Headmaster's Welcome
Headmaster's News - 20th May 2016
May 20, 2016
20 May 2016
Dear Parents
Thank you 5H for your Assembly this morning on the topic you are studying in class: Earth and Space. You impressed us all with your knowledge of the subject which focused on planets being spheres and how they moved around one another. You included lots of interesting facts with many being drawn from other subjects like History and Maths. I particularly enjoyed the comparison of the sizes of the Earth and moon on a huge circle of the sun which you held up for us all to see and your highly enjoyable final song. The Assembly certainly gave the younger children an idea of what they will be aspiring to, and the level of understanding they will be aiming for, in Year 5. Thank you 5H and thank you to Mrs Hewins for arranging this assembly.
Year 6 Visit Bethany House
Year 6 made their second trip of the year to Bethany House on Tuesday. They have been learning a number of very traditional songs in choir which they felt would be ideal to sing to the residents. The children have really enjoyed singing these songs and it wasn’t long before they had all the residents joining in. Two favourites were, “I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside” and “Pack Up Your Troubles” which they asked the children to sing again. It was lovely to witness the two generations singing together before going on to share stories about the past, families and the children’s time at school. It is a very rewarding time for the children who were so engrossed in conversation that they would have quite happily stayed for lunch. They were buzzing from their experience on their return to school; a memory that I hope will stay with them when they move onto their Secondary schools next year.
Out and About with 1W
I visited 1W on Thursday at the end of break. They were just finishing their snacks before starting a lesson on sentence construction. Hasan came up to me and asked me why I visit lessons. I told him that I was really interested to see what all the children were doing and how they were progressing. I asked him what he had been doing that morning. He said that they had been practising for their play next week on ‘Plants’. Jack then said that he had seen me in my office earlier and wondered what I had been working on. I told him that I had been planning some events for next term. The lesson began with a revision session on when capital letters are used in sentences. Sara said they are used to begin sentences, Zorain said they were used for special names and Ariana said for months of the year and days of the week. Mrs Wilson then put a sentence on the board. Arianna read the sentence very clearly before Mrs Wilson asked the children if they could spot any mistakes. All the children’s hands flew into the air. Talia stepped up first to change ‘i’ to a capital ‘I’. Danial changed the ‘p’ to a capital for ‘Preston’ and Emily changed ‘s’ to a capital for ‘Spain’. They were then given a sheet where they had to change letters into capitals. The first one was a rhyme about the months of the year so there were a lot of corrections to be done. The children jumped up, eager to make a start and from the revision session I had just witnessed, they were going to have no problems! Thank you 1W and Mrs Wilson.
Year 4 Visit to Tatton Park
Children’s accounts from their trip to Tatton Park:
The first thing that my group did was to learn how to cook (Anglo-Saxon style!) by making bread. I found learning about this (with the kneading, grinding and animal fat involved) really interesting. We were then taught how to hunt deer; follow hoof prints, learn which deer to kill, smearing yourself with deer poo! We talked about the size of the deer, their antlers and the uses their skins were put to. Following this, we got the opportunity to make our very own clay pots, which we decorated using a feather to mark a design in the clay. Zain
4D and 4S went to Tatton Park for a trip. We went there to study Anglo-Saxon and Viking life. We got to learn baking, pottery and how to hunt or survive. Whilst we were eating our lunch, we had a chicken invasion! All of the boys were naming them different wrestlers which was really fun. After lunch, we got to practise with shields. I learnt that each archer at the beginning of a battle would shoot arrows up in the first minute. To defend yourself, you made an ‘umbrella' formation out of shields. We also learnt how to do a shield wall with shields in front. My favourite bit of the trip was the chicken invasion! Ivan
This week, Year 4 went on a school trip to Tatton Park. We got to do 5 activities which were all really fun. I was in a group with Mrs Jones and we started with Saxon cooking. We got to grind grains into flour and make flat bread. I enjoyed it very much! Finally, we went to learn about trading and pottery. We made clay bowls so we could trade it for some wheat and then sell that wheat for gold! Thank you to Mr Drake and Mr Sheppeck for planning this trip. Ameya
Sporting News
Kenny and Finntan, Year 6, will both be representing Great Britain next week at the BMX World Championships in Columbia. I would like to wish them the best of luck and we look forward to hearing all about this fantastic experience on their return.
Matthew, Year 4, was selected to represent Lancashire Under 10s last weekend and has his first match in half-term against Yorkshire. Best of luck Matthew.
Staff News
Miss Wenk leaves us today after four and a half years at Highfield. She has worked incredibly hard during her time here and has provided excellent care and learning experiences for the children. She will be greatly missed and we wish her the best of luck as she takes on the position of Manager at a new nursery opening in Chorley.
Miss Catherall who has been at Highfield for 15 years and has experience in all areas of Nursery will take over as Acting Deputy Manager until a permanent replacement is appointed.
No Smoking
Please could I remind all parents, or anyone who comes onto the school site, that Highfield Priory School is a non-smoking area.
Whole School Photograph
The whole school photograph will be taken on Thursday 26 May.
Merit Awards
RD: Frank RF: Eliza 1D: Lola 1W: Talia 2M: Evie
3J: Aditya 3M: Natasha 4D: Nathaniel 4S: Sophie 5H: The Whole Class 5M: Caisey 6H: Muhammad
Monitor of the Week: George
Thought for the Week
Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t do. Anon
Yours sincerely
J M Duke
Headmaster
