Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Highfields School Newsletter Newsletter
2019-20
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Our newsletter aims to keep parents and carers up to date with key information during this time. Our website (www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk) is regularly updated with news and the latest information. We will also continue to email out any news to parents/carers. Thank you for your continued support.
A Marsh Headteacher
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter
Contents: Message from the headteacher ....................................................................3 Updates for Parents/Carers ..........................................................................5
A Level & GCSE Results Days ..................................................................................... 5 Prime Minister Boris Johnson addresses all school leavers ............................................ 5 Chesterfield College Menu of Activities ........................................................................ 5 Year 8 – message from Mr Bishton ............................................................................. 6 2020-21 term and INSET dates .................................................................................. 6 Reminder: Laptop Returns ......................................................................................... 7 Year 7 Zoom drop-ins ................................................................................................ 7 Reminder: Free School Meals – summer voucher scheme update ................................. 8 Reminder: HPV Vaccination sessions: Y8 boys and girls and Y9 girls only..................... 9 Black Lives Matter film festival ................................................................................. 10
Shout Outs!............................................................................................... 11 Highfields Virtual Learning Studio ............................................................... 13 Parents/carers of current year 6 students ................................................... 40 Careers, College & Apprenticeship News ..................................................... 48
Resources ............................................................................................................... 48 Careers inspiration and advice from BBC Bitesize....................................................... 48 Online careers programme for 11-18 year olds .......................................................... 48 Chesterfield College ................................................................................................. 48 Free Speakers for Schools Virtual Work Experience Programme for students ............... 51 Paragon Skills Apprenticeships ................................................................................. 51
Sports Update ........................................................................................... 52 Alternative activities to try during time at home........................................... 60
Maths – ‘Time’ for maths ......................................................................................... 60 Speakers for Schools virtual talks ............................................................................. 61
Competitions ............................................................................................. 62
BBC Young Composer 2020 competition ................................................................... 62 Competition: a vision for life after Covid-19 .............................................................. 62 Y7 and Y8 Science Competition ................................................................................ 63 Joined Up Careers Derbyshire competition to celebrate our health and social care heroes through creative art................................................................................................. 64 Keeping Highfields reading: how to access free books ............................................... 65
Updates and Reminders for Students .......................................................... 66 Learning at home ...................................................................................... 69
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Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Parents/carers – support and advice ........................................................... 76 Useful contact numbers ............................................................................. 82 Local support available for parents/carers ................................................... 83 Highfields School Contact details ................................................................ 94 Key Staff for 2019-20 ................................................................................ 95 Highfields School Governing Board 2019-20 ................................................ 96 Highfields Uniform - September 2020 ......................................................... 97 2019-20/2020-21 academic year ................................................................ 98
Disclaimer: Highfields School is not responsible for the quality of products or organisations publicised through articles or advertisements in the school newsletter.
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Message from the headteacher As you may know, during this crisis we have been providing regular informal updates through email and assemblies and reserving this page for formal updates. Return to school in September The department for education issued their advice to schools: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirusoutbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools School leaders have now drafted arrangements and are consulting our governors and staff with a view to finalising the guidance mid-way through next week. We will then share arrangements in full with all stakeholders. Our strategy aims to: Reduce any mixing between year groups in order to reduce infection and make cases easier to track and trace Allow subject specialist teaching to go on as much as possible so that we can make up the time we’ve missed Give students and staff plenty of opportunities to wash their hands and sanitise Minimise ‘close contact’ (as defined by the guidance) between those on school sites. As the guidance recommends we will be expecting students to attend in school uniform as per school policy. It is particularly important that students also have sufficient stationery equipment as it will not be advisable to borrow others’ property. I thank families for their ongoing support in this matter. Results days We are currently consulting Y11 and 13 students on how they would like to see results days organised and will advise as soon as we can. Social distancing Please check with your child that they understand their responsibility to avoid large crowds. A number of crowds of young people in Derbyshire have been dealt with police recently including one which may have involved Highfields students. Assemblies One more week of assemblies until summer - please continue to send shout outs regarding children’s achievements, runs, music, cooking, pets to wearehighfields@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk Please also encourage your child to use this email address above to thank any member of staff who has supported them through this most unusual time. I am remain completely in the debt of those families who have contributed so much by way of trust, support and time over the last few months. We are Highfields. A Marsh Headteacher
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Updates for Parents/Carers A Level & GCSE Results Days Due to the current situation and social distancing restrictions in place, we are unable to run results days as normal this year. A small number of pastoral, exam office and senior staff will be available in school to hand out results on Thursday 13 August (A Level) and Thursday 20 August (GCSE). Year 11 and Year 13 students have been sent a survey by school email, to indicate whether they would like to receive their results by email or come into school to collect them. They should complete this survey by Monday 13 July so that we can plan based on numbers. For students choosing to receive their results by email, we are aiming to send them all by 9am on the relevant results day. We will also provide details of how to contact the sixth form team to make an appointment if any additional support is required with University/Clearing or A Level option choices. Students who would like to come into school to get their results will be invited in small groups and given a specific time slot. We will be in touch with students and parents/carers nearer the time, to confirm arrangements.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson addresses all school leavers Today, Friday 10 July, the Prime Minister gave a speech addressing all school leavers. A recording of the address is available to view on both platforms below: Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/borisjohnson?utm_source=7%20July%202020%20C19&utm_medium= Daily%20Email%20C19&utm_campaign=DfE%20C19 YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-WsDuO6Gmw
Chesterfield College Menu of Activities Chesterfield College are currently enrolling students from now until September for anyone who applies for a full time course. Students who apply and enrol will begin meeting their tutors online and gain access to online materials for their course prior to September. All details around enrolment are available through Chesterfield College website: www.chesterfield.ac.uk/dont-wait-until-september-enrol-now-and-start-your-courseearly/
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Year 8 – message from Mr Bishton Hopefully you will all know by now that I will be taking over from Miss Hamrouge as the head of year for the current year 8's from September as they move into year 9. I would like to take this opportunity to say how excited I am about this opportunity to get to know this wonderful group of students and their families much better over the coming year as they transition from lower site to upper site. During the past day or so you should have received a guide to the Lumsdale site that contains lots of useful information (the student guide was sent out to students by email and Show My Homework, and the parent guide was sent out to parents/carers in an email message). Please take a moment to read through the information contained in these guides. If you have any queries please do not hesitate to get in touch with me by email at abishton@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk or students can ask any questions they may have during their weekly form Zoom meetings. I hope that you all have an amazing summer break and come back to school in September fully charged and ready to go! Mr Bishton. Head of year 9 from September
2020-21 term and INSET dates The term dates and INSET days for the new academic year have been set as follows: Term dates: 1 September 2020* to 23 October 2020 2 November 2020 to 17 December 2020* 4 January 2021 to 12 February 2021 22 February 2021 to 1 April 2021 19 April 2021 to 28 May 2021 7 June 2021 to 22 July 2021
INSET days (no students in school): 1 September 2020 30 November 2020 4 January 2021 2 July 2021 22 July 2021
*Tuesday 1 September 2020 is an INSET day and staff return one day earlier for the start of the new academic year. School is closed to students on 1 September. As school has opened one day early, the autumn term will finish one day earlier and Friday 18 December will be a school holiday. At present we are working towards a return of all students to school in September as per the latest government guidance. We will run our usual staggered starts to allow new Y7 and Y9 students to familiarise themselves with their new school sites. New Y12s will also return this year as Y11s missed the opportunity of an induction day in to sixth form. Staggered start of term – September 2020: Wednesday 2 September – Year 7, 9 and 12 only return to school Thursday 3 September – All years return to school
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter
Reminder: Laptop Returns For students who have been loaned a laptop, please ensure this is returned to us at the end of term so that maintenance can be done ahead of September. We are holding two sessions in the Wheeldon Hall at Lumsdale (upper school site) just before the end of term – please come in to one of these sessions and return the laptop you have been borrowing, along with its charger: Thursday 16 July from 1.00pm - 3.00pm Friday 17 July from 10.00am – 12.00noon If you are unable to attend either of these sessions please contact the upper school reception on 01629 581888 in order to make an alternative arrangement.
Year 7 Zoom drop-ins Current year 7 students will have had their first Zoom 15min ‘drop-ins’ with their tutor groups this week. The following further sessions are planned for next week - please ensure Y7 students are available to attend their tutor drop-in session below: 14 July: 1.00pm - MWE 1.30pm - MB
15 July: 1.00pm – CH 1.30pm - JST
16 July: 2.00pm – IR 2.30pm – HC
Staff will send the link directly to your child via their school email address.
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Reminder: Free School Meals – summer voucher scheme update Following the government announcement Free School Meals vouchers will continue to be provided over the summer holidays. Parents/carers registered for FSM will receive ONE voucher of £90 per eligible student, which covers the six week summer holiday period. We have been informed that we must apply for this voucher at least one week before school closure and the vouchers will be issued to families within seven days. This will be the only voucher issued for the summer holidays. Please note that vouchers are now also valid in Iceland stores. Hampers - Over the summer holidays we will continue to deliver the fortnightly food hampers to those families who have these instead of the Edenred vouchers.
