Solihull School
Since 2024, Solihull School has curated a series of one-day festivals designed to inspire pupils in subjects as diverse as Shakespeare, modern languages, engineering and AI. As well as engaging Solihull pupils, pupils and teachers from the local community and across the country were invited to attend too, building valuable and long-term education partnerships. Headmaster Charles Fillingham explained to Independent Schools Magazine, in May, what first inspired the festivals programme and its bold ambitions for the future.
“We are always exploring new opportunities to enrich learning and extend it beyond the classroom. We have excellent contacts within the UK’s leading universities and extraordinary expertise within our own staff, and the festivals idea was born from a desire to bring together leading minds to stretch, challenge and inspire our pupils.
“I want Solihull School to be a force for good in education and so we have opened the festivals up to other schools. It’s good for our pupils and our staff; my senior pupils enjoy being with others who share their academic interests. It’s good for our reputation as a school with high academic standards and value-added education. And it’s good for the schools we partner with, giving them access to academic enrichment opportunities for their pupils at no or little cost. We also find that the guest speakers value the fact that a range of schools are represented.
“Our biennial Shakespeare Festival is where it all began. Held in 2024 and 2026, plans are already in place for 2028. The central programme is a series of academic lectures and workshops, aimed primarily towards Sixth Form students, and given by eminent professors from the country’s top universities. The intention is not to offer revision notes for A levels, but rather to spark an intellectual curiosity. Beyond the talks, we have musical performances, play readings, a festival bookshop and special lunch arrangements.
“The Engineering Fair, which we ran in June 2024, was a perfect fit for Solihull and our region, which boasts a rich heritage in manufacturing and engineering. Our Head of Science lent his passions to this one, organising it on a Wednesday afternoon in June, when two year groups were on study leave, creating a little more capacity in school. Lectures were followed by smaller workshops and, at the end of the day, there was an hour-long trade fair where companies manned stalls and spoke about their work – we drew heavily on our alumni community for this. Around 100 pupils from local state schools joined us for the afternoon too.
“During last year’s AI Symposium, an external speaker delivered five tailored talks to our pupils during the school day, to teaching staff in the twilight session, and to parents and the local community in the evening. Pupils from other local schools joined us during the day and their teachers joined us for the twilight event.
“The 2025 Festival of Languages welcomed 400 pupils to Solihull and is already planned in again for 2027, this time running simultaneously across the country at a host of independent schools with the ambition that we will collectively welcome 10,000 young people. As a languages teacher myself, I collaborated with our well-connected Head of Languages to curate a celebration of the power and importance of learning languages, offering lectures from university academics and career-oriented advice and inspiration. We focused on French, German and Spanish but also included taster sessions in other languages- from Welsh to Urdu - and introductory talks on linguistics and translations.
“There is no doubt that these festivals have strengthened our relationships with other schools. They have helped Solihull to demonstrate its credentials as a leading academic school in the region to current and prospective families. Importantly, the festivals have demonstrated the valuable role that independent schools play in the academic life of regional communities, enhancing the learning of our own pupils whilst also providing valued enrichment opportunities for hundreds of young people from across the West Midlands."