It has been another unforgettable week for Years 7 and 8 as we have once again held our Thinking Innovatively and Problem Solving (TIPS) Week; an annual three day festival of workshops especially designed for Year 7 and 8 pupils which aims to challenge and inspire our girls to tackle a diverse set of problems in groups, and individually, with an emphasis on our 7 C’s: Confidence, Commitment, Craftsmanship, Communication, Curiosity, Collaboration and Creativity. TIPS takes place in the Summer Term as an alternative to the traditional exam week.

This year Miss Lorimer has done a wonderful job running the week, and girls have partaken in no less than eighteen workshops from Architecture to App Design to Emotional Intelligence to The FHS Apprentice to making films in a day with One Day Film School. You can learn more here and read girls’ testimonials below:

Eden in Year 7

What was your highlight from today?

My highlight of the day was definitely the dissection workshop. It was incredibly interesting to see inside a once living creature and also see what it could potentially look like inside out bodies. Although it was difficult at times, it was an amazing experience and a very memorable one as well.

What did you find most challenging today? What did you learn from this?

In survival skills, we were faced with a challenging task. Group F was divided into smaller groups and given a concoction of tea and coffee. We had to filter the mixture and make sure there were no little pieces left in it. With the time pressure it was difficult to complete the task and filter the mixture properly. My group was stressed and kept spilling it when we tried to filter it through the t shirt and pour it back into the bottle! Throughout this activity , we really had to work as a team and communicate well to come up with the best way to properly filter the water in the small amount of time we were given.

How did you develop your 7 Cs?

During the architecture workshop we were assigned an environment to build a shelter for. My group was assigned desert. It was difficult to design a structure that would protect you from the heat of the day and the also the intense cold in the night. We had to be creative and confident in our design when it was not going exactly to plan. As well as this, we had to communicate well and discuss solutions to problems we were facing. Overall, I feel as if this workshop has helped me develop my 7C’s and taught me how to work well in a group!

Emily in Year 8

What was the best bit about TIPS week? 

I loved being able to collaborate with many different girls in my year, especially ones I haven’t worked with before. I enjoyed running around and filming creatively, whilst also learning about my teammate’s talents and contributions. I especially loved the end of the day we’re we all got to see each other’s projects, as it was extremely fun, but it also showed us what we did well, and what we could work on!

How did you develop your 7Cs?

I developed my creativity by thinking about storytelling, but also seeing what others did, which I think showed how we can differentiate and have our own thoughts and ideas. I developed my curiosity by learning about more film techniques, which was very enjoyable to learn about. I developed my commitment, by me and my team working so hard on our project, and not wasting a single second. I found that we all had a certain dedication to the project, which I think helped our project be the best it could be. I developed my collaboration by learning about my teammate’s individual attributes, and how we all contribute something special. I developed my craftmanship by doing something different.

I usually enjoy being the actress, whilst I had widened my horizons and decided to be co-director/cinematographer, which not only taught me a lot, but also opened me up to new interests. I developed my confidence by working with a whole new set of people, and by helping a lot with the filmmaking, which I think instilled more confidence, as I’m usually on the shyer sider with most people I don’t know very well.

Finally, I developed my communication by talking with my team. At the start of the project, we often found we had many disagreements and arguments about what we thought, but not long after, I realized that for our project to work, we had to not only input our thoughts and ideas, but genuinely listen to others’ ideas. At first, I often found myself pushing others’ ideas away as I was too distracted with my own, but after hearing what my team had to say, I realized how good theirs could be, and a lot of them were better than mine!

Alaia in Year 8

Survival skills with Mr Bishop and Mr Confino was such a fun interactive trip to the park that helped us all practice the 7 Cs and really bond!! Between running around Battersea park, using a map, finding different pieces of equipment, filtering dirty coffee, and even designing our own stretcher upon which we carried Cerine to run over the finish line!!! The winners got loads of chocolate and the losers (of course) had to eat worms…! However, overall, regardless of winning or losing, we all had the best time ever!!

Cerine in Year 8

During one of Year 8’s activities on Thursday, we did a Physics Escape Room.

It was extremely engaging and fun, encouraging us to extend and use all of our knowledge!

Tasks included the following:

• Building an electrical circuit
• Lighting matches to pop balloons
• Deciphering cyphers
• And even sticking your hand in a jar of baked beans!

All of these tasks lead to the discovery of many different codes and clues to help free Albert Einstein (a model version of course!).

Finally, to top it all off, in our groups we had to use some of the 7 Cs to recreate a Lego model, really depending on the members of our teams.
The builders were not allowed to see the model and not allowed to talk. The runners were allowed to tell the builder what to do, but not allowed to point, meaning they used collaboration and clarity in the runners’ communication.

We wish many thanks to Dr Priest, Dr Upcott and Mr Clements, for running this brilliant workshop.

Thank you so much to the external providers and to our staff for running such interesting workshops and giving us an insight into their passions, and to the girls for their abundant enthusiasm and energy.

Another fantastic TIPS Week – we can’t wait for next year!