PHHS Visit 17th May - Patrick Staines

Present were Pres. Mollie, Anne, Annie (all leaving at the end of term – Mollie taking a gap year in Thailand and with a womens’ charity in Tanzania, Anne and Annie off to Oxford Brookes and Exeter Universities respectively) and Jilly (next year’s Pres.)  Barbara Taylor was there – very nice lady – and also two other very supportive teachers whose names I didn’t catch – one a Science teacher beginning with H (her, not the science) the other a very lively person who has also been a regular supporter and will compere the ‘Take Me Out’ event – see below.

Lots going on, including big exams, so this was the last official meeting, although they will meet sometime next week to finalise the ‘Take Me Out’ event and finish prep for their final report, including an article for the Henrician.  I asked Barbara to e’mail me a copy of their article, which should be interesting and will include photos.

‘Take Me Out’ is based on the TV programme of the same name.  I have not seen it, but it is a familiar format.  A boy comes down to front stage and there are 5 girls sitting on stools with fairy lights.  The boy answers prepared questions put by the teacher compere (who will keep it kind and light) and the girls put out their lights if they don’t fancy him.  The last girl left with a light on will be taken out by the boy to Macdonalds.  There will be 4 boys and 5 girls for each.  The whole thing will be filmed, including in Macdonalds (!).  I gather there is a certain  amount of stitching up going on with the selection process.  This all happens at the last Year 13 assembly on the last day.

I only glimpsed the list of their various fundraising activities but it seems they will have raised in excess of £1,700.  Not everything was there so we await the final report. The list included:  Macmillan Coffee morning, Cake Sale, Shoe Box Appeal, Children in Need event, Xmas Fayre, Battle of the Bands, Movie Night (not a great success, as it depended on people returning the Arts Centre in the evening), Staff Xmas Raffle, Valentine’s Week (!), and, yet to come, The Big Exam Tuck Shop (snacks and drinks for students staggering out of exams) and ‘Take Me Out’.

As usual, a great bunch, although I only saw 4 of them.  I gather the team included one boy who, they said, had done a great job getting things done.

One other thing – there was chat at the end about the difficulty of giving enough attention to Bridge the Gap.  The timing still doesn’t suit them for some reason, partly perhaps because it crosses two terms and two Interact teams.  Also getting secondary-age students to colour strips is tricky.  They think they have managed to get several groups or classes doing them, but I had the impression this is in need of attention as far as PHHS is concerned.  Pres. Jilly and the new team will have to pick it up and we should check early next term to see how they are doing.