Students to be inspired for future at Careers Fair

Students will be inspired to look forward to life after school during a Careers Fair this month.

Dozens of exhibitors will be showcasing their services during the event, which will take place from 5.30pm - 8pm on Wednesday, January 31st.

The event is open to all students from Year 9 through to Sixth Form.

A number of colleges, universities, training providers and employers from a range of industries will be represented at the Careers Fair, including Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, The Royal Navy, The British Army, West Midlands Ambulance Service, West Midlands Fire Service, Jaguar Land Rover and Barclays.

Mr A Jeavons, Highfields’ Careers and Business Links Manager, said: “This Careers Fair will provide a fantastic opportunity for students to explore in detail the range of progression routes and careers opportunities available to them at Post-16 and beyond.

“We are delighted to have secured a number of organisations to showcase what they have to offer at the event.”

To confirm and register your attendance to the careers fair event please click on the link: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/careers-fair2018

To read our booklet about making good choices in Year 9, click on the image below:

Business as usual at Highfields following Carillion collapse

It’s business as usual at Highfields, despite news that construction giant Carillion has gone into liquidation.

The Government has confirmed public funding will be provided to maintain all services that Carillion delivered after it failed to reach an agreement with officials to save the company.

Highfields Headteacher, Mr Graham Tate, said: “The Government has said it will continue to deliver all public sector services provided by Carillion.

“We are not expecting the situation to have any impact on the services that have been provided by Carillion at Highfields but will continue to monitor the situation closely and will be in discussion with the Department for Education going forward to keep staff and Parents/Carers updated with any further information.”

Latest edition of school newspaper unveiled

Highfields' Young Journalists have unveiled the latest edition of the school's newspaper, The H.

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

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 students work with a senior reporter to produce the termly newspaper, with the second edition unveiled ahead of the Christmas break.

The team are keen for students, staff and parents/carers to put forward story suggestions for the next issue, which will be released at Easter, by emailing theheditorial@hswv.co.uk

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

Students honoured for Duke of Edinburgh's scheme success

Students were honoured for their success on the Duke of Edinburgh’s programme during a presentation evening led by a former GB Olympic athlete.

More than 90 students achieved their DofE Bronze, Silver or Gold award, with 52 of them attending an awards ceremony to be presented with their medals by relay runner Phil Brown, who is also the CEO for the DofE’s central region.

The event gave parents and Highfields’ DofE team the chance to celebrate the achievements of students on the challenging programme throughout 2017. Parents also had the opportunity to watch interviews by students about their experiences and DofE highlights as well as browse photographs taken on expeditions to Llandrinio and Snowdonia.

Special accolades were also awarded to students who have shown excellent leadership and commitment to their DofE programme.

The Bronze award individual accolade was won by Mrithula Raj Balaji for her support of other students on her expedition. The individual Silver award was awarded to Jack Evans for his commitment to volunteering to both the Penn Fields DofE programme and his support in officiating school football at Highfields. The Gold Endeavour award was given to three students - Alisha Patel, Maiya Bahra and Kent Stavenuiter - for their excellent work mentoring Bronze DofE students and their support with expeditions.

Maiya was also able to be receive her Gold award brooch in preparation for a visit to either Buckingham Palace or St James’s Palace to officially receive her award. She will be joined in London by Alisha Patel and Josh Slomka-Moore, who have also achieved the Gold award - DofE’s highest honour - but were unable to attend the school presentation evening due to university commitments.

Mr C Moody, who runs Highfields’ DoE programme, said: “The evening was a resounding success which gave us chance to celebrate the incred- ible achievements of students on the DofE programme. I would also like to say a massive thank you to all parents for their support.”

Hundreds of Highfields’ students have taken part in the DofE programme since the school started running the scheme around 10 years ago.

Take a look at some photographs from our expeditions:

Students launch Highfields TV

Budding TV reporters and presenters have launched the school’s own weekly news broadcast called Highfields TV. 

A core editorial team of 10 students are at the centre of the new project, which aims to bring stories from around school to life on screen to keep students and staff up-to-date with news and events. 

The HTV team meet on Wednesday lunchtimes to discuss story ideas and filming schedules. News items will then be broadcast on the dozens of flat-screen TVs around school and featured on the school website as well as being sent out to Parents and Carers by email.

Highfields TV is being broadcast just weeks after students launched their own newspaper, The H, which is packed with news and features from around school.

Mr D Cooper, who is leading the project, said: “We are delighted to have launched Highfields TV to give our students another platform to showcase the many things going on around school. 

“We have a core editorial team at the centre of the project but would love to see other students, staff, parents and members of the community contributing and putting forward their ideas.

“Students, if you have a story that you would like to see on Highfields TV, please come along to see us on Wednesday lunchtime in the middle floor LRC. We are also looking for new reporters and video editors so if that sounds like fun, come along and get involved!”

