Prospective parents and students came out in their droves to take a look at the school at the annual Open Evening. This is an event that gives guests the chance to meet students and staff, visit classrooms and take part in interactive lesson activities and hear from the Headteacher and students during a formal assembly.
Carr Hill High School students from all year groups were on hand to proudly take guests on a tour of their school, whilst teachers across every subject had created interactive activities to encourage learning and demonstrate that lessons at Carr Hill High School are fun and valuable. Students in years 7, 8 and 10 were also joined by the school’s Head Boy and Head Girl in delivering speeches to guests about life as a pupil at the school. Acting Headteacher Mr Doyle also spoke to attendees about the benefits of choosing the school.
Mrs Bailey attended the Open Evening with her daughter. She said: “I already have three children at this school so I know that my daughter will join Carr Hill High School. However, I want my daughter to have as many opportunities as possible to visit the school. This event, coupled with the taster days and other bridging activities provided by the school, will help my daughter to feel at ease about joining secondary school in September.”
Two prospective students who were definitely enjoying Open Evening were Charlee and Liena. The students had just come from the maths classrooms and had taken part in many of the activities including arithmetic fortune tellers, coordinates twister and air darts. Liena said: “Maths was really cool! We were given a balloon hat because we did so well at the games. The teachers have all been friendly and nice too.”
And the games were not just confined to the Maths Department. In the IT block guests had the chance to win muffins if they could break a computer code, whilst programming a game and playing mind craft were amongst the other activities available. Meanwhile in the Music Department a live student band played throughout the evening, as next door guests had the opportunity to play a selection of instruments under the guidance of some of the school’s most talented musicians.
Miss Jones was in attendance with her daughter Katie who enjoyed a guitar lesson from a Carr Hill student. Miss Jones said: “The evening has been incredibly informative and the staff and students have been friendly and helpful. I think the school has done a great job of showing parents and children that secondary school doesn’t have to be an overwhelming step and that it’s something to look forward to.”
Katie said: “I have just played the guitar in music, before that I got to see a cow’s heart in Science and before that I played darts in maths. I would really like this to be my new school.”
In the technology block impressive graphics, resistant materials and textile projects were displayed, whilst up in the art block guests had the chance to use stencil and printing tools to create their own work which could be taken home.
Art Ambassador students Arianna and Abigail gave up their evening to promote the Art Department. Arianna said: “We have spoken to lots of parents and have answered questions about the course and the type of projects we work on. The department has been busy all night and it has been fun to talk about our favourite subject with parents.”
Over in the English Department guests tried their hand at creative writing and poetry and had the chance to play a word quiz called Scattergories. The classrooms and corridor were also used to display the impressive poetry efforts of the students who excelled in the John Betjeman poetry competition last year.
The history and geography classrooms were a hub of excitement as attendees had the chance to create their own pop up rainforest and use a map of the world to identify where they lived. There was also some impressive history work on display so that guests could get a feel for the projects and lessons on offer should their students choose to attend Carr Hill High School. Mr Robertson was taking a look around the department with his daughter Mia. He said: “We decided to come along and have a look around to find out what Carr Hill High School is like. We are having a fantastic evening and there is so much to see that we feel spoilt for choice.”
Over in the Sports Dome guests could not wait to try out the trampolines or challenge each other to a game of badminton and in the gym there was information about the Sports Academies, with the Sports Captains on hand to ensure all questions were answered. The Dance Studio was also packed as the Dance Academy students offered workshops and performed choreographed routines.
Elsewhere Mrs Beatham and her son Joe were impressed with the range of activities on offer and the science block was a particular highlight for Joe. Joe said: “I loved the science classrooms. In chemistry we got to use sparklers which was my favourite thing of the evening.” Joe also played the steady hand game and had the chance to conduct scientific experiments.
In addition to the classroom activities there were also two assemblies in the main school hall. Following an address for the Acting Headteacher, Mr Doyle, five students, including the Head Boy and Head Girl, stood up to speak about their time at Carr Hill. Students auditioned to speak at the event and competition was tough. Year 8 student James was one of the students selected to represent the school in the assembly. He said: “There was a lot more people than I expected in the hall so I had to make sure I spoke clearly and loud enough. I enjoyed the experience though and I think I did a good job.”
Assistant Headteacher Mrs Mckeon is responsible for Primary School Liaison and Transition. She said: “The Open Evening was a huge success and we saw a record number of guests. I’m delighted that so many people came along and based on the feedback forms we have collected attendees found the event informative and enjoyable, with many stating that Carr Hill High School is their first choice of Secondary school which is wonderful to hear.
“Going forward my colleagues and I will work closely with primary schools and individual families to ensure prospective parents have all the information needed to make the right choice about their child’s secondary school education.”
If you would like more information about Carr Hill High School please contact us.
T: 01772 682008
E: contact@carrhill.lancs.sch.uk
Please see below for the transcript of the Open Evening speech and recordings of our students’s speeches.
Speech Transcript 2014Other Images
Carr Hill High School Open Evening event receives record number of attendees
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