Headmaster's Welcome
Headmaster's News, Friday 8th October, 2021
Oct 8, 2021
8 October 2021
Dear Parents
3M Assembly
It was lovely to invite parents back into school for our first Class Assembly of the year.
Speaking in public is a very valuable skill and one we place a lot of focus on at Highfield. Our
Class Assemblies are just one of the opportunities in the year for our children to perform.
The focus of the assembly was ‘Resilience’ which is a very important life-skill, not just at this
present time but throughout our lives. The children started the Assembly by introducing the
book ‘The Dot’ by Peter Reynolds which tells the story of Vashti who overcame her belief
that she couldn’t draw. The class then spoke about how they had used this story to discuss
the word ‘Resilience’ and what they individually found difficult. The class shared these
difficulties and how they intended to overcome them with the rest of the school. It was
incredibly powerful to watch this moment as the children took a huge step towards becoming
more resilient by sharing their personal difficulties. Well done, 3M! I was very proud of you
all. It was the perfect Assembly to start the year. Your confidence and presentation skills
were very impressive.
I just want to finish by repeating the quote from Nelson Mandela that ended your Assembly,
‘Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up
again.’
Unfortunately I wasn’t in the Hall with 3M as I am currently looking after my father who is
critically ill in hospital. Thanks to the marvels of technology (and Mr Drake!), I was able to
watch, along with the rest of the school, on Teams.
Thank you 3M and Mrs Morrice for this positive and uplifting start to the day.
Individual and Sibling Photographs
Tempest visited school on Tuesday to take individual and family photographs. We started
with our youngest members of the school first. Nursery sprinted over. They were very
excited and had their best smiles ready. We did wonder whether they thought they were
going for an early lunch! However, as the camera flashed they were not at all fazed, with
many of them laughing and giggling in anticipation. Pre-School was up next and they were
very chatty whilst they were waiting, practising their smiles and talking about their siblings
and pets at home. We then progressed through the school with all the children looking very
smart and helping to make the arrangements run smoothly. It was lovely to see siblings
coming in together, caring for each other and making sure they looked immaculate for the
photograph. There was a real sense of community and family which was lovely to witness.
Order details will be sent home as soon as we receive them from Tempest.
Nursery News
Nursery and Rising 3s have been practising Makaton since the start of term and our children
are becoming very confident with the signs. Both children and practitioners are using the
signs to communicate throughout the day with one another. As we continue to practise this
each day, the variety of signs we are learning is increasing.
Cooking and baking has been a big focus in Nursery over the last few weeks. We have
enjoyed walking to the shops to get the ingredients to make vegetable soup for our tea, we
have also made hedgehog bread and gingerbread stars.
Our Forest School sessions are following the change in season and the treasures that
Autumn can bring. We have loved rolling the conkers down the large tubes, using the hand
drills on the conkers and preparing food, such as lard balls, for the Autumn equinox as the
animals go into hibernation. Mrs Elstone
Under 11s Football Report
On Wednesday, the Y5 and Y6 boys played three matches against SMH. The first match
finished with a score of 2-1 to Highfield, with Thomas scoring a masterclass goal and
Muhammad scoring a crucial second. In the second match, Aarnav scored with an assist
from Zaidan, and Yaseen scored with a tremendous pass from Luca. Final score was 2-1
again. The third match was won 2-0, with Reuben neatly finishing the first goal and Ayman
scoring a solo run. With just a minute to go, HPS conceded a penalty! Hugo Haworth gave a
man of the match performance and produced a show-stopping save to keep the score 2-0! It
was a brilliant day of football for all the boys involved. Well done to everyone! By Moin and Ayman
Under 11s Netball
When we arrived, we were split into two teams: the Maroon team and the Blue team. We
played a total of seven matches. The shooters on the Blue Team were Ayesha and Eliza
scoring 5 nil in total and, on the Maroon team, Hiba and Naina scoring 18 nil in total. It was
a whole team effort and we were very proud of all the players.
The Maroon Team: Jaya, Hiba, Aibhlin, Naina, Georgia, Diya and Lyla.
The Blue Team: Heba, Sophie, Lily, Eliza, Haya, Avni, Malaaikah and Ayesha. Well done
girls! By Jaya and Sophie
Cross-Country
A minibus full of very excited children travelled to Sedbergh Prep on Thursday to take part in
a cross-country race. The U9 girls’ team of Samira, Imogen, Lily and Nahla were nervous
and were first up to run around the very hilly course. They had an amazing race and all
sprinted to the finish line. Next were the U9 boys, again very nervous but Aamir, Reuben and
Yusef ran superbly in their first ever competition. As the rain set in the U11 girls, Sophie,
Lyla, Hiba and Diya and the U11 boys, Frank, James, Zaidan and Thomas ran a great race,
despite the worsening conditions saving some energy for amazing sprint finishes!
Well done to all the runners and a huge thank you to Mrs Williams for all her help and to all
the parents who made the long drive to support us! Mrs Botton
The first race were the girls from Y4; they all did amazing and gave their all. Full of speed,
they ran as hard as they could to the finish line. The boys were next who all had amazing
starts and pushed to get themselves onto the leader board with some tough terrain and
weather to overcome. By the time the Y6 started to race, the ground was really wet, but
everyone kept on pushing running the race of their lives. Well done to everyone and thank
you to Mrs Botton and Mrs Williams. By Thomas
Car Park Safety
We have started to use the Infant playground as an overflow carpark again. Please could
you keep children under close supervision at the end of the school day. Thank you for your
support in keeping our community safe.
School Books
We still have a large number of school books that have not been returned from last year. If
you have any at home, please could you return them so that other children can benefit from
them.
Birthday Cakes Reminder
Cakes for birthdays are distributed in the classroom. For hygiene and cleanliness reasons,
please could children only bring in individual cupcakes (preferably wrapped). This also
guarantees that there is enough for everyone. Thank you.
Term Dates
Next year’s term dates are attached. Please could family holidays be arranged in-line with
the school holidays. Thank you.
Data Protection
Please also find attached a copy of the privacy notice we are required to send out each year
under the General Data Protection Act Regulation.
Merit Awards 1.10.21
RB: Martha 1W: Yusuf 2E: Nityasree
3J: Presley 3M: Amelie 4H: Toby 4M: Anoushka 5D: Naina 6P: Diya
Merit Awards 8.10.21
RB: Evie 1W: Erin 2E: Billy
3J: James 3M: The Whole Class 4H: Scarlett 4M: Ali 5D: Georgia 6P: Aaron
Yours sincerely
J M Duke
Headmaster
