With everything from Axolotls to Zestfulness, Bohunt Horsham’s first open evening at our state of the art Bailey Road site was an A-Z of success! Year 6 students and their families were able to look around the school, meet current students and staff, and really get a feel for life as part of the Bohunt Family.
The evening was designed to allow visitors to witness both the academic and co-curricular activities available to our students and find out how the whole school encourages students to follow the Bohunt Education Trust’s ethos of ‘Enjoy, Respect, Achieve’. It was also a snapshot of life at Bohunt Horsham and how we works together as a school community to ensure the best outcomes for the young people in our care, with dedicated staff who hold the welfare of their students at the heart of everything they do. With over 100 student volunteers across all year groups, the visitors always had an expert on hand to answer any questions!
With over 1,500 visitors throughout the evening there was a constant buzz of excitement and never a dull moment, but as the school site is so expansive it never felt crowded. The Library in particular welcomed a steady stream of visitors who were transported onto the boat from The Odyssey. There was an adventure themed scavenger hunt, with monsters to find and chocolate eyeballs to win, and the chance to take in the huge array of books on show, as well as the opportunity to watch the sun set through the floor to ceiling windows that wrap around the room.
The Science classrooms were a huge hit with families. Visitors could have a go at creating their own DNA out of sweets, building bridges out of large wooden blocks, working with dry ice and even dissecting and blowing up real lungs! In the corner of the room, our new arrivals, three juvenile axolotls, were a huge draw as they crept noiselessly around their tank. Over in Maths there was a mixture of problem solving challenges, brain gym exercises and puzzles that required students to complete a full square using Tetris style pieces. Everyone got involved and enjoyed the problem solving elements of overcoming a challenge!
In History, our student ambassadors helped our younger visitors take part in geography fieldwork, survive earthquakes, map food across time and space, augment reality to learn about river systems and recreate the mighty Hadrian’s Wall… from PlayDoh!
The English Department had two themed rooms inspired by the texts our students are studying. The first was an A Midsummer Nights’ Dream themed room where Year 6s created their own love potions and came up with various Shakespearean insults! There was also the opportunity to try out the use of ‘green screen’ for our GCSE Media studies section. The second English room was gothic inspired and the Year 6s made Jekyll and Hyde spells, played spooky hangman and had a go at creative writing.
The PE department was showcasing our outdoor MUGA (Multi Use Games Area) and some of our alternative sports. Prospective students and their families were encouraged to take on a Quarterback challenge in American Football and a Par 3 challenge in Disc Golf. Enthusiasm and competitiveness were the order of the evening. We will be tweeting who the winners were via our Bohunt Horsham PE Twitter account.
