Birmingham University Activity Day

A group of Year 10 students visited The University of Birmingham (The Times University of the Year 2013-14) for an aspirational activity day on the 22nd January. 

The university organised an interesting program for us, including a tour of the impressive Edgbaston campus, as well as ‘myth busters’ and ‘outside the box’ careers education workshops.

Activities were led by students currently studying at the university, who were on hand to talk to our students about university life and how it could benefit them, as well as answering any questions they had about higher education, and addressing any concerns about student finance, graduate employment or entrance requirements.
 
Students took part in a short workshop before the visit to get them thinking about their post-16 progression route and help them get the most from the day.

Photographs taken by Kyedel Thompson,
Year 10

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Guest User.

Season's Greetings from Highfields!



Congratulations to Year 9 Student, Bernice Johal, who has won our Christmas Card competition!


As an eco friendly gesture, Highfields has once again opted to send an e-card as an alternative to greeting cards.

Bernice's entry was chosen as the winning design because of the detail and effort that had clearly gone into it.  We especially like that Santa is wearing the 'Highfields' Uniform!

A donation on behalf of the school will be made instead, to the charity:

Birmingham Children's Hospital


To view our e-card, click here

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Guest User.

Year 11 BTEC Students Meet Sir Alex Ferguson!

 

As part of their studies, Year 11 BTEC Sport students recently attended a lecture on 'Health and Safety at Sports Grounds', which was held at the home of Manchester United.

After the lecture, the students were able to have their photo taken with Alex Ferguson during a tour of the ground.  Sir Alex may be looking a bit serious, but he is a wax model after all! 

Both the staff and students thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the visit.  

Posted on December 12, 2013 by Guest User.

Autumn Festival

Opening performance by Dhol Drummers

On Wednesday 6th November we held the exciting ‘Autumn Festival’.

This was an eclectic mix of Diwali/Bonfire night celebrations, Shakespeare, dancing and drumming with a spectacular Firework Finale!  

Leading up to this students performed in assemblies to advertise the show and it certainly helped, as we SOLD OUT!  

In total, we made just under £1,500 for the event. Any profit will go towards 'Project Ghana', whereby a group of Highfields students and two members of staff have been raising money to fund a trip to Ghana in July 2014, to help build classrooms and a playground in a primary school.


You can view photos from the Autumn Festival in our online gallery.

 

Diwali Workshop with Penn Fields students

On the Friday after Diwali, the performers (dancers and dhol drummers) went to Penn Fields school and spent the morning leading workshops and performing with the students there.  This was a really enjoyable and rewarding experience for students and staff alike.

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Guest User.

Spanish Trip 2013

Years 10 and 11 enjoyed a five day visit to the regions of Cantabria and Asturias in Northern Spain during October.
 
The weather was warm and sunny and the students were able to enjoy a range of outdoor activities as well as practising their Spanish in real situations.

 

Beaches, Towns and Mountains

The Hotel Campomar is situated on its own private beach on the Bay of Biscay, and the students were able to enjoy the sea and also play some sport.  We visited several Spanish towns where the students had the opportunity to go shopping, order lunch and immerse themselves in the Spanish culture.  There was a full day excursion to the Picos de Europa where the students took a cable car to the summit.
 

Tapas and Karaoke!

We spent two evenings in the port city of Santander, capital of Cantabria, where we enjoyed a range of tapas in a local restaurant and on the final evening we went to a karaoke disco where we had a lively night of song and laughter.

All in all, a fantastic visit that enabled our students to really use their Spanish and experience the Spanish way of life.

Posted on November 6, 2013 by Guest User.

Year 11 Citizenship Students Campaign for Votes at 16

As part of their Citizeship coursework campaign to lower the voting age to 16, Year 11 students recently interviewed local MP, Paul Uppal about both his personal and his Conservative party colleagues' opinions on the issue of legal voting age.

Students met with Wolverhampton MP, Paul Uppal in the school Lecture Theatre. 

 

 

The students, all of whom have studied the voting process as part of their Citizenship studies, posed a number of questions to the Conservative MP including questioning the governments' decision to scrap the Educational Maintenance Allowance, the Building Schools for the Future programme and raising of University tuition fees, issues they felt showed discrimination against young people.  

