Education News

Back in the Game

Education News from Alleyn's | www.alleyns.org.uk

Megan Ellery, Head of Alleyn’s Sporting Performance Pathway, tells us how our children, whatever their age or ability, can return to school sport confidently and healthily after their time away.

Maintaining levels of physical activity in children is something PE teachers and parents have wrestled with during the pandemic. As we glimpse light at the end of the tunnel, here are some tips to ensure your child is raring to go when the time comes to return to competitive sport.

Be Cool, Don’t Worry!

Most of the world’s top athletes have had a ‘rocky road’ to success. While having a break from sport might have felt like an unwelcome interruption to their progress, it is likely that it has actually been the kind of challenge that will make them an even better sportsperson in the future.

Do What You Can With What You Have

With great challenge comes great opportunity. You don’t need to have your own astroturf or netball court to make progress. How can you use this time and the space you have productively? There’s a lot of quality content online but think creatively and who knows – your child may return with a few new skills in their locker!

Stay Broad

The best sportspeople come from a foundation of varied training, so mix up your child’s activities and avoid doing the same type of exercise every day.

They could try a range of activities such as running, fartlek training, ball skills, higher intensity training, cycling, strength training, yoga... and walking is also good. It will not only make them physically robust and capable, but it will be more fun too!

Be Patient!

If your older child can’t wait to get back into competitive sport and has kept active during lockdown, they might be disappointed to discover that they are a bit ‘rusty’, because even if they kept up their training, starting matches again can be a shock to the system and ‘game fitness’ is hard to replicate. Remind them that everyone is in the same boat, and it won’t be long before they are back on form. They should be kind to themselves, listen to their body, warm up properly and stretch between sessions. There might be a few new Covidrelated rules for team sports, too and they should help their coach or teacher by sticking to them to make sure that sport can continue safely for us all!

Enjoy Every Moment

Never let your child lose sight of why we play sport – it’s such good fun! Sport is important for our physical, mental and social health, and it’s a great form of expression and escapism. As soon as your child is allowed back to play, rejoice in the fact that they’re allowed to run around with their friends again!

Top Ten Home Security Tips

Window and door expert, Ayrton Bespoke, advises on the best way to keep your home secure

Front Doors

The most vulnerable part of your property. More secure doors are thicker than original Victorian or later period doors - 65mm -therefore adding more timber and increasing the strength of the door dramatically. Use Banham mortice locks and always two deadlocks. Make sure these are locked when the property is empty and at night, engage at least one of these locks. If someone breaks in they cannot exit the front door.

Video Doorbells & Spy Hole Cameras

Great new products are on the market, replacing intercoms and the old spy hole with Wi-Fi video cameras that can alert you to motion straight to your mobile. Check out Ring.com.

Double Glazing

Breaking a double-glazed window is hard work and more avoided by burglars these days as there is a higher chance of DNA being caught on the glazing materials.

Glass Type

Toughened glass is essential for front door glazed panels at the very least. Stained glass can be replicated within a double-glazed unit. Consider laminated glass for more vulnerable locations, such as rear and side positions of a property. Laminated glass does not shatter, rather like a car windscreen.

Window Locks & Hinges

Sashes should all have dead bolts (see middle image), ideally in two positions, with lockable catches. Similarly handles and stays should all be lockable on casement windows.

Door locks

French and folding doors should all have multipoint locks, usually operated with a single handle.

Obstructions

Makes sure there is no hiding place, such as a high hedge at the front of your property where someone has time to break in. Gravel is also a good oldfashioned deterrent!

Cameras

Ring.com and Nest have affordable stickup cameras that can pick up motion and record it. You can’t have enough of them! Fixed recordable cameras are an upgrade on this.

Alarm system

If all else fails!

Insurance

Check your policy to see what is required to be adequately insured.

ayrtonbespoke.com 020 877 8920 18 Forest Hill Road, London, SE22 0RR

Replacing beautiful windows and doors beautifully

Tuesday 9 February: A.C. Grayling: The Good State (Live Stream Event) 7pm-8pm. Wednesday 10 February: Dulwich & District U3A Open Meeting Talk via Zoom

The foundations upon which our democracies stand are inherently flawed, vulnerable to corrosion from within. What is the remedy? A.C. Grayling makes the case for a clear, consistent, principled and written constitution, and sets out the reforms necessary – among them addressing the imbalance of power between government and Parliament, imposing fixed terms for MPs, introducing proportional representation and lowering the voting age to 16 (the age at which you can marry, gamble, join the army and must pay taxes if you work) – to ensure the intentions of such a constitution could not be subverted or ignored. As democracies around the world show signs of decay, the issue of what makes a good state, one that is democratic in the fullest sense of the word, could not be more important. A.C. Grayling CBE MA DPhil (Oxon) FRSA FRSL is the Master of the New College of the Humanities, London, and its Professor of Philosophy. He is also a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne’s College, Oxford. He is the author of over thirty books of philosophy, biography, history of ideas, and essays. He has twice been a judge on the Booker Prize, in 2014 serving as the Chair of the judging panel. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a Vice President of Humanists UK, Patron of the Defence Humanists, Honorary Associate of the Secular Society, and a Patron of Dignity in Dying. Ticket only £8 – access to live stream only Book & Ticket £12– includes a signed copy of The Good State (Book RRP £9.99, collection from Village Books) Book, Ticket, P&P £14 – includes a signed copy of The Good States (Book RRP, £9.99) and postage to any UK address. Book tickets https://www.trybooking.com/uk/

events/landing?eid=16186&

2pm-3:30pm. Veronica Alden on blue plaques in south-east London. Q & A after the talk. More details at: dulwich-u3a.uk/events. Contact: secretary@dulwich-u3a.uk for the link to the Zoom meeting.

