Students prepare for the world of work with fun Focus Day activities

Students enjoyed a fantastic day of activities which enriched their curriculum and prepared them for the future and the world of work. Year 7 spent their second Focus Day partaking in some Code Breaking hosted by the aths department and then, in the afternoon they planned storyboards, filmed, edited and then watched their own movies filmed around the school. A number of students brought in props to help bring their directorial debuts to life. Following feedback from last year, we gave Year 8 students a choice of two trips. Half of them went to the Science Museum where they spent a day at one of the UK’s most illustrious museums. As well as viewing the display and interacting in the Launchpad Area part of the museum, students watched the Legend of the Apollo 4D experience. The other half of the year spent a day at the Tower of London learning about a key part of our nation’s history. The Year 9 day was also split into two. For half of the day, students learnt about the value of working with each other to solve puzzles and problems provided by a specialist company. For the other half of the day these puzzle solving skills were super-sized up in the Main Hall, where the students competed in teams working with local charity SATRO on an engineering project. They competed with each other to see whose tower design most closely met the brief given. Madame Tussauds played host to our Year 10 students. This iconic London tourist attraction which mixes a walk through some key historical moments of our history and also takes a look at our current fascination with celebrities is a must see. Following the issuing of their mock grades on the previous day and with important GCSE exams approaching, we wanted to give our Year 11’s some more holistic skills to help them cope with the increasing demands of their GCSE courses. The first session looked at stress management and dealing with deadlines which was followed by a session of yoga and another entitled ‘How to Ace your Exams’. To prepare for the wider world, students also experienced a session on addiction and another on time-management giving them some invaluable lessons in prioritising time with a bit of fun thrown in. Alongside this schedule of activities, the Year 11’s had their Interview Day where they were grilled by local businessmen and women in a Mock Interview aimed at helping them improve their techniques before their upcoming College interviews. Thank you to all the staff at Glebelands who have put time into planning this successful day, and also to all the visitors who came in to share their expertise with our students. A fantastic day was had by all! Report and picture contributed by Mr C Smitheram, Assistant Headteacher at Glebelands School.