9 minute read
Parents/carers of current year 6 students
Dear Year 6 Students and Parents/Carers
Welcome to Highfields School! If you are reading this, then you must already be interested in our school and what we are doing.
Advertisement
"School" is very strange for all of us at the moment. We understand for students in year 6 it will be particularly odd and you might be wondering how you will get on with secondary school at Highfields.
All we wanted to say here is don't worry. We have certainly not forgotten you! Over the coming weeks we will be updating you on our plans on how we can best help you smoothly make the move to being a Highfields student. We have thought of all those issues and concerns you might have - what is the school like, how will I find my way around, how do I buy the uniform, what will happen with the buses?
We will keep updating everyone through the newsletter, but really specific messages will come from Mrs Green. She is the 'Year Manager' for year 7 and your first point of contact. Mrs Green has already been busy emailing information and electronic forms to parents/carers of our year 6 students. So, if your family haven't received an email from Mrs Green, please email her with your name and primary school so she can add you to our communication list and you will receive all future updates: tgreen@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk
Take care and stay well. Mr Rodgers Associate Assistant Headteacher
Year 7 students will start their Highfields journey on Wednesday 2 September 2020
Year 6 transition programme begins
Starkholmes virtual tour
We hope you have had a good break and are safe and well. Our transition programme started this week with a virtual tour of our lower school site at Starkholmes to help our soon to be new year 7 students familiarise themselves with Highfields.
There will be more ‘site’ information issued to you as the term goes on, so please do not worry. This is just to start you off and give you a flavour of our school. Access to our year 6 virtual tour has been issued via email.
We also included information about buses and a timetable for you all to look at so you can prepare. Please do not worry about the buses. When the time comes for you to catch them at the end of the day we will be around at the bus bays to help you. Please read the information sent via email carefully though as there is some useful advice in the letter.
Friendship cards
We are in the process of issuing friendship cards to year 6 families daily from each primary school and given a rough guide below as to when to expect the information – please look out for Mrs Green’s email:
2 June - Winster, South Darley, Elton, Tansley, Ashover 3 June - Wessington, Crich Carr, Crich Junior, St Giles 4 June - Darley Churchtown, Darley Dale 5 June – Castle View, St Joseph’s 8 June - Lea, Deerpark 9 June - All Saints 10 June – remaining schools not covered above.
We hope students can take the time to carefully fill out this friendship card as part of their transition to Highfields. It is your son/daughter’s opportunity to let us know who they would like to be in a form class with when they start with us in year 7. Each form class has a mixture of gender and ability, and although it is very difficult for us, we do try to ensure that year 7 students will be in a form class with at least one of the people that they write on their card. If for some reason this cannot happen, we will get in touch with parents/carers.
Things to remember when filling out the card – full details are included in the email:
1. 2.
3. Complete name, including first name and surname Complete one friendship name onto each of the three lines. You can write a maximum of three names. We would advise you not to share these card details to any of your friends.
We have a very tight turn around to organise all the students into form classes and as such, we need these cards returning within 2 days from receipt of the email so that we can then begin the next stage of the process. If we do not receive the friendship choices in time, we do need to proceed to the next stage and we will be unable to fulfil our friendship card promise.
Please look out for the email from Mrs Green and return promptly. If you have any questions Mrs Green will be happy to help, please email her directly (tgreen@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk).
Highfields School Uniform – September 2020
This week we have emailed our school uniform details for the new academic year to you all. This included a letter, uniform code, FAQs, size guide and supplier information – see links below (this information is also available on the school website):
Uniform Code: http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/InfoPDFs/UniformCode.pdf FAQs: http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/InfoPDFs/UniformFAQs.pdf. Uniform supply list: http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/InfoPDFs/UniformList.pdf Uniform size guide: http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/InfoPDFs/UniformSizeGuide.pdf
If, after reading the FAQs and details below, you have further queries, please email uniform@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk and we will aim to answer your question. Further details will be issued when available.
