Gruelling hours of rehearsal to perfect every last leap and turn, costume fittings for a cast of 60, that nerve-wracking wait before finally taking to the stage; these are familiar steps in the preparation of every Birmingham Royal Ballet production. Whilst the Company’s world-class dancers prepare for their production of The Sleeping Beauty at Birmingham Hippodrome, a group of dance students from across the West Midlands will take to the same stage in Sleeping Beauty Dreams.

Sleeping Beauty Dreams is a unique performance project for dance students of all ages. The performance at Birmingham Hippodrome will be the culmination of a four-month quest to inspire and develop dance talent from across the region, bringing big ballet aspirations to life.

Over 150 hopefuls from the age of eight took part in open auditions in September 2017 under the watchful eye of former BRB dancers Rachel Hester and Jenny Murphy. A final cast of 60 was selected, securing the chance to experience the intensive training, rehearsal and eventual performance of a classic ballet, in front of a full audience, at Birmingham Hippodrome.

Ballet students young and old are the stars of Sleeping Beauty Dreams, taking on pivotal roles such as the Lilac Fairy, the evil Carabosse and the iconic Bluebird pas de deux. Accompanied by Tchaikovsky’s iconic score, the cast will perform an adapted version of Marius Petipa’s choreography against the background of Philip Prowse’s exquisite sets for Birmingham Royal Ballet’s production.

The students will be joined by Birmingham Royal Ballet dancers Yvette Knight as Princess Aurora and Edivaldo Souza da Silva as Prince Florimund.

James Garrington, who trains at Debonair Dance Academy in Cradley Heath, will be dancing The Bluebird, amongst other ensemble roles.  He commented: ‘Sleeping Beauty Dreams has been an amazing experience because it’s really developed my skills and given me more confidence in my dance ability. My favourite part about Sleeping Beauty Dreams is dancing roles I’ve only ever dreamed of and having the opportunity to show people what I can do.’

James is one of only a handful of boys taking part in the project, a prospect which he admits was initially daunting. ‘At first it was quite nerve-wracking, being one of the only boys in the production. However, it’s definitely made me appreciate the roles I get to dance, and the progress I’m making. I started ballet, not because I wanted to be different, but because I wanted to try something new.’

‘My favourite thing about ballet has to be the leaps because it makes all of your hard work look effortless. It’s a way to express yourself, even if you’re feeling nervous. If any boys are interested in ballet but not sure if it’s for them, I’d tell them to just come along and try. Everyone who takes part enjoys it, so you have to give yourself the opportunity to find out.’

Young boys in the West Midlands don’t have to look far to find their ballet role models. James adds ‘I admire Iain Mackay (former BRB principal, now Director of Yorkshire Ballet Summer School) because his style of dance is very powerful. He’s given me a lot of inspiration to continue dancing and follow the same path in the future.’

This inspiring evening of dance, when ballet dreams will come true, takes place at Birmingham Hippodrome on Monday 19 February, 7pm.

Mohammed Talebeardkani proved to be the winner after British Athletics gave Year 3 pupils of Nelson Primary School in Birmingham the task of designing the front cover of the event programme for the SPAR British Athletics Indoor Championships.

Inspired by 2011 world 1500m silver medallist Hannah England and 2017 European cross country team relay gold medallist Sarah McDonald - who both visited the pupils back in December - the children were given a golden opportunity to show their artistic talents and get their design on the front cover of the souvenir programme which will be enjoyed by thousands who attend the Arena Birmingham this weekend.

On the winning design Hannah, now Chair of the UK Athletics Athletes’ Commission, said: “I am so pleased to have been involved in this fantastic initiative. Mohammed’s design encapsulates everything about the event – it is fun, and a great representation of the excitement athletes, coaches, families and fans have when they come to compete or watch the event. I’d encourage everyone to buy a copy on the day – it will be a fantastic souvenir.”

