The Sunday Times Top 100 Independent Prep Schools in England: Fifth equal in England and First in the North West.
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Whether you left Highfield sixty years ago or six months ago, we will always be delighted to hear from you. Please if you would like to keep in touch, send any memories, updates or questions for current pupils to complete the below from and send it to schooloffice@highfieldpriory.co.uk or email us directly.
Keep in touch!
We hope that if you are reading this then you are visiting our website because you have fond memories of your old school, an interest in how it is doing now and a desire to catch up with old friends. We are delighted to have you with us!
We will always be very glad to hear from you so do get in touch, share your memories with us and help us to keep the history of Highfield alive for future generations.
By Catherine Musgrove (Lancashire Evening Post)
Straw hats and briefcases were the order of the day when Lucynda Bateson, nee Breen, attended Highfield Priory School in Preston from 1989 to 1995. She recalls: "The uniform consisted of a maroon blazer and skirt, and a blue shirt with a tie. We had a grey hat in the winter, and in the summer, a typical blue and white school dress with a straw hat."
Lucynda, now 29 and living in Lancaster, said her favourite teachers were Mrs Thompson, who was her first teacher, Mrs Upton and Miss Macklam. She said: "One of my favourite memories was auditioning for the school choir one lunchtime with Miss Macklam and then being thrilled to be accepted. Not everyone made the cut, it was brutal!" While Lucynda excelled at netball and athletics, she hated geometry taught by headteacher Mr Duckett. She said: "Pretty much every Friday in assembly he would request that me and one or two others go to his office at lunchtime to redo the the homework we had failed miserably at." Children at Highfield Priory had to carry their work in a leather lockable briefcase. Lucynda added: "The amount of times I forgot the combination and couldn't get my homework out!"
The School had strict rules at playtime, enforced by a teacher called Mrs Jones. Lucynda said: Mrs Jones was way ahead of her time with health and safety regulations. "Her rule was that during playtime you could only walk, hop, skip or jump, and anyone caught running got in trouble. It was always fun watching the boys try and have a game of football with this rule." She added: "I wonder if Mrs Moss, the playground monitor, is still there with her secret stash of chocolate limes in her pocket that we'd all go and beg for? Sweets were strictly prohibited even before Jamie Oliver got his hands on school dinners."
Lucynda, who was made captain of the Ribble house in her last year, said: "I really loved my primary school days. It was an amazing place with great teachers and pupils. I'm still friends with people in the photo from 1989. If I lived in Preston I would hope for my son Jack to go there."
