Headmaster's Welcome
Headmaster's News, Friday 20th September, 2019
Sep 20, 2019
HIGHFIELD PRIORY NEWSLETTER
20TH SEPTEMBER, 2019
SCHOOL NEWS
4D Assembly
Thank you 4D for delivering an exceptional first Assembly of the academic year today. The focus of this Assembly was the International Day of Peace which takes place tomorrow. 4D explained that the emphasis this year is Climate Change. We all really enjoyed watching your play and song about peace which helped us to reflect and think about the importance of this day around the world. Congratulations to all of 4D and thank you to Mr Drake for organising this Assembly.
Whole School Photograph
It was lovely to see the whole school coming together from the age of 2 upwards for our whole school photograph on Monday. There were over 200 children in the picture, all looking very smart. I am looking forward to seeing the final picture when it is returned to school in a few weeks’ time.
Out and About with Reception
I visited Reception this week to see how they were settling into their first few weeks of school. They were talking about directions. The children were sitting on the carpet, working in pairs and thinking about what words they would use to direct someone. AbuBakr suggested forwards and down, Chad said we could use a compass and Aliya said we could go to the North Pole. Mrs Bennett then turned us all into pirates, much to the children’s delight, and said we were going on a treasure hunt. Isabella turned to me and said, ‘This is what you have to do as pirates!’ and with her hand raised she said, ‘Ahaaa!’ We then marched off to the playground to start the treasure hunt. Mrs Bennett had hidden the treasure and she gave the children instructions to find it. They had to follow the directions carefully to avoid the sea and the volcano. They went forwards, backwards, right and left and, to their great joy, they eventually found the treasure. The children then took it in turns to lead the pirates to the treasure. Pirate Sienna went first. She shouted, ‘Forward, right, North, South and North Pole!’ which amazingly led the children to the treasure. Aidan was up next, and his journey involved a wall which needed a special code. We went South West and North before he said that the code was that people with cardigans and ties could open the door. When this was achieved, the children rushed through to claim the treasure. Captain Henry was next and used instructions like forward, stop and lots of very clear hand gestures to guide the pirates to the treasure. The children had so much fun and were excited about returning later in the week to have another go. It was lovely to see the children so relaxed and really enjoying this activity together.
Curriculum Evenings
We completed all the Curriculum Evenings for the year last week. Thank you for supporting these events. I hope they managed to answer many of your questions and also gave you an insight into the curriculum for the year ahead. The next important date will be Parents Evening on 26th September. This will give you another chance to speak to your child’s class teacher and see how your child has settled in and started the term.
Student Council - our councillors for this term:
1D: Brodie 1W: Alfie 2E: Melissa 2J: Lily 3M: Georgia 4D: Yusuf 4S: Ayman 5H: Macaulay 5M: Tim 6P: Arjun and Sienna
Grammar School Examinations
Our Year 6 children are working incredibly hard in preparation for these examinations at the moment. I want to wish them all good luck for the examinations which take place on Saturday 28th September.
NURSERY NEWS
After a busy Summer of playing out in the sunshine, exploring the garden and watching the butterflies, the Autumn term is now in full swing in Nursery. All our new children who have started with us, or who have recently moved into Nursery from Toddlers, have settled into Nursery life amazingly quickly! We are already enjoying going on nature walks in Highfield Haven, looking for conkers, watching the squirrels and even looking for the odd Gruffalo!
Our new outside decking area has become very popular. The children love to watch the birds in the trees using the binoculars, so much so that last week the children made bird feeders with Miss Travis to hang in the trees.
Mrs Beaumont has been helping our children to develop their hand and eye co-ordination through supporting the children with simple sewing techniques. The Nursery children are showing a great interest in colours and shapes this term so we are enjoying taking part in open ended play to support their curiosity and interest. Alongside this we have settled back into Nursery routine by participating in visits to the dance studio and the much loved library.
NEWS FROM THE SPORTS FIELD
The first Netball match of the season took place on Wednesday. All the girls were very enthusiastic to step onto the court. We played the first game amazingly well, with excellent marking. Everyone was quick on their feet and we ended with a 12-0 win. The second game was also played well and we got a few opportunities to shoot. We lost 0-6 but played really well. We are all really looking forward to our next netball match. By Nandini
On 11th September, half of Year 5 and 6 girls played Hockey against Sedbergh Prep School. I noticed that for quite a few people it was the first time they had played Hockey against another school yet they played brilliantly! I enjoyed the whole experience very much and I am sure all the girls did too. Our goalie, Isabelle, was the player of the match because she saved many goals. We did very well as a team but were narrowly beaten by Sedbergh. I am very much looking forward to our next match. By Edie
Wednesday saw the start of the football season for the senior boys with a fixture against our friends from St Maria Goretti. The team played bright, inventive football going forward. It was especially pleasing to see the mix of skilful dribbling and controlled possession with attacking intent. After this early fixture, we can progress through further work on our defensive shape because we conceded too many chances. Our next fixture is against AKS on Friday 27th September.
MERITS and AWARDS
Week Ending 13.9.19
RB: Isabella 1D: Dylan 1W: Adam 2E: Melissa 2J: Daisy 3M: Lola 4D: Hugo 4S: Bethan 5H: Evie 5M: Ariana 6P: Sienna
Monitor of the week: Ayesha
Week Ending 20.9.19
RB: Henry 1D: Presley 1W: Sarah 2E: Anoushka 2J: Scarlett 3M: Luca 4D: The Whole Class 4S: Aaron 5H: Megan 5M: Sasha 6P: Martha
Monitor of the week: Inas
High 5 Award: Yusuf
Sports’ Captains
Boys’ Sports’ Captain - Stephen
Netball - Nandini
Hockey - Edie
REMINDERS
Jewellery
Please could I remind parents that earrings, bracelets or any type of jewellery should not be worn in school.
Gardening Club
Please could any plant photographs, from last term’s gardening club, be sent to Ms Eccles.
HPPTA News
HPPTA meetings Tuesday 24th September 3.15pm and Wednesday 25th September 8.20am
Parents’ Evening Thursday 26th September Pre-School –Year 6
Open Morning
Highfield Priory School will be opening its doors to prospective parents on Thursday 10th October from 9am-12noon. Please could you pass on this information to anyone who may be interested. We want to celebrate our school with as many people as possible!
If you have a roadside property, and are happy for us to display a banner, please could you let the School Office know. Thank you for your support.
FACT of the FORTNIGHT
Smiling is actually contagious.
Since people possess an instinct for facial mimicry, your grin can literally turn someone's frown upside down.