Wednesday 10 February

7:30pm-8.30pm. After the success of our online quizzes last year, our host Andrew is back and ready to bring even more fun during lockdown 3.0! Join us from the comfort of your sofa and play along with those at home, or with a team using Zoom. The quiz will be broadcast live from our Facebook page. Follow our page to participate on the night:

https://www.facebook.com/linkagesouthwark/

It’s free to take part, but we ask you to please consider making a £5 donation per team to support our work to keep older people connected with their communities during the pandemic by providing telephone befriending, online activity groups and food shopping deliveries.

We hope you can join us!

Wednesday 10 & Thursday 11 February: &ART weekend, holiday and after school art classes Saturday 13 February: Rootcamp: Veg growing for beginners 2pm-3.30pm

4pm- 5:15pm. &ART weekend, holiday and after school art classes for children aged 5-12 years old. The Scout Hut, 212 Bellenden Road, Peckham, SE15 4BY. https://www.andart.london.

Thursday 11 February: Bauhaus – 100 Years of Design, 1919-2019

8pm-9pm. Online Event. Zoom lecture for members of The Arts Society Dulwich - see:

www.theartssocietydulwich.org.uk.

For membership details contact:

desraetrace@hotmail.co.uk | 020 7274 6106.

Always wanted to grow your own veggies, but have no idea where to start? Whether you’ve got a sunny windowsill, small balcony or larger garden, Rootcamp is for you. A package containing a variety of seeds and other useful bits will arrive with you ahead of the virtual workshop. Then you’ll get your hands dirty, learning how to sow, grow and care for your vegetable plants in a fun and informative environment. This 1.5 hour session will be led by Eliza Nicholas, a garden designer, home grower, and winner of Pro-Landscaper’s 30 Under 30 2020. Bring a cup of tea and all your vegetable-growing questions! Tickets are £24 each, including the workshop and seed package. Book via https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/

rootcamp-veg-growing-for-beginnerstickets-135837364213

Tuesday 16 February: Honor Oak WI Craft Club

Our Craft Club runs on the 3rd Tuesday of each month –currently via Zoom at 7:30pm @honoroakwi @honoroakwi/ @Honoroak_WI Email: honoroakwi@gmail.com

Dulwich Park Runners

Want to keep fit through running? Contact your local club, Dulwich Park Runners. DPR organise virtual activities and provide advice to help with motivation and effective training.

enquiries@dulwichparkrunners.com www.dulwichparkrunners.co.uk

We hope to be back to our normal full programme of running events soon. DPR-buildng a local running community

Monday 22 February: Cultivating Understanding and Reducing Stress

7pm-8pm. This Bell House webinar will focus on improving our awareness of stress and understanding of its causes and, physiological and psychological responses. The last year has understandably seen a rise in stress for many, but do we understand why we feel stressed, it’s causes and how we can reduce it? Tracy from Way to Wellbeing will help you explore strategies for reducing stress and improving wellbeing. Suggested donation £5. Bell House will send you the Zoom link on registration.

https://www.bellhouse.co.uk/events/

Tuesday 23 February: What a Lovely Send-Off: Planning a Meaningful Funeral

7:30pm-9pm. Have you ever thought about your funeral? Do you know what would happen if you, or someone you cared about, died tomorrow? In this online workshop, we’ll go through everything you need to know about funerals. By sharing stories, insights and practical advice, we hope you’ll discover that funerals can be meaningful, personal and cost-effective. We’ll consider: • why we have funerals • what a ‘good’ funeral might be like • how funerals can be meaningful, personal and cost-effective • how to choose the right funeral director for you This session is suitable for people who are: • thinking about their own funeral • preparing to arrange a funeral for someone else • curious about funerals We hope you’ll go away inspired and empowered to arrange a funeral that’s right for you and fitting for your circumstances. This session will be held on Zoom and will last around 90 minutes. It will be led by Louise Winter, an experienced and award-winning funeral director and the founder of Poetic Endings Funerals. There’ll be an opportunity for Q&A at the end of the talk.

https://www.poetic-endings.com/ Wednesday 24 February: Cooking with Scissors (via Zoom)

8.15pm. An opportunity for local business professionals to meet, make new contacts and gain new business. The last Wednesday of every month. Free Admission. To find out more or register your interest in attending, please email

sbn@cookingwithscissors.co.uk.

Thursday 25 February: Dulwich & District U3A Open Meeting Talk

2pm-3:30pm. Alan Blower on London Parks and Royal connections .More details at dulwichu3a.uk/events. Q & A after the talk. Contact secretary@dulwich-u3a.uk for the link to the Zoom meeting

Community News: Volunteer Opportunity - Zoom Group/IT Facilitator Role

Link Age Southwark are seeking ad-hoc or regular volunteers with good IT skills to help bring together their older friends virtually. We need volunteers to provide extra support with engaging some of our service users to access our online activity groups. This could involve calling participants before a group to remind them when it is starting, providing assistance over the phone to anyone struggling to access the online group, being on hand to assist anyone during the group with IT queries such as turning on their video, unmuting etc. and taking a record of attendance. The group sessions are fun and include exercise, singing and chatting, as a volunteer you would be welcome to participate in the activities. If you are interested in helping, email volunteering@linkagesouthwark.org or call 020 8299 2623 to speak to a member of the volunteering team.