London Marathon success for lunchtime supervisor Donna

A Highfields lunchtime supervisor completed this year’s London Marathon in memory of her beloved late mum - and loved the experience so much, she’s already put her name into the ballot for the 2020 event.

Donna Lowery spent months training for the world-famous 26.2-mile run to support research into Pancreatic Cancer, which claimed the life of her mum, Linda Munday, at the age of 60 in 2014.

The 42-year-old, who lives with her family in Penn, was one of just 70 competitors running the London Marathon on behalf of Pancreatic Cancer UK, and has to raise at least £2,500 for the cause.

So far, she has received donations and pledges of around £2,000, and is urging more people to donate to help her meet the fundraising target for the charity so close to her heart.

The marathon was Donna’s second fundraising challenge for the charity, and comes after she raised £1,000 by completing the London to Brighton Cycle ride after her mum was diagnosed with the illness.

As well as already putting her name in the ballot for next year’s London Marathon, she will also be competing in a Triathlon with the Black Country Triathletes in Wombourne in September, running in October’s Birmingham Half Marathon, and competing in an Iron Man competition in Staffordshire 2020.

The 42-year-old, who also runs her own cleaning business, said: “It all feels like a dream. I keep thinking, ‘Have I really just completed the London Marathon?’.

“I feel totally normal physically, and have no aching or pain, so that’s really good.”

Donna - whose two children, Eden and Lily, are students at Highfields - finished the race in 6hrs 40mins.

She said: “I wasn’t really happy with my time but I ran all of the way, only stopping for seconds to see my family. My goal was not to walk at all so I’m very proud of that.

“When I went over Tower Bridge, I felt my knee go and knew I had to slow down if I was going to finish it.”

Donna’s whole family, including her children, husband Wayne and dad Garth, cheered her on at various points along the famous route.

She said: “It was upsetting when I saw my dad. He’d given me a bracelet of mum’s to wear on the day and he was quite emotional because of the reason I was running it. I don’t normally really believe in things like that, but I felt like she was with me. She’d been in a lot of pain and so when my knee went I just thought, ‘come on, just get through it’.

“The support you receive from the crowds is just phenomenal. There’s people giving out food, sweets and energy gels, and shouting out your name as you go past. They were really supportive of those who were struggling and telling them they could do it.

“It was just a fantastic day, and I loved being part of it so much. I would do another one tomorrow.

“Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me.”

To support Donna’s fundraising efforts, click here

Battlefields trip to remember WW1 sacrifices

Students are being given the chance to honour those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom in World War One by visiting Belgian battlefields.

The trip to Ypres will take place from May 7th-9th 2020 and is open to students in Year 9, who studied World War One earlier this year.

Miss J Tappenden, Highfields’ Head of History who is organising the trip, said: “We anticipate that this will be an extremely popular trip having recently commemorated the 100-year anniversary of the end of WWI in school. Therefore we offer this trip to students who have shown a strong commitment to their History studies and will make the most of this opportunity.”

The trip is the latest of many visits the school has organised to Ypres over the past 15 years. Students will visit a number of important landmarks including Commonwealth war grave sites, the In Flanders Fields Museum, as well as preserved trenches and battlefield sites. 

Miss Tappenden added: “This war is central to our History studies, having enormous impact on life and society in Britain and Germany in the Twentieth Century. The area is also the location familiar to many of the poets, writers and artists who recorded the horrors and anguish of the war and whose work is world famous. The visits are highly relevant to all students of History. This is also an unforgettable experience at a human level and relevant to many aspects of education, especially, but not exclusively, History and English.”

This year marked the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One, and students and staff hosted a packed programme of Remembrance activities to mark the occasion.

As part of the week-long programme of Remembrance, special assemblies were held to teach students more about the Great War, whilst there was also a poetry competition and poppy sales, which raised around £160 for the Royal British Legion. A further £42 was raised for the Poppy Appeal in a raffle for a commemorative ‘Tommy’ figurine.

Lectures were held during lunchtimes highlighting lesser-known facts about the war, including how Britain treated the men who refused to fight, how women kept the war effort going, how the country was aided by Canada, India and Australia, as well as the conflict from a German perspective.

More than 120 people attended two screenings of Peter Jackson’s extraordinary film, They Shall Not Grow Old, which brings the frontline to life using remastered footage and the voices of the soldiers who were there.

Students, staff and Parents/Carers also got creative to make their own plastic poppies using old drinks bottles, which have been used to form a stunning display outside the school’s front entrance.

