Headmaster's Welcome
Headmaster's Weekly News, Friday 21st September, 2018
Sep 21, 2018
21 September 2018
Dear Parents
4D Class Assembly
Thank you 4D for your wonderful Class Assembly, the first of the year! We learnt all about your first Science topic: Habitats. You took us on a journey to different areas of the earth to find out how animals adapt to different habitats. We learnt many fascinating facts, including what we all need to do to protect our planet. The Assembly finished with a very catchy Habitat song which we will be singing all weekend! Your Assembly was highly enjoyable but it also helped to reinforce a very important message. Thank you 4D and Mr Drake for preparing and delivering an excellent assembly in just the third week of term. Well done!
Open Morning - Thursday 4th October
Open Morning is coming up on Thursday 4th October from 9am-12noon. If you have friends, work colleagues or family who would like to come and see the school in action, please do invite them to join us. Our Year 6 children will be our Open Day guides. They really enjoy the experience and they offer our visitors a valuable insight into life through the years at Highfield.
News from the Nursery
Nursery have been planting bulbs with Mrs Beaumont ready for next Spring and they have enjoyed a woodland walk looking for signs of Autumn. The children have also spent time in the sports hall, kicking and playing with a variety of balls in order to develop their physical skills. There has been plenty of messy play during which the children have been identifying colours and exploring different textures.
So much variety in just a week! I will definitely be popping in to see what they are up to next week.
Out and About with Year One
I watched Year 1 in PE this week where they were learning striking and fielding skills within a game based on Rounders. The children were fully engaged when I walked into the Sports Hall, listening to Mrs Botton’s instructions and clearly excited about starting the game. I watched Reuben take fist turn, striking the ball well and managing to get to the second cone before it was returned by the fielders. Next up was Anoushka. The children knew that Anoushka was a good striker of the ball and they spread out towards the back of the Sports Hall as she made superb contact with the ball. Penny, Shreya and Ali worked well together, retrieving the ball and stumping the base. Tabitha and Johnny were up next, both striking the ball well. Melissa said they needed to cover the empty space before running off to take a position that was free. The children were then called together to recap the rules and what they had learned so far. Penny said that the fielders were all on the same team and they needed to work together. Wei Ann added that the batter needed to make sure that they ran around the outside of the cones. Tabitha and Johnny said that they needed to make sure that they ran around the correct cones. Tabitha said that hers were white and Johnny said that his were yellow. Both games then restarted with the fielding teams really cooperating with each other. Raj did an excellent bit of fielding, supported by Aidan, restricting Johnny to one cone. Shreya made really good contact with the ball and nearly managed to run around all the cones. It was lovely to watch all the skills the children were learning and how they improved in such a short period of time.
The Netball Season Begins!
On Wednesday, all 32 of our Year 5 and 6 girls played in the first Netball fixture of the year against SMH.
The U11 team played first, starting strongly after some words of encouragement from the new Netball Captain, Sasha, and getting the ball to the shooters on many occasions. It was end-to-end play with both teams struggling to get the ball into the net. It was SMH who took the lead and went into half time 2-0 up. The Highfield girls continued to play some of the best netball they have ever played, putting into practice the defending techniques they’d learned in their games lessons. However, after a fast-paced match the final score was 8-4 to SMH.
Player of the match - Sasha
Next to play was the U10 team. They too started extremely well, scoring within the first 30 seconds of the match. They continued to dominate with some fantastic defending and fast passing up the court; they went into half time 7-0 up. The second half saw some more great play from the Highfield girls, however, the SMH team had settled into their positions and began to dominate. Despite some fantastic defending from us, SMH scored 3 goals in a row. However, Highfield maintained their composure and secured a victory: 7-3.
Player of the match - Nandini.
Well done to all the girls, especially to those who played in their first ever competitive fixture for Highfield.
BMX Nationals
Congratulations to James C who competed in the National BMX finals in Blackpool last weekend and came fourth out of the whole country! This is an incredible achievement; well done, James!
Cards and Games in School
Please could I remind all children and parents that toys and cards/trading cards should not be brought into school. They cause upset when they are lost or broken and they can be a distraction in lessons.
Coffee Morning on 12th October
We are planning to hold a Coffee Morning for all parents on Friday 12th October. This is a great opportunity for parents to meet, introduce themselves and welcome new parents to the school. A large number of the staff will also be present. Refreshments will be served after drop off, from 8.30am.
Dates for the Diary
Wednesday 26th - under 11s Netball Festival SMH
Thursday 27th - Nursery to Year 5 Parents’ Evening.
3M Parents’ Evening will be held on Tuesday 16th October
Friday 28th September - 1D Assembly
Awards
RB: Eliza RH: Presley 1D: Daisy 1W: Anoushka 2E: Zaidan
3J: Evie 3M: Muhammad 4D: The Whole Class 4S: Neelesh 5M: Brooke 6H: Katie 6P: Aishah
Monitor of the week: Abdullah
High 5 Award: Inas
Thought for the Week
‘Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.’ Willie Nelson
Yours sincerely
J M Duke
Headmaster
