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North Shield's Schools Competition

On Wednesday April 28 2010, TEFORS (Tyre Education for Schools), comes to town when it hosts a major competition for pupils in North Shields.

The United Reform Church in Northumberland Square, North Shields, is the venue, with the event commencing at 1.45pm.

The contest will see a local school awarded for its entry in a TEFORS competition which asks the question, What can you do with a scrap tyre? In answering this, the pupils have to prepare a display and give a two minute presentation, explaining their idea to a panel of judges.

This event will be the culmination of several months of hard work for David Bavaird, the man behind (TEFORS). He launched the programme in October 2009, its aim being to educate primary school pupils on the importance of tyre safety and tyre recycling.

“TEFORS is a great opportunity for pupils to take part in a major educational project,” David, Director of Scrap Tyre Exchange, explains. “It also gives businesses a chance to give something back to their community through sponsoring a school.”

Benefits to the schools include a class lesson from David, introducing the pupils to TEFORS. Topic areas covered include tyres and the environment; tyre manufacturing, their use and safety. An added appeal is that the lesson uses tyres to teach pupils following the National Curriculum, covering Science, Maths, English, Geography and Citizenship.

David explains, “This is a great opportunity for the pupils to put into practise what they’ve learnt from participating in TEFORS. It also gives them the chance to use their imagination and have some fun!”

There are nine North Shields primary schools taking part in the competition. These are: Priory, Spring Gardens, Collingwood, Riverside, Waterville, St Cuthbert’s; King Edward’s; Christ Church and St Joseph’s.

Representatives from the TEFORS sponsors will also be attending. The participants to date are: Kwik-Fit; Leeds Building Society; Armadillo Creative; Square Page; Hoults; Tyneside Electrical Distributors; Learning Days; Danielle Dunn Creations; Instel Media.

TEFORS has received a lot of support from North Tyneside Council. Julia Cantwell, of the Education Business Partnership, explains why she and her team at the Department of Education, Skills and Innovation, are so committed, “TEFORS is a great project.

“It really does deliver in addressing issues, within an educational context, in such areas as sustainable development and the environment. It is evidence of the beneficial links which can be fostered between schools and local businesses.”

TEFORS has also struck a chord with the local business community. President of the North Shields Chamber of Trade is Maggie Richardson. She says, “Business people want to contribute to their community and TEFORS is the perfect vehicle for doing this.

“It’s a win win because through sponsoring a school, a business is contributing to a major educational programme. It’s very exciting and great news for North Shields.”

The past five months has seen TEFORS successfully piloted in North Shields and the programme looks to build on that success during 2010, with new sponsors always welcome.

As for the competition, this is the first of its kind in the area and may well become an annual event.

Do you have any stories for the TEFORS website news page? We would love to hear from you!

Contact Chris Rooney on:

Phone: 07517 485 430

E-mail: chris.rooney@writingworks.co.uk

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