They argued that young people have no voice or representation in Parliament and a lowering of the voting age would help redress the balance.  Despite their constant arguments, Mr Uppal retained the party line that votes should be kept at 18.

Year 11 students will now be stepping up their campaign to influence their peers and local community members for a change in the law.

 

Campaign poster created by Amber Jarrett and Beth Flannery.

 

Photograph: Kieran Patel, Year 11 student, with Labour Councillor for Penn Ward, Martin Waite.  

Photograph: Kieran Patel, Year 11 student, with Labour Councillor for Penn Ward, Martin Waite.
 

 

Above: Students are raising awareness by displaying campaign material on our internal signage system.

 

Left: One student also met with a local Councillor to discuss the votes at 16 policy.

 

If you are interested in learning more about the Votes at 16 campaign, go to www.votesat16.org

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Guest User.

Black History Month with Gazebo Theatre

October is Black History Month, and Gazebo Theatre in Education Company Ltd visited Highfields yesterday, for a series of participatory workshops involving History and Drama students.  

Workshops included performances, discussion and drama; exploring the themes of migration and racism, focussing on the experiences of people who moved to the UK during the 'Windrush Era'. 

 

 

Students watched a performance by Gazebo which described the real experiences of two migrants who moved to Wolverhampton in the 'Windrush Era'.

 


The 'Windrush Era'

Students enjoyed a monologue performance by Gazebo, which outlined issues surrounding immigration and racism during the 'Windrush Era'.

 
BlackHistoryWorkshop1.JPG
 

Freeze Frame! 

Year 10 GCSE History students depict the scene of Caribbean migrants boarding the 'Windrush'  boat.

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Guest User.

Highfields Students Celebrate Success: GCSE Results 2013

Year 11 students today celebrated their first GCSE results since moving into our brand new facilities as part of the Building Schools for the Future scheme in 2012.

Students achieved Highfields' best ever set of results to date with 68% of students gaining 5 A* - C grades and 20% of students attaining 5 or more A* and A grades. 12 exceptional students achieved all A* and A grades.

GCSEResults.jpg
Posted on August 22, 2013 by .

Highfields Official Opening

On Saturday 20th July we held a celebration day to say thank you to the local community and mark a wonderful year in our new school. The sun was shining and we had a fantastic turnout.

Our resident Dhol Drummers greeted visitors as they approached the school down the walkway. Music from the Amphitheatre echoed to the top floor where diners in the Spanish Café could listen on to Glee Choir and Wind Band while they enjoyed croissants and pastries.

Sports events including sack Racing, sumo wrestling and 5-a-side football where held in the sunshine on the school field and sports courts while spectators enjoyed icecreams!

Flaming bubble demonstrations wowed onlookers in Science and thought provoking performances were delivered in the Royal Shakespeare Workshop.

The climbing wall, surf simulator and bouncy castle were very popular with adults and children alike and the Food Technology cupcake stall was such a success it had sold out by 11:30!

Eco trail goers meandered the Environmental Area saved from the old building and learned about our eco intentions at our stall whilst visitors to the lecture theatre complete with 3D screen could sit and watch the new building transform in 15 minutes!

This was our chance to show what Highfields has to offer to both its students and local community! A really great day!

OpeningCelebration.JPG
Posted on July 22, 2013 by .

Highfields Students Celebrate WOSCARS 2013 Success!

Highfields had yet another successful year at the Wolverhampton Oscars (WOSCARS) thanks to its innovative students and their creative ideas. Winning four out of six nominated categories; we were awarded the following WOSCARS:

In Key Stage 4:

  • Best Presentation went to Owen Stavenutier for ‘Electromagnetic Spectrum’.
  • Best Digital Music went to Jessica Burgess with Rhianne Brown as runner up.

In Key Stage 5:

  • Best Animation went to Luke Stavenutier for ‘Green Chem’.
  • Best Presentation for ‘Heart Revision Resource’.

We were also runners up for Best Computer Game/Programme in Key Stage 3 with ‘Internet Safety’.

Well done to nominees and winners, and well done Highfields!

 

Posted on July 15, 2013 by .