Our Brian settles into life at Oxford University

Former Highfields student Brian White, whose battle to stay in the UK captured hearts across the country, has started the next chapter of his life by taking up his hard-earned place at Oxford University.

The talented Chemistry scholar is embracing life at the world’s best university, where he’ll be studying for the next four years.

The 21-year-old faced having his dream of studying at Oxford snatched from his grasp and being deported to Zimbabwe when his application for a student grant was refused in 2016 because he no longer had permission to live in the UK.

Having been refused indefinite leave to remain, the 21-year-old’s life was left in limbo for over a year whilst he appealed against the decision. His plight led to an overwhelming national campaign that saw him receive support from tens of thousands of people and the UK media, before the Home Office granted him indefinite leave to remain.

During his fight to stay in the UK, Brian spent his time living with Martin Leigh, the partner of Highfields teacher Ms S Bishop. The proud pair recently travelled with him to Oxford to help him settle into his new home alongside the country’s finest academics.

Brian said: “I have been offered a great opportunity in life and intend to take it with both hands.

“The last few weeks have been a whirlwind but now I am delighted that I am now here at Oxford. I am so grateful to everyone who has helped to make this possible and I will do all I can to repay their kindness, generosity and support by studying hard and making the very most of my time here.”

Brian lived in an orphanage in Zimbabwe until the age of six when a missionary spotted the bright boy's potential and introduced him to British-born Peter White who was working in the country and had two children and a Zimbabwean wife.

Mr White first fostered and then adopted Brian, who was 12 when he moved with his new family to Botswana, where he was later left with one of their friends on their return to live in Penn. He was allowed to join them at the age of 15 but immigration officials gave him temporary rather than indefinite leave to remain here.

This was only spotted when Brian's application for a student grant in 2016, following the offer to study Chemistry at Lady Margaret Hall after he got 3 A*s and an A in A Levels, was rejected when it was discovered he had inadvertently overstayed his temporary visa and faced deportation.

Lady Margaret Hall took the rare step of putting his place on hold for 12 months whilst he fought to stay in the UK.

His story started gaining local media attention and the backing of a number of celebrities, including soul superstar Beverley Knight and author Sathnam Sanghera before a petition started by his friend, Luke Wilcox, turned his case into a national sensation.

The online petition urging the Home Office to rethink its decision to refuse him indefinite leave to remain in the UK was signed by more than 111,000 people whilst his story was picked up by the national press, including The Guardian, The Independent, BBC, Evening Standard, The Mirror, Daily Mail and BuzzFeed, among others. He also appeared on This Morning alongside Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford.

After months of waiting for his future to be decided, he was delighted to receive a call from lawyer, Mr Louis MacWilliams, confirming the news he had been waiting for. 

Wolf sculpture to be auctioned for charity

Colourful wolf sculptures - including one designed by talented Highfields students - that had formed part of Wolverhampton’s biggest art event are to be auctioned off to raise thousands of pounds for charity.

The 5ft sculptures had been on display across the city as part of the Wolves in Wolves project but they have now been packed away and are being spruced up ready to go under the hammer on Thursday, November 2nd.

Proceeds raised from the auction will be shared between Outside Centre and the chosen charities of the Mayor of Wolverhampton, Councillor Elias Mattu.

Students from Highfields worked on the design of their sculpture, called ‘Zeus’, with representatives from WV Active. It includes blue swirls to represent the city’s swimming pools and silhouettes to showcase the many activities on offer at its leisure centres, as well as the colours of the Highfields logo. 

It will be auctioned off with dozens of other wolf sculptures during the auction, which will take place from 7pm at Molineux’s Jack Hayward Suite. It is being hosted by Will Farmer, Director of Fielding Auctioneers Ltd and well known presenter of BBC's Antiques Roadshow.

Tickets cost £5.50 and anyone wishing to attend can register online via The Ticket Factory.

Each wolf has a reserve price of £3,000. Dozens of ‘mini wolves’ from Wolverhampton Art Gallery will also go under the hammer at the event, each with a reserve price of £200.

