The burial last Friday (November 26) was also marked with a visit from Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Dr Nik Johnson, leader of Peterborough City Council Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald, ARU Peterborough Principal Prof Ross Renton, ARU Peterborough Assistant Principal Esther Norton and Ruby Ballaam, ARU Schools and College Engagement Officer.
ARU Peterborough is a partnership between the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority, Peterborough City Council and Anglia Ruskin University (ARU).
The developing new campus at the Embankment in Peterborough is close to the school and pupils have been getting to know all about the university and its construction thanks to engagement from building contractors Bowmer + Kirkland. They have visited the site and have been shown how ARU Peterborough is being built and what the university is for. Children from the very youngest to oldest have been involved as part of Bowmer + Kirkland’s work to engage with the local community as the build progresses.
Pupils all through the Academy have been involved in deciding what to put in the time capsule and they chose a selection of items to represent life in 2021. This included writings and drawings by the children as well as photos and video content about what life is like now. Pupils also selected their favourite subjects and included information about music, technology, football predictions, influential people in 2021 and an impressive 21 facts about significant events in 2021, including details about the pandemic.
Mayor Dr Johnson contributed to the capsule a note on how ARU Peterborough links with his core values of Compassion, Co-operation and Community. ARU contributed a book produced by its Global Sustainability Institute which collected letters from almost 100 primary school children across the world, urging global leaders to take action on climate change. And Peterborough City Council contributed copies of the planning documents for the university.
Principal at Bishop Creighton Academy, Vicki Redhead, said: “We have avidly watched the university being built for the last 10 months and visits to the university construction site have been hugely motivational for our pupils. Our aim is to ensure that every child leaves the Academy with the skills, knowledge and confidence to succeed in the next steps in their education and future lives so having the opportunity to understand how the building has been designed and constructed has been fascinating for our pupils and they very much enjoyed learning about careers in construction.
“The visits have also grown our pupils’ aspirations for further education which is incredibly exciting so a huge thank you to Bowmer + Kirkland and the whole university team. Our children are already looking forward to finding out what the future university students will think of their contributions to the time capsule!”
Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, Dr Nik Johnson, said: “A big well done to pupils at Bishop Creighton who worked so hard on their contribution to this time capsule. Being so close to ARU Peterborough it is fantastic the school has been engaging in the university project as it comes out of the ground.
“As well as delivering first-class education and skills, we all want ARU Peterborough to inspire the city and future generations, and this time capsule wonderfully captures those hopes and aspirations.”
Councillor Wayne Fitzgerald, leader of Peterborough City Council, said:“This is a fantastic project from a group of school children who may very well attend this university in the years to come. I know one pupil at the school already has said that she would love to study engineering at ARU Peterborough in the future. It’s exactly for reasons like this that we are gathered here today celebrating the launch of this exciting university which will play a huge role in the city’s future for years to come.”
Professor Ross Renton, ARU Peterborough Principal, said: “Climate change is the most pressing issue facing us today and so we thought it was appropriate to include in the time capsule a new book produced by ARU’s Global Sustainability Institute. The content of Dear World Leaders has been shaped by the hopes and fears of primary school children from around the world, and whenever the time capsule is unearthed, we hope future generations will see how seriously we are taking these issues in 2021.
“At ARU, sustainability is embedded in all areas of the university, from course content to how we source our energy. We also aim to ensure our buildings are as environmentally friendly as possible. We’re proud that ARU Peterborough is being constructed with concrete containing recycled cement, while recycled steel is being used to produce the reinforcements within the concrete.”
Bowmer + Kirkland Project Manager for ARU Peterborough, Tony Mitchell, said: “Bowmer + Kirkland as principal contractor for the ARU Peterborough project has been working closely with the Bishop Creighton Academy to form a partnership that will last throughout our time here. It has been our pleasure to have welcomed over 100 pupils already to site, to tour the building and discover the opportunities that this project can offer, not only to them but to the wider school population. The time capsule burial will include a USB memory stick showing the construction so far.