Are you eligible for free School meals? If you think you might be eligible to apply for Free School Meals due to a change in your financial circumstances, we urge you to apply asap using the link below. https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/education/schools/your-child-at-school/meals/school-meals/freeschool-meals.aspx There a simple online application form to check your eligibility. We can provide support in completing this form if it is needed. You will receive a response within a week. If your application is successful, please forward the confirmation email to school (can be to the head of year or year manager or finance@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk). You will find out about your application before us, but we can implement the Free School Meals from your email confirmation so please let us know as soon as you find out, so we can add you to the summer voucher scheme. Please note - we may not be able to add any families to the summer voucher scheme once the summer holidays have started. Please get in touch if you need support in applying.
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Reminder: HPV Vaccination sessions: Y8 boys and girls and Y9 girls only The Immunisation Team want to thank the students that have attended or booked appointments for their HPV drive in/walk in clinics. The clinics have been a success despite the varying weather – by the end of Friday 3 July 2020 the team managed to vaccinate 4000 young people with the HPV vaccination. There are still clinic appointments available and they are adding additional clinics regularly. Please note, the team are able to accommodate people on foot at ALL drive through clinics and they are adding clinics regularly, please check back on the booking system if you can’t find your preferred site. Sessions available at: Walton Hospital, Chesterfield – Drive through Rolls Royce, Derby – Drive through Babington Hospital, Belper – Drive through Ilkeston Hospital, Charnos Hall – Walk in only Newholme Hospital, Bakewell – Drive through Netherthorpe School, Staveley – Drive through Allestree Woodlands School – Drive through Da Vinci Academy, Derby – Drive through Chapel-en-le-Frith High School – Drive through City of Derby Academy – Drive through Date:
July and August 2020
Time:
9.30am to 3.00pm
PRE-BOOKABLE APPOINTMENT SLOTS ONLY, PLEASE DO NOT ATTEND WITHOUT AN APPOINTMENT. PLEASE CALL THE IMMUNISATION TEAM IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS OR QUESTIONS. How to book an appointment Complete a consent form HPV Vaccination drive through session; Year 8 boys and girls, and Year 9 girls only. The team have already got consent forms for Year 9 girls; please only complete a consent form if you haven’t already done so for Year 8 girls and boys. Please visit https://www.derbyshireandcityimms.co.uk/Forms/HPV to complete the consent form. The option to consent or decline the vaccination is at the end of the questionnaire so please complete even if you do not want your child to have the vaccination. Your unique school code for Highfields School is DD112950. If you experience any problems please call the School Age Immunisation Team. DCHST.immunisationteam@nhs.net Repton: 01283 707178 Clay Cross: 01246 252953
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Please book an appointment with your child’s name and date of birth by following this link: https://www.swiftqueue.co.uk/derbyshire.php Only book an appointment if your child hasn’t completed their HPV 2 dose course. If you experience any difficulties please call: Repton: 01283 707178 or Clay Cross: 01246 252953 Please do not attend if you, your child or anyone within your family home is displaying signs of being unwell. General information about COVID 19 - If your child develops symptoms of Covid-19 (raised temperature, new continuous cough, loss or change of taste/smell), you should contact 111. More information can be found at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/ If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact the Immunisation Team on the contact telephone numbers above. Or visit http://www.derbyshireschoolnurses.org.uk/parents/immunisations/drive-through-clinic-faq for drive through questions and answers.
Black Lives Matter film festival The Ritz Cinema in Belper are hosting a Black Lives Matter film festival when they re-open on 14 August. There will be a range of films which show the treatment and lives of black people throughout history. Year 13 students who are about to study Civil Rights in depth next year have been advised of this opportunity, but the wider Highfields community may also be interested. Booking, over the phone or in person, is strongly advised. Online booking is not available.
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Shout Outs! Staff have been sending in messages to let school know about the good work students are producing while they are learning from home and we wanted to share these with you.
Mathematicians of the week It may be week 6 but Highfields students are still working hard. The maths department have yet again sent in lots of nominations for students they feel are going above and beyond. This week we would like to say a huge well done and thank you to the following students. Year 7: Thomas (7MB), Nathan (7IR), Millie (7JST), Rosie (7CH), Emily-Skye (7IR), Esther (7JST), Maria (7CH), Liam (7MW), Esme (7KSW), Melissa (7MB), Riley (7MB), Kiyan (7MB), Brooke (7JST), Zack (7MWE), Tyler-Rose (7IR), Dylan (7CH), Pheobe (7KSW), Chloe (7JST), Millie (7CH), Alfie (7MWE), Sergio (7IR), Jensen (7JST) and Georgina (7JST). Year 8: Jaiden (8RP), Lucy (8CC), Max (8CC), Thomas (8HB), Charlie (8ESW), Callum (8GD), Holly (8GD), Lilia (8GD), Edie (8GD), Angelica (8CC), Dougie (8GD), Joel (8CC), Hannah (8LT), Ella (8RP), Harriet (8LT), Sam (8BL), Freya (8CC), Bethany (8ESW), Amber (8CC), Joseph (8BL), Molly (8HB), Bailey (8GD), Evelyn (8GD), Leah (8GD), Brad (8HB) and Ryan (8GD). Year 9: Eleanor (9AM), Jasmine (9AM), Lydia (9MJB), James (9GH), Lucy (9GH), James (9PD), Henry (9AM), Harley (9MJB), Theo (9GH), Heidi (9GH), Kofi (9GPR), Corben (9RR), Tommy (9RR), Jimi (9GPR), India (9GH), Niamh (9RR), Hannah (9RR), Oliver (9GPR) and Callum (9MJB). Year 10: Jack (10HC), Jack (10SA ), Daniel (10KF), Peter (10KF), Amelia (10WS), Isobel (10WS), Daisy (10WS), Asa (10LB), Milli (10RNS), Mia (10WS), Charlie (10KF), Alice (10RNS), Holly (10WS), Abigail (10LB), George (10SA), Charlotte (10KF), Phoebe (10LB), Emily (10RNS), Sam (10LB), Jack (10HC), Rhianna (10SA), Liam (10SA), Olivia (10HC), Jess (10AEB), Esther (10KF) and Chloe (10LB).
Dance Mrs Hollinrake would like to say a massive well done to Amber H, Chloe R, Holly W, Freya W, Skye S, Lilly L, Finley C and Sophie N for all their efforts in GCSE dance Zoom lessons. Mrs Hollinrake is so proud of your work. Well done to the year 9 who have just started the GCSE dance course – it was a great practical lesson on Zoom and great to see you dance from home. Mrs Hollinrake has received some excellent dance videos from year 8 - well done to Maya Rose, Hazel A, Charlie R and Ben W. Keep the great videos coming!
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Food & Nutrition Mrs Hakin would like a shout out for the following Y10 GCSE students - Naomi, Ethan, Esther, Oliver, Tamlyn and Alice - A BIG thank you from Mrs Hakin for your ongoing commitment and focus throughout this period of uncertainty - you have done yourselves proud and produced some exceptional work in the process!
Drama Year 7s: Well done to all the Year 7s who turned up to the drama Zoom lesson with Miss Hendry and Miss Bonsall on Thursday. We really enjoyed seeing 60 of you involved in the lesson. Year 10s: Huge well done to all of the Year 10’s who filmed and emailed their monologues - it was so wonderful to see you all performing again. We enjoyed watching them - it was like having a theatre in the living room. Well done also to Year 10’s who completed their mock exams throughly and with so much effort. We are so so proud of you.
Business Mr Lovatt would like to thank the following year 11 students for their brilliant business work and engagement over the last couple months - Archie D, Evie J, Joel H, Matteo S, Billy T, Jess A and Reuben M, also to Bella A L and Jack S who will be joining Highfields in September. An additional thank you goes to Joel for teaching Mr Lovatt a new word (diurnal).
Biology Mrs Stafford would like to send a big shout-out to year 9 biologists for the excellent work on sampling again this week. Well done to the following students for producing fantastic graph work: 9H1 - James B, Emma, Sophie, Emily, Lauren, Millen, Sophia and Archie 9H2 - Roma, Eleanor and Sam 9H3 - Emily, Charlie, Megan, Libby, Louis, Georgina, Lydia and Finn 9H4 - Jasmine, Jamie, Holly and Millie 9S1 - Eva, India, Jack, Harry L, Louisa, Hannah, Isaac and Freddy 9S2 - Abigail, George, Niamh and Lola 9S3 - Theo, Esther, Olivia and Eva A massive well done to 9S1 and 9H3 for the highest class score on the quiz this week and 9H1 and 9H2 for the most participants! Well done to all Highfields students for the excellent commitment and dedication you are showing in all your subjects – keep up the good work and if you are struggling, remember you can always contact subject teachers or pastoral staff to ask for help.
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Highfields School
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Newsletter Highfields Virtual Learning Studio
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Newsletter 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. "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. You should have been receiving plenty of information from us over the past two terms to help us make the move to being a Highfields student as smooth as possible for you. 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. If your family haven't received emails 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 We hope you are enjoying your transition programme to Highfields and are finding the information we are sending useful.
Subject activities We hope you liked the hand activity. If you have not completed this yet, please do so and send to us. We really would like a hand from you all! This week we have emailed out two activities for you and we hope that you enjoy them:
An introduction to your new language. The year 7 forms will be studying the following languages: 7RHE and 7OM - German 7RP and 7BC - Spanish 7LT, 7SB and 7PH – French
Music activity - our year 7 and year 8 students have been doing this in their lessons during lockdown. Have a go and see what you can create (full details are on the email you have received).
