Year 12 and 13 students were treated to a wide range of speakers and experiences during the first Enrichment day of this academic year. They responded superbly to the guest presenters who were working with them throughout the day.

Year 12 students had a presentation from Revolution Hive, a company founded by ex HGS student Keshav Bhatt, where they were challenged in their views about girls and women in society. Another ex-student Tom Stroud, currently studying Civil Engineering at university and working for Morgan Sindall the engineering company, talked about his work on the Crossrail project in London.

Zoe Boon from the global accountancy firm EY, spoke to the students about EY’s school leavers programme and David Pearson from Liberty Industries talked about opportunities within the manufacturing sector. Mrs Chandan and Mr Dhillow worked with Year 12 students on “Marriage and Relationships”. This was an excellent part of the programme and was very well received by the students.

Alison Clarke from the University of Dundee spoke to the students about studying in Scotland and then the students were set off to investigate the history of Birmingham, on a local treasure hunt.

Year 13 students heard from Deb Amory from Student Finance England, about the student loans process. Dr Liese Perrin from the University of Warwick spoke about her career and the need to build up appropriate experiences to assist in your career decision-making. Beth Crossfield and ex HGS student, and last year’s Deputy Head Girl, Jardel Robinson-Hylton, spoke about City Year West Midlands, a gap year programme which is based in local primary and secondary schools.

David Moyle from the University of Aberystwyth spoke about studying in Wales and there was significant work carried out by students under the direction of Mr Duck and Mr Woodcock on this year’s university application process.

Year 13 students spent the afternoon on practical activities ranging from cooking on a budget, car maintenance, jewellery making, Rock climbing, and Yoga.

It was a very successful and positive day for all involved.

Mr Conway

 

On 28^th September and 29^th September, the AS Level Geography students made their way to Snowdonia in Northwest Wales.  We were instantly greeted with harsh, cold winds! Luckily, we all stayed warm in our waterproofs and woolly hats!

We began our 4-hour expedition around a lake called Cwm Idwal. This was Wales’ first National Nature Reserve and a Site of Special Scientific interest.   We stopped off at certain points to look at glacial features such as: corries, hanging valleys, glacial troughs and arêtes. Mr Bird and Ms Wharton taught us all about these glacial features.  It was great being able to see the features at first hand.

Afterwards, we headed down to a roche moutonnee in the Nant Ffrancon Valley. Whilst it was only a 5-minute stop, we walked onto it and discussed in detail how it was formed which was fascinating.

Fortunately, after our 4-hour long expedition, we drove to the 5-star Plas Curig Hostel, where we relaxed and dried off. For the rest of the night, the Geography students took a trip down to the high street where we ate our dinner at the local pub.

The next day, for Human Geography, we carried out a questionnaire on the summit of Snowdon, looking into peoples’ different perceptions of place.   Interestingly, we met some locals who didn’t consider the summit of Snowdon as special a place as those who were visiting; perhaps a sign that people take for granted what’s in their own backyard!?  During our train ride to the top of Snowdon, we saw spectacular views which included many glacial features that we learnt about the previous day. The summit had winds up to 50mph which added to the exhilarating experience.

It was an excellent experience and one that brought our Geography studies to life thanks to Ms Wharton and Mr Bird.

Viren Sharma & Anastasia Martin

Click here to read about this years Senior Prefect Team.

Young People and Mobile Phone Use

 

The information below was derived from a recent article on the Education area of the BBC News website. It makes for an interesting read!

Almost half (45%) of young people are checking their mobile phones after they have gone to bed, a poll suggests.

A survey of 2,750 11- to 18-year-olds found 1 in 10 admitted checking their mobile phones for notifications at least 10 times a night.

The poll was carried out by Digital Awareness UK.

The organisation warns night-time usage of mobiles means pupils are coming to school tired and unable to concentrate.

They recommend having a “digital detox” and putting mobile devices away for 90 minutes before lights-out or keeping them out of the bedroom.

Of the 45% of survey respondents who check their phones when they should be sleeping, almost all (94%) are on social media – with a tenth saying they would feel stressed about missing out if they did not check their device before going to sleep.

Of this group, 75% are listening to music and over half (57%) are watching films.

A third (32%) of these youngsters say their parents are not aware that they check their mobile device after going to bed.

The findings also show:

• 68% of all respondents say using their mobile devices at night affects their school work
• a quarter say they feel tired during the day because of how often they use their mobile device at night
• almost half (42%) keep their phone next to their bed at night

10 screen-time tips from Digital Awareness UK

• Refrain from using screens 90 minutes before bedtime
• Turn off notifications, or activate “do not disturb”, “aeroplane mode” or mute settings. Turn the phone off altogether if you can
• Reduce blue light exposure, which can disrupt sleep. For example, most Apple devices have the “night shift mode”, which changes the colour temperature of your device to reduce exposure
• Try and break the habit of unprompted device checking
• Keep your phone in a location that prevents you from seeing, hearing or even reaching for it
• Use screen time tracker apps, such as RealizD and Moment, that can showcase the amount of time you are spending on your device. Some of these apps allow you to set usage restrictions
• Digital detox – take a break from devices altogether or set times that you will turn your phone off
• Switch the habit – in the 90 minutes running up to bedtime, get stuck into a good book, practice meditation or have a relaxing bath
• If we think about the reasons why we are using mobile devices at night time, we would often think twice
• If you take control back by exercising any of the tips listed above, give yourself a pat on the back and a treat

Charlotte Robertson, DAUK co-founder, said: “One of the biggest topics around at the moment is excessive social media consumption and how it is affecting our physical and emotional wellbeing.”

“A lot of them [children] are waking up sometimes with over 100 notifications from conversations that have happened overnight.”

“They want to be that person that is responding at 01:00, and seen to be quite cool, to make sure they catch the joke – it’s a huge driver, that anxiety of wanting to know what’s happened.”

It’s not that this technology is all horrible and terrible and we should all be wringing our hands! Perhaps this is the reality and we all need to educate children to use it in a positive way.