This week saw our annual World Book Day, with children and staff dressed as a wide range of characters from their favourite books. It was a real celebration of literature. It was great to see the children telling each other about the characters they were dressed as and finding out more about the books they come from. I hope it will inspire our children to pick up a book and learn about a new character they have seen today.
What an incredibly busy first week back we have had here at Highfield! 1W visited Manchester Airport. From the moment they set off, the minibus was filled with excitement and giggles! As they neared the airport, shouts of ‘look! A plane!’ burst out of the minibus and could be heard for miles! The children climbed the mountain of steps into their classroom for the day, which was inside a real plane. They learnt all about the jobs people do in an airport from pilots and air traffic controllers to police and security staff. They dressed up as pilots and even got to sit in the cockpit, pretending to fly the plane to different destinations: Australia, Africa and Dubai to name a few! The children were amazed by the Concorde which they got to see and learn about. Despite the rain, they had lots of fun watching the planes land and were lucky enough to see the biggest plane in the world land…it was extremely loud! They had a fabulous day and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
On Wednesday evening, our talented children took Crossgate Church by storm with their performance of Pinocchio. Our young performers exuded clarity and confidence as they told the story of Pinocchio through dance and drama. In front of a large audience, bright lights and loud music, they showed no fear and thoroughly enjoyed their moment on stage. Miss Burns’ dancers elegantly showed off everything they have learnt in their dance lessons this year. Our Year 4 actors commanded the stage, delivering their lines with poise and confidence. All the children thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience, from practising at home with family, rehearsals in school, fun filled rehearsals at the venue and the final production. It will be a memory that they will cherish for a lifetime.
Happy New Year! The children returned last week, full of energy and excitement for the spring term ahead. With all clubs and activities now running this week, there is something for every child to enjoy, from Spanish Club to Mad Science! We also have our wonderful production of Pinocchio at Crossgate Church at the end of the month, which the children are already working hard towards. On Sunday 17th March, we will be hosting an Open Day to welcome new families to our Highfield community. It is a really important day for the school and a chance to celebrate your children’s work and extra-curricular activities.
Our Junior Seasonal Celebration on Wednesday saw our final festive performance of the term. The Christmas concert was led by our Year 6 pupils who had written winter poems and sang together in small groups. I was very proud of their performance and the way they set an excellent example to the rest of the school. The Year 6 children have had a huge impact on this years performance, selecting some of the songs and even writing lyrics for 4 verses in 1 of the carols. As well as a flute duet being included this year, most members of the choir performed as a small group, which is more than ever before, due entirely to their enthusiasm. The performance was truly sensational and it was the perfect way to conclude our winter performances for this term. Thank you to all the children who took part, and to Miss Macklam for directing a beautiful concert.
Our Nativity preparations are well underway for this year’s performance of Lights, Camel, Action! All the children and staff are very excited to share this show with their parents! Please take the time to practice with your children at home in order to improve their confidence and help them to enjoy the performance! Thank you to Mr. Desai and his team of PTA helpers for transforming the school last Friday. It was very rewarding to witness the excitement on the children’s faces as they came out of their morning lessons to a winter wonderland.
Last Friday, we had our first Musical Assembly of the year. It was a wonderful morning for the children where they could showcase their musical talent on a range of instruments. There were beautiful pieces played on the piano and flute, as well as impressive pieces on brass instruments and the guitar. For some of our musicians, this was their first performance, although with their stage presence, you couldn’t tell! We look forward to more Musical Assemblies this year with the support of our talented peripatetic music teachers. Thank you to all our musicians for a wonderful morning’s entertainment.
Our wonderful Y6 tour guides, represented our school to the highest standard during the open morning and did an excellent job of welcoming prospective parents into our community. Our visitors were very impressed with the school, commenting on the high standard of work on display as well as the knowledgeable discussions taking place in the classrooms. We are extremely proud of everyone in our Highfield community and we hope to welcome new members after a successful open morning.
Thank you to everyone who donated to the Harvest Festival last week. We received a huge amount of food that will be vital to, and greatly appreciated by, local charities and businesses. We also raised a massive £464.26 which will be donated to WaterAid. After performing their Harvest Festival Assembly, the pupils in 6H took some of our Harvest donations along to Bethany House – a local home for the elderly. They entertained the residents with their Harvest songs before spending some time chatting with the residents. The children’s enthusiasm spread to everyone there and we were all delighted when the residents joined us in our final song of the day. We were sad to say goodbye but so proud of our Year 6 children and the joy that they had so evidently brought to others.
I would like to congratulate Mr Drake, Mrs Jones and the whole school community for Highfield’s approach to Mental Health and Wellbeing. We have been acknowledged by the Independent Schools Association (which represents 646 schools in the UK) for the emphasis that the school has placed on Mental Health and Wellbeing in the last few years.
It has been a very busy and successful start to the new school year. It was lovely to welcome all the children back to school last Tuesday, catch up with all their news and chat about what they are looking forward to in the year ahead.