A selection of wolf sculptures have been retained by their sponsors for use in projects with young people whilst a handful are set to remain on display in the city centre, including ‘Hunter’ outside the University School of Art, ‘Old Gold’ in the Wolves Museum, ‘Thomas’ at Marston's House, ‘Support Life’ at the University of Wolverhampton, ‘Mander’ at Mander House, ‘Beanstalk’ at the Grand Theatre, and roaming wolf ‘Claude’.

(Photographs courtesy of WolvesinWolves.co.uk)

Young Journalists launch school newspaper

A team of budding reporters are putting their journalism skills to the test as part of a new initiative launched to keep students, parents and staff informed of the school’s latest news and achievements.

The Young Journalists scheme is giving students the chance to work with a senior reporter to produce a termly newspaper, called ‘The H’.

An eight-strong team of Year 10 students make up a core editorial team responsible for sourcing and writing news stories from around school and putting them together into a professional-standard newspaper.

The first edition of the newspaper was created in just four weeks and printed before the summer holidays to rave reviews. All students and staff are now being encouraged to support the team by sending in story suggestions ahead of the release of the second edition at Christmas.

Editor, Yasmin Powell, said: “The whole aim of this newspaper is to keep everyone up-to-date with the many things going on around school, including upcoming events, student achievements, success stories and opinion pieces.

“Our first edition was packed with articles from around school, ranging from sport to features and even politics, and we have already started work on our second edition, which we hope will build on this success.

“If any students or members of staff have a burning issue they are keen for us to include or a news story worthy of coverage, make sure to get in touch with one of the team so we can give it the publicity it deserves. We’re always on the lookout for news stories and features so thank you in advance for your support!”

Story suggestions can be sent to the team by emailing theheditorial@hswv.co.uk

The Young Journalists scheme is one of many Student Leadership programmes offered by Highfields.

To view a digital version of our first edition of The H, click the image below:

Highfields welcomes hundreds of visitors at Open Morning

Hundreds of prospective students and parents flocked to Highfields’ annual Open Morning to get a glimpse of the school and everything it has to offer.

The school welcomed more than 300 families through its doors to give them a chance to meet our students and staff, tour the facilities and take part in dozens of interactive workshops and activities.

Hands-on scientific experiments, Guitar Hero music challenges, performances of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, sports displays, pizza making demonstrations and psychology experiments were among the many activities that took place on the day. Visitors also learnt how to pack a rucksack as part of a Duke of Edinburgh display and put forensics to good use to solve a ‘crime’ by taking fingerprints and analysing shoe prints and fibres in our lab. A cake sale was held on the day to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Visitors are now being given the chance to see Highfields at work during the day by taking a tour of the school. Places are still available on the following dates:

    •    Thursday 28th September at 11:30am 

    •    Tuesday 3rd October at 11:30am

    •    Thursday 5th October at 9.30am or 11.30am

    •    Tuesday 10th October at 9:30am or 11:30am

    •    Wednesday 11th October at 9.30am or 11.30am

Tours should be booked in advance by calling Mrs Thomas on 01902 556530.

Headteacher, Mr G Tate, said: “We were delighted to welcome so many people through the doors for this year’s Open Morning. It was a wonderful opportunity for prospective students and visitors to get a feel for the many things we offer at Highfields.

"We pride ourselves on providing youngsters with a high quality education, an engaging curriculum and a wide range of extra-curricular activities to enrich their learning experiences. 

"We relish the opportunity to open our doors to visitors to showcase what our school is all about and everything that makes Highfields so special.”

The Open Morning came after Highfields celebrated another outstanding set of GCSE results - with 109 students achieving the highest gradings of 7 or above in English or Maths. A total of 71% of students achieved a standard pass in both English and Maths, whilst half of all students achieved the new strong pass in both subjects. Thirty students achieved the highest Grade 9 rating in English Literature and English Language, out of just 13,000 nationally, whilst Gurkeerat Sandhu attained a 9 grading in English Literature, English Language and Maths - one of just 2,000 students nationally to do so. He also achieved another 5 A*, two A grades and a B.

Visitors welcome to Open Morning 2017

Hundreds of prospective students and parents are set to flock to Highfields for the school's annual Open Morning, where they can meet our students and staff, get a glimpse of the facilities and take part in dozens of interactive workshops and activities showcasing what the school has to offer.

The Open Morning will take place from 10am to 12.30pm on Saturday, September 23rd.

