A Virtual Welcome - Any Time
At Manchester High School for Girls, we love to showcase our school to prospective families but the ongoing pandemic has meant that there have been fewer opportunities to do this over the last twelve months.
As Head Mistress, Mrs Helen Jeys, points out, “It so important for families to be able to visit schools and get a feel for them, but the pandemic has made this incredibly challenging”. She continued, “It has meant the Admissions process has been very different this year and we have had to adapt and evolve processes as situations have changed.”
Back in the autumn term, the realisation that online events was the best way to proceed meant film crews were soon following students around school recording virtual tours and teachers became TV presenters almost overnight. Mrs Jeys remembers the moment it was decided that, “If prospective families could not come to us, we could at least go to them - albeit virtually!”
The October and November open events all went online with live Q&A sessions and numerous videos that saw pupils share their MHSG experiences. Said Mrs Jeys, “Whilst virtual events can never replace face-to-face open events, it was an enlightening experience and I do believe that going forward, there will be a place for both."
"Certainly schools have had to adapt very quickly since the onset of Covid-19 and whilst we will all be glad to see life returning to some kind of ‘normal’, there are sure to be some things that will continue. A hybrid of online and face-to-face events will, no doubt, be one of the legacies for Manchester High.”
This morning, the Preparatory Department held another successful Virtual Open Event and Head of Prep, Mrs Helen Mortimer, is hopeful that the final open event of the term on Saturday 8th May will see families visit in-person. She said, “We are keeping everything crossed that the next event will mean families can come into Prep so they can meet us face-to-face. We will need them to register in advance but they can do this by contacting our fantastic Admissions team, who are always willing to help.”
As we begin to emerge from the national restrictions, we also hope to be able to offer Personal Tours once again in school. In the meantime, our Virtual Open Event is available to access any time on our website or by clicking here.
