Rhiannon Wilson - Bournemouth School

Rhiannon is a recent alumnus, having only left Bournemouth School in the Summer of 2025. However, what she has achieved since leaving is a testament to her hard work, determination and desire to help society’s young people in need.

Rhiannon spent her Sixth Form years at Bournemouth School and studied Psychology, Biology and Religious Studies, with an intention to apply to medicine. When asked if there were any members of the teaching staff that were of particular importance to her, she mentioned our current teacher (Dr Lewis), Mrs Hamalienko and Mr Cook, a former teacher who sadly passed away last year. Rhiannon spoke fondly of how these teachers were very supportive of their students, offering a listening ear when it came to personal and school issues. Rhiannon remembers Mrs Hamalienko having an open-door policy, even when it meant giving up her break to chat, and of Mr Cook always walking around the school, coffee in hand.

When asked about a particular memory of her time at Bournemouth School, Rhiannon spoke of a day when the presence of snow caused quite a stir. She remembers how the Year 12 cohort collectively gathered on the school field to enjoy the settled snow and how there was a real sense of unity on that day, with everyone enjoying the unusual weather.

Rhiannon founded the school’s Psychology Club (with the help of Mrs Sugden) with an average attendance of 30 students weekly for the first year. Outside of school, Rhiannon spent five years as a member of the St. John Ambulance, leading first aid and demonstrating various skill sessions to other cadets, rising through the ranks from corporal to sergeant. This is where she feels her spark for working with children stems from.

Rhiannon now attends Sussex University studying Psychology with Clinical Approaches but is soon to transfer onto the Childhood and Youth Studies course as she feels that the new course will align better with her career direction. She believes that it is “okay if you don’t have your life figured out” and that changing direction is not the end of the world; rather perhaps an opportunity to explore new paths.

Since starting university, Rhiannon has created a novel concept company called HubbleHub. Whilst she acknowledges that not all worries and concerns “manifest in the same way,” she feels that this sense of isolation is more common than first believed and that adolescents, “when in crisis, [find that] this labyrinth of online resources is not helpful.” HubbleHub’s concept was born from this and is designed to “bridge young people with services that already exist.”

When the idea was still in its infancy, Rhiannon decided to put her proposal forward for a university-sponsored competition called Big Ideas and was successful in placing as one of the finalists, resulting in receiving a grant to launch the company.

She also applied for a grant via a program called Drop-Dead Generous, a UK-based social enterprise founded by Tom Cledwyn and John Sweeney. She was successful and was awarded a sum of $500 to further springboard her concept. She has found this immensely beneficial, not just financially, but also through opening the door for networking with other grant winners.

HubbleHub models itself as a support network for young people. Rhiannon acknowledges the benefits of local youth clubs for adolescents but feels there are restrictions, in that they tend to be specialised in one area (such a football club) and that they rely on government funding to keep going.

With HubbleHub, Rhiannon wants a centre to be open five days a week, accessible to all and with the potential to teach life skills that are not necessarily taught in schools. The concept has three pilot projects lined up that focus on Space (sourcing community buildings and physical locations), Surplus Foods (donated by Sussex community businesses) and Life Skills – further divided into five sections involving: health and first aid, cooking and survival (in particular working with a knife-crime survivor), personal development, working with AJ Collective (focusing on financial literacy, including budgeting and CV advice), Zen Thursdays (where individuals will have the opportunity to work with psychology researchers from Sussex University) and Expressive Fridays (involving musicians). When asked to elaborate on why she has focused on these particular subject areas, Rhiannon felt that these skills can help contribute to “being a well-rounded person.”

Thinking long-term, Rhiannon would love to see HubbleHub expand into a scalable model, already successfully trialled and established, and then implemented into communities. Her hope is that the community would be monitored for a month to ensure the model is embedded, before it is able to run independently. As part of that planning, artificial intelligence would be used as a tool for brainstorming ideas and creating of templates.

When asked to expand on her thoughts on AI, Rhiannon believes that it has had “a strong impact on the world” but “there needs to be more regulation”, so that it is used for good. She uses AI when brainstorming and for the creation of templates but feels that problems arise when individuals rely on it alone. With regards to its use in schools, she believes that it would positively help students if they understand that it can’t be used all the time.

When discussing resilience, Rhiannon referred to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. She believes that “historically, the physical body was under stress but as society evolves, those needs are regularly being met, so the next development for humans as a whole is the mental needs of the individual.” She went on to say that infrastructure and technology, including social media, are developing at such a rate that human brains are unable to cope with the huge amount of data that has the potential to overwhelm.

