Blog
Jan 27
Neighbourhood Meetings - Police Surgery
The Nechells Neighbourhood meetings have a new set of dates for 2012, the group gives residents from the Nechells area the opportunity to receive updates from the local police and raise any concerns that they have about their community. All residents are welcome to these relaxed and informal discussions, come and join the group to find out what's happening in your area! (Please note All concerns are treated with the strictest confidence.)
Dec 21
The Sunshine Gang Christmas Party At The POD
The Sunshine Gang Arts and Crafts Group held their annual Christmas party at the POD today, there were lots of party games, pleanty to eat and a great time had by all. The party was visited by Tracey Hulston Schools Coordinator from the NSPCC Childline Team, Tracey brought toys that haave kindly been donated by the staff from Matalan, and the children from Abbey Catholic Primary and the Priory School.
Dec 15
POD And LACES Festive Lunch 2011
POD and LACES staff celebrated the festive season and end of the autum term with a festive lunch from our local fish and Chip shop. This was followed by a Secret Santa present exchange, the LACES team will be leaving their accomodation at the POD at the end of March 2011 and will be based in CAB offices across the City - we will miss them all!
Dec 14
Nechells POD Community Lunch
Today the POD hosted a Community Lunch for the Nechells community, pupils from St Joseph's Catholic Primary came to sing carols and at the end of the lunch Maria Maiela from Year 10 at Heartlands Academy accompanied by Maggie Hanson (Head of Music) sang Turning Tables by Adele which was truly wonderful. Maria has recently auditioned for "Britain's got Tallent" so watch this space for a new rising star in Nechells.
Nov 23
My Choice Gold Star Awards 2011
This summer 150 children from 6 Nechells zone primary schools (St Vincent's, St Joseph's, St Clement's, Nechells, Cromwell and St Matthews) and local members of the Nechells community accessed a total of 6 weeks of holiday provision under the My Choice programme. 2 weeks were hosted at the POD in partnership work with Workshops For Schools; 2 weeks at St Vincent's school and partnership work with The Kick Start Academy offering football, sports and dance camps and finally 2 weeks of play in the park through Birmingham Play Care Network. The children engaged in creative and stimulating activities and acquired new skills whilst reinforcing their existing ones and realising their full potential. It was particularly rewarding to see them embrace new challenges and grow in confidence in their abilities as individuals on achieving each of their successes.
Nov 10
Safeside - Safer, Cleaner, Greener Community Event
Thank you so much to everyone who provided a stall or attended the Safer, Cleaner, Greener event at Safeside today. A big thank you to Safeside for providing the venue free of charge and to West Midlands Police who provided the refreshments. We had in excess of 50 community members attend plus their children and our six student helpers from Heartlands Academy. The event was a tremendous success with the evaluations reflecting very positive feedback.
Oct 21
October Harvest October 2012
Today we worked on harvesting the last of the POD allotment crops and clearing the beds ready for next years crops. We had an abundance of tomatoes this year and we have been able to offer fruit and vegetables to parents and children who atttend sessions at the POD.
Oct 18
Safer, Cleaner, Greener Community Event 10th November 2011
On Thursday 10th November 2011 between 9.15am and 12.30pm there will be a Safer, Cleaner, Greener Event taking place at Safeside, 101 Vauxhall Road, Birmingham, B7 4HW.
Oct 01
MacMillan Leaving Lunch
The POD hosted a LACES Leaving lunch today to say goodbye to two long serving members of the team, Suzanne Cross and Lynn Peck who are retiring from the service and looking forward to a more relaxed pace of life.
Sep 23
MS Support Group Meeting
The Birmingham (North) Branch MS Society hold Bi Weekly meetings at the POD, the group met again this afternoon and had two new members, there was lots of talking and everyone ejoyed the gentle excercise class, light refreshments were served and everyone had the best medicine a jolly good laugh! Come and join us on the 7th October 2011
Sep 15
Parent & Child Language Group
The Parent and Child Language Group resumed today lots of new families have joined the group which takes place at the POD every Thursday 9.30-11.30am
Aug 02
Potato Harvest At The POD
Today we harvested the first crop of POD potatos, Shayla collected them all in a bucket and we took them inside to be washed. Then we cooked them and gave them a lovely butter dressing so that all the children attending the My Choice and Transition programmes at the POD could share them for their afternoon break. The children said that they were delicious!
Jul 13
Councillor Rashid Visits Nechells POD
The POD had an important visitor today. Pupils from nechells Primary School welcomed Councillor Chauhdry Rashid to the POD and talked about their exciting allotment project.
Jul 09
Children From Nechells Primary School Help With The POD Allotment
Pupils from Nechells primary school are visiting the POD weekly to grow their own vegetables on the POD allotment. They have been working hard weeding, planting and watering their newly planted crops.
May 14
New Conference With Alistair Bryce-Clegg
The POD have teamed up with Altair Education to bring you another exciting conference on 28th June with Alistair who will be running a workshop called "How to Look Good Naked".
May 09
Building Work At The POD
This week the POD is having a new roof. The builders are replacing the old flat roof and improving the drainage. We're hoping that the rain will hold off and allow them to complete the new roof in the dry.
Apr 21
Easter Garden Clear Up
POD and LACES staff spent time clearing the overgrown bushes, removing lots of rubbish and tidying up the rest of the garden today. We filled four builders sacks and lots of black bags, there were so many old bottles and cans hidden in the bushes.
