Enterprise
Highfield Humanities College offers qualifications and skills required for our students to succeed once they have left school. As such, we value the need for enterprise to be incorporated into our curriculum and widen the enterprise skills of our students in many ways. Along with involving students in enterprise related activities in every day lessons, we believe in developing this further and offer a number of supplementary opportunities for our students to enhance these important skills. Below are just some of the things that we do:
School Shop
Highfield has its own successful school shop which is currently run as a Fairtrade enterprise activity by our BEES [Better Enterprising & Education in School] group. It is managed and operated by students who work on a rota basis to staff the shop each lunchtime. The students meet after school each week to discuss which products are selling well, how much money has been made and what stock needs to be ordered. The shop runs as a social enterprise and profits are donated to local charities.
The BEES Team
The BEES Team are a group of students who promote enterprise and Fair Trade in school. They help run the school shop and take part in a number of enterprise ideas as they have a desire to give something back. The team were finalists at the 2010 HERO Awards for Most Enterprising Team with one of their members up for Most Enterprising Student, their teacher was awarded winner of the Most Enterprising Teacher category.
Human&Teas Café
Human&Teas is a café run by the students each Friday in the school Library. Students purchase a ticket to enter the café and in return receive a hot drink and a fairtrade cake or biscuit. They also have access to the latest books and magazines, encouraging students to read in a relaxing environment. The café regularly invites guest speakers such as author of the popular Spooks series Joe Delaney and our local MP Gordon Marsden.
Green Team
The 'Green Team' are a group of students who are concerned with the environment and give up their lunchtimes to collect paper and card from around the school to be recycled. The students involved demonstrate great teamwork and commitment.
HHCTV
Students run, write and produce the school’s own news channel that is broadcast twice weekly during tutor time. This keeps students up to date on school news and other major events that are taking place. They have now diversified and produced a magazine to print all the latest news, competitions and birthdays.
Global Enterprise Week (GEW)
Each year, Highfield takes part in Global Enterprise Week and often competes against other Blackpool schools in specially designed enterprise challenges aimed to engage the students, set to real life business examples. In 2010, our students designed a new ride for Blackpool Pleasure Beach, went speed networking with local businesses and helped Blackpool Football Community Trust increase their numbers at reserve matches.
Super Learning Days
Each Super Learning Day at Highfield incorporates many of the enterprise capabilities and has some days designed to focus specifically on personal finance and business finance, with students forming companies and taking part in Dragon’s Den style challenges and having a go at on-line banking.
PSHE
For Years 8 and 9 five weeks of PSHE are devoted to enterprise and economic understanding. Using the HERO workbooks and a range of enterprise exercises students discover what it really means to be enterprising, what enterprising skills they have and how they could put these to use. This year, Year 9 will take this further by designing and developing their own business idea ready to pitch to a panel of judges.
Community Links
As a Humanities College, Highfield prides itself on the links it has with the local community and our students like to give something back. As a result we have formed close links with Highfield Health and Well Being Day Centre and BLESMA House. Students have visited both and taken selections of Fairtrade cakes and biscuits and served these along with tea and coffee to the residents. They have then sat with residents to chat and have found out lots of interesting stories especially from those who have served during the war.
We have also worked closely with Hawes Side Primary School and a group of our students have visited the school to run a Smoothie Making Enterprise Challenge with pupils from Year 6. Our students took the young pupils through budgeting, marketing and production of the smoothie.
Business Links
We have recently formed a relationship with our local NatWest Money Sense advisor. She will assist in Super Learning Days that involve elements of both business and personal finance and help when we need her. Our local Subway franchise is also keen to work with the school and the manager has offered her time to help on any projects that are business related.
