Week 53 is a week-long opportunity for your school or community to celebrate the outstanding work that is done with children and young people outside curriculum hours.

This national event will take place February 27 to March 3, 2006 and is organised by organised by ContinYou. It is a fantastic chance to highlight how study support/out-of-school-hours learning (oshl) activities can benefit children and young people and how it adds value to key education strategies like improvement in learning and healthier living.

ContinYou has calculated that the total number of hours spent by young people participating in extra time activities equates to at least one extra week in a calendar year - hence the name 'Week 53'.

Tony Apicella, ContinYou’s National Programme Director for study support/oshl programme Week 53 celebrations. The week was a complete success as thousands of children and young people celebrated study support/out-of-school-hours learning. And this year we are calling on all schools to do the same again plus offering prizes for examples of best practice”.

Schools participating in Week 53 can undertake any activities they wish, but ContinYou is hoping to encourage as many as possible to have a musical focus. This could involve, for example, introducing some form of unusual and innovative musical activity into normal study support/oshl programme. Using recycled materials in your music clubs or singing songs in French in your French club are two ways this can be done.

Marc Jaffery, Music Manifesto Champion said: “Week 53 provides a great opportunity for children and young people's musical achievements beyond the classroom to be recognised within the school framework. We hope that you will all participate in Week 53 and help to show off the richness and vitality of young people's music making.”

ContinYou will be offering prizes for:

Best entries received demonstrating an innovative approach to making music
Best case studies demonstrating how the activity contributes to schools extending their services
Best practice in promoting and sustaining regular study support/out-of school-hours learning activities

To find out more about Week 53 and the three competitions, please contact Chantelle Peat:
T: 024 7658 8476
E: chantelle.peat@continyou.org.uk
www.continyou.org.uk/week53

For media enquiries please contact Laura Luxton
T: 020 8709 9928

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Notes to Editors:

The aims of Week 53 very much concur with one of the current focuses of the Music Manifesto - on how to provide a more co-ordinated and effective music education provision for young people, which involves joining music activities within and out of school in the most beneficial way.

ContinYou works in two ways:

1. ContinYou develops learning programmes and services that offer opportunities to people who have gained least from formal education and training.

2. ContinYou works with a range of organisations, including schools, to enhance what they do to change lives through learning.