Hands-on scientific experiments, Guitar Hero music challenges, performances of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, sports displays, pizza making demonstrations and psychology experiments are among the many activities lined up for the hundreds of visitors expected on the day. Visitors can also learn how to pack a rucksack as part of a Duke of Edinburgh display and put forensics to good use to find the 'criminal' by taking fingerprints and analysing shoe prints and fibres in our lab. A cake sale will be held on the day to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Headteacher, Mr G.Tate, will speak to parents in The Lyceum at 10.15am, 11am and 11.45am.

Mr Tate said: “Our Open Morning provides a wonderful opportunity for prospective students and visitors to get a feel for the many things we offer at Highfields.

"At Highfields, we pride ourselves on providing youngsters with a high quality education, an engaging curriculum and a wide range of extra-curricular activities to enrich their learning experiences. 

"We relish the opportunity to open our doors to visitors to showcase what our school is all about and everything that makes Highfields so special."

Visitors who would like to see Highfields at work during the day should call Mrs Thomas on 01902 556530 to arrange an appointment on one of the following dates:

• Tuesday 26th September at 9:30am or 11:30am
• Wednesday 27th September at 9:30am or 11:30 am
• Thursday 28th September at 9:30am or 11:30am 
• Tuesday 3rd October at 9:30am or 11:30am
• Wednesday 4th October at 9:30am or 11:30am
• Thursday 5th October 1t 9.30am or 11.30am
• Tuesday 10th October at 9:30am or 11:30am
• Wednesday 11th October at 9.30am or 11.30am

The Open Morning comes after Highfields celebrated another outstanding set of GCSE results - with 109 students achieving the highest gradings of 7 or above in English or Maths. A total of 71% of students achieved a standard pass in both English and Maths, whilst half of all students achieved the new strong pass in both subjects. Thirty students achieved the highest Grade 9 rating in English Literature and English Language, out of just 13,000 nationally, whilst Gurkeerat Sandhu attained a 9 grading in English Literature, English Language and Maths - one of just 2,000 students nationally to do so. He also achieved another 5 A* and two A grades.

School Prospectus 2017-18

Exam results 2017

Open Morning Programme 

Time running out to visit wolf trail

There are just days left to get a glimpse of Wolverhampton’s colourful trail of wolf sculptures - including one designed by talented art students from Highfields. 

The 5ft sculptures are on display across the city as part of the Wolves in Wolves project, Wolverhampton’s biggest ever public art event. Thirty sculptures have been placed around the city at points of interest, allowing people to explore its best attractions. 

Students were selected by members of staff from the Art department to transform the school’s wolf into a colourful piece of art before it took its place outside the Civic Centre as part of the city-wide sculpture trail.

They worked on the design with representatives from WV Active, which has sponsored the sculpture, called ‘Zeus’. It includes blue swirls to represent the city’s swimming pools and silhouettes to showcase the many activities on offer at its leisure centres, as well as the colours of the Highfields logo. 

The trail ends on Sunday, September 24th, before the wolf sculptures are auctioned off for charity.

Art teacher, Ms P Thomson, said: “There are 30 stunning sculptures on display so I would urge anyone who hasn’t yet seen them to go out and hunt them all down before the trail ends.”

Wolves in Wolves has been organised by The Outside Centre and Enjoy Wolverhampton, with support from Wolverhampton City Council.

The project has drawn comparisons with The Big Hoot, which saw colourful owl sculptures placed around Birmingham to raise cash for the city’s Children’s Hospital.

Students get experience in world of work

Students got a taste of the careers they are hoping to pursue in future when they spent a week out on work experience.

Year 11 students spent the first week of term on work experience with companies from a range of industries, including law, emergency services, health & beauty, theatre, retail, pharmaceutical, banking, education, veterinary, mechanics and hospitality.

Mr C Rhodes, Year 11 Manager, said: “Work experience provides students with a wonderful opportunity to get a taste of the careers they are interested in.

“For many of them, it has confirmed the career paths that they want to take in the future, whilst others have decided that maybe they should pursue other career options.

“We would like to say a big thank you to all of the businesses and organisations that allowed our students to do their work experience with them. It is incredibly important that they get this introduction to work as they head into their last year of school.”

Arrangements for next year's work experience placements will start over the coming weeks.

Grease is the word!

