Headmaster's Welcome
Headmaster's News - 13th March 2015
Mar 13, 2015
13 March 2015
Dear Parents
3M Assembly
Thank you Year 3 for reminding us who is the most important person in our lives: our mums. It was very special to hear about why your mum is special to you: from making great pasta dishes; to mums doing silly dances; to being there to referee when you have arguments with your siblings. We really felt the special bond between you and your mums. You made us smile, laugh and, in some cases, shed a tear. Thank you for making us reflect and think about our own mothers and I hope that you choose very carefully at the Mothers’ Day shop. Thank you to Mrs Morrice for arranging the assembly.
Out and About
I walked in to a Year 2 classroom on Monday and nearly walked out again to check I was in the right place: a class of six and seven year olds were creating a spreadsheet to help a restaurant in Barnoldswick with their finances and recipes! Mr Turner was introducing the basic concepts and hands were flying up answering any question asked. Zain and Darcey understood the importance of columns and rows and how to use the axis. The children were then off on their first task which was adding numbers to their spreadsheet and then using a program which added the numbers up themselves. The children were astonished that the spreadsheet could add up any numbers, however big, and was really helping them with the task in hand. I watched Sasha enter the formula very carefully before checking it and then pressing the enter sign. Her satisfaction of achieving the objective was shown clearly on her face before she progressed onto the next row. The class then moved on to using the same process to complete times and division, all the time building up their spreadsheet. Alfie was enjoying the challenge of completing each instruction, saying them out loud and enjoying the success when he got it right. Joshua A had really gained a good understanding of the spreadsheet and was using a different formula on each row to complete very different tasks. He was also offering help to others. All the children were really enjoying the lesson, relishing in their own achievements. They were also using skills that would be used by many businesses.
A large part of the IT curriculum is about how we use computers to aid the work we cover in the curriculum and also how it is used to make tasks easier in the work place; this was certainly apparent in this lesson. Thank you Mr Turner, I hope your class does manage to help the Barnoldswick restaurant.
News from the Nursery
Nursery have had a really busy week this week, looking at parts of the body and doing some lovely self-portraits. We have done string painting on teapots for, “I’m a Little Teapot”, threaded rainbows with different coloured ribbons and looked at the first letter of our names (alongside all our usual activities).
A reminder for all Nursery and Pre-School parents that Parents’ Evening is on Tuesday 17th from 6pm until 7.30pm. Mrs Elstone
PTA
A big thank you to the PTA for once again running a very successful Mothers’ Day shop. The children really enjoyed choosing the right present and it was very interesting to watch them deliberate over their choice. I hope they have made the right one!
Staff Changes
Miss Maun leaves us today to take on her new role as Nursery Manager and to be closer to her family in Glasgow. I would like to wish her the best of luck from all the staff and parents in her new position. Miss Wenk, who has been at Highfield for 4 1/2 years, has been appointed as our new Deputy Nursery Manager.
Preston Schools’ Swimming Gala by Tom D 6H
On Monday 9th March, eight children from Highfield School travelled to West View Leisure Centre to compete against five other schools in the Preston Schools’ Swimming Gala. The competition was fierce as Cottam and Broughton were both competing in our age group with many club swimmers. The competition kicked off with six individual races with Highfield having some fantastic performances: Katie H (two 2nds), Matthew W (one 3rd and one 2nd) Tom D (2nd). Jemima, in her first gala, had a very good swim also. These swims gained us valuable points going into the relays. Due to last minute changes in the relays because of an unwell swimmer, Highfield gained a 3rd place from Olivia, Noah, Alexander and Tom in the front crawl relay. Noah and Alexander were also in their first gala and performed amazingly well. Overall, Highfield gained a fantastic 3rd place with 39 points, just 3 points behind Broughton, and 13 points behind Cottam.
I would like to say a big well done to all the swimmers who participated and thank you to West View for holding such an enjoyable gala.
Year 4 Football
The Year 4 boys visited Rossall on Friday afternoon. An entertaining game of football was played out with important contributions from the entire team. Charlie and Shaylen looked to be growing into good defenders with well-timed tackles and old fashioned body-on-the-line blocks! Noah's dribbling, especially in the second half, gave us an attacking foothold in the game. However, if I were to go down a more individualistic route, I would select Aditya as Man of the Match; brave in the one on ones with some big kicking thrown in; he was a vital element to our positive performance. I would to thank the parents for taking the time to come and watch, and Rossall for being fantastic hosts. Mr Turner
Rugby v Rossall School
On a very, very wet afternoon, 31 boys from Years 5 and 6 travelled to Rossall to play rugby. The A team, without captain Jake, battled hard in very difficult conditions and, after a poor start, came back to level the game four tries to four early in the second half. They continued to dominate the second half but were unable to break through to score the crucial try. In the last seconds of the game, Rossall’s fastest player broke away from deep in his own half to score the winning try. In the B team, the boys really improved on their last outing at Stonyhurst. They were a lot more physical and took the game to the opposition; the final score was three tries all.
I was very proud of all the boys who all played well and actually enjoyed the conditions! The team tea afterwards was definitely a well-deserved reward and it was lovely to see the camaraderie between the two teams which included arm wrestling and staring competitions! Thank you to all the parents who came to support and to Mr Turner and Mrs Street. It was a very memorable day and an enjoyable conclusion to our competitive rugby season.
Merit Awards
RB: Evie RF: Haaris 1D: Nandini 2M: Daisy 2W: Abdullah
3H: Hamdaan 3M: The Whole Class 4D: Suzanna 4M: Isabel 5H: George 6H: Tom D
Monitor of the week: Ismaeel
Thought for the Week
All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother. Abraham Lincoln
Yours sincerely
J M Duke
Headmaster
