On the 10th November various students from years ten to thirteen travelled to York to take part in the

‘York Aesthetica Short Film Festival’, an annual BAFTA recognised short film festival that celebrates films

from all genres from experimental to comedy and thriller.

Despite the painfully early 7:00am departure time, every student attending the trip was able to arrive on

time, allowing there to be little-to-no delay on leaving the school gates. After a two-hour coach ride we

finally arrived in the city walls of York and went to see our first showing of the day; the opening night

showcase. Within this screening, a selection of the ‘best’ short films from each genre was shown to a

large audience, allowing everyone to gain a sense of what the rest of the day may include. Following the

thriller screening, the Helsby students reassembled to involve themselves in a lecture focusing upon

minorities within the film industry; a detailed look at the discrimination that still occurs within both high and

low ends of the industry and how these can be tackled. From here many sixth form students ventured to

view a variety of screenings, including comedy, documentary and ‘artist’s films’ (a selection of shorts

specifically chosen, much like the opening night showcase). Meanwhile, lower year students from years

ten and eleven endeavoured to view the animation screening as well as the drama screenings before

heading back to the bus to go home. As always, the York film festival trip has proven to be a pleasurable

school trip for the students to enjoy and learn from, and which will eventually help them produce higher

level coursework after receiving a burst of inspiration from a selection of relatively low budget short films.

If you have any suggestions or improvements that you would like to put forward or have an article that you

would like featured in future editions, then drop us an email: news@helsbyhigh.org.uk

For the fourth year students and teachers have written another challenging

school production “Cat Got Your Tongue”. Following on from the successes of

Cinderella and John Scott Stevens, students from years 7 to 13 worked

effortlessly together to light, sound and write an original Helsby story with

inspirations from the drama department.

The story follows an immortal being from the year 1605 to 2010. Johann is this

immortal being and sometimes he jumps to new places in time and changes

appearance and often gender depending on what time period they have jumped

into. The story is a fictional story woven into moments from factual history and

teaches the audience about love, loss and growing old.

Cat Got Your Tongue proved to be yet another huge success, creating a

powerful yet earie ambience throughout while building upon emotion filled plot.

Everyone involved with the performances were incredibly proud with how well

received the play was over the three nights

Cat Got The Audience!

British Values: Thoughts for the Month

‘Britain is a democracy, your

opinion counts!” We were all given freedom of speech. if you have

an opinion, don’t shy away and express your point

of view. If no one every spoke up then nothing

would change.

British Values: Thoughts for the Month

‘Treat others as you’d like to

be treated’

Don’t jump the gun before reflecting on your

actions. If you treat others with respect, then you

shall be respected in return.

Films to watch in December & Online

1. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (12a) Rey develops her newly discovered abilities with

the guidance of Luke Skywalker, who is

unsettled by the strength of her powers.

Meanwhile, the Resistance prepares to do battle

with the First Order.

2. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (12a) Four high school kids discover an old video

game console and are drawn into the game's

jungle setting, literally becoming the adult

avatars they chose. What they discover is that

you don't just play Jumanji - you must survive it.

3. Pitch Perfect 3 (12a) Now graduated from college and out in the real

world where it takes more than a cappella to get

by, the Bellas return in Pitch Perfect 3

4. The Night Before (Netflix - 15) Three best friends decide to end their tradition of

wild holiday partying – but not before one final

crazy Christmas Eve in New York.

5. Home Alone (Amazon / Netflix - PG) After the McCallisters mistakenly leave for the

airport without Kevin, he awakens to an empty

house and assumes his wish to have no family

has come true.

New Year, New Films in 2018

1. Avengers: Infinity War

The Avengers and their Super Hero allies must be

willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the

powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation

and ruin puts an end to the universe.

2. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Four years after the destruction of the Jurassic

World theme park, Owen Grady and Claire

Dearing return to the island of Isla Nublar to save

the remaining dinosaurs from a volcano that's

about to erupt.

3. Solo: A Star Wars Story

A story-based film centered on Han Solo, a

character from the Star Wars franchise?

4. Black Panther

Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) springs into

action when an old enemy threatens the fate of his

nation and the world.

5. The Incredibles 2

In this much awaited sequel the original smash hit,

the Incredibles return! Elastigirl springs into action

to save the day, while Mr Incredible faces his

greatest challenge yet -- taking care of the

problems of his three children.

An interview with

Stars of the Month

Stars of the Month that stand out in this issue are Abigail A and Georgia T. Georgia was chosen because of her hard work and determination to produce her best possible work in lessons. Her R.E. teacher said “Georgia is a conscientious, hardworking student who always works to the best of her ability with great enthusiasm”. Abigail was chosen as star of the month because she always goes the extra mile and hands in her homework before the deadline. “She is a polite member of the school community who is nice to everybody, she really takes pride in her work” says her English teacher. Well done Abigail! Don’t forget to check the Stars of the week notice board to see who’s been nominated in 2018

December dates for your

diary!