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter As usual, we would love to give you a shout out for your pieces of work so please email wearehighfields@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk I am sure Mr Roberts (Languages) and Mr Rowley (Music) will be keen to know how you have got on!
Year 6 parents - introduction to Highfields We are sorry that we are not able to meet you on our year 6 parents evening. This would have been an opportunity for you to meet your child's form tutor and the year 7 pastoral team in person and to share any concerns you may have. Instead, Mrs Green has emailed out a presentation that is based on what you would have received on the evening - we hope you find this helpful.
Headteacher’s message On our year 6 evening, you would have had the opportunity to meet our Headteacher Mr Marsh and he would have welcomed you all to our school. Mr Marsh’s welcome message has been emailed out to families to watch ready for September. Please let Mrs Green know if you have not received it.
SEND department Mrs Green has sent out information from our SEND department and we hope that you find this useful. If you have any queries or concerns regarding funding/additional support for your child, please email Mrs Leverton (lleverton@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk). Students who have a keyworker in September will be notified and further details provided.
Map and form room information Students will now know the friend from their friendship card and so will have a familiar face in their class in September. However, it is also incredibly important to us at Highfields that students build new friendships, join clubs and have many positive relationships in school. This will enable them to develop into a resilient Highfields student. Our club list is published by 1 October and we encourage all year 7 students to join at least one club to make new friends and learn new skills. Please remember that classes are for learning and seating plans are frequently changed in order to encourage your child to develop new relationships and encourage new ideas in the classroom. In each lesson there may be a different seating plan, so your child will learn to work with lots of different people. We hope that by November they will know all their new classmates really well. There is plenty of time at break and lunchtime for students to meet and socialise with friends and attend clubs with them or even do homework together in homework club. We issued an email notifying you of your child’s form tutor along with a profile of them to look at. They are very much looking forward to meeting students in their form on 2 September. There was also a map attached showing where their form room is to help them get to know Starkholmes before
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Newsletter September. Please reassure your son/daughter that staff will be there on the first day to guide them to their room and around school in the first few weeks of term. If you have not received information on your child’s tutor or form room please contact Mrs Green.
School Library You should also be in receipt of information on our library and Accelerated Reading Programme. Mrs Robinson, our Library Manager, has completed a profile for you to read and sent a link to a survey so she can help support students in September.
REMINDER: Dietary requirements at Lea Green Year 6 families were sent two forms about dietary requirements for your child in school and at Lea Green.
For Lea Green it is essential that you confirm if your child is vegetarian or if there are any allergies or special requirements. For Derbyshire County Council it is essential that you confirm if your child has any allergies or special requirements if you wish for your child to eat in school and to enable them to cater for this.
Please email tgreen@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk with the special diets form asap to allow her to contact Lea Green before the end of term with all the relevant information. If you require a medical diet form for your child to eat in school, please also contact Mrs Green.
Y6 Additional consent forms Y6 parents/carers should all have received the Cat 1 Blank Consent form, Social Media Use Agreement and GDPR consent form to complete along with related correspondence. If you have not received these please contact Mrs Green. We do appreciate your support in completing these forms on time and have tried to stagger the information we have issued to allow you time to do this. We also enclosed the answers to the Information Booklet quiz that we sent out and we hope that this booklet has helped them learn more about Highfields. Please return the anagram activity if your child would like to take part in the competition for most words.
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Newsletter Year 6 ‘hand’ activity Mrs Green has emailed out the hand activity task instructions that we would really like students to do. You can print and colour in with your personal design and then scan back in to tgreen@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk Or if your child is a computer whizz and can do this online to add their own images/colours from the computer, then you can send back to the same email address. If you are not able to send your hand electronically it would be really good if you could post it back to school so that we can get our poster ready for September. We want to be able to make a new mane for our lion with your hands so you know we are all part of Highfields.
Year 7 booklet, map quiz and anagram challenge This week we have sent out our Year 6 booklet for you to have a look through - we have also included a quiz for you to see how well you have read it! We have sent you a map of the school with an example timetable along with another quiz. Hopefully, this will help you learn your way around the school and familiarise yourself with the layout before September – remember you can revisit the Virtual Tour we issued previously to you to help. Finally we have an Anagram Challenge for you to do. Please return if you get LOADS of words so you can win a reward for your form in September. Answers to the quiz were sent to your parents/carers on 26 June - we hope you have fun and enjoy doing the activities. The Y6 booklet is also available on our website: http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/InfoPDFs/Y6Booklet2020.pdf
Derbyshire County Council School Dinners Families have been emailed information regarding school dinners, including a current price list and items available to purchase (this is also displayed near the kitchen area for students to view while queuing), to give families an idea of the range of food available. Each week the latest menu is also included in the school newsletter. A medical diet letter was also included in the communication. Please contact Mrs Green via email (tgreen@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk) if you require the medical diet form to ensure that DCC are able to cater for your child's school dinner.
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Year 7 Activity Day Induction Programme We have issued information on our Year 7 Activity Day which is part of our Induction Programme and included a leaflet about this exciting day. There are two forms to be completed and returned. The price includes a year group t-shirt to wear on the day. We would advise you pay for this as soon as our ParentPay information is sent to you (you should receive this by August). ParentPay gives you access to pay for trips and meals on line. We are hopeful that this event will be able to go ahead. We walk there or walk back depending on the form group your child is in (we will let you have further information in September). Parents/carers either drop off or collect so there is no concern about social distancing. Lea Green have confirmed that they should be able to adapt the day to comply with this as well. If your child has any special requirements as indicated on the form Special Diets 2020 please complete and return this to tgreen@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk
‘Pyramid worries’ and ‘all about me’ Year 6 families should have received an email with two attachments – ‘pyramid worries’ and an ‘all about me’ activity. Thank you for your ‘All about Me’ documents. We have enjoyed reading them and getting to know you. We will share this information with your form tutor. The top concerns from you all were getting lost/bullying and too much homework and we will ensure that we reassure you about these in September and pass on to our Theatre Company. We intend to give you a really good tour of the school in September so please do not worry about getting lost. If you haven’t yet returned the ‘all about me’ information, please can you send this to Mrs Green so your form tutors can start to get to know you ready for meeting you in September.
Geography on a plate activity Thank you to year 6s for your ‘geography on a plate’ activities. We featured the ones received so far in last week’s newsletter – well done to you all! This activity was to replicate what year 6 students would have done if they had been visiting Highfields as usual for their ‘taster lesson’. Look out for the next activity in July.
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Pastoral profiles You will all be in receipt of the pastoral profiles we have emailed out. We hope this helps you start to remember names and put them to the faces of our year 7 team. We have sent out the ‘all about me’ documents for students to complete so we can find out all about you – we look forward to reading them and sharing with your form tutor.
Starkholmes virtual tour Our transition programme started 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. More ‘site’ information will be sent throughout this term to help you get to know Highfields.
Year 6 Transition timetable Our transition programme of information is outlined below – this covers some of the key activities we would usually complete with students and families. Red denotes “transition” activities for students. Underlined items require a return. Week commencing: Information:
1 June 2020
6 July 2020
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 and “All About Me” (information about the children) Map quiz / anagram activity “Y7 Booklet” activity Social media / consents / GDPR forms sent out “Hand” activity (information about the children) “Meet the tutor” – staff profiles, including key worker contact for relevant students, Library / Accelerated reader activity “Subject” activities
13 July 2020
Pastoral staff pre-summer messages
8 June 2020 15 June 2020 22 June 2020 26 June 2020 29 June 2020 From 1 July 2020
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.
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Highfields School Uniform – September 2020 You should be in receipt of details on Highfields school uniform previously emailed to you that 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 Families can apply for financial support with school uniform for September 2020 by completing the downloadable application form on our website (see links below): Pdf format: http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/InfoPDFs/SchoolUniformApplicationGrant.pdf Word format: http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/InfoPDFs/SchoolUniformApplicationGrant.doc This grant is considered on a case by case basis. Support will be paid in the form of a voucher which can be used either online with Kick Off Sport or in the shop. It can only be used to purchase Highfields School uniform. To be eligible you must be facing hardship through the changing circumstances brought about through Covid-19, receive Free School Meals or recommended by Highfields pastoral team. Completed forms should be returned to the finance office with any supporting documentation and will be checked for eligibility (finance@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk). 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.
Highfields morning assemblies Remember to look out for the emails we are sending with the link to Mr Marsh’s assembly on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. We hope they will make you feel a part of Highfields School, give you the opportunity to get to know some staff and find out what Highfields is like ready for when we meet you in September.
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
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter 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.
We look forward to meeting you and your child soon, but if you have any queries in the meantime, please do not hesitate to get in touch with Mrs Green in the first instance: tgreen@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk
Year 7 team: Mr Rodgers – Associate Assistant Headteacher Mrs Hollinrake & Mrs Redhead – Joint Heads of Year 7 Mrs Green – Year Manager (Year 7)
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Careers, College & Apprenticeship News Careers Information Resources Careers information, apprenticeship vacancies and higher education information can be found on the webpage under Students-Work Experience and Careers. http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/careers.html
Careers inspiration and advice from BBC Bitesize Explore BBC Bitesize’s brand new collection of free, online careers resources offering a wealth of inspiration and advice for students. This new resources offer a rich collection of case studies across a wide range of sectors, linking curriculum subjects and the world of work: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/careers
Online careers programme for 11-18 year olds START is an online careers programme designed to connect 11-18 year olds with their future career potential. The programme is broken down into sections on ‘world of work’ with a job search according to subject, skill or interest; ‘what to study’ about pathways and qualifications; ‘where to learn’ which views all colleges, universities, sixth forms, training providers and UTC; and ‘employability’ which has sections on work experience, work preparation including CV writing, covering letters and interview preparation. There is also the facility for students to upload their personal statement and CV, so they can start to build their own careers profile. Students can access the programme at home via the website (www.startprofile.com) with the student code they have been issued with – contact Mrs Turner for further details.
