Headmaster's Welcome
Headmaster's News - 24th June 2016
Jun 24, 2016
24 June 2016
Dear Parents
French Assembly
Thank you to all the children who performed in our French Assembly this morning. The Year 6 introduced each year group who sang a song linked to the subject they have been studying in class. Year 1 and 2: song about days, Year 3: alphabet song, Year 4: family song, Year 5: song about time, Year 6: daily routines, sung to the tune of the French Anthem.
It was lovely to see how much the children enjoyed singing in French with big clear voices and actions as well. I was also very impressed by their pronunciation. Très Bien! Thank you to Mrs Morrice for arranging this assembly.
Inspection
It has been an incredibly busy week at Highfield this week with 4 Inspectors looking at every aspect of the school. The feedback was extremely positive and I will be able to give a full report once the official report has been published. Thank you to everyone who responded to the survey; we had 136 responses which is very good for the short period of time given and it provided excellent evidence for the Inspectors. I would like to thank the whole Highfield community for their continued support
Life Education
The Life Education unit visited Highfield to talk to all the children about making healthy choices. In 1W Ariana told me they watched an interesting video that told them how the body worked. Joseph and Thomas from Reception really enjoyed going on the bus, especially meeting Harold the Giraffe who taught them that their body needs energy. Fatimah in 4D told me that they learnt about making healthy choices and the impact of smoking and alcohol on your body. The annual visit of Harold and his bus is always popular with the children and there is always a very important message for each year group about making the right healthy choices.
Alumni Event
I was delighted to welcome seven of our alumni to Highfield on Friday for a hockey event and a celebration of the opening of our all-weather pitch. They trained with the children, helping them with their technique. It was lovely to see the interaction between the past and present pupils and to think that these sophisticated and talented young men and women used to be here at Highfield. They also played an exhibition match which was very competitive (I would expect nothing less from an old Highfeldian!) and of a very high standard. All the visiting alumni play at either club, university, school or even at national level.
They were very keen to look around the school to see any changes, but also to see where they used to sit and to spot any pictures of themselves around the school. Malcolm Cronshaw, whose father was the headmaster from 1960-1972, also attended the event. He was responsible for organising the first ever football match that Highfield had played against another school (Moorland).
I would like to thank all the alumni who attended and I do hope more of our old boys and girls will get in touch with the school. Alumni attended: Nathan Redman (04-09), Joe (02-09) and Rachel Greenwood (02-11), Hannah Denison (left 08), Nicola Seechurn (00-08), Olivia Gebbie (04-11) and Alexis Fitzsimons (02-11).
Please see our Alumni Facebook page (accessible through the school website under ‘Alumni’) for photographs.
Out and About - Year 6 Play
The rehearsals are well underway for our Year 6 end of year performance of ‘Going for Goal!’ The play is full of comedy, which is very suitable for this class! It is also very relevant to all the sporting events happening this year. I watched the children being put through their paces in their first full rehearsal. Alex, Manahil, Rohan and Angi were working on their positioning, intonation, expression and timing. The play was really coming together and really lets our characters shine out (there are plenty of surprises to look forward to!). I can’t wait to see it in the final week of term.
Kings Camps
Kings Camps, who will be running an activities camp from 25 July-5 August at Highfield, are coming into school on Monday to run an activity session during lunch break for children from Years 3 to 6. Children will wear school uniform but need to wear trainers.
Congratulations!
Many congratulations to Mr and Mrs Jones on the birth of Constance Elizabeth, 7lb 6oz, 31 May 2016.
Bake-Off – 4 July
The date for the annual charity bake-off is quickly approaching. The children have already been talking excitedly about their potential designs on the theme of ‘Sport’ in celebration of the opening of our all-weather pitch, European Football and the Rio Olympics. I hope we will raise as much money as possible for the school charity, Baby Beat, which was chosen by the children earlier this year.
Cricket and Rounders at AKS
On Wednesday, we travelled to AKS for our rounders match, the sun was shining and we could see the sand dunes from the pitch; it was a lovely scenic start to the afternoon. In our first match, we came up against some big hitters and a few of our girls took a while to shake off their tiredness from the journey. We lost the first and second game by only a couple of half rounders and we were able to learn a lot from some fielding errors. We had a short break, made some tactical changes and approached the next game with a much more positive attitude which secured a win in the final match! Well done to all the girls for playing 3 games in the sun. Miss McShane
The cricketers had a very exciting game against AKS. They set a total of 67 with a confident batting performance coming from Ben, Oliver and Harry. The real positive from our innings is we only lost two wickets: one bowled and one run. The boys worked well in the field, knowing that they had only a small total to defend. Harry, Oliver and Hassan bowled accurately, putting a lot of pressure on AKS, but it was Matthew’s over that turned the game, taking three wickets! The final score was 67 to Highfield and 66 to AKS. A very exciting game and an excellent way to end the season! Congratulations to all the boys involved. Mr Turner
National Athletics Finals in Birmingham
Good luck to James W and Olivia D who will be travelling down to The Alexander Stadium in Birmingham to represent the North and, of course, Highfield on Wednesday.
School Photograph
We are going to have the final attempt to take the school photograph on Monday. If the weather is inclement, the photograph will be taken in the Sports Hall.
I will be reporting on Year 5’s visit to Jodrell Bank and Pre-School Sports Day next week.
Strange request from Mrs Duke
Does anyone have a replica Jules Rimet Trophy or anything similar? If so please contact Mrs Duke. Many thanks!
Merit Awards
RD: Luca RF: Yusuf 1D: Lameesa 1W: Oliver 2M: Hamza
3J: Zain 3M: Olivia 4D: Grace 4S: Grace 5H and 5M: The Whole Class 6H: Angi
Monitor of the week: Hannah
Thought for the Week
Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much. Helen Keller
Yours sincerely
J M Duke
Headmaster
