Message from the head

The message below reflects some feedback from parents and carers currently coming in.

“Dear Mr Marsh, yetanother strange academic year is drawing to a close. We write to thank you and the staff at Highfields for all the support that you have given {our son} and Highfields students during both face to face schooling and schooling during lockdown. All the staff at Highfields are to be thanked for keeping our children focussed and learning throughout these difficult times. We are Highfields. Kind regards{Parents}”

Thank you for offering this recognition to staff. Currently we are trying our hardest to keep school operational despite the self-isolation of a very significant number of students and staff. Thank you for taking into account our staff shortages when dealing with the school.

The all-weather pitch at Lumsdale now has fence, and the resurfacing of the tennis courts has begun. If governors decide to join EMET we will be moving forward quickly with some more changes to school site which we hope will enhance the working environment for students and for staff. A plan exists also for Starkholmes site, but we are at an early stage: more information when plans become firmer.

Following the completion of more time consuming but necessary risk assessments we mounted our ‘Evening of Theatre’ production on Wednesday and Thursday. It was a moving experience to see Y7 and 8 connect again with live theatre. I had forgotten what it felt like to be a in a room where young people performed to their peers: it’s a really amazing shared experience and it’s been absent from our schools for too long. Thanks to our H&S team for ensuring that it went ahead safely.

In lessons I found A level English students debating the Buckminster Fuller idea of being a ‘verb’ rather than a ‘noun’. The students took this to mean that their identity should be based on what they do as opposed to some label applied to them. I am still learning in this area and recently read an interesting article about a woman who defines herself as a ‘demi-sexual’ Perhaps attaching a label or seeing yourself as a noun interferes with a true wish to be an individual? I don’t know…

The philosophical side of me was further interested when a Y8 student approached me at break on Wednesday and asked, ‘is it tomorrow yet?’ I told him that it was still today and he nodded and replied wistfully, ‘well…at least it’s not yesterday’ and then drifted off to talk to someone else. I do know that his beloved bell ringing practice at St Giles is on a Thursday so that probably underpinned his line of questioning.

Right. That’s it. Last newsletter bit of the year done. Staff, including me, will be in and out over the summer ‘break’ but even we will find some time to disengage and relax: I hope you manage to do the same. We are tired, we are straining for the finish line but, as always, we are Highfields.