During October we launched our Open Week Event for those seeking to join us for Year 7 in September 2022. Although mostly online, the event was of a hybrid nature with some visits to school by small groups.
The week started with the launch of the new and updated 2022 Prospectus which includes material about our core values and ethos as well as information about our curriculum, behaviour policy, enrichment activities and how we support our students.
Each day we focused on a different aspect of the event with a 3D interactive tour, panoramic 360° views and lots of photographs on day two. The interactive tour is a great way to navigate your way around main parts of the school and to view some of the teaching spaces we have.
As we are still unable to hold live meetings and events with large numbers of people, on day three we transferred some of our presentations to our YouTube channel and embedded them into a feature web page on our website.
Open Week Tours
On Thursday of Open Week we were able to offer live pre-booked tours to visitors. Despite limited slots, we hosted more that 500 visitors in small groups, each with their own Sixth Form guide to take them on a guided tour. The tour included the science labs with demonstrations and even a dissection! Other highlights were models in geography, an art exhibition and laser cutting and 3D printing in product design.
Although we would like to have opened our doors fully, the next day two of our guides, Freya and Michael made a video of some of the tour for the website. It covers most of the route with footage and photos from the actual evening. View their video on our YouTube channel.
Presentations
Our Principal Jacqueline Hughes-Williams opens the presentations with a welcome to all and outlines key aspects of our school culture. “Heart of England is at the heart of a community and is a family of shared values where every child is known,” says Ms Hughes-Williams. “Our curriculum offer is wide and includes music, art, drama and design technologies as well as essential core subjects. With this we create a breadth of opportunity for our students.”
Further presentations by Vice Principal Gethyn Bennett gives an overview of our behaviour and student welfare processes and another on school performance is given by Sally Owen, Assistant Principal for Progress and Inclusion.
“We have an impressive set of results, year after year with 82% grade 4 or above and 62% grade 5 or above for English and maths this summer of 2021,” said Ms Owen. “We stretch and challenge all our students, no matter what their starting point. This is reflected in our results with 30% of students gaining top grades from 7-9.”
English and Maths
For those needing extra reading help students are enrolled on our Thinking Reading programme which is very successful. The average progress in a participant’s reading age over one year is 4.1 years over their reading age.
We have a similar philosophy in regard to maths skills with our Practice Makes Permanent mantra. We want all our students to have a positive and aspirational attitude towards maths.
Head Boy and Head Girl
Head Boy Matthew and Head Girl Phoebe also offered their thoughts in a presentation about their experiences at Heart of England School. Matthew highlights the way staff are so supportive, ensuring a smooth transition into Year 7 and that this is due to the “deeply rooted and strong sense of community at Heart of England.”
Phoebe agreed and said: “The atmosphere here is incredibly welcoming and one that is great to be part of.”
Showcase
Open Week is always an opportunity to share our offer and values to those looking at choosing a school for their next step. At Heart of England, we are dedicated to preparing students for a rapidly changing world when they leave school. We do this by improving their chances with a great academic offer with access to a wide curriculum, a focus on reading and literacy, positivity towards maths and a caring ethos.
Heart of England is all about Creating Futures; so we don’t linger on our past successes but instead, are continually looking to the future and striving for all of our students to achieve their very best.