Headmaster's Welcome
Headmaster's News, Friday 3rd of March, 2023
Mar 3, 2023
3rd March 2023
Dear Parents
What an incredibly busy couple of weeks this has been at Highfield. We have had: pupils competing in ISA Netball Tournament and Preston Schools’ Football Quarter Finals; World Book Day; our Junior Mastermind Final; our Musical Assembly and the showstopper that was our performance of The Jungle Book at Landmark. The children have really shown us just how talented they are!
The Jungle Book
On Wednesday evening, Landmark was the place to be in Preston with Highfield Priory School’s performance of The Jungle Book. Children from the age of 4 to 11 took to the stage in front of a large audience to tell the story of The Jungle Book through dance and drama. With bright lights shining, loud music and an unfamiliar setting, I was amazed at just how fearless the children were. They shone in the spotlight and thoroughly enjoyed their moment on stage. Miss Burns’ dancers brought the story to life and confidently showed off the dance skills they have learned this year in their dance lessons. Our Year 4 actors commanded the stage with poise and confidence, delivering their lines superbly. They even sang In the Jungle in French! They have thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, from the rehearsals in school, the bus journeys to and from the theatre and the final production. It will be an experience and memory that will stay with them for life. Congratulations to everyone who took part and thank you to our directors, Miss Burns and Mrs Jones, to Mr Drake on the sound and lights, to Mrs Morrice on costumes, to the Landmark staff and to all the staff at school who helped on the night and made it possible. What a team!
World Book Day
Following on quickly from our busy night at Landmark, we had World Book Day yesterday. It was a real celebration of literature. The children and staff came dressed as a wide range of characters from their favourite books. We all really enjoyed asking each other about the characters we had come dressed as and finding out more about the books. Ron Weasley was spotted doing the swimming run to Swim Central for Highfield! Definitely a sight to be seen early on a Thursday morning in Preston.
Mastermind Final
We also held our annual World Book Day Mastermind competition yesterday. The children had to read and memorise books and answer questions in the style of Mastermind, sitting in my black chair. It was an excellent final contest between Hanna and Ayesha in Year 6 who both demonstrated an excellent knowledge of all the books. They seemed to be unaffected by the large audience as they both answered question after question correctly. At the final buzzer, Ayesha was declared the winner of the coveted Mastermind Champion title for 2023. Congratulations to Hanna who was a close runner-up and created such a tense competition. Thank you to Mrs Haythornthwaite for organising this traditional Highfield event.
Music Assembly
This was our second Musical Assembly of the year. We were entertained by a range of instruments and a variety of musical styles from classical to ‘80’s pop!’ Many of the children have played in assemblies before, but for some children, they were just beginning their musical journey and it was the first time they had performed in public. We enjoyed several woodwind ensembles and a guitar duet. We even had some audience participation with Alfie’s arrangement of ‘Baby Shark,’ which the Infants, in particular, really loved. There was a surprise performance from Zarlala, who had rehearsed in secret and performed ‘Happy Birthday’ on the recorder, for Mrs Morrice, who had just celebrated a special birthday. Well done to all the musicians for their dedication and for having the confidence to perform to the rest of the school. It was a lovely end to the week. Miss Macklam
Open Day
Our Open Day takes place on Sunday 12th March from 11-3pm. It is a day where Highfield celebrates all the achievements of our children whether that is in the classroom or doing extra-curricular activities. It is also an opportunity to speak to staff. All current parents, prospective parents and our alumni are welcome. Please could you pass on the date and times to any friends, colleagues or neighbours who may be interested in the school. Children will be available on the day to give prospective parents a tour of the school.
Sports News
ISA National Cross Country
Good Luck to Aibhlin, Zaidan and Ahmad who are running in the ISA National Cross Country event on Saturday and are representing the North of England ISA Team.
ISA Netball Tournament
Congratulations to our Netball team who travelled to Hulme Hall School for the ISA Netball Tournament. The team of 8 girls played amazing netball and won all the group stage matches, beating Loreto, Beech Hall and Forest Prep. This meant Highfield played for a place in the National ISA Netball Finals. Unfortunately, the girls missed out by 1 place. Well done and thank you to Mr Baki for helping to provide transport and to the parents who made the journey to support the girls. With so many of our players in Year 5, we are already looking forward to next year’s tournament! Mrs Parsons
Under 11s Hockey
Last Wednesday saw Highfield host our friends from Rossall for 2 games of hockey. Both the A and B teams have been practising hard in Hockey Club and were excited about the first game of 2023!
U11 A
The team started well, maintaining possession and making some lovely passes. Aibhlin made some beautiful runs from midfield into the D to score within the first 2 minutes. We continued to dominate and scored again a few minutes later. Rossall came back strong and scored right before half time. With the score at 2-1, Highfield picked up the pace in the second half, some great defending and tackling through defence and midfield led to 2 more goals from Aibhlin before Rossall scored again after picking up a loose ball. 4-2 was the score in the dying seconds until a super team effort led to another goal scored by Lily in the final seconds of the match! A great game and a 5-2 win to Highfield.
U11 B
The B team also started strongly, linking lots of passes together in midfield and taking advantage of loose balls. Unfortunately, Rossall scored two early goals, despite some brilliant tackling from the Highfield defence. Highfield grabbed a goal back just before half time to make the score 2-1. The second half saw some excellent hockey from both teams and there was even the chance to practise some short corners. Rossall scored another goal just before the final whistle to make the score 3-1. Mrs Botton
Girls’ Football
Our girls’ football team played in the quarter finals of the Preston Schools’ knock-out competition on Wednesday afternoon. We hosted St Andrews and both teams started strongly. It was end-to-end football and by half-time the score was still 0-0, despite some brilliant play from the whole team. In the second half, Highfield picked up the pace and had a few shots on goal which unfortunately were saved by the St Andrews goalkeeper! They kept the pressure going and finally broke through the defence to find Aibhlin who fired home the first goal. However, St. Andrews quickly scored an equaliser with 3 minutes remaining to make for a thrilling finish. With 2 minutes to go, Lyla managed to lose her defender and found herself clear through on goal. A brilliant strike into the bottom corner made the score 2-1, shortly followed by the full-time whistle. The girls are now through to the semi-finals in a couple of weeks. Well done girls! Mrs Botton
Uniform
We are still having a number of issues with unnamed uniform and sports kit. Please could you make sure all uniform items, including socks, are clearly named. In one games session last week, several items were left behind, all unnamed, and some of it evidently new. If it’s named, we can make sure it makes its way home to you. Thank you for your support.
Playing outside after school
Please could you ensure that Infant children are not running around while they are waiting for Junior children at the end of the day. Part of the infant playground is used as a car park at this time of day and children need to be closely supervised. This is particularly important when the Juniors are coming out at 3.30pm. Thank you for your support.
Merit Awards 24.2.23
RB: Robert 1W: Freya 2E: Wei Yi
3D: Aadam 4J: Haya and Thomas 4M: Brodie 5H: Deniz 5M: Toby 6P: Malaaikah
Merit Awards 3.3.23
RB: Jeeva 1W: Olivia 2E: Dhyaan
3D: Zayn 4J and 4M: The Whole Year Group 5H: Ali 5M: Ariana 6P: Amelia
Yours sincerely
J M Duke
Headmaster
