We are proud to announce Mrs Halima Bhayat, Associate Senior Leader, STEAM Lead and International Schools Lead at Ursuline High School Wimbledon was a finalist in this year’s Asian Women of Achievement Awards, in the Professions category.
Nominated by Headteacher Ms Waters, Mrs Bhayat was then shortlisted and invited for a short interview and coffee meet with category judges of the event. All finalists then attended the Asian Women of Achievement Awards ceremony on Wednesday 22nd September at the London Hilton, Park Lane.
It was a very special occasion attended by Ms Waters; Headteacher, Polly Harrison; Director of Extended Learning, our Chair of Governors; Claire Thorogood and a selection of sixth form students.
Mrs Bhayat commented;
“I was absolutely delighted to be shortlisted for this award and recognised for all the hard work, achievements and progress I have made in my career so far. I am excited to be a leading in STEAM and look forward to inspiring many more students to pursue careers in this area, to further diversify STEAM, and particularly encourage more women than ever to pursue STEAM careers.”
Ms Bhayat is leading our brand-new STEAM Academy at Ursuline High School Wimbledon, which was set up to address the lack of female students selecting STEAM subjects for further education and pursuing STEAM careers. 20 places are available for Year 10 this academic year, these students will be on a 3-year development programme. So far, we have exceeded expectations with interest from students and look forward to announcing more details about STEAM Academy students in due course.
Mrs Bhayat’s Career Highlights
With a background in Computer Science (a degree at Coventry University, PGCE teacher training at Warwick and Masters in Leading Innovation and Change at St Mary's University, Twickenham), alongside her experience working with international schools, Halima joined the Ursuline as Director of Digital Learning and Head of Computing, where she has continued to share her passion for technology and encouraging a diverse range of girls to study and pursue careers in computing.
Ms Bhayat has encouraged students to take part in various competitions such as DigiGirlz with Microsoft and provided students with an array of amazing extra-curricular opportunities leading to visiting Sky Tv, Twitter headquarters and Land Rover Jaguar. Ms Bhayat hosts a range of events introducing students further to areas such as AI (Artificial Intelligence), robotics and software development, and runs a very popular lunchtime computing club. Additionally, Halima is a Microsoft certified educator (MIEE), Raspberry Pi educator, Computing Lead for Merton primary and secondary schools with CAS and is on the British Computing Society quality review panel for supporting changes in the curriculum.
What a fantastic array of achievements!