Chesterfield College For Y11 students looking at applying to Chesterfield College post-16 please follow the link to their live Instagram sessions: https://www.chesterfield.ac.uk/join-us-live-at-lunchtime-to-find-out-moreabout-college-life/
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter
https://joinedupcareers.co.uk/
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter
Be the best you can
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter
Free Speakers for Schools Virtual Work Experience Programme for students Speakers for Schools is working with almost 150 employers to offer amazing insight days and work experience across the UK. These include Disney, Cisco, Santander, the Bank of England, the NHS, Marie Curie. A reminder for those of you in Y10 who signed up to the virtual work experience opportunities the placements for this term are given below.
13 – 17 July Brixton Finishing School: Discover the World of Advertising, Marketing, & Communications Age: 14+ Application Deadline: 19 June 2020 https://www.s4snextgen.org/opportunities/view/id/679
Paragon Skills Apprenticeships Paragon Skills is a national apprenticeship training provider with a Grade 2 Good Ofsted rating. Paragon Skills offer intermediate, advanced and higher apprenticeships across a host of industries – from Accountancy and Management to Automotive and Childcare. Paragon Skills would like to invite students and parents/carers to attend their Virtual Open Day events which will run every Wednesday from 1 July until 19 August between 9am and 5pm. This is an opportunity to; Hear from the Chief Executive at Paragon Skills about what modern apprenticeships can offer your students Understand what programmes Paragon Skills offer from subject experts Take a sneak peek inside their Automotive Academy in Bournemouth Join an exclusive talent pool where Paragon Skills will help your students find their dream job Attend Q&A sessions to find out more from our experts Meet a number of Gatsby Benchmarks For anyone leaving school there are tough decisions to make, but for the class of 2020, this is amplified by the uncertainty of a global crisis. Whether they know what they want to do or not, the purpose of the Paragon Skills Virtual Open Day is to show that they are here to help school leavers consider their options, and make an informed decision about what’s next.
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Sports Update Sports Leaders Please can all sports leadership booklets be brought in to Lumsdale (upper school) reception for verification/marking: Years 7/8 – young leaders Year 9 – I can lead, plus level 1 dance leaders Year 10 – level 1 booklets Year 11 – level 2 booklets Years 12/13 – level 3 booklets and level 2 dance booklets Thank you.
I Can, I Am programme for years 7-10 Many thanks to all students who submitted these by SMHW or email to Mrs Allen. It is still not too late to do so, or even to complete during the summer holidays and send over to Mrs Allen via email (jallen@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk). This will enable a smoother transition back in September. All students will have access on our return in September to the Personal Skills programme run by Sports Leaders UK.
Voice of Sport We held another successful Voice of Sport meeting via Zoom today (10 July) discussing 2020 and what we have learnt. We were also talking about the expectations for 2020-21.
Blended netball Highfields are part of this new initiative with England Netball. Blended Netball will be introduced as part of a new secondary school peer to peer offer. It is designed for mainstream girls to deliver netball to girls with special educational needs, allowing them to benefit by gaining important life skills such as leadership, communication and empathy.
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter 60 SEN CHALLENGE TIME
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter
Be the best you can
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter The daily mile activities from home The daily mile website introduces all families across the UK to The #DailyMileAtHome. It’s an easy and fun way to keep fit and maintain good health and wellbeing for you and your children - see the link below for further information. https://thedailymile.co.uk/at-home/
Dance around the World Aimed mainly at KS1 children (five to seven), but can be enjoyed by all, ‘Dance around the World’ have put together a series of fun dance routines based on different places and countries around the world. Each routine is easy to follow and lasts approximately ten minutes, including a simple warm up. Each one is also accompanied by a simple worksheet – see website below for further information. https://www.activederbyshire.org.uk/dance-around-theworld?utm_source=Social%20media&utm_medium=Post&utm_campaign=Dance%20Around%20th e%20World
Home sports day
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Girl’s football weekly challenge
Youth Sport Trust PE activities #ThisIsPE is a collaborative project with Yorkshire Sport Foundation (YSF) and the Association for PE, and endorsed by the Department for Education as a home school resource with a series of short videos. YST are also working with Special Olympics GB to ensure there is inclusive content. All activities can be done in and around the home and can be carried out with objects you can find around the house. All videos have been filmed by current secondary PE teachers who are part of the Youth Sport Trust Secondary PE CatalYST network. Follow the link below to access all activities: https://www.youthsporttrust.org/free-home-learning-resources-secondary
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter
Be the best you can
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Sports activity challenges The Rural Derbyshire School Sport Partnership have been working with Active Derbyshire on virtual challenges. As well as being great fun to complete, there are prizes to be won for individuals and schools who participate. The resource has simple descriptions and images of all the challenges, a brief history of the sport, some research tasks as well as literacy and numeracy; along with links to Governing Body of sport websites for additional information. There are a number of challenges to complete and a new challenge has been issued each week focusing on a different sport.
All sports challenges can be accessed through the links below: Racket sports http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/NewsPDFs/DerbyshireSchoolGamesRacketSports.pdf Boccia http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/NewsPDFs/DerbyshireSchoolGamesBoccia.pdf Gymnastics http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/NewsPDFs/DerbyshireSchoolGamesGymnastics.pdf Cricket: http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/NewsPDFs/DerbyshireSchoolGamesCricket.pdf Athletics: http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/NewsPDFs/DerbyshireSchoolGamesAthletics.pdf Orienteering http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/NewsPDFs/DerbyshireSchoolGamesOrienteering.pdf Netball http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/NewsPDFs/DerbyshireSchoolGamesNetball.pdf Football http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/NewsPDFs/DerbyshireSchoolGamesFootball.pdf Golf http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/NewsPDFs/DerbyshireSchoolGames.pdf
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Alternative activities to try during time at home Maths – ‘Time’ for maths Mrs Wragg Fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine…zero. Has your clock gone crazy? What happened to sixty, sixtyone and all the rest of the numbers? The answer is base-ic! Back to Babylon Our numbering system is based on the number 10 – we even call this system ‘base 10’. For us, things build up in tens: ten ones become ten, ten tens become a hundred etc. But about 5,000 years ago the Babylonian people in the Middle East used a different base – 60. This system still lives on today, like in how we tell the time. Making it Count The Babylonians used a single mark for 1, two marks for 2 and all the way up to nine marks for 9. Ten got its own mark and then 11 became 10 + 1 all the way until 59 became 5 ’10 marks’ and 9 ‘1 marks. It started again at 60, which became 1 again but in the next column. Have a go at some of these Time Based Puzzles. Which answer fits most closely to the clock?
If January = 717 February = 8216 March 5315 May = 3515 June = 4624 Then what is April?
At 12 o’clock the hands of a clock are aligned. At what time will they next be aligned? How many times a day will they be aligned?
Send your answers to your maths teacher – we’d love to see them
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Speakers for Schools virtual talks Speakers for Schools are presenting weekly VTalks. Their schedule is updated weekly and talks will be targeted to different age groups (see speakers below for May). To access the talks click the link: https://www.speakersforschools.org/inspiration/vtalks/upcoming-vtalks/ No logins are required and all attendees can stream the talks without downloading Microsoft Teams. Links should be opened in a browser that is not Internet Explorer. Students can view by clicking WATCH TALK LIVE HERE and then clicking ‘Watch on web instead’ and sign in anonymously. The speakers will appear at the set times e.g. 10am and 2pm. DATE
SPEAKER
INFO
Mon 13 July 10am
Reemah Sakaan, Group Launch Director, Britbox
Mon 13 July 2pm
Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England
Tues 14 July 10am
Richard Aylard, External Affairs and Sustainability Director and Rebekah Kenyon, Senior Sustainability Awareness Advisor, Thames Water Sara Crofts, Chief Executive, The Institute of Conservation
Hear from Reemah Sakaan, Group Launch Director, BritBox on what it takes to have a career in TV, the skills and qualities that you might need and more about their career journey. Join us to hear from the Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, as he talks to students across the UK about the work of the Bank and answers YOUR questions. Reflections on sustainability in a lockdown world: Join us to hear from Richard Aylard and Rebekah Kenyon as they discuss sustainability and lockdown, from home working to how lockdown has impacted Thames Water’s activities and our new appreciation for the environment.
