Headmaster's Welcome

Headmaster's Weekly News, Friday 17th May, 2019

May 17, 2019

17 May 2019

Dear Parents

3M Assembly
Thank you, 3M, for your assembly this morning about World Day for Cultural Diversity which is on 21st May. You talked about what the word ‘culture’ means and how it can be seen in people’s writing, religion, music, clothes and cooking. You explained that World Day for Cultural Diversity is about gaining an understanding of each other’s culture in order to promote peace. It was interesting to hear what products you use at home and their countries of origin. Your assembly even took us back many years in history to talk about how Anglo-Saxons, Scandinavian Vikings and Norman invaders have all contributed words and sayings to the English language. The benefits of having such a diverse culture in a country were evident throughout the assembly and had particular relevance to Highfield. You told us that Highfield alone has 15 languages, other than English, that are spoken. You finished the assembly by singing the song Everyone Belongs. Thank you 3M for delivering this very important assembly and for preparing us for May 21st. Thank you to Mrs Morrice for organising it. Mr Sheppeck

Year 6 NCTs
Congratulations to all our Year 6 pupils who completed their National Curriculum Tests this week. You worked incredibly hard in the lead up to these tests and I am very proud of you all. You can now look forward to a very busy week of Safer Cycling, a variety of sporting events and Manor Adventure.

Year 3 Team Building
Year 3 had a wonderful sunny morning on Wednesday for their team building session with Mrs Jones. They had to work together to solve a variety of difficult challenges. I first watched a group, consisting of Diya, Frank, James, Aaron and Amber, tackle The Water Carry. They had to carry a bucket of water on a garden cane around a range of obstacles without spilling any water. The children really encouraged each other, giving each other instructions and taking it in turns to lead. Amber was so delighted with their achievement, informing me that they didn’t spill a drop. The second group, made up of Lily, Leo, Joshua, Anoush and Eliza, was attempting to navigate themselves across an imaginary swamp on two planks of wood. They were working really well together with clear commands, shouting ‘Heave’ to lift and ‘Ho’ to pull. I watched two groups -Yusuf, Evie, Bethan, Thomas E, Haya, and Hiba, Jaya, Muhammad and Moin - passing messages using semaphore flags. They quickly realised that they had to make their shapes very clearly if their team was going to decipher the message. The next group of Taylor, Luca, Hugo, Sophie and Hayden was completing a timed exercise involving passing a ball quickly around a circle; they needed real patience and good communication skills. I was really impressed by how they kept calm under pressure. The final group of Hollie, Ayman, Joseph, Manavi and Thomas P was doing The Great Crate Challenge. This involved getting from one place to another using milk crates without touching the ground. They were having lots of fun, really helping each other and taking it in turns to have a leadership role. It was a very successful morning with everyone really enjoying the experience. I know that the children will be able to take many of these team skills and apply them to other areas of their lives at home and school. Thank you to Mrs Jones for organising this team building morning.

Cricket v Westholme
A squad of eight played hardball (pairs) cricket against Westholme on Wednesday at Longridge Cricket Club. We were hosting the game and it was great for the boys to have the opportunity to play at one of the top cricket clubs in the area. We batted first and posted an excellent total of 96 runs losing only one wicket. This was down to sensible batting, excellent running between the wickets and a few big hits for four. Westholme struggled to reply to this total with some excellent bowling from all the Highfield players and a particularly good spell from Eryk who claimed three wickets. The final Westholme pair managed a few good boundaries but they were still over fifty runs short of our total. Congratulations to the boys on a really good performance. Thank you to Longridge for the use of their cricket pitch. We now look forward to travelling up to Cumbria next week to play Sedbergh School.

Year 4 Rounders v SMH
Thirteen very excited girls travelled to SMH this week to play in their first ever Rounders match, early in the season. The girls all showed some excellent teamwork and communication skills and their fielding improved with each innings. The accuracy of the Highfield bowling was excellent. Well done to all the girls. Mrs Parsons

Rounders v SMH
All the year 5 and 6 girls played in a rounders match v SMH on Wednesday. The conditions were very hot but all girls played very well. We had some excellent catches, superb hits and brilliant teamwork. Well done girls. Mrs Parsons and Mrs Botton

Internet Safety
Thank you to Dr Musker who visited school this afternoon and spoke to all the children in Key Stages 1 and 2 as well as parents and staff. He really highlighted the potential dangers of the internet and gave us all valuable advice about keeping ourselves and our children safe on line. I hope you all found the session of value and will be able to put many of the key points into practice at home.

Dates for the Diary
Safer Cycling 20-23 May
Class and Team Photographs 21 May
Under 11s ISA Rounders 22 May
Under 11s Cricket v Sedbergh 2pm 22 May
Depart for Manor Adventure 24 May

Merit Awards
RB: Sarah RH: Yusef 1D: Samira 1W: Wei Ann 2E: Luca
3J: Manavi 3M: The Whole Class 4D: Zorain 4S: Lameesa 5M: Lucas
6H and 6P: The Whole Year Group
Monitor of the week: Ayesha

Thought for the Week
Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence like accomplishment. Thomas Carlyle

Yours sincerely

J M Duke
Headmaster