Learn for Life Day

On Friday 9th October, The Heath held their first Learn for Life Day of the year. This is a day when we get to explore a key topic in greater depth than single lessons allow.  

Year 7 spent the day exploring the five British values of Democracy, Tolerance, Respect, Liberty and Rule of Law.  

They did this through a variety of sessions, including art where they decorated hands with these five values; drama where they explored ideas around tolerance and respect and sessions on anti-racism, homophobia and migration.  

Josh said, “It was great working with our form tutor for two lessons!” 

Finn said, “I really liked using our brains differently than a normal school day.”  

 

Meanwhile, Year 8 were investigating the environment from fast fashion to climate change. 

In textiles they created bunting, using reused material; learnt about the power of protest art and made mini their own placards; wrote poetry and did a science experiment about melting sea ice to understand the impact of climate change.  

Isla said she had really enjoyed the day, saying, “It was interesting to learn about climate change in lots of different ways. I liked making the protest placards and seeing how small changes can make a big difference to the environment.” 

Year 9 had a fabulous STEM day (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths), with a series of challenges where they had to work as teams, present their ideas to their forms, and complete to be crowned The Heath STEM Olympians. But which form came out as victors? It’s a closely guarded secret until it’s announced next week! 

Izzy and Ruby said, “We had to build a tower which could withstand an earthquake! It took teamwork and creativity and we were really proud of the end result.  

 

Year 10 had a more serious but vitally important day. The school delivers part of the Relationship, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) through our Learn for Life Days. This is statutory content, that is, content which we must cover by law.  

For Year 10 the focus was on consent, pregnancy and cancer, with students learning how to check their breasts and testicles for any changes.  

Sophie said, "I know how important it is to learn about these issues. Particularly about how to check ourselves for any physical changes which might need looking into." 

 

Finally, Year 11.  

What is the most-requested topic for us to cover in school? Personal finance: credit cards, mortgages, savings, debt and investing. With a session from Martin Lewis (sadly not in person) and lessons on all these key areas of personal finance, Year 11 are now better equipped as they prepare to go out into the word.  

Alexa said, “It was very useful to learn information we’ll need for the future.  

 

Our next Learn for Life Day is on Monday 16th November 

Year 7: Age-appropriate Relationship and Sex Education 

Year 8: STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths 

Year 9: Democracy day 

Year 10: Ethics and Philosophy – an opportunity to explore some big ethical questions 

Year 11: our famous Interview Day, held at the Heath Business Park. Each student will be interviewed by employees from real local businesses. They will learn how to best present themselves and better understand how to prepare for and answer the kind of questions they will be asked in interviews.