Headmaster's Welcome
Headmaster's News - 27th February 2015
Feb 27, 2015
27 February 2015
Dear Parents
Musical Assembly
Thank you to all our musicians who performed beautifully in our musical assembly this morning. We listened to a range of instruments from recorders to baritone. I was also very impressed to see how much progress you have made since earlier in the year. You certainly impressed the audience who were transfixed, listening to every note played. I think you definitely inspired many to consider taking up an instrument themselves. Well done!
Open Day
Open Day is on Sunday from 11am-3pm. It is a wonderful opportunity for you to see the work your child has achieved this year, as well as the work they will go on to achieve in future years. Please remind any friends or prospective parents of the date. Thank you to the parents who have put up banners and to all of you for your support of this important event in our school calendar.
New Starters
I would like to welcome the following children and families who have started with us this term:
Sophie 3H, Aditi 2W, Anoushka and Ava in Nursery
Instilling good manners in our children
The beautiful manners and consideration of the children at Highfield are often commented upon by prospective and current parents. The children learn their manners by good teaching and good example. We are currently working hard with them on this area and it is a key focus for this term. Please could you join with us in reinforcing this focus in the evenings, and at the weekend, to help our children to be the very best that they can be.
Out and About
I was walking down the Art and ICT corridor on Tuesday and was at a loss as to where all the children had gone. I peered through the Art room window and, to my surprise, the whole of 4D were there, transfixed by their individual projects. I was keen to see what had them so absorbed and motivated. Ahmed explained that they were doing DT this term and that they were making decorative bird boxes, including their own birds as ornaments for the house. Millie was delicately taking real care to trace out a design for her box, focusing on getting every detail correct. Amelia was really enjoying the task and was excited about it being displayed on Open Day. Clare and Isabelle were deep in concentration on their very intricate patterns. Isabelle was particularly keen to show me her bird box which was painted in a very striking red colour. Suzanna explained to me that she was painting the easy parts before focusing on the detail. Katie was first to finish her decorative birds and explained how they would be attached to the box. It was lovely to see the children in our Art Studio working so passionately with our specialist teacher Miss Jewitt. You could certainly see the commitment and enthusiasm by the children for the project.
The work inside and outside our Art Studio has been updated over the last few weeks, giving you a real flavour of what the children have been working on over the last few months. It is very impressive and definitely worth a visit on Open Day.
HPPTA
A very big thank you to the PTA for presenting the school with a cheque for £5000 towards equipment for the new astro turf. This is a fantastic sum of money which couldn’t have been achieved without the PTA’s hard work and the support of the parent body.
HPPTA Mothers’ Day shop
This will take place during school in the Music Room on Friday 13th March.
Please could children bring £5 per gift, in a named and sealed envelope, by Friday 6th March and give to their class teacher. This year we have more new and exciting gifts to choose from!
Author Visit – Wednesday 4th March
Children’s author, Helena Pielichaty, will be visiting Highfield next week to talk to the children about her experiences as an author and reading in general. All children from Year 1 to Year 6 will be involved in her assembly, followed by two further morning sessions – one with Years 3 and 4 and the other with Years 5 and 6. The children will be able to purchase a signed copy of one of Helena’s books if they wish to (the titles I have been able to organise will mainly be suitable for Years 2, 3 and 4). They will cost £4.99 which should be brought to school in a named envelope on the day if your child would like to purchase one. Mrs Haythornthwaite
Rossall Rugby Tournament
Congratulations to our Under 11 Rugby team who won The Plate at the Rossall Rugby Tournament on Wednesday, ahead of seven other teams. The boys’ performance improved markedly throughout the afternoon, with the ball being passed out wide to runners in space. This was most notable in the final, which we won convincingly, with nearly all the tries being scored on the wing. It also meant that all nine boys had scored a try throughout the afternoon which demonstrated an excellent team performance and grasp of the strategy of Sevens play. This was the second time the school has won The Plate in the last three years (the Donaghy brothers being on both winning teams!)-an incredible achievement for a school that has only been playing contact rugby for five years. We now look forward to our last two matches of the season against Rossall and AKS.
Sedbergh Netball Tournament by Amy and Manahil
On 25th February our team played at the Sedbergh Netball Tournament. We played 8 different schools altogether. We won 4 matches and lost 4 matches. We did really well as we were playing against girls in a higher age group. It was a tough day, mostly because we didn’t have much of a break between matches - most of the time we had one match after another. Our highest win was 6-0 to Highfield, all the girls made a big improvement. Well done girls!
Chess Training at Highfield
Steve Lamb will be coming to Highfield on Sunday 22nd March and will be running two training sessions:
9am – 12pm for those who have recently started playing.
1pm – 4pm for Congress regulars and team members.
The cost will be £5 per session. Numbers are limited so it is advisable to book early.
Please contact Mrs Dable (3M) to secure your place (further contact details can be found on the main playground noticeboard).
Merit Awards
RB: Ibraheem RF: Arianna 1D: Lucie 2M: Beth 2W: Hannah
3H: Zahara 3M: Ameya 4D: Caisey 4M: Aaliyah 5H: Ben 6H: Jake
Monitor of the week: Ismaeel
Thought for the week
Manners hold a community together and manners hold a family together; in a way, they hold the world together. Nancy Friday
Yours sincerely
J M Duke
Headmaster