Tues 14 July 2pm
Wed 15 July 10am
Anna Turney, Paralympian
Wed 15 July 2pm Thurs 16 July 10am
Alejandra Castaño GHG Air Quality Lead Advisor, Upstream - GOO, BP Sharon Walpole, Director, Careermap
Thurs 16 July 2pm
Julia Angeles, Investment Manager, Baillie Gifford
Who looks after the dinosaurs in the Natural History Museum? Who uncovers the hidden stories in old paintings? Who keeps Big Ben running like clockwork? Join Sara Crofts to find out how professional conservators care for the treasures in our museums and galleries. Paralympian, Anna Turney, is joining SFS virtually to reflect on her own journey and share life lessons with young people including the important of goal setting, working hard and developing resilience. This talk will be given by an environmental engineer with BP about her career at the company and the kind of work she’s involved in with the company’s carbon ambitions. We're delighted Sharon Walpole, Director, Careermap has kindly agreed to join us to discuss how young people can prepare for their future careers from understanding what your passion is, how to research to find out more about the careers you might be interested in and sharing the resources that can help you think about your future. Interested in learning more about the skills it takes to succeed in the future job market? Julia Angeles has joined us to give insights in to the investment industry and to highlight the importance of collaborative and creative thinking in any career!
VTALK LIBRARY & MORE You can watch pre-recorded VTalks through the following link: https://www.speakersforschools.org/inspiration/vtalks/vtalks-video-library/
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Competitions BBC Young Composer 2020 competition The BBC Young Composer 2020 competition is open to students aged 12-18 of all technical abilities, backgrounds, and musical influences. The deadline for this year's competition is 5pm, Monday 20 July. https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2020/young-composer-launch The 30 Second Composition Challenge has also been launched challenging composers aged 1218 to get creative at home and create a 30-second piece for a single instrument or voice. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/TByVm765XjYpg6b8y5MCzM/bbc-young-composer-30second-composition-challenge]
Competition: a vision for life after Covid-19 "Never waste a good crisis" This competition, run by UCL openDemocracy, was launched on 17 June and is open to school and university students (aged 14 and up) to share their vision of the future, with prizes of £200, £100 or £50 in book tokens plus the chance for personal mentoring from the panel of some of the world's foremost thinkers and some fantastic work experience with either UCL or openDemocracy. Entrants can submit either a written article, short video or image that describes their vision for the world after the coronavirus crisis has passed. To find out more visit: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/world-after-covid/
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Y7 and Y8 Science Competition Mrs Harrison would like year 7 and year 8 science students to take part in the ‘make a model virus’ competition. We would like you to make a model and send in photographs of your entries by 17 July 2020 to sharrison@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk with the subject VIRUS COMPETITION in the title. Entries will be judged over the summer and the top three Y7 and Y8 entries will receive edible prizes. To view the full pdf and details please click the link below: http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/NewsPDFs/Y78ScienceCompetition.pdf
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Joined Up Careers Derbyshire competition to celebrate our health and social care heroes through creative art Joined Up Careers Derbyshire is encouraging children and young people to get creative in order to celebrate our health and social care heroes. There are hundreds of different job roles in the NHS and social care and all who work in Derby and Derbyshire have been magnificent in recent months as we battle the Covid-19 pandemic that has affected all our lives. The nation is rightly proud of the contributions of key workers and we now want to recognise and celebrate the efforts of employees in this sector through an art competition for children and young people. Children and young people, aged between four and 16, are being encouraged to capture through art what our health and social care heroes mean to them. The competition is free to enter and participants have until Friday 31 July 2020 to submit their works of inspirational art. Any style of art is being accepted with entries being submitted via a digital photo emailed to dhcft.joinedupcareers@nhs.net There are a number of prizes available and the winner will have their artwork showcased in a future campaign to recruit to the health and social care workforce. Susan Spray, programme lead for Joined Up Careers Derbyshire: “We’re encouraging children and
young people to get creative – drawing, painting, photography, sculpture or whatever artform they enjoy most. We will judge the entries via a submitted photo of whatever they produce. We think this is a great chance to celebrate the work of everyone in health and social care and give children and young people in Derby and Derbyshire a focus for their lockdown artistic efforts.” Joined Up Careers Derbyshire is a partnership of NHS, local authorities and the voluntary and community sector, promoting recruitment and retention in the health and social care workforce. Further information and full competition terms and conditions are available on the Joined Up Careers Derbyshire website: www.joinedupcareers.co.uk/about/art-competition Updates on the competition will be made on the social media pages of Joined Up Careers Derbyshire including Twitter at @JUCareersD using #CareersArt
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Keeping Highfields reading: how to access free books It’s really important that students keep up with reading whilst school is closed. The recommended reading time is at least 20 minutes every day. We recognise that at the current time it may be difficult to find books to read. Books are still readily available to buy online from Amazon, Waterstones and other bookshops, but there are also a growing number of sources of free books. The situation is changing every day, with publishers starting to offer access to more and more books, so this advice will be regularly updated. At the current time, the best sources of free reading material are:
Kindle Unlimited If you are an Amazon Prime member you can sign up for two free months of KindleUnlimited. You will need to download the Kindle app on any device and then you’ll have unlimited access to books, magazines and audiobooks on the Kindle store. After the free trial period there’s a charge of £7.99 per month, but you can cancel your subscription at any time. Visit https://www.amazon.co.uk/kindledbs/hz/subscribe/ku?shoppingPortalEnabled=true for more information. If you don’t want to sign up to KindleUnlimited you can still download some very inexpensive – or even free - titles from the Amazon Kindle store. Have a browse through the “Children’s” and “Teen & Young Adult” sections. There are some good offers. For instance, the first and second titles in the very popular “Cogheart” series are completely free at the moment. Free titles seem to be added daily, so it’s worth having a regular check of the website.
Audible Amazon Audible has made all its audiobooks available free of charge if you start a 30-day free trial subscription with them. Visit http://www.audible.co.uk
Derbyshire Libraries You can read thousands of e-books for free through Derbyshire Libraries. Even if you haven’t yet joined the library, you can join online and download e-books immediately. If you are already a member go to https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/leisure/libraries/ebooks/ebooksemagazines-and-eaudiobooks.aspx and follow the instructions to start browsing through the books available. If you aren’t yet a member of a Derbyshire library go to: https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/leisure/libraries/using-your-library/joining/joining-the-library.aspx and click on “Join the Library”. Fill in all your details and you’ll be given a temporary username and password that you can use until you get a membership card. So you’ll be able to start downloading books straight away. Happy reading! Updates to follow as and when other sources of reading material become available.
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Updates and Reminders for Students Year 11 Frequently Asked Questions: Sixth Form Entry Can I change my Sixth Form options? Yes, but.. (a) during your sixth form interview it might be that we decided it would be good to do or not do a particular subject - in your best interests. So in terms of changes, just to think, check and talk to us if this was the case. (b) some classes do get full. Unfortunately there are limits beyond which make it difficult to teach, and so we may need to say no. And in fact, you probably don't want to be taught in a very large class either. (c) it is probably not advisable to change subjects just on the basis of the work being set now on SMHW. We say this at the beginning of Year 12 too. You might hear of something interesting being set in another subject, or find something you've been set a bit hard, or not what you expected. Some teachers also have more time than others in terms of what they are setting. Broadly speaking your original decision is likely to have been your best one. (d) where you were uncertain about which subject to take, we have tried to put you into the classes you were interested in on SMHW, so you can see the type of work in each subject and this might help to make up your mind. Do I need to do all the work in SMHW? Yes. Of course there may be some bits where a teacher has made clear that 'if you are interested you could have a look at....' - in which case that might be up to your interest. But the point of this work is to give you the best start possible, and we don't know what will happen during the rest of the year, so the work is important to do. You only need to do work in the subjects you are going to do in Sixth Form. Not in any others. (We may have added you to a fourth or fifth subject in cases where you weren’t sure what subject you wanted to do at A Level. If you are sure you don’t want to do that subject, that’s fine – it would be helpful to let us know and we can take you off that course). Is it too late to apply for Sixth Form? No. Just email Mr Flett (mflett@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk) and he will be able to call you to discuss options. The criteria are set out below (and are in the online prospectus). Are the entry criteria for Sixth Form still the same? Yes. The entry criteria for entry into sixth form remain the same, as they have done for previous years, which is an average of a Grade 4 across all subjects (with the additional requirements for maths, physics, chemistry and biology, as set out in the prospectus). You will understand that, in advance of the results being officially published, we do not know who will get an average of a Grade 4 and who will not. In accordance with government regulations, teachers must not discuss grades with students. As in previous years, we can advise whether it seems sensible to have a back up option, like a college course which might suit you. We believe that all those who wanted to, have had discussions around this, but if you do have queries, please email Mr Flett who will be able to call you. Teachers and tutors will not be able to comment further on this.
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Have I got a place in Sixth Form? Provided you meet the entry requirements, then you get a place in sixth form. So it is not a case of ‘have an interview’ and then ‘wait to hear confirmation’. We have you down for the subjects that you are entered for in SMHW. Although remember that: there are specific entry requirements to do maths, further maths, biology, chemistry and physics. we may have entered you on SMHW for one or two extra subjects that you were interested in. How do I make contact for options, changes, discussions Please feel free to email Mr Flett if you want to discuss changes to options for sixth form (and avoid overloading Mr Redhead’s inbox). Advice from Colleges The colleges are still providing advice and accepting applications. For example at Chesterfield: “The student services team are managing the advice@chesterfield.ac.uk email so this would be the first point of contact. They are currently extremely busy so there may be a delay on the reply.”