Highfields morning assemblies
Remember to look out for the emails we are sending with the link to Mr Marsh’s assembly each morning. We hope they will make you feel a part of Highfields School, give you the opportunity to get to know some staff and found out what Highfields is like. In particular, Mr Rodgers, Associate Assistant Headteacher, features in them on Tuesdays and Thursdays to give updates for year 6 students who we are looking forward to meeting in September.
Year 6 Transition timetable
We are still aiming to work to the basic timeline below for our transition programme. It is subject to change and is just intended to provide you with a sense as to what might be possible over the coming weeks in an effort to begin to cover some of the key activities we would usually complete with students and families. We will keep you informed of any changes.
Red denotes “transition” activities for students. Underlined items require a return.
Week commencing:
1 June 2020
8 June 2020 15 June 2020 22 June 2020 26 June 2020 29 June 2020 From 1 July 2020
6 July 2020 13 July 2020
Information:
Virtual site tour sent out; bus information On-going – “friendship cards” (this helps determine form groups) Uniform information sent out “Subject” activities sent out and pastoral staff profiles Pyramid “worries” activity Library / Accelerated reader activity; “Y7 Booklet” activity Social media / consents / GDPR forms sent out “Hand” & “All About Me” activities (information about the children) “Meet the tutor” –staff profiles, including key worker contact for relevant students Map quiz / anagram activity “Subject” activities Pastoral staff pre-summer messages
From September, the transition programme will continue with some very focused ‘year 7’ time and activities will depend on what has been possible throughout the summer term.
We will keep in touch to make sure students have the best possible transition experience in this climate. Our priority remains that students feel part of our community and to allay as many worries as possible whilst beginning to outline our expectations. In this way, together we will be able to ensure that every student begins their Highfields journey as smoothly as possible.
Reminder: return of electronic forms for year 7 admissions in September
Thank you to the parents/carers of year 6 students who have returned the recent electronic forms issued by Mrs Green. However, we still have a small number outstanding - if you have not already
done so, please can you complete these forms as a matter of urgency to ensure we can put everything in place to welcome your child in September.
The following forms have been issued:
Admissions forms – this is one of the most important documents for us as we need to ensure we have all the relevant contact details of each student.
Parent agreement - peanut free site – we have a student starting in September with a severe peanut allergy and strict avoidance of peanut products is the only way to prevent a life-threatening allergic reaction. We are asking your assistance in providing the student with a safe learning environment and require you to complete this form. Home school agreement – we ask students, parents/carers and the school to work in partnership and would like you to sign to confirm your agreement to working together in the best interests of your children. Cashless catering – please complete the consent for your child’s finger to be scanned. Please note the finger scan is only to enable your child to be recognised at the till point to purchase food and is not used for any other purpose. If students do not have consent for the scan they will need to input a six digit code to the pin machine at the till point. Please be assured there will be measures put in place when students return to school following lockdown regarding the way cashless catering will be managed.
If you are struggling to access the electronic documents, please contact Mrs Green by email (tgreen@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk).
Year 7 PowerPoints and student magazine
Some of our year 7 students have put together PowerPoints for students they know in primary schools moving up to Highfields in September and these are being emailed out separately. We hope year 6 students will find it useful to know there will be familiar faces of students who were previously at their primaries to help them when they join us in the new academic year.
Our current year 7 students have also been working hard and put together a magazine for year 6 students. It has been compiled by them to give a little insight into what it is like at Highfields in advance of students starting with us in September – see link below: http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/news/269.html
September 2020 – Transport to school for year 6 parents/carers
The link below is to the Derbyshire County Council website that aims to answer any questions you may have on school transport in September 2020: https://derbyshire.gov.uk/education/schools/your-child-at-school/travel/school-transport.aspx
The site provides information on the options available for travelling between school and home, including details on free bus travel, timetables and DCC plans and policies for school transport.