19/12/17: Senior Citizens

Christmas Party

20/12/17: Year 13 Class of 2017

Awards Evening

20/12/17 & 21/12/17: Year 10

Geography Fieldtrip to Liverpool

21/12/17: School closes for

Christmas - 12.45pm finish!

Seen and Safe: Cycling in winter

Using your bike to travel to school, or for any other

journey, is a great idea - a healthy, eco-friendly way to

get around. Our new bike shelter helps with that too.

In winter especially though, when daylight is limited,

for safety you need to make sure you are visible to

drivers. Our school uniform is dark colours, and coats

tend to be dark too, so cycling to and from school, we

need to make sure we are seen and safe.

Make sure for every journey, you have the essentials:

Bike helmet

Bike lights

Hi-viz reflective markings on your bike and/or

on your coat

Gloves if it is cold

Ho Ho Helsby Festivities

On Saturday 2nd December, and after months of careful planning, Helsby village came alive as

the festive celebrations of the Ho Ho Helsby event took over for the day.

There were a range of activities taking place all over the village, and the students and staff of

Helsby High School played their part too.

. In the weeks leading up to the big day, students from Years 7, 8 and 9 had the opportunity to

design their own contribution to a piece of colourful festive bunting, which in total measured

over 200m! Sections of this were used on the day to decorate parts of the activity areas.

Students were also involved on the day as stallholders at Helsby Methodist Church, selling

variety of wares (including extremely yummy cakes) as budding entrepreneurs, and also with a

stall of gifts to raise money for the purchase of a 3-D printer for school.

. HHS students were also present providing musical accompaniment, both on the static stage on

the main road and also on the early evening decorated float procession through the village. The

Senior School Band, Choir and Folk Band were all represented at various times, as well as

students performing with their own band, Off The Grid.

“I had a great day… I was an elf for a while in Santa’s Grotto, and I bought some decorations

from the stalls and then later I went and

sang in the choir” 1

All in all, a great day was had, and

thanks to everyone who took part.

A Sporting Success

Year 12 to Heat Trace

Heat Trace is a very local business but a global leader in their industry and on7/12/17, Year 12

Business students were fortunate to discover just how they have become such an international

success.

The students were keen to hear about the strategies that have been implemented for such rapid

global growth and this was followed by an overview of their very impressive investment in people

which highlighted the award winning apprenticeship programs that Heat Trace offer.

Over the past couple of months Helsby has

been excelling in all sporting areas; from the

Year 7 rugby team winning their debut match

40-15, to the under 14’s and under 16’s Girls

Basketball Team succeeding in their first

ever games, both beating Woodchurch High

School.

Earlier this term the Year 10 and 11 Netball

Team took part in the Cheshire School Finals

Netball Tournament. The girls’ played

outstandingly; despite losing the final by one

point, and they will go on to play in the

regionals in January.

Password Security

Passwords are essential for your security online, there are a collection of risks when using weak passwords or disclosing it to others. This can be someone accessing your social media

accounts and impersonating you, they could observe, leak and possibly blackmail any personal information or even get your bank details and pay for items online using your money!

Due to all these risks, when creating a password you have to keep a few things in mind to keep you secure online.

1. It’s important not to have the same password for all of your accounts, it only takes one password to be hacked and then they have access to all of your accounts. This

includes recycling passwords for example “password1” “passwords2” and so on. 2. Passwords should be at least 8 characters long, include lower and upper case and

contain numbers and or symbols. 3. After creating your password do not disclose it to anyone!

4. It’s helpful to keep a hard copy of all your password on a piece of paper so you won’t forget old accounts.

Dates for your New Year

diary! 8/1/18: School reopens

15/1/18: Year 12 PPEs begin

22/1/18: Year 13 PPEs begin

29/1/18: Year 12 Geography Fieldtrip

to Liverpool

31/1/18: Year 9 Consultation Evening

1/2/18: Drama Showcase evening

8/2/18: Year 10 Consultation Evening

14/2/18: Year 9 GCSE Options

Evening

16/2/18: School closes for half term!

Embrace 2018 with positivity!

- You can break this vicious circle

Believe in your own capability trust your gut

decision

- Focus on the here and now

- Don’t dwell on the future, remain focused on

your primary objective because it may affect

your motivation to continue

- Track progress, and adjust where

necessary

If you’re not 100% happy with the end result,

reflect upon the task from each angle and

see what you can change

- Remember, a clean slate

Whatever happened previously, move on

and embrace new beginnings. Avoid looking

back on mistakes and think about accepting

new challenges

From all of us at the Highlights team, we hope you have an enjoyable and safe Christmas

and we’ll look forward to producing the ‘Helsby Highlights’ magazine in the New Year

All the very best from Dean, Alex, Jack, Megan and Ellie (Highlights Team – 2017/2018)