Headmaster's Welcome
Headmaster's News - 3rd March 2017
Mar 3, 2017
3 March 2017
Dear Parents
2M Assembly
Thank you 2M for your fantastic assembly about Shakespeare, his plays and The Globe Theatre. It really was the perfect end to the week in which we celebrated reading and writing. 2M certainly have gained a thorough knowledge of Shakespeare and it was lovely to see them acting and singing, including quotes and play titles. Their enjoyment of the subject really shone through, especially during the songs which included actions and comedy (see our Facebook page if you missed out!). Thank you Mr Murray for arranging the assembly and I know that you have inspired our Year 3s and 5s who will be performing in The Tempest next term.
World Book Day
This is one of my favourite days of the year where the children and staff come dressed up as one of their favourite literary characters. The children really enjoy surprising their classmates and guessing what characters they have each come dressed as. It is also a wonderful celebration of the range of literature that is out there for our children to read and it serves to encourage the children to find out more about the characters they do not know.
The Mastermind Challenge is one of the highlights of the day where five pupils (who have qualified through earlier rounds) compete in the final. They are tested on their knowledge of six books, in a very similar style to Mastermind, in front of the school. Their knowledge and memory for the detail in the books never ceases to impress me. This year the finalists were Aditya, Alexander, Haris, Mohamed and Suzanna and our Mastermind Champion 2017 is Alexander. Congratulations to all our finalists on a very impressive performance. Well done!
Children’s Author, Tom Palmer, visits Highfield
On Wednesday, Tom Palmer visited the school to talk to the children in the Junior School. He really connected with the children, talking about his own background and how at their age he was not keen on reading but, with his mother’s help, he was encouraged to read magazines, newspapers and books and gradually grew to love reading. He has now written 37 books and sold 300,000. He quizzed the children about what they have read in papers and magazines and he told them how headlines and articles have been the inspiration for many of his stories, asking if they knew the teams described in one article he read out. Aditya got the correct answer: Everton and Leicester. He asked the children which magazines they like to read and their hobbies and how it is important to write about something that interests them. Suzanna said she liked reading about Crime. Tom said that also inspires him and after reading an article about footballers being kidnapped in South America and being trafficked in Africa he travelled to Ghana to gain more research for his story: Foul Play. He also travelled to Russia before he wrote Dead Ball about a Russian billionaire. He described how he camped out in an old football stadium overnight to get inspiration for his book Ghost Stadium. The session finished with a penalty shoot-out with Mrs Haythornthwaite and Mrs Hewins in goal which was very popular! Thank you Tom for coming to Highfield and encouraging our children to read and write great stories!
Out and About with 5D
Year 5’s PSHEE this week was titled Money Matters - a subject that really captured the attention of the children. PSHEE is a subject that the children really enjoy as it is often focused on everyday issues and involves a lot of discussion and sharing of knowledge and experiences. The children were looking at different ways of paying for something. They first looked at cheques, what they looked like and how they were written. Hamdaan said they were being used less often and were being replaced by Credit and Debit cards. James explained that credit meant money you have in your account and Danya said that debit was money that you took out of your account. Zahara talked about how cards have now become more advanced, allowing you to make contactless payments up to £30. Mr Drake told the children about when he got his first bank account and card and the feeling of going to withdraw money from the machine in the wall which Abdullah said was an ATM. Mr Drake talked about protection that is in place online to protect your bank accounts and that now more and more people are banking online. Evie asked whether the black strip on a card could be scanned by anyone. Mr Drake explained that banks were coming up with more advanced technology to protect accounts and Zain said that it was really important that you cut up your card to destroy all those personal details when you get a new card. The children then started a work sheet that summarised all the key facts that they had learnt. They really enjoyed discussing the subject, asking searching questions and I was impressed by their level of understanding. I expect they will be asking lots more questions at home over the next few weeks!
Rugby v Westholme
On Wednesday, a team of Highfield pupils competed against Westholme at Preston Grasshoppers. This was an excellent match with a high level of rugby demonstrated from both teams. I was particularly impressed by the intensity of the Highfield players in the second half who recycled the ball quickly and ran on the ball at pace. The Westholme defence was very strong and the final score was 7-4 to Westholme. Next week, all the boys in Years 5 and 6 will be having a competitive fixture away at two different venues.
Netball v Oakhill
All our Year 4 girls represented the school against Oakhill yesterday. They all showed improved movement on the court and both teams now need to work on using the different types of passing they have been practising. Thank you to all the parents who came to support us. Mrs Parsons.
New Assistant Caretaker
Mr Barbosa has been employed by the school to support Mr Forrest. He will be working in the afternoons and locking up at the end of the day. We would all like to welcome Mr Barbosa to Highfield.
Merit Awards
RD: Lola 1D: Joseph 1W: Ayman 2F: Lameesa 2M: The Whole Class
3M: Hamza 4H: Holly 4S: Darcey 5D: Lilland 5M: Daniel 6H: Holly 6J: Olivia E
Monitor of the week: Aditya
Thought for the Week
“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.”—Victor Hugo
Yours sincerely
J M Duke
Headmaster
