Headmaster's Welcome
Headmaster's News - 13th May 2016
May 13, 2016
13 May 2016
Dear Parents
Congratulations to all our children who completed their school examinations this week. I hope you all enjoy a restful and well deserved weekend and I look forward to seeing you all on Monday.
Reception Trip to Cobble Hey Farm
Our Reception Classes visited Cobble Hey, a working farm, last Friday. The day started with the farmer talking about spring and the importance of planting seeds and helping them to grow. They walked round the gardens looking at all the vegetables that had been planted. The class also got the chance to plant their own seeds. In the afternoon, they walked through the fields with the farmer to see the sheep and lambs and they looked at the lapwing breeding area and Amelia, the pygmy goat! Eliza said that her best bit was feeding the lambs and the chickens. All the children thoroughly enjoyed their day and learnt a lot about spring on a working farm. Thank you to all the parents who helped on the trip.
Out and About With 3J In Our Art Studio
On Monday, I went to watch 3J during their Art lesson. I was very excited to be watching them in action after seeing their fabulous Still Life drawings from last term. They were painting landscapes from North American National Parks which is linked to the topic they have been studying in their Humanities lessons. I was struck first by the atmosphere in the classroom: soft relaxing music was playing as each child really focused on their piece of work in their own little world, capturing every detail. I watched Miss Jewitt give very specific advice to each pupil who went to speak to her and the pupils then went straight away to focus on the area highlighted. Sasha showed me her picture of a natural arch. She said that it was difficult to show the different shades of colour. I was very impressed; the darker colours really gave the picture perspective, making it very striking. Aditya had finished his picture which was also impressive. Proudly, he talked me through the steps that he had taken to complete it successfully. He then moved on to recreating the picture using a sketch book express programme on the new school ipads. Darcey was working very hard to mix the colours and then to blend them in to her picture to create the correct effect. She explained that if she wasn’t happy with the finish, she could paint the base layer again before applying the shading. Zain was copying a very difficult picture and was working really hard to show all the different textures on the rock. Daisy was also deep in concentration and was building real depth in her picture, showing the impact that the setting sun can have on the different colours of the sky. Finally, Francesca explained that Miss Jewitt had told her to focus on her brush strokes, making sure that she used the tip of the brush for more control and to improve the quality of the picture. The standard of the whole class was incredible and all the children were taking real care to make sure the picture was a true reflection of what they were looking at. The children’s vocabulary, control and understanding was quite amazing and it was a wonderful experience to watch the pictures really come to life in front of them. Thank you Year 3 for such a rewarding experience. I left deep in thought and contemplation as though I had just left a professional art studio. I hope we will display some of your wonderful creations on our Facebook pages in the coming weeks.
News from our Nursery
Thank you to the PTA for donating money so that we are able to start to grow our own vegetables to use in the Nursery. With help from Mrs Beaumont and Mrs Harrison, the Nursery children have planted potatoes, carrots, peas, tomatoes and beans. We are now watering them every day and watching them grow. We are also growing sunflowers so we can then measure how tall they get!
Mrs Elstone
Chess
Last weekend, 6 Highfield pupils (Dev, Muhammad, Alexander, Ivan, Harry and Ben) represented Lancashire at the EPSCA National finals at High Wycombe. They came a respectable 12th out of 17 teams representing regions from all over the country.
Good luck to all the pupils who will be attending the next Lancashire Chess Congress this weekend. Mr Sheppeck
Under 11s Cricket v Westholme
26 boys travelled to Westholme on Wednesday to play Cricket. The A team bowled well forcing errors from the opposition, however, lapses in concentration in the field meant a number of chances were put down. It took an incredible over from Aditya (in which he hit the wickets three times!) to restrict Westholme to 65 runs. Their bowling attack was strong and, even with some good shots from Alexander and Rohan, we were unable to reach their total. The other two teams also had good games with strong bowling and batting demonstrated in both games. Thomas should get a special mention for batting well and bowling accurately. The matches ended with one win each.
Under 11 Rounders v Rossall
The Year 5 and 6 girls played their first home Rounders match this week on our all-weather pitch. Rossall did not bring enough players for two teams so some of our girls stepped in to make up the numbers. Rossall had some big hitters and excellent fielding skills across both pitches. Both games had two innings and the result on the top pitch was Highfield 11 to Rossall’s 7 and on the bottom pitch, it was Rossall 19 to Highfield’s 11.5. Thank you to Miss Macklam for umpiring the top pitch and a special well done to Jemima who carried on playing after a fall and a ball to the face. Miss McShane
Photographs
Class and team photographs will be taken next Wednesday, 18 May.
Archibald's War Photographs and DVD
I hope your copy of the Archibald's War DVD made it safely home in your child's school bag this week. Photographs from the Dress Rehearsal are now on Facebook and at the end of this newsletter. Enjoy!
HPPTA Film Night
'Inside Out' is being shown on Friday 20 May, 5-7pm, in the school Sports Hall.
£5 per child (no ticket needed for adults). Tickets include popcorn and a drink and they are now available to buy in the school office. Please buy your tickets soon to help the PTA organise the evening. Many thanks for your support.
Car Park Safety
Please take extra care, and supervise your children closely, when walking through the Infant and Junior Playgrounds which are both used as car parks at the end of the day.
Merit Awards
RD: Leo RF: Thomas 1D: Isabelle 1W: Ariana 2M: Nandini
3J: Joshua A 3M: Asiyah 4D: Madeleine 4S: Lilland 5H: Isabel 5M: Olivia E 6H: The Whole Class
Thought for the Week
Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and, most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do. Pele
Yours sincerely
J M Duke
Headmaster
