Bright Ideas Grant

An application for a grant from the Venator Bright Ideas Fund has been shortlisted for a public vote. The HMS entry now appears on the Venator Community Fund website. The public are be able to vote for projects they think should win one of the forty £250 grants.

Once voting opens, anyone can visit Venator’s Community Fund website and vote (three times max per person) for their favourite entries. Voters are able to submit their votes between 8 April and midnight on 5 May 2019.

We would like to encourage our wider school community to support this application. Please visit the project page (link below) for details on how to do this. Many thanks in anticipation.

Hexham is an historic town set within the rural Tynedale valley, in Northumberland. Agriculture has played a part of its past and could be a significant contributor to its economic future. A number of our pupils on roll also come from farming backgrounds and some intend to follow in their parents’ foot steps.

At Hexham Middle School we are keen to develop a growing awareness of sustainability especially given the exciting juncture of a new school build on the horizon. In looking forward, there is an intention to develop greater curiosity amongst our pupils making them more inquisitive of the world we live, work and play in. The Bright Ideas Fund application links with plans to develop our curriculum model, that embraces and prioritises a sound knowledge base and understanding of sustainable development practices.

If successful, funds will be used to support a working and practical knowledge of hydro, and ultimately, aeroponic technology; making a system that can be used both within lessons as well as during extra curricular activities. The school already has a greenhouse and a group of pupils (The New Buds Quad Squad) whom intend to start growing their own crops using traditional soil based methods. This project will help pilot a system to educate about hydroponics, and will be used to support subjects such as food technology, geography, design technology, science and mathematics. The long term plan would be to incorporate an automated system and involve the computing curriculum.