Qualifications and Exams: Years 11 and 13 students We will keep families updated on any further Ofqual information published. Due to the current situation and social distancing restrictions in place, we are unable to run results days as normal this year. A small number of pastoral, exam office and senior staff will be available in school to hand out results on Thursday 13 August (A Level) and Thursday 20 August (GCSE). Year 11 and Year 13 students have been sent a survey by school email, to indicate whether they would like to receive their results by email or come into school to collect them. Students should complete this survey by Monday 13 July so that we can plan based on numbers. The DFE have recently updated their information about the award of grades this summer to reflect further decisions about appeals and standardisation – full details can be accessed below: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/ 890811/Summer_2020_grades_for_GCSE_AS_A_level_guidance_for_teachers_students_parents_09 062020.pdf Ofqual video – qualifications process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXuDOrtJY1Q&feature=youtu.be Ofqual letter for students about grading and qualifications this summer: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/ 878854/Letter_to_students_-_Summer_2020_grading.pdf
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter School to home communication Students should be regularly checking their school email account as well as Show My Homework daily (Monday to Friday during the school term) for the latest updates and work to do at home.
Communication with teachers Please can all students/parents wanting support or advice on any pieces of homework set at this time use the messaging/comments option in SMHW. Teachers are aware that many of you will have questions for certain tasks and so are regularly checking SMHW for notifications. If you are unsure how to do this, please take a look at the web link below: https://help.teamsatchel.com/en/articles/2911863-leaving-comments-for-your-teachers Please only use teacher emails as a last resort, and certainly not until you have tried a message on SMHW to your teacher. Remember you must use your school email accounts to contact staff. Usernames and passwords for school email accounts are the same as student log-ins to school computers. Staff are unable to respond to emails from students’ personal accounts.
Show My Homework online homework submission guidance Students should be submitting work through the SMHW platform. The link below is from SMHW and explains how to do this or you can follow the steps below: https://help.teamsatchel.com/en/articles/2912000-submitting-my-work-online
Shout Outs If anyone wants a 'shout out' for somebody who is doing something excellent please let us know by email wearehighfields@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk and we will try to feature in future assemblies.
Free Microsoft Office for Students Students at Highfields School can download Microsoft Office for free on up to 5 devices, for the duration of their time as a student at the school. Microsoft Office can be installed on compatible desktop computers, tablets, and mobile phones. http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/office.html
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Learning at home Thank you to all the parents/carers for all you are doing to support your child's learning at home. We really appreciate how new and different this is and how much you are juggling.
Student timetables for working from home Students should expect to complete the same amount of work / study for the same number of hours as they would in a normal week. Keeping a routine similar to a school day and homework is a good idea. All work is being set on Show My Homework. It is set on a weekly timetable for each year group as shown below.
Years 7-10 school timetable Year 7: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
English, Geography and Art Maths, History and DT English, PRS and Music Maths, Drama and Computing Science, Dance and Language
Year 9: Revised timetable from 15.6.20 English, Option A, PRS Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Maths, Option B, PE Chemistry, Biology Maths, Option C English, Physics, Option D
Year 8: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Maths, History and DT English, Geography and Art Maths, Drama and Computing Science, Dance and Language English, PRS and Music
Year 10 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Option A (Friday period 1), English and Biology Option B (Wednesday period 4) and Maths Option C (Monday period 5), Physics and PRS Option D (Tuesday period 4) and English Maths and Chemistry
Y9 students’ work will be set as per their school timetabled option block periods for September 2020 as defined above. Option blocks are listed below and students have already received their option choice subjects and blocks. Option A: Art, Business, Geography, History, Creative iMedia, Music, PE, Sport, Support Food or Triple Science Option C: DT, Engineering, Film, Food, Geography, History, PE, Photography or Travel & Tourism
Option B: Computing, Film, French, Geography, German, History, Photography or Triple Science Option D: Art, Biology, Dance, Drama, Engineering, Food, French, German or Triple Science
Year 11 work to help you into year 12 Mr Flett has issued several ideas to get students started on work that will make a difference to performance at A Level. Many of these are curiosity based tasks, but all year 11 parents/carers and students should now be in receipt about year 11 into 12 bridging work for sixth form set through Show My Homework to help support transition to A Levels.
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Year 12 school timetable Work is set by teachers and departments using Show My Homework.
Year 12 additional information Online Courses If you want to be occasionally looking at other things, then here are a selection of short online courses you can do through the University of York. They are engaging ways of looking at subjects you are interested in now, or things you might want to study at university. It is great to put on your CV/personal statement that you have done one of them. They have always been designed as online courses, so are perfect to do from home. Some of them will even help with your A Level studies (of course you can do these courses after the year 12 exams if you are too busy now) – see link – York University: https://www.york.ac.uk/study/moocs/?utm_source=University%20of%20York&utm_medium=email &utm_campaign=11474649_April20%20Excellence%20Hub%20News%20Bulletin&dm_i=1BEN,6TX W9,RZCL6,RDHSM,1
Unifrog, Open Days, looking ahead Unifrog (our Higher Education and Apprenticeships platform) is still available and has increased its distance learning resources. Students can log into it, in the normal way, as they would at school. In recent conversations with students, we were discussing university visits. As you'll imagine, the virtual tours are being beefed up. I took a virtual tour of Nottingham Trent University. It is a really strong university, and we always try to go there for the Open Day (along with a trip to Birmingham, Leeds or Manchester). On the virtual tour I checked out some of the departments I normally like going to, and also a tour of the accommodation, facilities and city. It was a good experience and quite quickly gave me the feel that I normally get when we go there. The link for it is below, although obviously you can go out and do the same with many different universities just now. https://virtualtour.ntu.ac.uk/ Please get in touch through the school email system if you need to speak with any member of the sixth form team rather than responding to the InTouch generic emailing system as this platform is not manned daily and it will take us longer to respond to you.
Y11 and Y13 – Suggestions for making best use of time The cancellation of summer exams has obviously had a huge impact on all our Y11 and 13 students. All that extra time which was being spent on final exam preparation can be put to really good use. It is vital that you keep your brains active, and no learning is ever wasted. Lots of people have already shared some great ideas (see link to school website below): http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/StudentPDFs/Y11andY13learningsuggestions.pdf Keep your brain moving. Make the most of your time. Learn something new.
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Higher Education information Messages have been emailed out about the start of the Higher Education process. Please keep an eye on your inboxes for further information. Recent information has been issued on the following (there is some Apprenticeship advice in here too - so this is for everyone!). 1. An easy to look through list: Have a look through the emailed list of University Open Days, plus lots of other talks – on careers and other opportunities. The list is there so you don’t need to navigate through more clunky online websites. Have a scan through and see what appeals to you. Some of the talks in here are priceless: it's all the open days but plenty more besides: talks about apprenticeships in BP, talks about the film-making industry, how to get into financial services, and other thought-provoking talks. 2. A recorded Zoom with our former Highfields Students: We have got together with some of our Highfields Sixth Formers who left last year, and have had a year at university (or a gap year). Normally we bring them back to school, to be with you in a classroom. It's a fun and relaxed session and you get to ask whatever questions you like. It gives you a university view from Matlock students, hopefully you learn a lot and pick up on their vibes. Instead of this we have Zoomed with them and recorded the Zoom session. We think it’s really worth watching and you’ll pick up lots if tips that you might not find elsewhere. You’ll be able to watch it by clicking on the link which was emailed out. It’s worth watching right through – the tip that makes a difference to you, might be just around the corner. 3. Getting experience (remotely): Getting work experience is important to everyone because it helps you to: write better personal statements (for UCAS); write better CVs if you are applying for jobs; it helps decide what you want to do; and for some courses it is required – like Medicine, primary teaching, veterinary courses etc. But of course, this year that’s different. So, what to do? The document linked below has been prepared by medical schools – but many of the principles in it apply whether you are wanting to apply for an apprenticeship or job, or any other course. Have a scan through it to see their practical suggestions – like following blogs of what certain professionals have been doing during lockdown, and learning from what they say – does their experience appeal to you, or put you off? https://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffnet/documents/Guidance-on-gaining-relevant-experienceCovid19.pdf 4. Early applicants: (Oxbridge, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Dentistry). Firstly, please can you email Mr Flett to confirm you are interested in applying to one of these courses. Once that has happened we will set up a Zoom meeting (probably in an evening, so that parents can join in too), to discuss these applications. In earlier emails, we sent round this link to the Oxbridge conference sessions: https://www.oxfordandcambridgeoutreach.co.uk/student-conference/introduction There have been some problems accessing this website – I have managed it from home but not at school. However there are plenty of others: http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/videos (and similar for Cambridge).
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter 5.
Our mode of working: Normally we do an evening for parents and students this week (with universities), and we then do a UCAS day with lots of advice. Then we give you guidance sheets which summarise what we have said. This time round we are going to ‘flip’ it. So we will give you our guidance sheets, and we want you to see if you understand them. They might answer a lot of questions you have. Then you can email in any further questions you have. After this, we are looking into having a mega-zoom session where students and parents can come along one evening to hear some further thoughts and advice, and we can answer any of the questions you have sent in.
As always, get in touch with any of us if you want some help. Mr Flett and Mrs Cruise Sixth form team
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Parents/carers can help Please help us by:
Making sure your child has access to their school email account from home. Ideally this will be on a home (or borrowed) desktop, laptop or tablet although we recognise that some students don’t have access to these and may only able to access email on their (or your) phone.
Making sure your child has somewhere quiet to work. In the event of an extended school closure we would ask that parents/carers try to ensure that conditions at home are conductive to allow 67 hours good quality work each day.