Moving on to discussing strategies to help with exams, Rhiannon feels that it’s important that students remember why they chose their subjects and to “hold onto the spark that has driven them forward” – and not to forget that “there is always a plan B!”

To relax, Rhiannon loves to travel. Being based at Sussex University, she has taken advantage of her nearby surroundings such as Ashdown Forest and various walks in Sussex. She has also travelled further to countries such as France and Morocco. Rhiannon enjoys being creative but ultimately finds that HubbleHub is her real hobby.

Meeting	Exceeding
You will be able to describe and explain the increased tension over Berlin between Khrushchev and Kennedy. You will be able to have a good understanding of why there were summit meetings called, 1960 and 1961. You will be able to describe and explain why the Berlin Wall was built in 1961. You will be able to explain the impact the building of the wall had on East-West relations and the importance of Kennedy’s visit to Berlin in 1963. You will be able to show a good understanding of the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the importance of the Bay of Pigs failed invasion of 1961 and the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962.	You will be able to evaluate the impact on international relations of increased tension over Berlin between Khrushchev and Kennedy. You understanding of the summit meetings is precise and you can evaluate their importance. You will be able to precisely recall details of how why the Berlin Wall was built in 1961. You will be able to evaluate the importance of the building of the wall on East-West relations and the importance of Kennedy’s visit to Berlin in 1963. You will be able to show a precise knowledge and understanding of the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the importance of the Bay of Pigs failed invasion of 1961 the events and significance of the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 in the short term and long term.
Assessment Methods
Do-now tasks Retrieval Quiz in class End of Unit Assessment

Meeting	Exceeding
You will demonstrate a good knowledge and understanding of the origins of the Weimar Republic from its creation in 1918. You will be able to describe and explain why the Republic faced political and economic challenges in the years 1919 – 1923. You will be able to understand some controversy over Germany’s recovery from 1924 – 28. You will be able to describe and explain how society and culture changed during the ‘Golden Years’ of Weimar. You will mostly be able to demonstrate accurate recall of key people, key dates, terminologies and acronyms to describe aspects Weimar Germany, 1918 – 1928.	You will be able to recall, with more precision and accuracy, the origins of the Weimar Republic from 1918. You will accurately explain the early challenges including the Spartacist Uprising, Kapp Putsch and the causes and impact of the German Hyperinflation of 1923. You will be able to recall, with precision and accuracy, how Weimar recovered including Stresemann’s economic and foreign policy successes whilst able to evaluate the limitations of recovery. You will have a secure knowledge of how Weimar society and culture changed. You will be able to convincingly demonstrate accurate and precise recall of key people, key dates, terminologies and acronyms describing aspects of Weimar Germany 1924 – 1929.
Assessment Methods
Do-now tasks Retrieval Quiz in class End of Unit Assessment

Meeting	Exceeding
You show a good knowledge and understanding of key terms associated with the changes happening from 1750 – 1900. You are able to describe and explain some aspects of continuity of society and economy during this period. You demonstrate a good understanding of how agriculture changed, why the factory system developed, how transport improvements impacted the economy with particular reference to the steam train. You are able to explain why living conditions in the new towns and cities changed, the impact on public health and calls for reform. You show secure evaluation of sources for utility, taking into account some aspects of provenance and / or own knowledge.	You are able to show an excellent knowledge and understanding of key terms associated with the changes happening from 1750 – 1900. You are able to precisely describe and explain aspects of continuity of society and economy during this period. You are able to show an excellent and precise understanding of how agriculture changed, why the factory system developed, how transport improvements impacted the economy with particular reference to the steam train. You are able to evaluate how and why living conditions in the new towns and cities changed and the impact these changes had on public health and calls for reform. You show a convincing evaluation of sources for utility, taking into account provenance and precise own knowledge.
Assessment Methods
Do Now Questioning in class Peer assessments (Skills based written response)

