Headmaster's Welcome
Headmaster's News - 24th February 2017
Feb 24, 2017
24 February 2017
Dear Parents
Musical Assembly
Thank you to all our musicians who performed with confidence and composure this morning. This was particularly impressive considering the age of the performers and with Rohan just in Year 2! There were also at least five pupils performing publicly for the first time with Ziyad and Zain only starting to learn the guitar in September. Isabel, who performed so beautifully in ‘The Wizard of Oz’, performed ‘Yesterday’ - a song that she has enjoyed singing in choir. Congratulations and well done to all our performers this morning. An excellent start to the new term!
Out and About with 5M
On a very wet and windy morning, I popped in to see 5M starting a new topic in maths: Decimals. They were getting their books out and preparing for Miss Macklam’s introduction. They first discussed the different units of measure with Nathanial explaining the difference between Imperial and Metric units of measure. Miss Macklam then started to talk specifically about decimals. Grace said the decimal system was based on the number ten. Miss Macklam explained that if you moved the digits to the right the number became smaller and to the left it became bigger. The class then looked at some examples in their text book. Ziyad said that in the book these decimals would be based on a 100 unit square. Grace pointed out that to speed up the process you could count the columns as each column represented ten. Gabrielle said that in this example there were six columns and four units making 64. Miss Macklam said that this would represent 64/100 and 0.64 as a decimal which she wrote on the board. In the next shape Madeleine said that seven sections were shaded out of ten and that this would represent seven tenths as a fraction and 0.7 as a decimal. Rory completed the next example, saying that 38/100 squares were shaded which represented 0.38 as a decimal. In the next exercise, the questions were based on an abacus. Alfie, Ibrahim and Ivan were able to explain what each column was worth as a decimal before working out the entire number that was represented on the abacus. The class really picked up the exercise quickly with all the children very keen to contribute and answer questions. There was a real sense of not just demonstrating their own understanding but being able to explain the solution to the problem to the rest of the class. I left 5M as they were about to tackle an even trickier exercise knowing, from what I had just seen and heard, that if they remembered the rules they would not have any problems answering the questions in front of them.
Open Day 19 March 2017
The date is fast approaching and it is a real opportunity for our children to showcase some of the wonderful work they have completed this year as well as the activities they have taken part in. The children also really enjoy taking tours and taking part in demonstrations and lessons on the day so please could children in Years 3-6 keep this day free.
Please pass on the date and times to anyone who you feel would be interested in coming to see Highfield and celebrate your children’s success. If you have any ideas for advertising or places for our banners please speak to Mrs Guthrie.
Year 5 Visit to a Mosque
This week, Year 5 travelled to the local mosque to enhance our work on Islam. I am a Muslim and I have been to that mosque before, but I still could not help but admire the decoration and pretty patterns inside. When we first arrived at the mosque, we said the Muslim greeting which means ‘May Peace Be Upon You’ and followed the Imam (leader of prayer) to a circular hall. We discussed the five pillars of Islam and their meaning. We were given the chance to see the prayer hall and learnt about the call to prayer and the different prayers. We asked the Imam lots of questions and went back to school with lots of knowledge. Hamdaan, 5D
We went into the prayer room which was made out of pure marble and bits of gold. The Imam told us to sit in a circle on the carpet and he spoke out a speech called the call to prayer. We all gave our opinion on what the speech was like and how it sounded to us. The Imam then showed us a bottle of scent that he said he would let us try later before we left. Our guide then let someone go up to the balcony and that someone was me! I delivered a very kind and loyal speech to everyone looking up at me. In my opinion, the mosque trip was a truly amazing experience! Alfie, 5M
World Book Day
World Book Day is taking place on Thursday 2nd March. Children are encouraged to come to school dressed as their favourite literary character. We look forward to seeing a colourful and lively school full of interesting characters on Thursday!
Please remember Year 4 will still be going swimming.
Visiting Author: Tom Palmer
As part of our celebration for World Book Day, we have invited children’s author Tom Palmer to visit the school and run workshops with our Junior children. The workshops will take place on Wednesday morning. The children will have the opportunity to buy Tom Palmer’s books and have them signed by him. The books cost either £5 or £6 and are very popular with boys and girls alike. If your child would like to have the opportunity to buy a book (or two!), please send money into school in an envelope for the attention of the Class Teacher and marked clearly ‘Tom Palmer’. Thank you!
Cabaret Evening
We have just 2 weeks before the Cabaret Evening on Saturday 11 March. Please can you bring your table bookings in as soon as possible. It promises to be a fantastic evening after the success of last year. I look forward to seeing many of you there.
Under 11s Netball
Well done to all our netballers who played last night against Harris. It was a very competitive game with a high level of skill showed by both teams. The 1st team lost 9-2 and the 2nd team won 6-2.
Games and PE Kit
If children are coming into school in PE kit as a result of morning PE and Games lessons, they must also bring their school uniform with them in their games bag. Thank you.
Change of Date: Preston Schools Cross-Country
Preston Schools Cross-Country date has now changed to Thursday 30th March not Wednesday 29th March.
Merit Awards
RD: Amelia 1D: Leo 1W: Eliza 2F: Isabelle 2M: Jack
3M: Ayesha 4H: William 4S: Sophia 5D: Hamdaan 5M: Grace 6H: Aditya 6J: Amelia
Monitor of the week: Fatimah
Thought for the Week
The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate. Oprah Winfrey
Yours sincerely
J M Duke
Headmaster
