Headmaster's Welcome

29 January 2016 

Dear Parents 

Year 1 Assembly 

Thank you Year 1 for your assembly about China and the Chinese New Year. I was impressed by your knowledge and the way you delivered each fact about the topic. I really enjoyed watching the story about the twelve animals which represent each new year. Thank you for sharing with us what you have been studying in class. Your passion and enjoyment for the subject really shone through. Thank you Mrs Davidson for arranging the assembly. 

Chess News 

EPSCA Rapidplay Championships 

Last Saturday, seven members of our Chess Club went to Liverpool to take part in the EPSCA Rapidplay Championships. There were upwards of 200 players taking part from all over the country, with A and B sections in the different age groups. All the boys got to play 6 games, with most of them scoring between 4-5 points! As we have come to expect, Highfield children did exceedingly well: Daniel was the joint runner-up in U9B; Muhammad claimed 3rd in U11B, Dev was joint 2nd in U11B, Ivan achieved joint 1st in U9A, while Alexander was overall winner in U11B. 

Fantastic! Well done, all of you! 

Could parents please note that the chess match against Bolton School has had to be cancelled and will be re-scheduled for a later date.  Thank you. Mr Sheppeck 

Olympic Swimming! 

Last Saturday, six of our swimmers swam in the ISA National Finals in the Olympic Pool, London, representing Highfield and the North of England. It was an incredible experience for this young team; from their journey down, to walking through the Olympic Park, to entering the Olympic Pool itself. They were supported by a large contingent of family, friends, grandparents and peers from school. Just qualifying to swim was an outstanding achievement, however, they went on to swim amazingly well. They swam in 13 out of 25 Primary School races which is a fantastic representation from just one school. The following results are the children’s highest placed results: in Year 4, Zahara came 4th in Breaststroke, Sophie came 2nd in Breaststroke and James came 3rd in Backstroke; in Year 5, Oliver came 1st in three events and in Freestyle he broke the ISA record which was held by James Guy (who is the 200m Freestyle World Champion). An amazing achievement! Olivia came fourth in the Year 5 Freestyle relay and in Year 6, Matthew who was at his third ISA National event, achieved 3 second places. Congratulations to all our swimmers and our 9 podium finishers who helped the North come 3rd overall! 

Out and About with 4S

I was walking past 4S on Wednesday and saw the laptops in action. I was intrigued to see what was going on, so I popped in to ask a few questions. All the children were keen to give me detailed descriptions of the science experiment they had just carried out. Hamdaan and Lilland explained that they were using Microsoft Excel on their laptops to draw a graph to record the results from an experiment which tested how temperature and surface area affects evaporation. Abdullah told me that the experiment had been carried out over 4 days and that the water near the radiator evaporated the most. He also felt that if the radiators had been on over the weekend it may have evaporated altogether and added that he was surprised to find out that the one in the fridge went up. However, he thinks that the condensation on the sides of the container had cooled and turned back into water. I was impressed to see his thought process and how through class discussion he had drawn well thought-out conclusions from the experiment. Eva told me how much they had enjoyed the experiment and watching how the amount of water had changed each day due to the evaporation. She also talked me through how she had used Excel to draw the graph. It was really good to see the children using technology to help them in Science and I know that the work is going on display in the classroom. Come and see it on Open Day! Thank you 4S.

Hockey v Rossall School 

This week we hosted our first Hockey matches against a Rossall School development squad. The weather was slightly gloomy but this didn’t dampen the girls’ spirits. Rossall had 11 players who rotated throughout both matches. The first match ended up 6-0 to Highfield and the second match was a 3-1 loss. The girls have been practising hard and in both matches they demonstrated a quick understanding of the game along with some excellent play. Thanks to Rossall for letting us coach whilst the girls played, allowing us to realise key areas to work on in our next training session. Well done to all the girls on their first match and in particular to our brave goalkeepers, Kairavi and Abigail! Miss McShane 

Ernie’s Incredible Illucinations 

The countdown has really begun. Please come and see our fantastic Year 4 actors and dancers from across the school. There are 96 pupils in the cast from Reception to Year 6 who are taking centre stage at Preston’s Charter Theatre. Tickets are still available from The Charter Theatre Box Office. 

Uniform Reminder 

If your child brings home any item of uniform or kit that belongs to another child, please will you return it to that child the next day. Please could all uniform be clearly named. We have had a few items of uniform go missing recently and hopefully, if we can all work together, these items can be found and returned. Thank you! 

Running Club 

Please could I remind parents that children should not be dropped off until 7.45am. Please wait with your child until Miss McShane arrives. 

Merit Awards 

RD: Lily  RF: Jaya  1D: The Whole Class  1W: Jack  2M: Inas 

3J: Beth  3M: Adam  4D: Ameya 4S: Abdullah  5H: Shaylen  5M: Caisey  6H: Angi 

Monitors of the week: Ben and Finntan 

Thought for the Week 

If you can’t fly, then run, 

If you can’t run, then walk, 

If you can’t walk then crawl, 

But whatever you do, 

You have to keep moving forward.                 Martin Luther King Jr 

What a fantastic week - three National Champions, in chess and swimming and our first hockey match at Highfield! 

Yours sincerely 

J M Duke 

Headmaster