Message from the headteacher

I do apologise for a typo in the opening sentence of last week’s newsletter ‘bit’ from me. I wrote that piece late at night when my brain was close to shutting down for the day. I shall check this attempt more carefully because a) I’m supposed to be a role model and b) we hold students to high account for the quality of their writing and I am loath to be a hypocrite.

Of course, crucial to writing well is reading well. We are nuts about reading at Highfields especially in years 7 and 8. This Wednesday I went from an assembly about Accelerated Reader (applause as usual for those readers making the best progress) to a pre-school session where Y7 students read to sixth formers. The image shows Lilly reading to Michaela. In addition to this all students are reading ‘Ground Zero’ with their tutor and every week we ‘Drop Everything and Read’ for 20 minutes in a lesson to try and kickstart reading for pleasure. Obviously, this all builds on the fabulous work done in English lessons across the school.

Troubling news now: I was left off the judging panel for the lower school Bake Off competition earlier this week. Naturally, I have launched a large-scale investigation into how this can have happened, not least because I understand there were up to thirty cakes entered (see image from evidence file). At the moment my enquiries focus on Mr Hodkin after CCTV footage revealed him patting his stomach and wiping his lips only shortly after the judging session ended. This afternoon I have asked some Y13 scientists to dust the area for prints. Heads will roll (Swiss Roll).

On Friday we offered the opportunity to contribute either to Comic Relief or Ukraine or both in return for enjoying a number of fun activities.

We don’t get everything right at Highfields. When things go wrong we are assertive and child focused, but we always aim to avoid defensiveness and listen carefully to see where we can improve. This week a family raised a valid concern, but the respectful and measured way they did it led to a very quick admission from school that we could have done better and the matter was resolved. Please try to assume our intentions are honourable wherever you can and that we would never intentionally disadvantage a child when our entire careers have been invested in achieving the opposite.

A few images from lessons this week. A year 11 engineer (Jimmy G) working on an LED/ USB lamp and a study from a Y10 artist (Libby F). Both very accomplished in their fields (I know, I know…further work to do on gender equality across STEM disciplines…we’re working on it).

Have a lovely weekend if you can.

We are Highfields. A Marsh