arts Festival. Here is the first Blog

Day 1
Our trip started with us all arriving at County Hall in plenty of time before the actual leaving time.

We all said goodbye to our carers and Vicki and then got in the mini bus.

Sydney, George Asa and I decided to all sit together at the back of the bus and we played Pokemon Go until we arrived at the airport.
When we got to the airport we were extremely early so we decided to sit in Costa and have a hot chocolate or coffee. We stayed at Costa until about 6 which is when we put all our bags through and got our passports checked which took a while but then we all got rewarded with food!
Sam, Asa and George had Burger King meanwhile the rest of us sat in a restaurant called Giraffe and had meals however the food was very late out !We still managed to get on our flight on time where some of us were moved to business class for free!

Sydney, George Asa, Samantha and I were all moved to Business class which was very fun we had a lot of room and empty rows.

once the plane ride was over we went Mcdonalds for a milkshake then waited for our bus.

The bus driver was very nice and then he lost his card and he got very annoyed and angry it was a bit awkward…especially because we couldn’t tell what he was saying. Once Nick had sorted all of that out though we had a smooth journey to our hotel which was lovely and very pretty.
We all got our keys and took our bags to our rooms i stayed in my room and went to bed early while everyone else went back downstairs for a few minutes. The bedrooms were very fancy and clean I felt like royalty.

Elle

Leicestershire Virtual School will be holding a Careers Fair for Looked After Children and Care Leavers ages 14-21.

Place :King Power Stadium, Filbert Street,LE2 7FL

When :Wednesday 5th February

Time :16:30 to 18:30.

Find out about;

Local jobs
Going to Uni
Apprenticeships
College Course

For more information email [email protected]

I am delighted to announce that Voices 2025, the creative writing competition for care experienced children and young people, opens for entries on Wednesday 11 December 2024.

Voices is the only creative writing competition specifically for care experienced children and young people. It provides a unique platform for them to showcase their creativity, celebrate their talents and shine a light on what care-experience means to them. Since it was launched in 2016 by the charity Coram Voice, Voices has celebrated the creativity of thousands of children and young people from across the UK. 2025 marks Coram Voice’s 50th Anniversary, and we have chosen the theme ‘My Voice’ to place their voices at the heart of our milestone year.

The competition is open to care-experienced children and young people aged 4-25. We are looking for poems, stories, articles, or anything else that fits the theme (up to 500 words). In response to popular demand, we especially encourage songs and raps! There are four age group categories, and shortlisted entrants will win prizes and be invited to an awards ceremony in London in late May.
You can find out more, read winning entries from previous years, and learn how to enter at coramvoice.org.uk/voices

The deadline for entries is Sunday 23 March 2025.

Over the last 2 years we have worked hard to embed the Arts within our ethos and Vision as a Virtual School. We have worked hard to instil the message that the Arts have the power to change lives.

As part of our Artsmark journey to Platinum, we wanted to capture the impact it had for our young people. This video is a snippet of the work our young people have achieved through the arts. Dance, poetry, music, art, nature. All of this video is made up from our young peoples voice and work. So proud.

Care to Dance CIC
The Mighty Creatives
Arts Council England

The Power of the Arts for Care Experienced Children and Young People

https://stem4.org.uk/youthmentalhealthday/?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgajsr4bRiAMV_ZpQBh3nmilzEAAYASAAEgIdjvD_BwE

Youth Mental Health Day - stem4 The theme for YMHD 2024 is As the digital landscape continues to evolve at pace, young people are growing up in a world unrecognisable compared to 10 years ago. Being able to instantly connect with peers, expressing creativity, and accessing entertainment and information in

It's been a fantastic, yet equally busy term over at the Virtual School, and can't quite believe we are almost at the end of the academic year.

We wanted to thank all of our Designated Teachers for their passion, hard work and support this year. The work you do supports so many young people achieve in their education. Thank you!

We hope you have a restful summer and look forward to starting the new academic year with you in August.

Spark Arts have a beautiful and powerful theatre show which has been developed through work with care experienced children, which is touring to schools and Curve in May. The show is called Belongings and here is a short trailer that gives you a glimpse into the show, a story of finding your feet, finding your playmates, imagining a new future
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGEV8LtJ5eo

The show is touring to schools - Weds 22nd May – Friday 24th May and is aimed at 7-11 years. We have targeted it towards primary schools but it would also be suitable for Year 7’s and secondaries often have bigger spaces available. There is a fee per day which covers 2 x shows in the day for approx. 120 children (4 classes) each show - £1170 for the day.

Following the tour to schools Belongings will also then be showing at Curve on Saturday 25th May – 2 performances.

Book at Curve:https://www.curveonline.co.uk/whats-on/shows/belongings/

Belongings by Tangled Feet Theatre Company & Rowan Tree Belongings by Tangled Feet & Rowan Tree Dramatherapyhttps://tangledfeet.com/productions/40-belongingsWe are all trying to work out our story. Who we are? How...

Engineering Experience

Applications are now open for Engineering Experience!

Engineering Experience is our two-day, on-campus residential for year 11 students who want to find out more about studying engineering at university.

Successful applicants will take part in a range of practical engineering workshops and industry talks. Each session will be run by our academics, careers team or an expert in industry and students are encouraged to pick subjects that they may not have considered before.

Applications from care-experienced young people are highly encouraged.

To apply and find out more about our eligibility criteria please visit:

Engineering Experience | School and College Liaison | Loughborough University Engineering Experience is an annual residential offering students an overnight visit at one of the UK’s leading universities for engineering.

Explore More Taster Days
At Loughborough, we recognise that students who have experienced the care system in the UK are statistically less likely to progress into higher education due to the additional barriers that they face. We also understand that these students may need more pastoral support and financial help.
In recognition of this, we are holding our Explore More Taster Days for care-experienced and looked-after young people and their supporting adults.
Explore More Taster Days
Thursday 4th July, 10am-2pm.
For looked-after children and young people aged 14-18 years.
Free event – all food and drinks will be provided

https://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/school-college-liaison/events/exploremore/

Engineering Experience 2024
Applications are now open for Engineering Experience. Engineering Experience is our two-day, on-campus residential for year 11 students from under-represented backgrounds in higher education and engineering. The event supports students who want to find out more about studying engineering at university.

Successful applicants will take part in a range of practical engineering workshops and industry talks. Each session will be run by our academics, careers team or an expert in industry.
To apply and find out more about our eligibility criteria please visit the link below.

https://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/school-college-liaison/key-stage-four/engexp/

Engineering Experience | School and College Liaison | Loughborough University Engineering Experience is an annual residential offering students an overnight visit at one of the UK’s leading universities for engineering.