Headmaster's Welcome
Headmaster's News - 18th March 2016
Mar 18, 2016
18 March 2016
Dear Parents
5M Assembly
Thank you 5M for your excellent assembly this morning about Easter and the Christian events and traditions connected with this time of year across the world. We learned all about the relevance of the Easter Bunny, Hot Cross Buns, Easter Bonnets and even when the first chocolate Easter Egg appeared. It was interesting to hear that the American President takes part in an Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn. You really engaged the audience with your clear and confident presentation and I was impressed by your readings of acrostic poems which you had written yourself. It was a perfect end to the class assemblies for this term. Well done Year 5 and thank you to Miss Macklam for organising the Assembly.
Chess
Last Saturday, 4 of the Highfield Chess team represented Lancashire at the U9s EPSCA Northern Championships at Bridgewater High School in Warrington. Matthew, Daniel, Ivan and Eryk helped their team of 18 pupils to battle through to win against 7 other districts (with a team total of 29 points). Matthew, Daniel and Eryk all won 2 of their 3 games. Lancashire are now going on to the National Finals. Well done!
7 more of our children have been invited to represent Lancashire at the equivalent U11s tournament this coming Saturday. We wish them all the best! Mr Sheppeck
New PE and Games Uniform
Our school PE and Games uniform has not changed for many years and it now appears very out-dated alongside other schools and clubs. New materials are now available that are far more suitable for the amount of sport the children play with regard to aeration, durability, ease of washing and warmth. A number of parents have also had issues with the quality of the kit, especially the tracksuits and the zipped top in particular.
I would like our children to wear a PE and Games kit that is not only fit for purpose but also one that gives them a sense of pride as representatives of Highfield Priory School at sporting events across the county. We have been working very closely with Monkhouse over the last year and a half to design and select a sports kit that is durable and looks fantastic. The new kit will be available from Reception upwards with the introduction of a Games top for boys instead of a Polo top in Year 3. It is expected that Reception will buy the new kit for September and Year 3 boys will purchase the new Games top; other year groups can purchase the new kit as they grow out of their old one. There is no pressure to make the transition for September.
We are getting this information to you as early as possible as I know that many parents and children will want to purchase the new kit for September. The new designs were on display at Parents’ Evening. It will be available to buy later in the summer term. We will let you know once it has arrived.
Sporting News
Friday was the start of a very exciting two weeks of celebrating sport at Highfield. Last Friday, our Northern ISA swimming team attended the Preston Sports’ Awards after being shortlisted for Junior Team of the Year. This included all Under 18 teams from across Preston. We were the only school in this category and we were joint runners up to Preston North End Girls’ (U14) Football team. The Highfield team was invited onto the stage and received a certificate in front of over 360 people.
The success carried on: on Monday, the ISA Ambassador for Sport, Mr Brierley, attended Highfield Priory School to present Oliver Covill with a very special trophy for being the best Junior boy in the country after winning three golds at the Olympic pool and breaking a National Record. Mr Brierley then spoke to the children about the importance of sport. After the Assembly he visited our new all-weather pitch and watched our Reception class in action before having a chat to them about why they like sport.
On Monday afternoon, our swimming team entered the Preston Schools Swimming Gala and won Division One, picking up three golds and two silvers in the individual events.
Next week, we have our first two sporting stars of the term visiting the school: Footballer Jill Scott is coming on Tuesday afternoon. Jill has represented England over 100 times and will spend some time talking and training with the children. On Thursday, Toby Lester is coming to school. He has recently started his professional cricket career at Lancashire and will have just returned from Pre-Season training in Dubai the day before. He took three wickets in his first match for Lancashire last year and one with his first ball! We hope to get more sporting stars in next term as well as inviting some old boys and girls back to school to play on and see the new all-weather pitch.
Reception Class Visit 'Adrenaline'
Last week, Reception visited the Adrenaline Centre at Haslingden Leisure Centre to take part in a Grip and Go climbing session. All the children, and staff, were harnessed up and had a go at climbing the different walls. We had a great time!
Here are just a few comments from the children:
Last week I went climbing. It was fun and I want to go again. (Hollie)
We had fun at Grip and Go. We climbed up the wall. (Jaya)
I liked the maze wall the best. I went really high. (William)
I went on the climbing ladder. I had a lot of fun. (Muhammad)
I like the easy wall and I went very high. (Joseph)
I went to the very top of the tyre frame. I felt happy. (Yusuf)
I climbed all the way up to the big blue pole. (Diya)
Mrs Field
Windermere Football
Congratulations to all our boys who travelled to Windermere to play football on Wednesday. It was a lovely afternoon and the boys played really well, winning 1-0. Mr Turner said that they played brilliantly on the pitch and were a credit off it. Great to hear–well done boys!
Year 4 Football and Rugby
All the boys were in action on Thursday, either playing rugby at Westholme or football at the Preston Schools’ Tournament at Tulketh. All the children acquitted themselves very well and enjoyed the experience. The rugby team won both games. Our footballers won three games and reached the quarter finals. Congratulations to all the boys who took part.
Easter Egg Raffle
Easter Eggs have started to arrive in the School Office. Thank you to everyone who has donated an egg so far. The aim is for every child to receive an egg so we still need a lot of donations. Tickets are now on sale each morning. Infant tickets should be bought in the Infant corridor and Junior tickets are available outside the school office. The first draw will be on Wednesday. Thank you everyone for your support.
Merit Awards
RD: Moin RF: Joshua 1D: Neelesh 1W: Rohan 2M: Stephen
3J: Beatrice 3M: Jaison 4D: Ziyad 4S: James 5H: Aditya 5M: The Whole Class 6H: John
Monitors of the week: Hannah and Alexander
Thought for the week
Sports do not build character. They reveal it.
Heywood Broun
Yours sincerely
J M Duke
Headmaster