Celebration evening for Duke Of Edinburgh's Award students

Intrepid students were honoured for their success on the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme with a celebration evening.

Former Highfields teacher, Sir Michael Griffiths, who was awarded a knighthood for his services to education, presented certificates along with DofE Area Manager, Lisa Atkinson.

A total of 76 DofE Bronze, Silver and Gold certificates were handed out on the night.

All Bronze students have had to complete at least three months of volunteering, learning a new skill with a physical element, as well as a two-day practice and assessed expedition at Llandrinio. The Silver Award includes at least six months of volunteering, with a three-day assessed expedition to Llandrinio and the Long Mynd. The Gold Award students completed all of these sections, over 12 months, as well as a gruelling four-day practice and assessed expedition in Snowdonia and the Lake District. They also completed a four-day residential shared experience with other young people.

The seven Gold Award recipients were Miss L McKenna-Fraser, who has been working as an apprentice this year for Highfields School, Highfields Sixth Form student Shifani Passap, and former students Alice Barrie, Rachel Clarke, Jemma Payne, Owen and Kent Stavenuiter.

Special in-house awards were also presented on the night to students who have worked to achieve beyond the expectations of the award they completed. The Bronze Award went to Jack Edwards, with the Silver Award going to Vishal Patel and the Gold Endeavour Award being split between Miss L McKenna-Fraser and Jemma Payne.

All of the Gold Award winners will be officially presented with their awards during a glittering celebration in London on a date to be confirmed.

Mr C Moody, Highfields’ DofE Co-ordinator, said: “This year has been really positive for the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award pro- gramme.

“They have all been on an incredible journey and they have had many memorable experiences that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.”

Budding medical students in university visit

Students with aspirations of a medical career visited the prestigious University of Birmingham to attend an Insight into Medicine and Dentistry day.

Accompanied by Mr A Dean, Highfields’ Head of Maths & Science Learning School, and Dr Sohal, ten Year 10 students got involved in a wide range of activities at the university’s medical school, which is located next to the modern Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Students heard from a practising doctor and dentist about their working life, as well as from current medical students, whilst there was a careers talk about the wide range of jobs available in the NHS, beyond being a doctor or a dentist.

Students also got the chance to get involved in a wide variety of practical activities, including learning how to perform CPR and shock someone’s heart into beating, how to take blood pressure and how to measure peak flow, the speed that someone can breathe out, which is useful in monitoring lung function in people who have conditions such as asthma.

The university is undergoing a multi-million pound redevelopment, and Highfields students had the chance to walk through the beautiful campus and see some of the new buildings and landscapes which have been created.

Mr Dean said: “This was a great opportunity for Highfields students to under- stand better what is involved in studying for a medicine related degree, and also to see that students from comprehensive schools like Highfields are welcome and can make the grade.

“Our students were a credit to the school, getting involved and asking some good questions of the speakers on the day.”

Football fan Jude in running for national blogging award - Vote here!

Football-mad student Jude Aston is celebrating after being nominated for a prestigious award for his sporting blogs.

Year 9 student Jude has made it through to the final shortlist of the Football Blogging Awards, which will be held at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium on May 9th.

The Aston Villa supporter has been running his blog, Jude’s Journey, for the past 18 months. It has seen him interview many current and former footballers such as Paul Gascoigne, Jack Grealish and World Cup winner Ossie Ardiles, as well boxing stars such as Tony Bellew.

Jude is in the running to be named Best Young Content Creator at the Football Blogging Awards.

He said: “I feel very privileged to be nominated for an award of this magnitude. To be nominated out of 144,000 people is an achievement in itself! I also feel this could be a platform to get my message across to people that you shouldn’t let anything stop you in life and you can achieve anything you like!”

Budding sports reporter Jude’s blog is available on YouTube, whilst he also uploads his video blogs to his Instagram page.

Please support Jude’s nomination by clicking here and selecting ‘Jude’s Journey’ in the ‘Best Young Content Creator’ category.

Highfields unveils latest edition of The H

Our Young Journalists have unveiled the latest edition of the school's magazine, The H.

The magazine is once again packed with news articles and features giving an insight into the many success stories, events and trips over the past term, as well as opinion pieces from students.

A team of Year 11 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. As the students are now preparing for their GCSEs, they will now be handing over the reins to a new team of budding reporters.

