The Habs Partnerships Programme wins the Herts Civic Award

We are excited to announce that the Habs Partnerships Programme has won the Hertsmere Civic Award, for work undertaken to benefit residents of the borough.

Mr Josh Plotkin, the Director of Partnerships, will receive the award at a ceremony on Sunday 16 April, alongside two of the key members of staff on the Partnerships Programme, Miss Loren Hooker and Mrs Nina Harte. Many staff and students both at Habs Elstree and at partner schools and organisations have been involved in the Partnerships Programme, and they will be accepting the award on behalf of everyone who has contributed their time and expertise to the programme.

They were nominated for the award by Hertsmere Councillor, Meenal Sachdev, who wrote:

“The work of the partnerships programme has quickly evolved from community outreach activities to true partnerships: fundamental to the schools’ partnership ethos is a conviction that Habs students and staff have as much to gain from partnership work as their partners do. Habs enter into agreements with other organisations in a spirit of equality and mutual trust and respect.

The programme has quickly grown to include hundreds of volunteers putting in thousands of hours of work to make a difference in communities throughout Hertsmere and beyond.”

The Partnerships Programme at Habs aims to build long-term, mutually beneficial community partnerships, widen access and address disadvantage. Here is a quick summary of its achievements over the past 18 months:

• 20 hours per week of academic and co-curricular sessions for students from local state schools, led by dedicated Habs students and staff

• 19 Habs staff are currently devoting at least one hour per week to the programme

• Around 200 Habs students are currently devoting at least one hour per week to the programme

• 72 free places at Habs Summer School are targeted for disadvantaged children each year, with many staff involved in supporting roles here too

• 64 members of staff have devoted at least one hour per week to the Refugee Learning Hub we ran in throughout 2021/22 and continue supporting this year

• Around 80 applicants from partner schools supported through the university application, exam, and interview process, with some becoming the first in the history of their schools to get into Oxbridge.

Neurodiversity Celebration Week

Part of Neurodiversity Celebration Week, the Individual Needs department, together with the Neurodiversity Society in the Girls Senior School, set up a pop-up sensory space in the new drama studio and opened it to all senior students before school and during the lunchbreaks. Over 200 students used the space, which was open from Monday 13 to Wednesday 15 March, some staying for all available sessions, some popping in for a short time then moving on with their day, hopefully feeling relaxed and re-energised. To a calming background soundscape of forest streams or ocean waves, students could play with sensory snow, kinetic sand, rest under weighted blankets, experience a wide range of sensory toys and tactile objects, relax on a wobble stool or spend some calming time in a sensory tent.

The event was a huge success and was enthusiastically used by students in all year groups. Ms Baker, Mrs Khimasia and Mrs Turnbull look forward to running the sensory room again in the Summer Term.