Headmaster's Welcome
Headmaster's News, Friday 6th March, 2020
Mar 6, 2020
School News
5H Work Assembly
The Apprentice comes to Highfield! As part of Year 5’s HPSED lessons this year they were challenged with researching, creating, advertising and presenting a completely new product to a supermarket. 5H talked about the process of how they prepared themselves for that all important pitch from how they presented themselves, to carrying out market research, to giving their products a USP (unique selling point). The children created new chocolate bars, snacks and breakfast cereals and designed adverts with catchy strap lines to help advertise their product. They had learned so many skills as well as improving their ability to speak to inform and to persuade. Their imaginations had come up with some exciting new products. They would certainly brighten up our supermarket shelves! Thank you to Mrs Duke for organising this assembly.
Music Assembly
Last Friday, our musicians entertained us with a very impressive musical assembly. A child performed from every class in the Juniors. The children demonstrated a real range of talent, performing with their voices as well as on unusual instruments like the ukulele. A few children had performed in previous assemblies but were now playing on different instruments. We had a few children playing in their first assembly and they showed real composure and confidence in front of such a large audience. I was also amazed by the standard of performance from our Year 5 and 6 performers; your hard work and dedication is really paying off with many of you working towards your Grade 3 or above. Thank you Miss Macklam for organising the assembly and to all our music teachers for their support.
Staff Announcement
Mr Sheppeck has recently been appointed Head of Bury Boys’ Junior School and Deputy Principal of the Primary Schools, for September. I would like to congratulate him on his appointment.
Out and About with 5H
On Tuesday, I visited Year 5 in their General Knowledge lesson. Their task was to work in pairs to match countries to the continents they were from. They were excited by the task and enjoyed sharing their knowledge with a partner about the different countries. Each group approached the task in a slightly different way. One group went through the list methodically ticking one country at a time. Another wrote down the countries they knew first. The class completed the task quickly taking time to discuss the ones they weren’t sure about. They then checked their answers in the atlas and were very proud of themselves when they had got them all right, especially when they were not sure about a few countries. The groups were very competent at using the index and grid references to complete the task successfully. A few groups then moved onto a domino game where they had to match countries, capitals and flags. Once again, I was impressed by the class’ knowledge and how well they worked with one another. Thank you 5H and Mrs Haythornthwaite for a very interesting lesson.
Out and About with Reception
I also visited Reception this week. It was a hive of activity! I listened to readers while the children busied themselves in the classroom. The children were very keen to read their books to me, sounding out each letter and word carefully before reading the whole sentence. They were delighted to complete each page and finish the book successfully. You could really see the sense of achievement on their faces and in their comments. Keep up the good work, Reception!
World Book Day
Highfield became a fictional world yesterday as it was World Book Day! We had a real range of costumes from Maleficent to Mr Stink. We all had great fun guessing each other’s characters. It was a wonderful celebration of literature and it gave the children lots of ideas of what to read in the future.
Junior Mastermind Final
It was also the World Book Day Mastermind Final. The children in Year 6 have been reading 5 books since the start of the year and 5 children made it to the final. They were asked questions on the original 5 books as well as an extra book to learn for the final. All the finalists showed an incredible depth of knowledge for all the books as they answered questions in front of the school. It was very competitive but the title of World Book Day Mastermind Champion went to Nandini! Congratulations to all our finalists: Arjun, Hashbala, Saimah, Alaia and Nandini. Thank you to Mrs Haythornthwaite for organising this experience for Year 6.
Nursery News
Miss Travis and Miss Greer have been embracing all weathers with our children in our natural woodland area: Highfield Haven. They have enjoyed building dens, taking bark rubbings, doing woodwork and examining different flowers and wildlife. Last week, we had a real focus on developing our fine motor skills through threading. We have also been working on our counting skills and our self-help skills as the children have been practising putting on their own shoes and coats.
News from the Sports Field
ISA Netball Tournament by Sienna and Tia
On Wednesday 26th February, eight netball players attended the ISA Tournament at Hulme Hall School. Everyone played really well and showed great enthusiasm. We played five matches: AESG, Scarisbrick Hall, Hale Prep, Brabyns and Lady Barn. This time the posts were 10 feet high and the balls were size 5! We all had a wonderful time.
Netball v Oakhill by Inas and Ayesha
On Wednesday 26th February, girls from Years 5 and 6 played against Oakhill. We had three fantastic groups who took turns to play: green, red and blue. We won three out of the four matches we played. We had some excellent shooters including Evie, Ayesha and Talia and there were some great passes from Inas, Isabelle and Alaia. A lot of hard work came from everyone. Well done!
Netball v Harris
Well done to all the girls who played in the match on Monday. The weather was fine so we were able to play outside. All 3 teams displayed excellent footwork which the girls have been working on during games lessons. Their defending and attacking skills were also very good with some turnovers and the girls showed confidence when shooting from a distance. Mrs Parsons
On Thursday 12th March, the Football and Netball matches v Westholme School will now just involve Year 3 pupils not Year 4 as stated in the calendar. Thank you! Mrs Parsons and Mrs Botton
Merits and Awards
Week ending 28.2.20
RB: Henry 1D: Presley 1W: Summer 2E: Wei Ann 2J: Daisy 3M: Georgia 4D: Frank 4S: Hollie 5H: Aadi 5M: Danial 6P: Khadija Monitors of the week: Inas and Saimah High 5 Award: Tejas
Week ending 6.2.20
RB: Chad 1D: Khadijah 1W: Eliza 2E: Flora 2J: Lily 3M: Naina 4D: Anoush 4S: The Whole Class 5H: The Whole Class 5M: Tim 6P: Arjun Monitors of the week: Hiba and Inas
Reminders
Open Day
Open Day will take place next Sunday, 15th March, from 11am-3pm. This will give all parents a chance to look at their child’s classroom displays as well as looking at what subjects they may be covering next year. Please could you pass on the date and time to any friends or colleagues who may be interested in Highfield. We would like to celebrate the school’s success and your child’s achievements with as many people as possible. Pupils from Years 4-6 have been invited on the day to help with tours and activities. Thank you for your support.
Emails into School
Please could you use the School Office email for any messages that need to be sent into school and not the Finance Office email. Thank you.
Fact of the Fortnight
Men are six times more likely to be struck by lightning than women.
