Enrichment Day

The first Enrichment Day of 2024 kicked off with 8 coaches lined up outside school ready to take students on trips to Twycross Zoo and Cardiff Castle.

Years 7 – 10 and Year 12 were off timetable and involved in enrichment activities on trips and on the school site.

There is a gallery of the day's photographs to view below.

Year 7

Year 7 took part in important sessions around the topic of ‘Creating a Zero Tolerance Culture to Child on Child Abuse at the Chase.’ This forms an important part of how we continually develop the culture of CAREing for themselves and others. The day was part of our wider curriculum where our young people are taught how to keep themselves safe through high quality PSHE and Character Education programmes alongside assemblies, guest speakers and enrichment days.

Year 8 - NSPCC Number Day

On Friday 2 February Primary and Secondary Schools across the UK celebrated NSPCC Number Day, the aim of the day is to raise awareness and money for the charity by doing number activities. As part of the enrichment for Year 8, the students spent the day celebrating Number Day! The day began with an assembly discussing the NSPCC and Childline and introducing the theme of the day which was ‘It’s Maths, but not as you know it.’ There were three sessions designed to develop key mathematical skills, including problem solving, logical thinking, reasoning, resilience and teamwork.

In the hall, teams of 5 were given the task of building a wind-powered car and to create a small figure to be carried in it. The students earnt currency to buy materials and upgrades to improve their car by solving maths problems. Working in teams, each taking on different roles and trying their car on the test-track. Prizes were awarded for the car that went the furthest, the best-looking car and the most mathematical person constructed. In the classrooms, students took part in a mathematical Dingbats competition and then solved logic problems using a series of clue cards. They then completed a mathematical treasure hunt around school. In the computer rooms students used Scratch and their maths skills to code a Sierpiński triangle, and progress through various coding challenges involving fractals.

Year 8 thoroughly enjoyed and engaged with every activity and developed lots of skills along the way. It was great to see so many students enjoying mathematics.

To raise funds for the NSPCC as part of the number day celebrations a Number Day Bake Competition was held. Students were asked to create cakes at home with a number or mathematical theme. Prizes were awarded for most mathematical, most creative and the tastiest bake. The entries were phenomenal! The thought, time and effort that had gone into the cakes blew the judges away. The Charity Committee raised £170 for the NSPCC selling the cakes at break and lunchtime. Many thanks to all the parents and carers that supported their children in creating these amazing cakes!

Year 9 – Twycross Zoo

194 Year 9 students and 20 staff headed to Twycross Zoo for the day.

Twycross is the only UK zoo to home all four great apes. As well as the four great apes, visitors can walk beneath the tiger tunnel as the zoo’s resident Sumatran Tigers prowl their enclosure, see a dazzle of Zebra and Meerkats on the lookout. Students particularly enjoyed the tiger enclosure, lots of monkey antics and the butterfly house. Students explored the zoo in groups of ten accompanied by a teacher. They had a very enjoyable day and the sun did shine!

Year 10 – Cardiff Castle

183 Year 10 students and 17 members of staff headed to Cardiff. They began their visit with a tour of Cardiff Castle. The Castle was once a Roman fort, an impressive Norman castle and an extraordinary Victorian Gothic fantasy palace, created for one of the world’s richest men. During the tour students had the opportunity to ask the guides a series of questions about career paths and opportunities to work in the tourism industry. There were many fascinating themed rooms including Indian, Moroccan and a Pompei Garden Terrace. Staff have commented how well the students engaged during the tour and asked good questions about the castle and its history. After touring the castle, students had time in the city centre to go and buy lunch before returning to school.

ECO Day – Year 9 & 10 students who stayed in school

Students took part in 5 different activities including visits from the Malvern Hills Trust and Malvern Hills District Council.

We had Natalie McVey, Green Party Councillor, and Member of the Green and Independent Alliance (GAIA), speaking about her role as councillor and Mark Driscol, Barnards Green Councillor & freelance sustainable food systems consultant (with over 25 years’ experience of working on policy and practice with the aim of transforming food systems so they are sustainable, healthy and fair.)

Their sessions included:

Introduction to me and my background/career
A few initial questions to the students
Why am I passionate about environmental issues - some top line facts and figures on the climate/biodiversity crisis
My role as a Councillor & the issues I deal with
Our Local Priorities/issues
How we can all make a difference
Q&A session

We also had Beck Backer from Malvern Hills Trust speaking about the role of the trust, how they prioritise their workload and areas to protect.

“Thank you to all the students we met at The Chase Malvern on Friday last week for Enrichment Day.

We had some great discussions about the complexities of conservation on the Malvern Hills and Commons and how we work to balance the needs of different species, archaeology and public access.

Students also created posters to promote key conservation messages that we can share with others. These are now proudly displayed at our office!” Malvern Hills Trust

“Yesterday I spent an engaging afternoon at The Chase Malvern with Year 9 and 10 students. I talked to them about my role as Deputy Leader of Malvern Hills District Council and political lead for Housing, Health and Well-being before leading a discussion about the environment. It was great to hear their personal behaviour change pledges and their suggestions about how the school could minimise its negative impact on the environment.

There were a couple of audible gasps, leading to interesting questions.

Firstly, that I don’t own a car. This was a great opportunity to explain the ebike to work scheme and car club run by Malvern Hills Car Clubs.

Secondly that I have never had a McDonalds or a KFC, which led to a discussion about the food we consume and different choices we could make.

Thank you to Mrs Dukes for inviting me in and apologies for the dodgy board writing, it’s been a while since I have been in the classroom.” Natalie McVey, Deputy Leader of Malvern Hills District Council

Year 12 – Life Skills

Year 12 students took part in a series of Life Skills workshops throughout the day including Yoga, Safer Driving, Cooking, and a Moral Maze. Here is some of the feedback from our students.

“It was very relaxing and it really inspired me to do yoga outside of school I think it was the most successful session, as everyone was really engaged and it was just such a fun activity that I’d truly love to do again.”