Meeting	Exceeding
You will be able to describe and explain the early tension between the members of the Grand Alliance at the three wartime conferences and events in Europe up to 1945. You will be able to have a good understanding of the ideological differences between Capitalism and Communism. You will be able to describe and explain the development of the Cold 1947 – 1949 including the flashpoint of Berlin, 1948 – 49 and the setting up of East and West Germany. You will understand why the Cold War intensified, 1949 – 58 including the arms race and the USSR’s response to the Hungarian Uprising of 1956 and international reaction to this.	You will be able to evaluate the consequences of the wartime alliances for East-West relations. You will understand the attitudes of the wartime leaders and how this further impacted East-West relations. You will select accurate evidence to show the creation of the satellite states to further explain how soviet influence spread, 1945-48. You will be able to demonstrate an excellent understanding of short term and long term reasons why Stalin blockaded Berlin and how this further escalated the Cold War. You will be able to evaluate the significance of the arms race, Khrushchev’s response to the Hungarian Uprising and international reaction.
Assessment Methods
Do Now Retrieval quizzes in class Topic 1 End of Unit Assessment (factual recall)

Meeting	Exceeding
You will be able to have a good knowledge of Nazi policies towards women and why this was so. You will be able to describe and explain Nazi policies towards young people including education and youth groups with some evaluation. You will be able to understand the ways the Nazis reduced unemployment and how they made changes to peoples’ standard of living. You will be able to describe and explain why persecution of minority groups, especially the Jews, increased after 1933.	You will be able to evaluate Nazi policies towards women and young people. You will be able to confidently evaluate policies designed to reduce unemployment whilst also having an in-depth knowledge of policies impacting the standard of living of German workers. You will be able to evaluate the impact Nazi racial policies had upon groups such as Slavs, Roma, Sinti, homosexuals and those with disabilities. You will be able to evaluate the escalation of persecution towards Jewish people with precise reference to events such as the Nuremberg Laws and Kristallnacht.
Assessment Methods
Do Now Retrieval quizzes in class Key Topic 4: End of Unit assessment (factual recall)

Meeting	Exceeding
You will be able to produce a written response that includes three distinct causes of the Break with Rome (this is the keystone point: no answer can be graded as ‘meeting’ if it does not contain three factors) Each of your causes contain sufficient factual detail/proof to justify judgments rather than assertions. Each cause is analysed/explained and linked to why it was a cause of the break with Rome	Your selected evidence is precise and detailed giving more weight to the judgments drawn. The quality of your evaluation is in greater depth (e.g. linking in more depth to the question, considering limitations of each factor as a cause, making a clear judgement for each cause, maybe comparing their importance). Your answers may contain evidence of independent research outside of the work covered in class.
Assessment Methods
Do Now Questioning in class End of Unit Assessment: Causation writing (PEEL Paragraphs)

Meeting	Exceeding
You need to know and explain a main reason why William won at Hastings and give your view as to why it was important. You should write a paragraph that demonstrates a clear causation approach, including the reason, evidence for it, and an explanation of why it helped William win. You must give a brief judgement explaining why this cause was the most important.	You need to explain the reason why William won at Hastings and evaluate why it is the important reason. You should demonstrate clear evidence of writing in a causation structure by making a point and supporting it with precisely selected relevant evidence. You must show evaluation by explaining the relative importance of the cause you are discussing.
Assessment Methods
Do Now scores Comprehension quiz Skills based end of unit assessment

Meeting	Exceeding
Your written response includes three distinct causes. Each cause contains enough ‘accurate’ (factually correct) and ‘relevant’ (fitted to this question and taken from the correct time period) information to justify judgments rather than assertions. You have analysed or explained each cause and linked it to why it was a cause.	The deployment of your evidence (e.g. precise details, dates, statistics) is in greater depth, giving more weight to the judgements drawn. Your supporting evidence is precisely selected to address the question directly, showing skill in selecting the most convincing evidence. The quality of your evaluation links in more depth to the question ‘directed consistently at conceptual focus’, maybe considering limitations of each factor as a cause. You make a clear judgement for each cause, maybe comparing their importance. All of your three points demonstrate a line of reasoning that is coherent, sustained and logically structured. You demonstrate an excellent, precise and accurate knowledge and understanding of the origins of the Weimar Republic and the challenges it faced, 1919 – 1923.
Assessment Methods
Do Now scores Retrieval quizzes in class Skills based end of Unit assessment: writing a causation examination answer

Meeting	Exceeding
You need to demonstrate secure revision strategies through independent home learning. You need to be able to recall plot and characters. You need to understand contextual factors that influenced 19^th century texts.	You need to demonstrate effective and consistent revision strategies through independent home learning. You need to confidently recall key events, plot developments, and character arcs. You need to show a developed understanding of the contextual factors that influenced 19th-century texts.
Assessment Methods
Do Now. Full KO Quiz. End of unit assessment .

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