Roding Valley High School students inspire positive change at Challenge and Enrichment Showcase

25 Jun Roding Valley High School students inspire positive change at Challenge and Enrichment Showcase

On Thursday 20 June, high achieving Key Stage 3 students at Roding Valley High School presented the results of their Challenge and Enrichment projects; a six week programme of independent learning on a topic of each student’s choice. The Challenge and Enrichment Showcase evening provided the opportunity for students to present their projects, which had a particular focus on current political issues such as plastic pollution, climate change and the impact of palm oil.

The event was attended by parents, students, teachers, governors and Councillor Richard Bassett, Chairman of Epping Forest District Council, in order to celebrate the hard work of the students involved and to reveal the winners of the evening’s awards.

The People’s Choice Award, Imaginative Award, Informative Award, and Innovative Award, were awarded to Ava, Henry, Finn, and Skye respectively. With such tough competition, the judges decided to also award a runner up position to each category. By a unanimous vote, all judges decided that the winner of the People’s Choice Award should be Ava for her project ‘Save the Bees’. Other award-winning projects considered matters such as facial recognition technology and the natural environment; showcasing the wide variety of interests and passions of each student.

Katie Bingham, English Teacher and Challenge & Enrichment Co-Ordinator, said: “The Challenge and Enrichment project is a fantastic opportunity for our students to demonstrate their personal flare and creativity while learning about something they are interested in – it is wonderful to see how engaged our students are in current political issues.”

Previous years of the Challenge and Enrichment Showcase evening have seen a vast range of unique topics and ideas, such as a focus on optical illusions to a study on Dr Who.

Sharon Jenner, Headteacher at Roding Valley High School, said: “The Challenge and Enrichment Showcase evening is always an inspiring event that I look forward to every year. However, this year I was particularly moved by the projects that focussed on plastic pollution and renewable energy – I am so proud of the students for engaging in these topics and we will be taking their ideas on board as a school.”