Guidance on work expectations and how to manage it 1. As you know work should be set for Y7-10 on the basis of a weekly timetable, with 3-4 subjects being covered on each day. 2. Work should be completed on the day that it is set. We have realised that by setting longer deadlines it can be hard for students to know what to do when, work can actually build up and become unmanageable. We want every student to be as clear as possible about the work they need to do each day and to be able to complete it neatly in one day. They should then be able to switch off knowing they’ve done a good day’s work. We are not setting homework now; it is included within the work set in each slot. Some subjects may be setting more extended project style work. Teachers have been asked to make sure work towards these is broken down into chunks and not set over a number of weeks, which can make it look like it is on-going in Show My Homework. 3. Students should be working each school day, but not working excessive hours. They should not be working much more than they would normally. Students in Y7-9 should be expecting to spend around 4.5 hours each day working, students in Y10 around 5 hours. In many cases this will mean about 90 minutes per subject on each day in Y7-9 and about 100 minutes for Y10. Some subjects only have 1 lesson a week, for example PRS and Music. They will set work for up to 45 minutes. 4. Estimating exactly how much work different students are likely to do in the time set is really hard – everyone is different, and works at a different pace and with different approaches. While we can adapt to this easily in a school situation it is harder to do remotely. Please keep this in mind and get in touch if you are finding that there is regularly too much work to manage. 5. Teaching staff will be mindful of all of the above when setting their work. We think that in some cases we may have over-estimated the amount of work that can be completed within certain time frames and are asking staff to think carefully about this. We are aware that it can take time to work through instructions, to access resources and to save work for example, and that family members who are trying to help may be very busy too. We also know that spending hours at a computer is not easy for many students, and not good for them either. They need to have breaks, ideally get some fresh air and exercise and to talk to others. 6. Everyone is starting to find routines that work for them. For many this will be to try to follow the hours of a normal school day, starting with assembly at 9.00am and completing school work over a number of hours until around 3.30pm. Then switching off. This may not be ideal for all, or always be manageable but it is likely to provide a good model. Working late into the evening is not generally a good idea. Once again we are so grateful to you for your support, understanding and flexibility. You are helping us to be the best ‘virtual Highfields’ we can be; we are learning every step of the way and can do a great job if we continuing working together.
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Resources for Highfields students learning from home Show My Homework: Access to work set is through Show My Homework www.showmyhomework.co.uk/ (also accessible via the school website). Students can log on to Show My Homework using their school username and password. Please ensure your children check Show My Homework regularly as staff will be updating their subject areas.
School Website / VLE: Resources are available on the school website: www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk Students can access ‘all users’ from home from the Highfields School website: Go to Highfields School homepage Click on ‘portals’ Click on ‘student portal’ Enter school IT username (not email address) and password Find ‘all users Starkholmes’ or ‘all users Lumsdale’ on the right hand side Select the appropriate department/folder required. If students have forgotten their password please email reset@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk specifying your user name and form to request a new password.
‘Always be doing’ Tasks: All students have been given ‘always be doing’ tasks to work through during any time spent at home. Copies of the information can be downloaded from our website as follows for each key stage: Years 7-9 (key stage 3): http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/StudentPDFs/KS3ABD.pdf Year 10 (key stage 4): http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/ExamPDFs/KS4ABD.pdf
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter
Study Boost Loughborough University Loughborough University have set up ‘study boost’ - a free service that aims to support you with the challenging topics you may be facing in core GCSE subjects: biology, chemistry, physics, maths, English language and literature. All you need to do to is complete the short form with the question that you need help with. One of the university’s study boost mentors will then record a presentation detailing how to solve a similar problem, as well as providing hints and tips as to how to approach the specific topic. Please note that whilst the mentors aim to provide as much help as they can, they cannot complete specific homework or coursework assignments. You may also wish to review our selection of presentations for further subject advice and guidance. Mentors will aim to respond to your question within one working day. You will be notified, via the email you supply on the form, that your answer is ready. To access the ‘study boost’ website follow the link: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/school-college-liaison/study-boost/
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Parents/carers – support and advice Help & Support information We are regularly updating the school website with the latest information and activities, including our ‘Help & Support’ page: http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/support.html
Free School Meals National Voucher Scheme and Universal Credit Children eligible for free school meals can benefit from a national voucher scheme allowing them to continue to access meals whilst they stay at home. Families of eligible free school meals students have been contacted by school to receive a weekly shopping voucher worth £15 to spend at supermarkets while schools are closed due to coronavirus. The vouchers are sent as an e-code which can be redeemed as an e-voucher. The e-voucher can be downloaded to a smartphone or printed to use and can be spent on food at a range of shops including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Waitrose and M&S. The Department for Education is working to get more shops to join the scheme as soon as possible. If you have not received an email from school and are a family who is eligible for free school meals please contact the Finance department (finance@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk). If you have received an email but not yet responded, please do so as soon as possible so the vouchers can be sent out to you. If you are a family who have had to apply for Universal Credit for the first time to help you out during these difficult times, please remember to apply for Free School Meals and let us know if you are successful by forwarding your confirmation email to us so we can change your status and add you to the voucher/hamper schemes school is operating. If you feel you may be eligible for Free School Meals you can contact the Free School Meals team in any of the following ways:
Email: checking@derbyshire.gov.uk Telephone: 01629 536400 / 01629 535743 Families can also apply directly online at: https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/education/schools/your-child-at-school/meals/school-meals/freeschool-meals.aspx
‘We Are Highfields Fund’ 2020 Application forms for the We Are Highfields Fund can be requested from the finance office (finance@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk) or by phone (01629 832325), your child’s year manager or website http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/NewsPDFs/WeAreHighfieldsApplication.docx. This is a hardship grant and is considered on a case by case basis. This grant scheme will be paid out until funds are exhausted. To be eligible you must be a parent/carer of a students at Highfields School and have savings of less than £1,000 per person or £2,000 for a family or couple (including rolling bank balance).
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter
Highfields Emergency Childcare Since 23 March, in line with scientific advice, schools have remained open only to a priority group of children and young people, children who have a parent/carer who is a critical worker and vulnerable children. Now that the government have made progress in reducing the transmission of coronavirus they are encouraging all eligible children to attend settings (where there are no shielding concerns for the chid or their household). As you are aware from w/c 15 June we are offering face-to-face support for Y10 and Y12 students on a phased return. Children of critical workers, and vulnerable children who are already eligible, will continue to be offered a place in Highfields Emergency Childcare, regardless of the year group they are in. If you are a keyworker and require emergency childcare, please contact Mrs Leverton by Friday each week with specific details regarding the days and times of the following week that emergency childcare is required (lleverton@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk). The definition of critical workers remains unchanged. A full list of keyworkers can be accessed on the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintainingeducational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintainingeducational-provision
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Derbyshire County Council Advice on COVID-19 for Parents/Carers We appreciate some parents/carers and children may be worried about themselves, members of their family, or their friends becoming ill. There’s lots of advice about how to talk to your child about Coronavirus. Below is a list of helpful resources:
National Autistic Society – guidance and helpline for parents, young people and staff https://www.autism.org.uk/services/nas-schools/vanguard/news/2020/march/coronavirus(covid-19)-advice.aspx
Mencap - Easy Read guide to coronavirus https://www.mencap.org.uk/advice-and-support/health/coronavirus
Place2Be – Have a useful guide for helping parents answer questions from their children and to support family wellbeing https://www.place2be.org.uk/about-us/news-and-blogs/2020/march/coronavirus-informationfor-children/
Young Minds - Talking to your child about coronavirus and 10 tips from their Parents Helpline to support family wellbeing https://youngminds.org.uk/blog/talking-to-your-child-about-coronavirus/
Carers UK - Guidance for carers https://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/health/looking-after-your-health/coronavirus-covid-19
Covibook is an interactive resource designed to support and reassure children aged 7 and under, designed to help children explain and draw the emotions that they might be experiencing during the pandemic https://www.mindheart.co/descargables
Amaze - information pack for parents/carers https://amazesussex.org.uk/faqs-about-the-coronavirus-for-parent-carers-of-children-with-sendbrighton-hove/
Public Health England Public Health England have produced an easy read version of their advice on the coronavirus for places of education. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england You can download a copy from Easy Read Online. https://www.easy-read-online.co.uk/media/53192/advice-on-the-coronavirus-v1.pdf
COVID-19 Chesterfield Support Network http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/NewsPDFs/COVID19_Support_v3.pdf
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter NSPCC Coronavirus link The link below is from the NSPCC with some helpful advice on speaking to young people about the Coronavirus. https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/childrens-mental-health/depression-anxiety-mentalhealth/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Talking%20to%20a%20child%20worried% 20about%20coronavirus%20%28COVID-19%29&utm_campaign=CASPAR-2019-03-30
CAMHS resource The CAMHS website contains resources and links to support young people and families with their mental health and emotional wellbeing. Website: https://www.camhs-resources.co.uk/
Domestic abuse Boots are offering a safe space for domestic abuse victims. Website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52495434
Online Safety During the school closures our children will be spending more time online and we are aware that not all parents/carers may be as engaged as they usually are as they try to balance work deadlines with childcare. Screen time is inevitably going to win at some point for most families and it is more important than before that we remind parents/carers of the key role in helping to keep children safe. The YouTube clip below is to remind parents/carers of the importance of engaging with their child/s online lives during this time. Additional clips will be released and cover issues such as parental controls (and how to set them), which apps have seen a surge in popularity since the pandemic and age specific information aimed at 0-5's, 6 - 11's and over 11's. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhLWwQ4Ay5s Traci Good, Director of E Safety Training Ltd Safeguarding, Derbyshire County Council
Online Prescription Delivery Pharmacy2U deliver prescriptions to homes for any families unable to get out to the local chemists. https://www.pharmacy2u.co.uk/
Online Safety Advice from SV2 SV2 is a charity in Derbyshire that provides support services to victims of sexual violence. They are also offering help and advice about online safety covering online grooming, social media privacy and what to do if you become a victim of online harm. See SV2 website: www.sv2.org.uk
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter SV2: Supporting victims of Sexual Violence Web Chat on line Forum - July Please see below for new dates for SV2s July web chat facility.
