Please see below for feedback on our Personal Development programme:

 Sumeyye A (left 2023)

During my time at Beverley High School, the Personal Development program was a turning point in my life and played a crucial role in shaping who I am today. Beyond academic lessons, the school offered clubs, trips, volunteer activities, and various enrichment opportunities, allowing me to both discover myself and develop new skills. The interest and guidance of teachers outside the classroom encouraged me to try new experiences, step out of my comfort zone, and take on different responsibilities. For example, participating in charity projects (raising funds for my home country and organizing support events for Uganda) taught me empathy and a sense of responsibility towards others. Activities that required teamwork and leadership improved my confidence and taught me how to communicate more effectively with others. This process not only enhanced my personal skills but also positively influenced my classroom performance, helping me become a more organized and motivated student and teaching me to face challenges with courage and determination. The school’s values—respect, kindness, courage, and ambition—have guided me in my daily life and interactions with others. These values have developed me not only academically but also as a person, deepening my perspective on life. Through the Personal Development program at Beverley High School, I gained confidence in myself, discovered my strengths and interests, and learned how to be more responsible and effective in various situations. Looking back, I can clearly see the profound impact these experiences have had on my personal growth, and I believe they will continue to guide me in the next steps of my life. Beverley High School has played an important role in my past and will continue to do so in my future. Beyond academics, it taught me humanity, compassion, and most importantly, that a person’s religion, language, or race does not change the fact that they are human. I am truly grateful to Beverley High School for everything it has given me and continues to give.

Alice I (left 2023)
Beverley High School is a community where every individual can flourish - a place that gives you the support to discover what you’re passionate about, and to develop intellectually and emotionally. For me, it’s been a huge honour to hold the role of Head Girl, building on my first leadership role as Head of Hilda Lyon House in Year 11. These roles have given me the chance to meet new people and grow in confidence through events like Heritage Open Day - a brilliant opportunity to engage with our wider community and deepen my understanding of local history, something I’ve especially appreciated as a passionate history student. One of the most rewarding projects was organising a charity event for Cancer Research. Not only was this for an important cause, but helped me to develop my organisation, creativity and teamwork skills. Consequently, these opportunities gave me the chance to represent the school community I adore being a part of. I’ve never been the most confident person in the room, and for a long time I thought that might hold me back. But what I’ve learned here is that leadership isn’t about being the most outspoken - it’s about caring deeply, making an impact, and supporting those around you. Thanks to the support of the school, I’ve overcome one of my biggest personal obstacles: public speaking. Something I once feared has now become a strength. Today I can proudly say that I have performed multiple speeches for open days and events from Year 10 and now, I even had the opportunity to read out a passage at the yearly Christmas Carol Service. This epitomises how this school doesn’t just teach academic subjects; it teaches life skills. It encourages young girls to be confident, capable, and ambitious, with brilliant role models in every classroom - from the curriculum we learn to the teachers who inspire us. Furthermore, participating in the Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award was one of the most challenging but rewarding tasks I have ever engaged in, but most definitely amongst my proudest achievements. It taught me that my capacity for resilience is more far reaching than I could ever imagine. Another highlight has been volunteering in the English Department, where I supported lower school lessons and led reading schemes designed to boost confidence and communication among younger students. Through this experience, and inspired by the incredible staff around me, I discovered a potential future career in teaching. Ultimately, Beverley High School has taught me that you don’t have to be everything to everyone - but you can be anything, and you can achieve anything. That’s the beauty of this school: it recognises every individual’s strengths and provides the opportunities for you to grow in your own way.

Maisie L (Left 2023) 

Throughout my time at this school, I have taken part in many sporting events and clubs improving my skills in sports such as netball, football and badminton. By taking part in these events I learnt to challenge myself and how to be a team player as well as highlighting the importance of discipline, resilience and teamwork.