Assistant-Head Teacher at Nelson Primary School, in Birmingham (where Mohammed attends) Louise Barnes said: “To have been engaged in this initiative has been a fantastic opportunity and really memorable for our year 3 children, particularly for Mohammad and his superb front cover design.

Having two athletes who have represented Great Britain visit your school does not happen every day, and the buzz of excitement it has given the pupils to get creative has been really great to see.”

British Athletics Major Events Director, Cherry Alexander – who judged the competition and decided the winner – said: “It was a really tough decision but Mohammed’s design really encapsulates some of the great landmarks of Birmingham. There were so many fantastic entries from Nelson Primary School, so on behalf of British Athletics I want to say a big thank you to all the year three students for their hard work.

The British Championships is all about the community spirit so I’m proud to offer these local students the chance to get involved with the event in this way. I’m looking forward to British Athletics expanding this activity during the summer and seeing more children’s creativity and passion for both sport and art.”

The best of Britain will gather at the Arena Birmingham this weekend (Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 February) to compete to be crowned British champion and battle for a place on the British Athletics team ahead of the IAAF World Indoor Championships, due to be held at the Arena from 1 – 4 March.

This March more than two million primary school children across the UK will be celebrating Shakespeare’s timeless stories and poetry as part of Shakespeare Week.  The free scheme for primary school children and their families is run by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, the independent charity that promotes the enjoyment and understanding of Shakespeare’s works, life and times.

Highlights of this year’s national celebration will include:

• A special poetry performance broadcast to over 12,000 schools
• The Big Shakespeare Wild Book hunt in 154 communities across the country
• Storytelling sessions in over 1000 libraries
• Mission Shakespeare online interactive challenges to complete at home or in school
• A new Green Tree Schools Award Challenge for children to explore the story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the woods
• Over 150 free resources for teachers, home educators and families covering every curriculum subject in KS1 and KS2

Sally Gray, Shakespeare Week Education Officer at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, said, “Every child should have the chance to experience the best of our heritage and culture.  Since we launched Shakespeare Week in 2014, five million children have been introduced to Shakespeare’s stories, characters and language.  Teachers tells us that as well as having fun with Shakespeare, children also gain improved communication, creative and critical thinking skills, greater confidence, and broadened horizons.  Teachers benefit too: in 2017, when half the nation’s school participated, 37% of teachers hadn’t taught Shakespeare previously, and 57% had introduced new ways for pupils to explore creativity in the classroom. These results powerfully put paid to any notion that Shakespeare is boring and difficult, lacks relevance or is somehow ‘for others’.”

Early Years to Primary pupils in the Bilston catchment area now have a unique opportunity to learn from Bilston Craft Gallery’s ‘Fossil Fuelled – Prehistory to Powerhouse’ exhibition for free at their schools.

Thanks to a grant from the West Midlands Museum Development programme, curators have created a portable version of the Fossil Fuelled show in outreach boxes containing exhibits linked to curriculum subjects Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Maths (STEAM).

In the two-hour sessions pupils, aged from three to 11, can learn about the history of Bilston, from pre-historic times up to the 1970s; including the famous Bilston enamels, and cut steel jewellery and art metalware from local factories such as Sankey and Beldray.

During the second half of the session pupils will get creative through activities including an archaeological dig excavating real fossils just like Dr Fraser, a locally-born medic and fossil hunter, painting industrial landscapes like local artist Edwin Butler Bayliss, and creative writing in the style of Hugh Walters, a Bradley-born sci-fi writer.

Councillor John Reynolds, City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for City Economy, said: “This offers schools the chance to uncover the past and, in a fun and engaging way, learn how the landscape of the Black Country changed from the dawn of time, through the industrial revolution, to the 1970s.”

The University of Wolverhampton has secured £192,000 to develop cybersecurity courses in support of the Industrial Strategy.