Any students interested in becoming part of The H team can email vnash@hswv.co.uk or tbanks01@hswv.co.uk

To view a digital version of the Spring 2019 edition of The H, click the image below:

Robotics challenge puts budding engineers to the test

A team of talented young engineers showcased their skills as part of a national robotics competition, building and programming robots to take part in a series of aviation aid mission scenarios.

The 10-strong team of KS3 students competed against other teams from the West Midlands as part of the Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge.

They are all part of Highfields’ STEM club, led by Miss L Prosser.

The challenge is a curriculum-linked national programme that aims to engage 11-14 year-olds in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects by giving them the chance to learn how to build, program and control autonomous LEGO robots to complete a series of ‘missions’ using LEGO MINDSTORMS® Education EV3 sets. This year the challenge was designed around the distribution of aid, in conjunction with the RAF. The aviation-based missions included collecting and deploying aircraft and personnel, distributing aid and speed racing.

The team organised themselves into sub-teams, each with their own role to play. They designed and presented their robots to engineers from both industry and the military, explaining their designs and how they developed over time into the final robot.

They also researched, planned and presented their own response to a contemporary scientific problem developed by LEGO Education and the RAF.

Miss Prosser said: “Our research sub-team chose to look at how prosthetics and limb replacement has developed over time and how engineers support humanitarian aid in their design.

“All students were praised for their presentation skills, clearly impressing the judges with their response to questions, clarity of explanations and perseverance when things did not go quite the way they planned.”

Students gain Emergency First Aid qualifications

Sixth Form students have successfully completed a nationally-recognised Emergency First Aid qualification.

Eleven students voluntarily attended three two-hour sessions after school as part of their enrichment activities.

They learnt a range of skills, including CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) and use of AED (automated external defibrillator) together with how to treat major bleeding, burns, seizures, choking and fainting.  

The course is organised by Sixth Form Manager, Mrs L Corbett, who said: “This is an essential life skill which will also be a fantastic addition to their University and job applications in the future.” Mrs Corbett runs Emergency First Aid courses throughout the year, with approximately 60 staff and students gaining qualifications during the last year.

Shaping up for Comic Relief!

Charity fever swept through Highfields for this year's national Comic Relief campaign - as fundraisers performed their own version of social media dance craze, ‘The Triangle’.

As part of the fundraising festivities, students and staff made a donation to the cause to wear an item of red clothing or official Comic Relief merchandise for the day.

Students also baked and sold cakes to raise funds, whilst the Sports Hall was transformed into a dance studio at lunchtime for the ‘Triangle’ dance challenge - the latest dance craze which involves three people holding on to each other’s shoulders and jumping in between each other in a co-ordinated pattern.

Funds raised from the day are still being counted.

Miss J Parker, Head of Lower School, said: “Highfields is proud of the support that students, parents and staff give to both national and local charities, raising thousands of pounds each year.

“It was great to see so many people getting involved with the activities we staged to support the Comic Relief campaign. I want to thank everyone for their support, helping to make this a day to remember whilst making a difference.”

Comic Relief aims to bring about positive and lasting change in the lives of poor and disadvantaged people across the world, whilst tackling the root causes of poverty and injustice. The charity hosts a Red Nose Day extravaganza every two years on the BBC, supported by celebrities and politicians, to help raise millions of pounds for the cause.

Literary characters brought to life on World Book Day

The world of make believe was brought to life when students and staff dressed as their favourite literary characters to celebrate World Book Day.

Harry Potter, Matilda, Cruella De Vil, Oliver Twist and Little Red Riding Hood were among the characters who turned up to school as part of the festivities, alongside the entire cast of Winnie The Pooh, and characters from Alice in Wonderland.

The annual World Book Day is a celebration of books, authors, illustrators and reading, which aims to ignite imaginations and help students gain a lifelong passion for reading.

Each student and member of staff who dressed up made a 50p donation to the Book Bus charity, which aims to improve child literacy rates in Africa, Asia and South America by providing children with books and the inspiration to read them.

Mrs K Allen, Lead Practitioner, said: “Staff and Lower School students were invited to dress up as characters from their favourite books as part of the celebrations to mark World Book Day.

“The day provides a fantastic opportunity to inspire our students and ignite in them a lifelong love of books and reading. It was another very enjoyable day, with some fantastic costumes on show.”

As part of the celebrations, students put their creative writing skills to the test as part of a short story competition. Students were given the challenge of creating their own short stories, reimagining a famous children’s book character as an adult, for the chance of winning a prize.

Special assemblies were also held throughout the week to showcase the school’s new reading tool, ‘Bookflix’, which supports students to choose a wider range of challenging and interesting books.