Iris G 

Beverley High School teaches me something new every day, not just something academically, but something about myself, and that is down to the Personal Development Scheme that has been developed carefully. Last year, I was really lucky to be involved in the Mary Wollstonecraft Society’s project called ‘Women Who Lead’ and it completely shaped my view on many aspects of life. During the process of the project, I got to learn many things about myself, and other people too, but my biggest takeaway was that not everything will go perfectly, and that's ok, as long as I was happy with the result, then that is all that matters. I have always been a perfectionist, and I constantly strive for the very best, and as much as it has its benefits, the downfall is that you can’t expect everything to be perfect all the time. This project taught me that it’s ok for things to not go 100% to plan, and if things do go wrong, you need to go back, reflect, reevaluate and try again. As part of the project, me and a few other girls selected, got to organize an event called Heart, Mind and Soul, which was a student run mental health drop-in session to raise awareness around mental health and the support in place for students, should they need it. As well as the students being there, we also managed to have the school nurse present, as well as some of the fantastic in-school support staff. We also got in touch with local mental health support teams, like Mind East Yorkshire and the East Riding Mental Health Service, who supplied us with many resources that we proceeded to hand out to students so they could see the huge amount of support that is out there for them. We plan on continuing the project going forward, as it was a huge success. All these things combined have had major impacts on my confidence and leadership skills because before I started the project, I was a little afraid to speak up for my ideas but with time I got better at that and I now feel confident enough to fight for what I believe in. My favourite part of the project was seeing everything come together and getting to work with a range of different people. This project is just one of many ways that Beverley High boosts its students' academic and social capabilities and echos what a fabulous school it truly is. I feel incredibly lucky to be a student here.

Lily M (Left 2024) 

During my experience at Beverley High School, I had the opportunity to try multiple different sports. This ranged from dance to football, and even gymnastics!
My love of sports increased greatly due to the amazing sports department. Ever since Year 7, they offered multiple clubs outside of school that strengthened my attachment to sport. This led me to take P.E. GCSE, and I truly believe it was one of the best decisions I made in high school. I looked forward to every lesson, knowing I would increase my knowledge of sport. 
I think the highlight of every year for me was when the athletics clubs started in summer. Every year I went down and tried to improve my 100m time. I was able to beat my score in every session I went to. This increased my passion for athletics and led me to join an athletics club. 
Furthermore, the same happened with football. I wouldn’t be the athlete or footballer I am today without Beverley High School’s sports department. Their honesty and thoughtful feedback enabled me to excel in my sports, and I couldn’t thank them enough!

Deva A (left 2024)

As part of the Personal Development programme, I got to visit Hay (Literary) Festival. This was a fun day trip to Wales and a place I never thought I would visit. I got to hear authors talking about the meaning behind their books, it was a different experience and really eye opening. 
I also attended the PA House trip to the Emma Bridgewater factory, Stoke on Trent. We had a look around the factory and saw in detail how all the pottery was made in the factory. It was a very interesting insight into the hard work people place towards them and in the end you get to create your own plate design! The programme meant I got to try lots of different things. 
Whilst being the Head of PA House at Beverley High School, my confidence really increased. The programme meant we had to learn how to deliver assemblies and speak at the Carol Service.  Throughout my time being a Head of House, I received support from the amazing teachers who helped me throughout, allowing me to develop my communication skills and helping me become the best leader I could be. 

Lily M (left 2023)

During my role as Head of Margaret Powell House in year 11, I was given the opportunity to engage in many activities beyond the classroom and hold a variety of responsibilities that  helped to nurture me into a capable and experienced leader. A notable task was my creation of a campaign, with the help of senior staff members, to assist the student choice of a house charity and the consequent presentation of this campaign to students in assemblies. This experience allowed me to develop my communication skills whilst also giving me insight into the importance of charitable work. Later in the year, I, alongside my fellow heads of house, delivered a lesson at our annual school service of Nine Lessons and Carols at Beverley Minster. Not only did this experience allow us to gain confidence and improve our public speaking skills; it was also an honour to play a role in such a special service for our school and is a memory that we all carry with us as we move along in our educational journeys.  
The German Exchange programme was another experience outside the classroom that played a large part in my personal development. This took place across two years, with the German students visiting Beverley whilst we were in year 10 and we making our trip to Wuppertal at the start of year 11. When I think of my time at the high school, this is most definitely one of the memories I cherish most. The programme gave us the opportunity to develop linguistic skills that aided in our study of GCSE German. In addition to this, however, we also got to learn a great deal about German culture and form lifelong friendships. In fact, many of us still remain in contact with our partners! The programme left us all with far more confidence than we had at the beginning, and we all look back fondly on the experiences and adventures we had.

Chloe E

I decided to take part in the German exchange for a week because I wanted to experience a new culture, improve my language skills, and challenge myself by stepping out of my comfort zone. The exchange was a fun way to learn the German language as I made new friendships and gained a deeper appreciation for cultural differences. It helped me personally to become more confident, independent, and open-minded, as I had to adapt to new routines and communicate in a different language.