The funding has been awarded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) as part of its £6 million Catalyst Fund programme to co-develop and co-design courses in conjunction with local and national employers.

Working with employers and key partners, the West Midlands Cybercrime Unit and Satisnet, who provide cloud based training, the project will help to provide the cyber skills needed in the future economy and support the aims of the Industrial Strategy’s ‘Grand Challenges’.

The project aims to develop a Master’s Degree in Cybercrime, combining technical and management skills which will be offered as a weekend learning course.

The University of Wolverhampton has been working on cyber security initiatives for the past 10 years having established Warning, Advice and Reporting Points (WARPs) in the East and West Midlands and the South of England.  It has also invested £500,000 through its Research Investment Fund to set up the Wolverhampton Cyber Research Institute.

Professor Amar Aggoun, Head of the School of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University, said:  “The growth of the UK’s digital economy depends on its ability to make sure it’s secure when it comes to cyber threats.  There’s a lack of skills and knowledge across the public and private sector and a need to develop specialist skills and capabilities to allow us to keep pace with rapidly evolving technology in order to manage the risks.

“The new course will be designed to appeal to anyone with working experience in the area from entrance level up to established consultants and practitioners.  It will be designed in conjunction with our partners using CyberKombat - a cybersecurity modelling, development training, testing and certification environment which mimics real world security architectures and operations centres.

“It is hoped that the course can eventually be rolled out to other areas across the country.”

Detective Sergeant Gary Sirrell, Regional Cyber Protect and Prevent Officer at the Cybercrime Unit, said: “We have worked with the University of Wolverhampton since the initiation of the Cybercrime Unit and want to further develop initiatives to assure the growth of the economy in the West Midlands region through an increased knowledge of cyber security risk and the safe use of technology.

“I believe that this successful bid will achieve significant impact on cybersecurity awareness and provide regional leadership for cybersecurity; a sustainable resource for cybercrime prevention in the West Midlands.”

John McCann, Director at Satisnet, said:  “We have pledged to provide our Cloud Training Environment free of charge for the project, providing CyberKomat software enabling interactive classroom simulations as well as providing facilities to learn hacking or defending techniques.”

The Cybercrime Unit will also help to develop tailored training programmes and provision of case study materials from ‘real events’ as well as creating materials to support activities.

Students in Birmingham could be in for a treat this year, as an insurance company is offering one lucky housemate £10,000 to cover their rent for a whole year.

Endsleigh Insurance Services will be helping one youngster take the steps into adult life with a rent-free year, after revealing that the majority of Brits now feel they don’t officially reach ‘adulthood’ until the grand age of 25.

The research showed that 56 per cent of young adults felt it was impossible to grow up as quickly as they’d like due to the economic climate – with 64 per cent finding it hard to get on the housing ladder or find a job.

Six in 10 adults believed you need to be at a point in life where your finances are in order to start feeling like a grown-up – which includes arranging your own insurance, keeping track of interest rates and having a credit card or savings account.

But 23 per cent of respondents aged 18 and over still haven’t ever paid either a gas or electricity bill, and 17 per cent have never arranged their own buildings or contents insurance.

Julia Alpan, head of marketing at Endsleigh, said: “Adult life can be a challenge for many young people, from organising finances to managing household chores, so it’s no surprise to see how many people feel they aren’t officially an ‘adult’ until the age of 25.

“Whether it’s paying your own utility bills, spending less money on nights out, or taking out your first ever contents insurance policy, taking those steps into adult life can be a daunting experience.

“That’s why we wanted to offer a helping hand, with £10,000 worth of free rent to give one lucky student a head-start on their finances as they move out their family home or say goodbye to their student halls to begin living independently.

“It would be great to see a student from Birmingham bagging the prize!”

To be in with a chance of winning, Birmingham students just need to take Endsleigh’s housemate quiz at endsleigh.co.uk/personal/gadget/housemate-quiz/start before 18 May 2018. *T&Cs apply