Apr 06
Princes Trust Community Project
Team 63 from the Prince Trust Programme sent time at the POD this week decorating the Youth Zone , they used light reflective paint which made the room much brighter, they also stencilled the POD logo on one of the walls.
Apr 04
READ ALL ABOUT IT!!! - POD POST 3RD EDITION
The third edition of the successful community newspaper the POD POST is being printed and distributed to local schools and community organisations in the Nechells area. Children from all the EAZ schools have helped contribute ideas, articles and work for the latest issue. Pick up a copy to find out what is happening in your local area.
Mar 21
Save The Pod - Update
The campaign to Save the POD has now finished and we would like to thank every person who helped by signing our petition. Over 600 signatures had been received from local schools, residents and supporters.
Mar 18
Red Nose Lunch And Pastures New
Today we raised £65 Comic Relief at our Red Nose Day shared lunch, POD staff and the LACES team were joined by two pupils from Heartland Academy who have been with us all week on work experience, two of our community support police officers and 2 contractors, the food everyone brought in was delicious especially Yasmin's tasty lamb meat balls.
Mar 14
Alistair Bryce-Clegg Visits Nechells EAZ+
Nechells POD teamed up with Altair Education to host The Birmingham Early Years in Action Conference with Alistair Bryce-Clegg. Alistair has enjoyed a successful 10 year career as a Head Teacher of a Infant and Early Years Unit in Cheshire. Alongside his headship he established a successful consultancy career specialising in the education of children in the Early Years Sector.
Mar 07
POD Press - Competition Winner
A local Nechells resident was the lucky winner of our latest POD Post competition. The winner who wishes to remain anonymous received her copy of POD Post from her child’s school. When asked how she felt she replied “ She felt nervous but was very excited to receive the prize for the POD Post Competition†She went on to say that she very rarely wins things and was really pleased and will enjoy shopping at the supermarket and will probably treat herself to chocolate!
Feb 28
Pirate's At The POD!!!
Over 250 children from the zones seven primary schools will be off to Aston university for a Pirate POD adventure!
Feb 07
Help Save The POD!
Over 500 people have signed our Save The POD petition, please make sure that you visit the POD on Oliver Street or any of the schools listed below to sign our petition.
Jan 24
Early Years In Action - Course At The POD
Engaging boys
Planning for learning
Creativity
Challenge
...and so much more
An opportunity for individuals or whole teams to be inspired and motivated by someone who keeps it real and gets results!
Jan 24
Courses At The POD - EYFS
Sustained Shared Thinking
Reflecting on our role as adults in sustaining and developing children’s thinking. Sharing the
practical skills and strategies that you can use and share with you team to develop your practice in this area and have positive impacts on your children’s learning.
Jan 04
POD Reopens Today!
Happy New Year everyone!
We hope that 2011 will be a happy, successful year and that we will be able to find the funding for The POD to continue.
Dec 23
Christmas Closedown
The POD closed today for our Christmas break, it has been a very quiet week, the schools have closed now and the heavy snow fall on Saturday has kept most people in the warmth of their own homes.
Oct 08
West Midlands Police Help To Fund The POD Post Newspaper
Officers from West Midlands Police presented a cheque for £600 to Noran Flynn the EAZ Director at the POD.
Sep 27
Macmillan Coffee Morning At The POD
On Friday the 24th of September the POD held a Macmillan Coffee Morning in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support and raised £115. Thank you to everyone who help raise money for the Macmillan appeal.
Sep 20
KPMG Supports Our Careers Day At Oscott College
Gemma Rowe from KPMG LLP supported the EAZ Career Day at Oscott College on the 19th of July 2010
Sep 20
SRS Director Supports Career Day
SRS Managing Director Tony Sammons supported the zone careers day at Oscott College on the 19th of July 2010.
Jul 28
Birds Eye View
A different view of our playground
Today we were able to take photos with a birds eye view!
Jul 28
Jul 27
Summer Play Scheme Use The New Play Ground
The Extended Services Summer My Choice and Transition Activities started at the POD on Monday 26th July and will run until Friday 6th August.
Jul 20
PODtastic Playground
The new playground areas have had logos, games, puzzles and a big world map installed ready for our Summer Holiday activities.
Jul 19
POD Extension Completed
The new extension to the POD is now finished and it looks wonderful - like it has always been there!
Jul 16
POD Car Park
There was never enough space to park at the POD, so as part of our new build we had the car park extended and re marked in official parking bays, including disabled access and designated spaces for our POD mini buses.
Jun 02
Getting The Roof On
Things have really moved on since our last blog, the foundations have been laid, the walls built and the roof will be completed by the end of this week. To show you how the building has progressed we are going to create a gallery of the photographs we have taken so that you can see the building take shape.
Events This Month
Latest Blog Posts
Neighbourhood Meetings - Police Surgery
Fri, 27th Jan 12 at 8:57am
The Nechells Neighbourhood meetings have a new set of dates for 2012, the group gives residents from the Nechells area the opportunity to receive updates from the local police and raise any concerns that they have about their community. All residents are welcome to these relaxed and informal discussions, come and join the group to find out what's happening in your area! (Please note All concerns are treated with the strictest confidence.)