On Monday 28 June, the first of our four planned trips to Hucknall Sixth Form Centre (HSFC) took place. This is where Holgate students attend HSFC to experience what continued learning after year 11 is like as part of our post 16 pathways.
To begin with it was the turn of year 7 to take to short minibus ride to the centre of Hucknall and spend some time getting to know HSFC, as well as members of staff. The staff included Miss Cliffman and Mrs Hall, the head of Holgate Sixth Form Centre.
Both teachers led the session and were on hand from start to finish to help the students with the fun and exciting task they had been given. The dedication and support to the students from the HSFC staff was outstanding, showing just a glimpse into what attending there would be like for our students.
The students were set a task on their arrival to design a hat for the head of HSFC, Miss Cliffman. The brief was simple: design, build and pitch a hat with three very specific requirements.
1. It must fit her head.
2. It must display the values of HSFC – believe, belong and become
3. It must have a storage space for a little snack.
The students were put into groups, all with the same instructions, equipment and time. Amazingly, every single hat was different, the styles were unique, and the designs were colourful, humorous, elegant and well thought out. Each student had a chance to add to designs, discuss with their groups the ways that they thought their hats could be designed and create the different elements to complete the designs.
The students were fantastically well behaved and, other than a break for lunch provided by HSFC, they worked solidly on their designs all afternoon. Designing, creating, redesigning and recreating until they were all happy with their final designs and it was time to show them off.
Each group had 60 seconds to pitch their hat to everyone to try and be the winner. The maturity, eloquence and confidence of these young people was astounding.
The hats were made, the pitches were finished and the time had come for Miss Cliffman and Mrs Hall to decide on a winner – a difficult decision for anyone to make. The winning hat was designed by Ashleigh and Georgia. A beach design encompassing all of the core elements that had been asked for with some wonderful glitter glue work cascading down the sides. Congratulations to these two girls, who each won a prize for their efforts.
It was a fantastic afternoon with the children getting the opportunity to experience HSFC’s amazing facilities. Our students showed exemplary manners, determination and teamwork from start to finish. The staff at HSFC said that they were wonderful and we couldn’t agree more. Well done year 7.