Musicians open revamped supermarket in style

Talented young musicians from Highfields hit all the right notes with shoppers when they helped to relaunch a supermarket after its £1.3m transformation.

The Co-op store, in Warstones, has been closed for around a month for the huge refurbishment project, which bosses hope will see it become a ‘hub for the community’.

It was reopened in style on Thursday, November 30th, thanks to Highfields’ young musicians who entertained customers and staff with a host of Christmas classics, swing music and chart toppers.

Ms S Bishop, Highfields’ Head of Performance, said: “We were delighted our students were asked to perform at the reopening of the Co-op store. Just like Highfields, the store is very much at the heart of the Penn community so it was fitting for us to be part of this event.

“More than 20 of our talented students performed for shoppers and staff, creating a brilliant atmosphere with a number of Christmas favourites, swing hits and other classics such as Thriller.”

Highfields' wolf sculpture raises cash for charity

A colourful wolf sculpture designed by Highfields students as part of Wolverhampton’s biggest public art event has raised £1,500 for charity.

The 5ft sculpture had been on display alongside dozens of others across the city as part of the Wolves in Wolves project, before going under the hammer.

Around 150 people packed into the Jack Hayward Suite at Molineux for the charity auction earlier this month, which was hosted by BBC Antiques Roadshow specialist, Will Farmer. The event raised £35,400 for charity across 52 lots - including £1,500 from Highfields’ ‘Zeus’ sculpture.

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

Councillor Mattu said: “Our dedicated artists, generous sponsors and partners have all contributed to make this project a phenomenal success.

“Wolves in Wolves gave the city a blast of colour and excitement and it was fantastic to see the immense Wulfrunian pride felt by everyone in the city.

“It has been wonderful to see so many people, young and old alike, out in the city on the lookout for wolves.

“From the launch in July to the very end of the trail, we have seen families, friends and even visitors from as far as Canada, China and Australia enjoy our beautiful wolves.”

Students from Highfields worked on the design of their sculpture 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.

Photographs courtesy of Wolvesinwolves.co.uk

Fundraiser Lola raises £1,200 with charity head shave

A kindhearted student has shaved off her long locks to raise hundreds of pounds for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Lola Spicer-Neal shaved off her hair as part of the charity’s ‘Brave the Shave’ campaign after seeing a number of close family and friends battle the disease.

Her fundraising efforts, which took place at Wolverhampton’s Firewalker Gym where she trains in boxing, have so far raised a whopping £1,200 for the charity. The 14-year-old’s hair will also now be donated to make wigs for cancer sufferers.

Mr R Oseland, Head of Year 10, said: “Lola was inspired to support this campaign and shave her hair after seeing a number of family members and friends suffer with cancer in recent years.

“Everyone’s lives have been affected by this terrible disease in some way and we are all very proud of Lola for what she has done to help those who are suffering by donating her hair and raising this incredible amount of money for Macmillan Cancer Support.”

People can still donate at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tracy-spicer-neal

Students swap Highfields for University

Students swapped Highfields for a day at university as part of an educational visit to support their studies.

EPQ students attended the Study Skills Day at the University of Wolverhampton, where they took part in two workshops to learn skills which will aid their projects.

The first workshop focused on research skills and web evaluation, where they got the chance to use the university’s library facilities to find academic research for their projects. The second workshop was a practical introduction to academic writing, which looked at examples and identified key elements of a good project report.

Mrs A Sangha, Lead Teacher for EPQ, said: “All students worked very well during the Study Skills Day at the University of Wolverhampton and are making good progress with their projects. 

“They were brilliant representatives of Highfields and enjoyed a very positive day.”

Highfields welcomes prospective students at Sixth Form Open Evening

Prospective students attended an Open Evening to get a glimpse of what Highfields Sixth Form has to offer.

Around 150 students came along to the event with their parents and carers, where they got the chance to speak to current Sixth Form students and staff about the range of courses available as well as touring the school to see the facilities.

Presentations were made by Headteacher, Graham Tate, Head of Sixth Form, Mr K Blower, and members of the Student Leadership Team. Representatives from a number of universities were also on hand to provide advice about life after Highfields.

Mr Blower said: “Making your decision about Post 16 education is very important.

“We are always delighted that so many of our Year 11 students choose to stay on to study at our Sixth Form and we hosted this Open Evening so they and other students could get a feel of what we have to offer.

“Highfields Sixth Form is exciting and challenging and we have a reputation for providing high quality teaching and learning. Our ethos is about having high expectations within a supportive and friendly environment.

“Our Open Evening was a great success and it was wonderful to welcome so many people through the doors to give them a flavour of our Sixth Form.”

During Ofsted’s most recent visit, inspectors praised our Sixth Form, commenting on students’ good progress, the quality of teaching and strong curriculum which 'ensures that students’ progression to internationally-renowned universities or high quality work based training is possible’.