There was a huge buzz around Years 7, 8 and 9 last week as they enjoyed three action-packed days of activities, laid on especially to encourage a spirit of togetherness and fun among the year groups, following their exam week and to make up for time lost together due to the lockdowns earlier this academic year. 

Film Making with One Day Film School

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Year 7 and Year 8 took part in a fantastic day of film making with One Day Film School. They participated in sessions on Film History, Fight Choreography, Screenwriting, Camera and Editing, before making short films in groups which premiered at the end of the day, with the Oscar for Best Picture presented by Mr Shoults. The films were silent movies and great fun to make, with the girls commenting that it was much harder to plan and direct in a group than they initially had expected! 

Ed Boase, Director of  One Day Film School said, “We’ve enjoyed working with NHEHS for many years and 2021 was no exception. Year 7 & 8s demonstrated excellent creativity, teamwork, problem-solving and produced some very impressive films, which made the Best Picture Oscar decision really quite difficult.” Congratulations to Team ‘Love Kills’ on winning the Year 8 Oscar!

Engineering Marble Roller Coasters with Tech Camp UK

Years 7, 8 and 9 had to employ their best engineering and design skills throughout the week at the day long sessions held by Tech Camp UK. 

The girls heard all about the history of the very first roller coaster (who knew it was in Russia?) and the physics behind designing a roller coaster, and the importance of kinetic and potential energy. They then had to put the theory into practice and build their own marble roller coaster in groups, using just card, paper, sellotape and their imagination! Certificates were awarded to the most successful teams, including for the best looking design and most successful, ie the longest time the marble took to move from top to bottom of the roller coaster. At the end, all the roller coasters were lined up to make probably the longest marble roller coaster in NHEHS’ history! See Year 7’s combined efforts here.

Tech Camp UK said, “Thanks very much for the opportunity to work with the girls over the last few days.  It was a great experienced and we were very impressed with their creativity, engineering skills and stamina during what were some long sessions!”

Year 9 – Money Matters – Financial Capability and Employability

On Tuesday Year 9 took part in a workshop by Bright Futures Experience which  focused on activities that teach key financial skills while also highlighting some pitfalls to avoid. The day included the following: Credit cards, store cards, APR, budgeting, loan sharks, pay day loans, financial terms and small print. All of the learning was achieved through a series of fun problem challenges that included activities as diverse as circus skills and code breaking. In one challenge, the teams had to spend as little as possible on materials but make an eco car that would travel further than all the others! 

The students also took part in a trading activity that isolates the skill of negotiation. They learnt to focus on how to make the other party in the negotiation see the benefits of the deal they were proposing. This activity also gave students a chance to practise the key skills used in job interviews such as opening the conversation in a professional manner, maintaining eye contact and good posture, and thinking on their feet.

Year 8 – Skills to succeed in the workplace

The following day Year 8’s workshop with Bright Futures Experience centred on the transferable skills required in the workplace. In particular team work, problem solving, communication and resilience. The teams were set a series of mini activities that each required different skills. Their task was to work out the strengths of their team members and then delegate each activity to the most suitable person.

The activities also highlighted entrepreneurial skills such as risk taking and perseverance and the difference between social and commercial enterprise. Students designed a product within a strict time limit in which every aspect of its design and manufacture had to be agreed before the students started to make the product.

The Year 8s spent the afternoon doing a trading activity that brought all the skills together. In this ‘Risk and Reward’ challenge students used probability to predict how much stock to buy in preparation for a series of events.

Year 7 Performance

For their final day, Year 7 learned the art of story telling and how to express emotion through art, music and drama.

They made dramatic face masks in art, learned to adapt drumming skills to reflect emotion in music and worked together to act out a story in drama.

All elements were then brought together in a final performance  of two traditional folk tales from Zimbabwe and South Africa – ‘The Cat Who Came Indoors” and “The Guardian of the Pool” by Nelson Mandela. 

Year 9 Picnic

Finally, Year 9 rounded the week off with a trip to our local park to enjoy a wonderful picnic in the sunshine!  

Many thanks to Miss Parr, the Art, Drama and Music departments for organising their sessions.