Years 7 & 8 Timetabled Enrichment

As part of our curriculum in Year 7 & 8, we offer a timetabled extra-curricular lesson once a fortnight to give students the opportunity to experience a wider variety of enriching extra-curricular activities that would not otherwise be covered in their curriculum lessons.

We offer this in timetabled lessons in order to provide both status to this vital area of school life and we are also conscious that some students find it very difficult to attend enrichment sessions after school.

We feel this is important because in the future all our young people will go on to the world of work and many will complete Further/Higher  Education. All these routes require a young person to “market their strengths”, to highlight what makes them “stand out” from the crowd. Life is full of elements of competition, and it is important for all young people to be prepared by gathering experiences through a wide range of opportunities on offer at HEHS.

These extra-curricular timetabled lessons will:

  • Widen personal experience, often providing access to new skills.
  • Improve communication skills grow and personal relationships.
  • Develop confidence, Leadership and self-discipline.

Improving mental health and general wellbeing. Learning how to relax and getting involved in an activity for enjoyment.

 

The current carousel includes the following offerings. However, this may change over the year.

Year 7

Miss N  Mohamed

 Chess

Chess training and practice supports the development of higher-order thinking skills such as problem solving, decision making, critical thinking, planning, and even creative thinking. Chess training and practice also helps improve general cognitive ability and scholastic achievement, especially in mathematics.
 Ms I Williams Dementia Friends Workshops

Year 7s are completing a ‘Dementia Friends’ workshop. The aim is to provide them with more information about dementia and the effect it can have on people and their families. Students will learn about the disease and how they can support those with dementia. Students will come up with a ‘Dementia Friendly Activity’, for example writing a letter to a dementia patient in a care home or arranging a fundraising event, and then carry out this activity. At the end of the activity, students will be given a ‘dementia friends’ badge to show that they have completed the workshop.
 Mr H Kolb Card game strategy and problem solving

Students practise competitive and collaborative strategy in cards. This is an opportunity for students to develop the skills of finding systematic solutions to multi-dimensional problems and forming high level strategy. Collaboration and peer relationships are also a key part of the lessons; requiring students to be able to work effectively in groups to read, understand and carry out the precise rules of the games.

 Mr B Farrar

Origami

The ancient oriental artform of origami has many proven benefits, improving spatial perception and sequential thinking, as well as developing one’s general mathematical understanding of geometry and fractions. Furthermore, origami develops student’s understanding of physical concepts, for example, demonstrating how a flat piece of paper is not very strong until it is folded like an accordion. Origami also refines the art of patience and resilience in a structured but creative setting.

 Mr S Puni

 House Finance Discussions Through Games Teaching students about financial responsibility by using games to embed good practice and give them ideas about saving, purchasing properties, renting and food budgeting. Which will be beneficial in their future. 

Miss A Vijayakumaran

 Enterprise Skills

Students learn what a business pitch is and analyse examples following the Dragons Den approach, followed by designing their own product using creative ideas and application of business ideas such as USPs, marketing and customer/audience consideration.  They showcase creativity, planning, teamwork and presentation skills.
Mr A Nicoll Cowley Mandarin

Learning welcome phrases and different Chinese tones. Lessons also include one on Chinese pinyin (Pronunciation) and a lesson on writing Chinese characters. This will give students the opportunity to learn the basics of a new language most of them won't have come across before or know and have access to a new culture.

   Year 8

Mrs N Cowper

 Origami

The ancient oriental artform of origami has many proven benefits, improving spatial perception and sequential thinking, as well as developing one’s general mathematical understanding of geometry and fractions. Furthermore, origami develops student’s understanding of physical concepts, for example, demonstrating how a flat piece of paper is not very strong until it is folded like an accordion. Origami also refines the art of patience and resilience in a structured but creative setting. 
Ms A Rugeana World News

Exploration of news stories from around the world and how this may or may not affect the UK. Students will explore a range of countries and enrich their knowledge of foreign affairs. They will also get the opportunity to research into world news on a country of their choice and present it to the class.
Mr C Donald-Stanton Film Poster Designing

Watching thought-provoking stimulus videos, extracting the key themes and creating our own discussion topic to debate about based on findings. Students will then produce a film poster from discussion about its context and tied to its audience.

Ms B Baden-Semper

 Right Brain Creativity

Exploring the creative/holistic side of the brain (as opposed to the analytical). We will cover, upside down drawing (copying a line drawing upside down so the students draw what they see not what they think is there); then we move on to drawing to music (students draw what they hear as the teacher switches between different moods of classical music); finally we cover a guided visualisation creative writing exercise (you will close your eyes and imagine a scene, then you write it all down).

Mrs S Rothstein

 Script Writing Students are introduced to the differences between scripts and other types of texts, allowing them the opportunity to explore different forms and genres. Students are also given the chance, working in groups, to write, direct and perform their own scripts.

Miss S Zare        

 World Politics     

Introduction to British Politics, exploring the role of Parliament, political parties and their manifestos. Comparing British Politics to international politics and ultimately using their knowledge to create their own manifesto and presenting it to the rest of the class.
Miss M Mohammad Comic Writing

Comics speak to students in a way they understand and identify with. Even if students are confident readers, comics give students the opportunity to read material which combines images with text to express satire, symbolism, point of view, drama, puns and humour in ways not possible with written text alone. Students look at the formation of Comic writing and how to structure it and students have a go at writing their own. 
Miss A Mehta Knowledge Detectives

Knowledge Detectives is a fun and interactive game to aid students in their understanding of key terms. This is inspired by the game 'Codenames', where players are given a code sheet which has a range of words shaded in their respective team colours. After seeing the code sheet, the team captains must try to get their own teams to guess the shaded in words on the word board presented. The only catch is that they can use one word (which is not present on the word board), as a clue for the words their teams need to guess.