Highfields is gearing up for its latest musical spectacular, Grease!

Students are now being encouraged to register their interest in being part of the showcase.

Auditions for principal parts will take place from 3.30pm next Wednesday, September 27th. Those wanting to audition are being asked to perform a song of their choice on their own, in pairs or maximum groups of four. Rehearsals will then start after school on Thursday, October 5th and will run every week until the show.

The production is set be staged from February 28th – March 3rd 2018 and will be open to all students who would like to take part.

The showcase will be the second collaboration with neighbouring Penn Fields School for the annual production and comes following the massive success of past performances that have set the bar high for upcoming shows.

Grease is one of the most successful and popular of all time, featuring a host of uplifting and elevating songs, including Summer Nights, Greased Lightning, We Go Together and Born To Hand Jive.

The musical follows the story of a wholesome, pure and friendly exchange student, Sandy Olssen and a summer romance with a proud, stubborn leather-clad Danny Zuko. But will the romance be able to survive the pressure of High School cliques?

The showcase follows Highfields’ hugely successful productions of High School Musical, Our House and Hairspray that have involved thousands of students and attracted sell-out crowds.

Rehearsals for the full cast will take place every Thursday after school whilst there will also be rehearsals for main characters and dancers on some Saturdays.

Ms S Bishop, Head of Performance, said: “We are delighted to have secured the license for Grease as our next musical showcase.

“The annual production provides students with a wonderful experience of performing in front of live audiences on stage. We are proud to be staging our annual musical in collaboration with Penn Fields for the second year and hope to see hundreds of students from both schools involved.

“Grease is an iconic musical that has transcended generations. It features some very catchy songs that we guarantee will have the audience dancing and singing along.

“It promises to be another fantastic production for Highfields and we are all excited to be starting work on what promises to be another fantastic show.”

Grease was first performed in 1971 in Chicago and was later turned into a hugely successful film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton John.

Take a look at some photographs from our previous shows:

Victory! Brilliant Brian to stay in UK and study at Oxford

Genius former Highfields student Brian White has won his battle to stay in the UK and take up his hard-earned place at Oxford University after an overwhelming national campaign that saw him receive support from tens of thousands of people and the UK media.

The talented Chemistry scholar faced having his dream of studying at the world’s best university snatched from his grasp and being deported to Zimbabwe when his application for a student grant was refused because he no longer had permission to live in the UK.

Having been refused indefinite leave to remain, the 21-year-old’s life was left in limbo for over a year whilst he appealed against the decision.

Brian had been due to start at Oxford in September 2016 and the university’s Lady Margaret Hall had taken the rare step of putting his place on hold for 12 months whilst he fought to stay in the UK. He has spent that time living with Martin Leigh, the partner of Highfields teacher Ms S Bishop, whilst the appeal process took place.

His story started gaining local media attention and the backing of a number of celebrities, including soul superstar Beverley Knight and author Sathnam Sanghera before a petition started by his friend, Luke Wilcox, (pictured with Brian right) turned his case into a national sensation.

The online petition urging the Home Office to rethink its decision to refuse him indefinite leave to remain in the UK was signed by more than 111,000 people whilst his story was picked up by the national press, including The Guardian, The Independent, BBC, Evening Standard, The Mirror, Daily Mail and BuzzFeed, among others. He also appeared on This Morning alongside Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford.

After months of waiting for his future to be decided, he was delighted to receive a call from lawyer, Mr Louis MacWilliams, confirming the news he had been waiting for. He is now busy preparing to start at Oxford later this month.

Brian - who studied for his GCSEs and A-Levels at Highfields after arriving in the UK at 15 - said: "I let the information sink in for about five to 10 minutes. Then I started ringing everybody round to say thank you. I owe so many people so much.

“I have been offered a great opportunity in life and intend to take it with both hands and make the most of it.”

Ms Bishop, who has supported Brian at every step of his campaign, said: "We are absolutely thrilled to get this result - just over the moon.

"We were feeling really helpless just waiting as time ran out for him. The petition was a last throw of the dice and the response was just overwhelming.

"Brian is much more than just an outstanding pupil. He is a young man who has the potential to make a massive contribution to this country. We are delighted so many people, including the Home Office, agree with us.”