The playground has been buzzing with excitement, friendship, smiles and laughter. A joy to behold!
I had the pleasure of accompanying Year 1 to Grimsargh play park last week. As part of their design and technology lesson, the children explored playground equipment before designing and making their own. They examined the materials used and identified the moving parts. They used this information to draw and label pictures which will assist them in creating their own play equipment when they return to school. The lesson concluded with some time to play on the equipment before heading back to school. Thank you, Year 1! I thoroughly enjoyed our trip out.
Congratulations to all our junior children whoβ―took part in a very enjoyable Sports Day. The level of effort and support for each other was lovely to see with many excellent individual and team performances. I really enjoyed watching the skills you have been working on in class, especially the javelin and relay events which were all hotly contested. The final winners on the day were Fylde in the overall competition and Bowland in the tug of war. Thank you to Mrs Parsons and Mrs Botton for organising the event and to all the parents and grandparents for their support on the day.
Year 4 enjoyed a fun school trip to Brockholes Nature Reserve last week. In the morning, the class focused on fire-lighting and den-building which links to their history topic on the Stone Age. The children enjoyed talking about what they had already learnt and how all the parts of an animal would have been used in some way back then - for example, fur for clothes and blankets, and teeth for jewellery. After learning about fire-safety, the pupils then took turns at lighting their own little fires using cotton wool and were amazed how quickly it burnt! They then had a chance to make their own den and we had a range of fabulous designs - one with its own en-suite and one that included a kitchen with utensils!
After a lunch break with a beautiful view over the water, the pupils had an orienteering task. Despite it not being a race it became quite competitive and included some excellent examples of teamwork. The children even spotted a deer and its baby in one of the fields. There was also time for a little play and everyone enjoyed the swings and zip-lines! With great weather and an action-packed agenda, they were all beautifully tired-out on their return to school!
The school had a day of festivities last Friday to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III. The day started with a whole school assembly where the children impressed me with their knowledge of the Coronation, discussing the next day’s events and the special items, like the orb and the sceptre, that would be held by the King during the ceremony. The assembly ended with the school singing the National Anthem. I then visited Reception where they were all sitting, wearing their crowns that they had made earlier in the week and eating some of the King’s favourite breakfast food, croissants. The day continued with lots of coronation-themed activities including the creation of a large coronation crown made up of sections from all the classes. A royal lunch was served on royal tablecloths, with all the Junior children waving flags and wearing hats.
Mrs McIlwaine will be retiring (early!) from Highfield Priory School at the end of this academic year. She has had 27 years’ association with the school as a parent and as a member of staff. Her dedication and commitment to her role has been greatly valued by us all. We look forward to celebrating her time at Highfield at the end of this term. She will be greatly missed by staff and pupils alike and I would like to wish her the very best for the future.
The excitement has been building all week as the pile of Easter Eggs has grown in the Office. I think we have had more visits to the Office than ever before with plenty of children taking extra time and care when handing over their register! I know many had mentally selected their egg before the first ticket was drawn yesterday. As the raffle approached, I could hear the tickets rustling as I went round the classrooms and many children were checking their numbers on the way to the Sports Hall. It was lovely to see the children jump up with delight as they won and make their way straight to their chosen egg. The final draw was this morning and Naina was the lucky winner of the big egg. A huge thank you to Ms Eccles for organising the raffle.
Congratulations to all the children who contributed to the Geography Exhibition. Your exhibits were amazing, and the amount of thought and time spent on each exhibit was very clear to see. I really enjoyed hearing about what inspired you, the research you did and how many of you really enjoyed the time spent with your parents on the project. The exhibition has certainly inspired a real passion for Geography and was a celebration of all your hard work and enthusiasm for the event. If you didn’t get the opportunity to see the exhibition, please take a look at our Facebook page where you will be able to see some of the exhibits. A big thank you to Mrs Davidson for organising this event.
The Highfield swimming team had a fantastic time at the Preston Schools Swimming Gala at Westview last week. πββοΈ πββοΈ
Comprising of pupils from Years 4-6, our swimmers came second and third in the freestyle relays and second overall in the meet! π₯³ π₯³
Scarlett, Shomi and Anoushka all qualified for individual finals, with Scarlett coming second in the front crawl and third in the back stroke, Shomi placing third in the front crawl and second in the backstroke, and Anoushka finishing fourth in the breast stroke final.
Well done to the whole team who showed great determination and teamwork!Photos from Highfield Priory School's post ... See moreSee less
Don't forget to join us for our Open Day this Sunday where we would be delighted to introduce you to our school! π
Discover why Highfield is the Sunday Times' number-one ranked independent prep school in the North West and meet with our pupils and staff. π π€
Please share this post with any friends or contacts who would be interested in finding out more about what we can offer for their child's early years and primary education! Many thanks! π π ... See moreSee less