Headmaster's Welcome

Headmaster's Weekly News, Friday 22nd March, 2019

Mar 22, 2019

22 March 2019

Dear Parents

1W Assembly
Thank you Year 1 for your Materials Assembly. I really enjoyed finding out about what you have been studying in class. We learnt that fabric is light, flexible and soft which makes it good for clothes and that glass is transparent and rigid and good for windows. I also found your description of your experiment to find out the best material for an umbrella very interesting. You all spoke very confidently and your knowledge was very impressive. Well done, 1W! Thank you to Mrs Lockwood and Mrs Davidson for organising the assembly.

Trip to the Buddhist Meditation Centre by Year 2
On Monday, we went on a class trip to the Buddhist Meditation centre in Preston to learn about Buddhism. It was a big, red Victorian building on the outside but the inside was amazing! As we stepped into the hallway, we were greeted by an 8 foot statue of Buddha wearing golden robes. Our guide, a Buddhist monk called Gen Kelsang Pagpa, took us into a room where we had to take our shoes off, then we made our way into the meditation room. We looked carefully at the shrine and all the artefacts on display and asked the monk lots of questions about them. We asked some super questions: Maryam asked if Buddhists have to pray facing a certain direction; Luca asked what the monk thought the world would be like if Buddha hadn’t existed - the monk particularly liked that question. He explained that following Buddhism is to think about life and searching for happiness in a simple way. Then he told us about the robes he was wearing and the reason why Buddhist monks and nuns shave their heads. He showed us all how to meditate, which we really enjoyed. It makes you feel very relaxed and peaceful. It was only a short visit but it was very interesting and we learnt a lot and enjoyed the experience.

Out and About in Pre-School
I visited Pre- School this week and was greeted by Martha the parrot who was struggling with the sounding of her words. The children were very keen to help Martha with the first group sitting down quickly on the carpet. Sienna explained that Martha flies to school before giving her a big kiss. Aidan also stroked Martha and was very keen to help. The children took it in turns to take a picture card out of the bag and show it to the group. Chad’s card was a picture of a dog. The group repeated the word before telling Martha the sound at the start and at the end of the word. Martha was still struggling and whispered the word ‘doll’ to Miss Halstead. The children were quick to tell Martha which sound was wrong and help her to correct it. Edward was next and his card was a picture of a leaf. Martha once again struggled saying it was a ‘leek’. Aidan said both words start with ‘L’ but Leek finishes with a ‘K’. Martha corrected herself and the children gave her a clap. In the next group, Aliya told me that parrots come from the jungle. She then selected a card with a picture of a dolly on it. They all said the word together to help Martha. Martha said the word Molly. Mia was quick to correct her, saying Molly starts with ‘M’ and then Jemima counted 1,2,3 before all the children repeated the word together. The next card was leaf again and Jemima said they fall off trees and Krisha said it started with ‘L’. George repeated the word correctly with a lovely big smile, pleased that he had pronounced it correctly. The final group played alphabet bingo. Joshua did very well getting three quick counters on his board as he correctly found and pronounced his sound. Wei Yi was very good at identifying the letters and their names which helped him to locate them on his board. Aurora also really enjoyed the game, repeating the sounds and matching the sounds correctly. Thank you Pre-School! I really enjoyed witnessing just how much you have progressed since the start of the year and watching how much you enjoyed the games. I also think you really helped Martha the Parrot. Well done!

Open Day
The school had a very successful Open Day on Sunday with lots of prospective parents and current parents touring the school. The new parents were very impressed by the quality of work and the progress the children have made since the start of the year. They were also very complimentary about our tour guides who spoke with confidence, knowledge and passion about their school. Thank you to everyone who supported on the day and to all the staff and children for their hard work in the lead up to this event.

Compliance Check
Mr Wood, the Chair of Education for our Governing Body, completed a compliance check, this week, in preparation for our Inspection later this academic year. He interviewed staff and children, looked at the children’s books, watched lessons and checked policies. He was very impressed with everything he saw and especially enjoyed his conversations with the children who were all very enthusiastic about the school and about what they have been studying. I would like to thank him for his time this week and his continued support of Highfield Priory School as a Governor.

Easter Egg Raffle
The Easter Egg Raffle will take place in the final week of term. This is one of the highlights of the year for most of the children. We try to guarantee that there is an egg for every child who buys a ticket so we need as many donations as possible from our parent body. Please drop off eggs at the office. All funds raised go to the PTA. Thank you for your support!

Celebration Assembly
Our Celebration Assembly takes place next Friday. If your child has won a trophy or gained a certificate outside school, and they would like to celebrate that achievement, please could they bring it in next week for the assembly.

Parents’ Evening
This will take place next Thursday. The appointment sheets are in the Dining Room.

Tag Rugby v Oakhill
All the boys played in their final Rugby game of the year on Wednesday against Oakhill. We played 5 matches in total of tag rugby. The pace of the games was very fast with both the teams demonstrating excellent attacking skills. Our support play definitely improved throughout the afternoon leading to some excellent tries. In the end, we won one, drew two and lost two games. All the boys from both schools enjoyed the afternoon and were rewarded with a cookie and drink afterwards. We move onto cricket next week in preparation for next term.

Under 11s Netball at Windermere School
The Netball team travelled to Windermere Senior School on Wednesday to play in a small friendly tournament against Windermere school, Giggleswick School and Austin Friars. This was the girls’ final Netball match of the season before Rounders and Athletics start after Easter. The girls all showed great passing and movement skills with some tight marking in defence and some accurate shooting. Thank you to Windermere school for being very good hosts. The girls really enjoyed the Netball, the view and the match teas!

Mrs Parsons

Merit Awards
RB: Khadijah RH: Muhammad 1D: Toby 1W: The Whole Class 2E: Maryam
3J: Frank 3M: Bethan 4D: Umar 4S: Anshi 5M: Arjun 6H: Abdullah 6P: Kavya

Monitor of the week: Katie

Yours sincerely

J M Duke
Headmaster