Brian lived in an orphanage in Zimbabwe until the age of six when a missionary spotted the bright boy's potential and introduced him to British-born Peter White who was working in the country and had two children and a Zimbabwean wife.

Mr White first fostered and then adopted Brian, who was 12 when he moved with his new family to Botswana, where he was later left with one of their friends on their return to live in Penn.

He was allowed to join them at the age of 15 but immigration officials gave him temporary rather than indefinite leave to remain here.

This was only spotted when Brian's application for a student grant - following the offer to study chemistry at Lady Margaret Hall after he got 3 A*s and an A in A Levels last year - was rejected when it was discovered he had inadvertently overstayed his temporary visa and faced deportation.

Brian’s lawyer, Louis MacWilliam, said: “The Home Office has given Brian indefinite leave to remain and finally rectified the apparent error that was committed when he first arrived in this country. They have corrected something of an injustice.”

Take a look at just some of the national coverage Brian's plight received:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-41152694

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/2017/09/04/brian-white-oxford-bound-wolverhampton-student-wins-battle-to-stay-in-the-uk/

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/sep/04/brian-white-student-with-oxford-university-place-wins-battle-to-remain-in-uk

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/brian-white-oxford-stay-uk_uk_59ad7c78e4b0b5e531001a7c

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/home-office-student-deportation-brian-white-oxford-university-botswana-a7929656.html

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/brian-white-zimbabweborn-genius-granted-right-to-stay-in-uk-and-take-up-oxford-university-place-a3626701.html

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/education/2017/09/05/brian-white-ill-grasp-this-opportunity-with-both-hands/

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/2017/08/31/beverley-knight-gets-behind-brian-white-in-bid-to-secure-british-citizenship-and-go-to-oxford-university/

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/orphan-who-adopted-britain-won-11079043

https://www.buzzfeed.com/fionarutherford/meet-the-student-who-cant-take-up-his-oxford-uni-place?utm_term=.sc0xglqOW#.vwW7BdqLN

Swaziland adventure for intrepid team

An intrepid group of students and staff from Highfields spent two weeks of their summer holidays on a life-changing trip to Swaziland.

The 13-strong group spent months preparing for the intensive expedition in July, which challenged their mental and physical strength.

Adventurous Highfields students chose the small African kingdom as the destination for the  mission and were involved with all elements of planning and decision-making for the trip. The adventure aimed to improve their teamwork and leadership skills, help them to become more globally aware, boost their confidence and self-esteem, all of which would also enhance their employment prospects.

As well as an acclimatisation period, which saw students introduced to the local produce available and tasked with funding, planning and preparing a menu to feed the whole team during their time away, a huge focus of the trip was a four-day community project. 

This important phase of the trip gave them the unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the community and involved working with a local builder to build a kitchen facility in the community camp site in order to attract more tourism to the village. They also learnt more about the conservation of precious water resources and basic sanitation at the same time as developing global citizenship skills through facing the challenges of living and working in the developing world.

The team then embarked on a four-day expedition through Malolotja National Park, trekking up to 11 km per day to give them a chance to experience Swaziland’s stunning natural beauty before a two-day rest and relaxation period at the Hlane National Park surrounded by lions, hippos, zebras, giraffe, elephants, antelope, and birds. 

Students hosted a number of fundraising events to go towards the thousands of pounds it cost to make the trip possible, including hosting raffles, cake sales, quiz nights, car washes and discos.

Highfields’ Community Engagement Officer Lisa Corbett, who accompanied students on the trip along with two other staff members - Wayne Harrison and Aman Beesla - said that the trip had been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the team.

“The students were in charge of the planning of all elements of the trip,” she said. “They chose the destination based on a number of factors, including the fact that it is somewhere they would not normally have access to, providing a number of challenges and a real opportunity for them to make a difference to a local community in Swaziland.

“We spent months preparing for the trip, including working on our fitness levels as we had to reach a certain standard for us to be allowed to travel.

“It was certainly not just a holiday, and it really challenged us physically and mentally but we all enjoyed every single moment and it was an experience none of us will ever forget. It really was life-changing for us all.”

The trip was organised in conjunction with World Challenge, a leading organisation behind life-changing school expeditions, which provides 24-hour support and expertise for educational trips abroad.

Take a look at a gallery of pictures from the Swaziland adventure: