Headmaster's Welcome

Headmaster's Weekly News, Friday 13th July, 2018

Jul 13, 2018

13 July 2018
 
 
 
Dear Parents
 
Year Six Leavers’ Assembly
Thank you to our wonderful Year 6 - Class of 2018 - who delivered such a moving Assembly this morning. Their Assembly began with children telling us when they started at Highfield and sharing some of their early memories and achievements. It was lovely to hear their stories and see how the year group has grown and developed into the strong and confident group of friends we see today. It has been a very successful year and you certainly should be very proud of yourselves. The Assembly finished with a fabulous collection of images from the children’s time at Highfield and a musical tribute from Year 6! So many happy memories and some inevitable tears. Thank you Mrs Prince, Mrs Haythornthwaite and Mr Drake for arranging this fantastic last assembly for the Class of 2018.
 
NCT Results
Congratulations to our Year 6 who achieved a fantastic set of NCT results which were published this week. We achieved 100% Expected Level in all subjects and 85% achieved Exceeding in Punctuation and Grammar, 73% in Comprehension and 85% in Maths. A superb achievement - well done!
 
Team Building with Year 3
It was Year 3’s Team Building afternoon on Monday. The children worked as teams to complete a series of activities. I was really impressed by their support for one another as they encouraged each other and took it in turns to lead the group. They completed activities ranging from Semaphore Messaging to the Great Grate Challenge. I watched two activities: the Water Carry and the Swamp Stompers. The Water Carry involved the children filling up buckets of water and negotiating a course of obstacles which they had to go over and under. The group consisted of Suleman, Genevieve, Abdullah, Sara, Anshi and Neelesh. They worked really well together, trying really hard not to lose any water. There was a lot of laughter, especially when they spilled the water just after they had completed the course. They didn’t let it faze them as they hurried back to the start to try again. The Swamp Stompers group was made up of Lameesa, Tim, Isabelle, Yaamini and Hasan. Their challenge was to stand on two big planks of wood and walk together on the planks to get across the swamp. The group really got to grips with the task and quickly coordinated their movements to complete the activity. They decided to have another go to see if they could be even faster! It was lovely to see the camaraderie between the children and to watch their teamwork skills improve throughout the afternoon. Thank you to Mrs Botton and Mr Turner for organising the activity. 
 
Preston Schools’ Athletics
On Tuesday, the children travelled to UCLan to compete in the Preston Schools Athletics Competition - the final competitive fixture of the year and, for our Year 6 children, their very last for Highfield. The children put in some excellent performances and helped the team to a brilliant 8th place out of 20 schools. Some of our successful athletes included: Matthew - 1st place in the Ball Throw; Grace WY - 2nd place in the 800m; Zahara and James - 4th place in the Long Jump; Charlotte - 5th in the 100m and the Girls Relay Team who came 7th in the final. Well done to the whole Highfield team, we are very proud of you!
 
Year 2 Trip to Blackpool Zoo 
Below are three detailed accounts from Year 2’s recounts of their trip to Blackpool Zoo last week.
 
 
We went to Blackpool Zoo on a coach, it was very sunny.  We soon got there.  We went to see the Wallabies and the Kangaroos.  We read lots of facts about them.  Then we went to see the monkeys.  They were making a lot of noise!  We went out and saw a beautiful peacock.  After that, we went to see the tigers and we saw one gazing at the sun.  At lunchtime, we got to sit down and watch the sea lion show. It was very good!  Next, we went to see the elephants.  There were Indian elephants and they are endangered.  We came across a pond and saw flamingos, next to them were pelicans.  We all got sprayed with water by the penguins.  After a wonderful day we all came home. Evie 
 
We got on the bus and the weather was hot, hot, hot!  The sun was shining through the glass.  We were soon on the motorway and then we were at Blackpool Zoo.  There was a peacock on the roof of the zoo! After putting our lunch bags away, we were ready to look at the animals.  We saw giant tortoises and giraffes.  We had our lunch in front of the sea lions and then we had another look around.  Then we got on the bus and came back to school. 
Hugo 
 
We all got on the coach and I sat next to Yusuf.  We looked out of the window, Yusuf was educating me on what he knew about the villages we passed.  Then we watched Leo and Joe play top trumps, Leo won.  We got off the coach and walked to a small holding area where we put our lunch bags on a shelf.  We saw wolves, they looked a lot like dogs.  They came from Spain.  In the enclosure, they had a bush that they went in that looked like a den.  We had lunch and watched the sea lion show.  The sea lions don’t like being called seals.  Their predators are killer whales and sharks and they were specially trained to do tricks. Lily 
 
It sounds like a fascinating trip! Thank you to all the parents who helped. 
 
Survey
Thank you to everyone who filled in the School Survey we had 80 responses in total. We will be reviewing them over the next few weeks and feedback in September.
 
Ice Cream Van Comes to Highfield!
Thank you to the Nakhuda family who treated the school to an ice cream this week. We certainly had a lot of very happy children on Tuesday afternoon. On behalf of the school, thank you!
 
Summer Fayre
What a wonderful day we had on Sunday! We were spoilt for choice for activities and I know that everyone who attended had a fantastic afternoon. Thank you to our PTA and all the parents and staff who helped to make it such a memorable day.
 
Merit Awards
RD: Samira  RJ: Melissa 1W: Eloise  2D: Sophie  2E: Frank
3H: Aadi  3M: Ariana  4S: Nandini  5D: William  5M: Omar  The Whole of Year 6 
Monitor of the week: Faatimah
 
Thought for the Week
‘The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.’  Phil Jackson
 
Yours sincerely
 
J M Duke 
Headmaster