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Citizenship & Enterprise 2018
September Update: ‘Herbology’ Lesson Success
During Citizenship Week in July this year, a group of students participating in a Hogwarts themed activity – including magical lessons on subjects such as Ancient Runes (solving riddles), Care of Magical Creatures (participating in birds of prey display) and Quidditch. This term students have finally seen their efforts in Herbology (gardening) paying off.
Students were set the task of building and creating two raised beds in which to plant vegetables from seed. During the task the students learned about different vegetable types and how to grow them to produce the best crop.
Over the summer the vegetables have benefited from the sunny weather and the school has been able to harvest the produce in the first few weeks of the new term. Students have picked carrots, beetroot, and pak choi – which have been eaten and enjoyed by staff and students alike. They have also grown garden peas, French beans and radishes, and will continue to maintain and harvest from the vegetable patch until the end of the season.
This activity was a fantastic opportunity for students to see just how easy it is to grow your own food and stay healthy!
Please follow this link to see our Herbology photographs.
Wednesday's Mysteries
Highsted’s annual Citizenship & Enterprise Week began today. Students of all year groups were excited to start their activities and get involved. Year 10 immediately set to decorating the area under the canopy, preparing their market stalls, producing advertising and selling their various creations. This year some of the enterprise projects involved: henna tattoos, photo booths and ‘tidy up wizards’ – ready to clean out your cupboards and freshen up your storage areas. There was also a range of food and drink on offer from fresh lemonade to fruit kebabs and smoothies.
The rest of the school were involved in the mysterious activities on offer this year, developing new skills and meeting new friends. The highlight of the day was definitely: ‘Care of Magical Creatures’ – part of the ‘Hogwarts: a Mystery’ activity, where students were able to watch a birds of prey display and then learn how they feed, hunt and chase down their prey. Students were also able to get up close by holding the amazing range of birds for themselves. Later, Hogwarts students used the magic of chemistry (or should I say potions!) to create hidden shapes and writing that mysteriously appeared after being set on fire.
Other activities included: R4 being transformed into a haunted mansion – inspiring students to write creatively and imagine they were trapped inside, trying to escape; police investigations as students sifted for clues among Jack the Ripper letters in the ‘Criminal Minds’ activity, pompom mayhem in T-block as a giant pink woolly balls began to populate the area; and budding scientists explored the inner secrets of plants, sheep’s eyes and fish – which certainly produced an interesting smell!
Thursday's Mysteries
Today the festivities at Highsted’s annual Citizenship & Enterprise Week continued. Year 10 Enterprise tempted their public today with tie-dyed T-shirts, jewellery and fruity pancakes. Hogwarts students were flying through the field on hockey sticks, er, I mean broomsticks, in a fantastic game of Quidditch and the ‘Mystery Food’ activity were creating a variety of puzzling delicacies – which cupcakes were ‘real’ and which were actually mashed potato was indeed a mystery. Some brilliant art work was taking place in T-block too as students moulded clay, wove materials together and sewed up massive sheets of fabric coloured with beautiful print designs.
Highlights of the day included: the transformation of the drama room into the ‘Half Moon Club’ complete with cabaret singers, bars, back alleyways and a murder to be solved. The atmosphere was tense as detectives questioned their suspicious looking student suspects. Murder seemed to be rife at Highsted as Mr Johnson was found dead and it was up to students in the ‘Criminal Minds’ activity to solve the case. Their only clues were an avocado, a secret diary and some gruesome vomit – complete with a mysterious half-digested Jaffa Cake – what did it all mean? Who was behind this foul killing?
Friday's Mystery Showcase
On that most mysterious of days, Friday 13th, Highsted students gathered together in the main hall to celebrate all the activities from Citizenship & Enterprise Week. The showcase was a chance for all students participating to share with each other all that they had achieved during the week. First up was ‘Murder at the Great Gatsby’ film, where students who had taken part in the drama activity dazzled the audience with musical and dancing performances. There was also a series of dramatic scenes – completely improvised by students, who had no scripts – revealing a thrilling tale of glamour, smoky back rooms and murder most foul. The audience was also treated to a ‘behind the scenes’ video, showing the making of the ‘Half Moon Club’ and demonstrating all the fantastic talent behind the final film.
After this students were shown the process behind the making of ‘Mysterious Stone Circles’ including beautiful painted designs and intricate clay structures. This was followed by the crime team from ‘Criminal Minds’ demonstrating all they had learned behind famous crimes such as the murders committed by ‘Jack the Ripper’ and the infamous murder of Mr Johnson – right on Highsted school grounds! The morning showcase was finished off with the ‘Fragments’ group presenting their colourful print work and then the audience were given an insight into the magical and mysterious world of ‘Hogwarts: a Mystery’ – looking at potion making, Quidditch, owl care, and creepy scarecrow created in ‘Herbology’ to protect the newly sown vegetables.
The afternoon showcase kicked off with the team from ‘Masters of Suspense’ who showed all they had learned about Alfred Hitchcock and described how they had been inspired by him to create some short suspenseful films of their own. This was followed by the ‘Haunted House’ creative writing group who regaled their silent and attentive audience with tales of shadows, ghosts, terror and gruesome deaths. ‘Enigmatic Materials’ presented a detailed presentation on the making of pom-poms, macramé, crochet and weaving – the final construction was both highly original and very colourful. There was an interactive section in the showcase as the ‘Mystery Food’ team called on brave audience members to risk the ‘Highsted Bushtucker Trial’ and eat cleverly disguised meat and potato cupcakes and melon frogspawn. Bushtucker volunteers Mr Wallace and Anais Nzouakou, Year 9, both commented that the ants were surprisingly tasty. The ‘Dissection’ team shocked and stunned the audience with their steely nerves as they worked to discover the inner secrets of plants, eyeballs, hearts, fish and even rats! Finally, the students who had been on trips this week to Botany Bay and the Panic Room in Gravesend; and those out on a Geocaching hike shared their experiences and some memorable moments captured in art work and photographs.
This was without a doubt one of our most successful and enjoyable Citizenship & Enterprise Weeks yet and it was a fabulous way to end a great year at Highsted – well done to all staff and students involved!
Click here to go to our Citizenship & Enterprise Photo Gallery.