Year 11 students bid a fond farewell to school life during lockdown when they tuned in for a live-streamed virtual leavers assembly.
More than 200 students and members of staff took part in the assembly, celebrating their time at Highfields as they prepare to move on to the next chapter of their lives.
Funny stories were shared, montages of photographs documenting students’ time at Highfields - from their Year 6 Induction through to Year 11 - were shown, and more than 100 awards were handed out as part of the celebrations to honour special achievements and efforts.
Other novel awards included: ‘most likely to become Prime Minister’, ‘most likely to win a Nobel Prize’, ‘most likely to still be friends at 60’, ’most likely to win the lottery and lose the ticket’ and ‘most likely to be a reality TV star in future’.
The award for ‘most hardworking student’ was voted for by students, and won by Ellie Corbett.
The event was organised by Head of Upper School, Mr D Treble, Year 11 Manager, Mrs C Meese, Raising Achievement Manager, Mr C Rhodes, and Academic Guidance Manager, Mrs B Harrison.
Mr Rhodes said: “This has been the strangest term any of us can remember, but especially so for our students in Year 11 who had been working so hard towards their GCSE exams.
“Coronavirus has obviously disrupted examinations, but we wanted to make sure students still got a proper send off, even if we could not organise a face-to-face event.
“We had over 200 staff and Year 11 students tune in live, with over 100 awards presented on the hottest day of the year thus far!
“The assembly featured awards, funny stories of their time with us and an abundance of pictures right back to their Year 6 Induction with us.
“Students were presented with certificates and awards that ranged from a water pistol to medal to chocolate brownie.
“It has been a pleasure to see the students mature, grow and develop into such confident, talented and skilled young adults, and this assembly was a real celebration of their time at Highfields as they move on to the next chapter of their lives.”
The virtual assembly was held weeks after students signed shirts for classmates before schools shut amid the pandemic in March. They will all receive a recorded copy of the event so they are able to reminiscence in years to come.
