School pupils win competition to create dream prom

28th February 2019

Brookfield Community School pupils are celebrating after winning a Sheffield Hallam University competition to help bring their dream prom to life.

Pupils from schools and colleges across South Yorkshire and Derbyshire were asked to make a video, describing their ideal prom night as part of an annual competition run by the Sheffield Hallam University Schools and Colleges Engagement Team. The winning team from Brookfield Community School in Chesterfield will receive a package of support worth £5k and will work with the University's events management academics and Doub7e Seven Events to organise their perfect prom. The competition aims to give students the opportunity to learn new skills and gain a flavour of events management. Olivia Palmer, head girl for sixth form at Brookfield's said: "It was really good for our prom committee, it brought us all together. We put all our heads together and came up with a clear theme that would really tie into the school. We're already talking in the group chat about getting started." Beth Tranter, senior officer in the Schools and Colleges Engagement Team, leads on the competition. Speaking at the celebration evening, she said: "The prom competition invites students from local schools and colleges to develop their skills in teamwork in creativity, as well as sparking excitement about their forthcoming prom. "It also provides a, hopefully, inspiring insight into the world of events management and the opportunities a career in this subject could offer. "What the panel of judges really liked about Brookfield Community School's submission was the passion and enthusiasm the students had about their school and the way that the four students creating the video had incorporated their entire student body. It's a well-deserved win!" Head of sixth form at Brookfield, Sarah Metcalfe said: "I'm really pleased, this is a massive deal for Brookfield, lifting our morale at a difficult point in the term for many and just celebrating our fantastic students. They've worked really hard and they're going to put on an amazing prom." Year 12 and 13 pupils from across the region have been submitting their entries since October, and the panel met to decide the winner in January. Competing schools and colleges created a two-minute video which was then shared on the University's Facebook channel and judged by a panel of industry experts. Judging was based on the social media reaction each video received, as well as the creativity used and the team's adherence to the brief. Alex McIntyre, head of year 13 at Brookfield said "What I loved about the video is that it is Brookfield - it perfectly represents our school, our community, our students. Watching it for the first time I was completely in awe at what they'd created, technically as well as the actual content. "Going forward, working with Doub7e Seven and the academics here at Sheffield Hallam I think the students will gain a lot from that and when it comes to organising the nitty gritty of their prom, I think some of them will get the bug for events." Sheffield Hallam University is the most prominent university in the UK for driving improvements in education and championing social mobility. The University works with a range of partners to undertake world-leading education research to inform and influence practice and policy, including working with the UK and international governments. In 2016/17, Sheffield Hallam admitted more students from neighbourhoods with historically low numbers going on to university than any other provider in the UK*. In addition, 41% of Sheffield Hallam students come from low income households and the student body is 96% state-educated (against a national average of 90%). As a key regional institution, the University has committed to improving education across South Yorkshire through its ground-breaking social mobility partnership: South Yorkshire Futures. The flagship project, backed by the Department for Education, aims to improve attainment and raise aspiration for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds across all age groups, whilst developing a dedicated workforce to support them.