Food supplies Jigsaw
Jigsaw food bank have crisis food parcels daily, as well as a 12 weekly delivery on Thursdays. Weekly food parcels will be delivered to families who are referred by a professional.
Food bank There is a food bank based at 23 Firs Parade, Matlock that is very well stocked. If you need this assistance or know anyone that does and might not be aware of it, please pass this on.
John Palin https://johnpalinlocal.co.uk/ John Palin Wholesale is a large independent supplier and distributor of fresh fruit, vegetables, salad, bakery and dairy items.
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter 10 top tips from the Highfields Cluster Family Support Team Highfields family support team wanted to provide some helpful tips to help families during this current lockdown. Information is available on the school website through the link below: http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/NewsPDFs/HelpfulTipsForParentsAndCarersDuringLock down.pdf
Helping children and young people to manage anxiety If a child is displaying signs of anxiety how can you support them? A practical guide to supporting pupils and students during periods of disruption from the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families: https://www.annafreud.org/media/11465/helping-cyp-manage-anxiety-apr2020-v3.pdf
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Useful contact numbers Benefit enquires Citizens Advice Line (CAB)—0300 456 8390
Food bank Jigsaw Food Bank—01629 584783
Mental health Derwent Rural Counselling—0800 047 6861 Talking Mental Health—0300 123 0542 Trent PTS (Mental Health Support)—01332 265659 Papyrus UK Helpline (Suicide) - 0800 068 41 41 First Steps (Eating Disorders)—01332 367571 Young Carers—01773 833833
Domestic abuse National Domestic Abuse Helpline—0808 2000 247 Crossroads Derbyshire (Domestic Abuse)—01457 856675 The Elm Foundation (Domestic Abuse)—01246 540464
Other Police—101/999 Non-Emergency Health Advice—111
School Nurse Service Health Visitor and School Nurse SPA Hub – telephone: 01246 515100 Website: www.derbyshireschoolnurses.org.uk General Covid-19 info and community health services info website: www.dchs.nhs.uk
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Local support available for parents/carers
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Helplines, Apps and Websites if you need help now
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter
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Highfields School
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Newsletter
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Staying Safe Online
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Share with Care
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter App Safety
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter
GOV.UK Department for Education: Handwashing advice The most important thing individuals can do to protect themselves is to wash their hands more often, for at least 20 seconds, with soap and water. Public Health England recommends that in addition to handwashing before eating, and after coughing and sneezing, everyone should also wash hands after using toilets and travelling on public transport. The latest guidance and video on hand washing can be found here:  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public
Department for Education coronavirus helpline The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents/carers and young people can contact this helpline as follows: Phone: 0800 046 8687 Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday), 10am to 4pm (Saturday to Sunday) Please note, the helpline is experiencing high volumes of calls.
Where to find the latest information Updates on COVID-19: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
Derbyshire County Council latest advice and guidance: www.derbyshire.gov.uk/coronavirus
Public Health England for the East Midlands: PHE East Midlands response centre Tel: 0344 225 4524 followed by Option 0 to get through to East Midlands Health Protection Team, then press option 1, then ask for the Coronavirus Response Centre. Open from 8am to 8pm.
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Highfields School Contact details Communication with school Lower school site (Starkholmes) - to contact year managers for years 7 or 8 please email as follows: Mrs Green - Year Manager (year 7) tgreen@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk
Mrs Weightman Edge - Year Manager (year 8) Hweightman-edge@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk
Upper school site (Lumsdale) - to contact year managers for years 9-13 please email as follows: Miss Esposito - Year Manager (year 9) aesposito@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk
Mr Tidmarsh - Year Manager (year 11) dtidmarsh@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk
Mr Allsobrook -Year Manager (year 10) callsobrook@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk
Mrs Sargeant - Year Manager (sixth form) rsargeant@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk Mr Flett or Mrs Cruise mflett@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk ecruise@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk
Website:
www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk
General email:
info@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk
Admissions:
admissions@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk
Chair of Governors:
chair@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk
SENCO:
mhodkin@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk
Newsletter feedback:
newsletter@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk
Careers information:
careers@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk
Your contact details Please ensure you notify us of any changes of address, telephone and email details to ensure our records are up to date in case of emergency.
Be the best you can
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Key Staff for 2019-20 Headteacher: Mr A Marsh
Deputy Headteacher: Mr P R Cole
Assistant Headteachers: Mr D O’Reilly Mrs C Rifkin Mr M Hodkin
Associate Assistant Headteachers:
Mr K Rodgers - Years 7 and 8 (based at Starkholmes) Miss N Gresswell - Years 9, 10 & 11 (based at Lumsdale) Mrs C Morgan – Curriculum and timetabling
Heads of Year: Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 11 Sixth form
Mrs A Hollinrake / Mrs L Redhead Miss L Hamrouge Mrs A Ruston Miss J Hughes Mr J Redhead Mr M Flett
Year Managers: Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 11 Sixth form
Mrs Green Mrs Weightman-Edge Miss Esposito Mr Allsobrook Mr Tidmarsh Mrs R Sargeant
If you wish to report student absences, please contact the relevant pastoral staff to your son/daughter’s year group as indicated above.
Department Contacts: Art – Mrs K Fairbank Business – Mr I Lovatt Computing – Mrs J Hadfield D&T – Miss A Morris Drama & Dance – Miss E Bonsall English – Mr R Key Film Studies – Mr C Warrington Geography – Mrs M Barker History – Mrs J Clifford Maths – Miss S Wallhead
Be the best you can
Modern Foreign Languages – Mrs M Bowen Music – Mr K Rowley PE – Mr C Shirtcliffe Psychology – Miss H Ould PRS – Mr R Platts / Mrs S Blakesley PSHE/L2L – Mrs Turner SENCO – Mr M Hodkin Science – Mrs C Morgan Sociology – Mrs A Serjeant
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Highfields School Governing Board 2019-20 Highfields School is fortunate in the kinds of people who have volunteered to become governors, each bringing a variety of skills and experience to support the school. The composition of the governing board for 2019-20 is split as follows. Each governor serves a term of office of four years. Name Miss Angeline Ellson Mr Paul Steeples Mr Rob Atkinson Mrs Allison Beesley Mr Edward Coxhead Miss Lizzy Dence Mr Dennis Holmes Mr Andrew Marsh Mr David Matthews Mrs Antonia O'Donoghue
Governor Type Chair of Governors Co-opted Vice Chair of Governors Co-opted Co-opted Co-opted Co-opted Staff Parent Headteacher Parent Co-opted
Link Governor Area Leadership and strategy Inclusion (SEND, behaviour, attendance) Finance, resources and personnel Safeguarding, H&S, well-being
Full details of Highfields Governing Board can be accessed on the school website: http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/governors.html
Be the best you can
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter Highfields Uniform - September 2020 As you are aware we are launching the Highfields School blazer in September 2020. This remains our intention as this was in place before the closure of school was announced and we have made a commitment to our suppliers. Both Trutex Direct and Kick Off Sport have now begun stocking the blazer alongside the recommended skirt and school tie. Please refer to the detailed information contained in the Highfields uniform code available on our website (see link below) to ensure your son/daughter has the correct uniform ready for the new academic year. We are liaising with Kick Off Sport regarding the reopening of their store, as there will be a limit of a maximum of two people in the shop at any one time and we are aware that new starters or families needing to purchase a significant amount of uniform may prefer to do this in person. We are working with Kick Off to see how we can support them with social distancing measures during the Coivd-19 pandemic. When further advice is released by the government, the British Retail Consortium and School Wear Association we will liaise with Kick Off and explain how and when uniform can be purchased safely to comply with regulations. In the meantime, orders can be placed on line both with Trutex Direct (https://www.trutex.com/) and Kick Off Sport (https://www.kickoffsport.co.uk/highfields-uniform.html) if you know the size and items required without the need to visit a store directly. To assist with purchasing the right sizes Kick Off Sport have produced a size guide (see link below). Both suppliers have sufficient stocks of uniform to ensure everyone is accommodated for September. We are looking to help support families to purchase uniform who may be struggling financially due to the coronavirus crisis. If you wish to apply for financial support please complete the application (http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/InfoPDFs/SchoolUniformApplicationGrant.doc) and send along with any supporting documentation to finance@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk to check eligibility. A Frequently Asked Questions guide has been prepared on our school uniform and has been updated in light of the coronavirus crisis and is available on our website (see link below) If FAQs do not answer your query, please contact uniform@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk. 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 School Uniform Grant Application for September 2020: Pdf format: http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/InfoPDFs/SchoolUniformApplicationGrant.pdf Word format: http://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/pdfs/InfoPDFs/SchoolUniformApplicationGrant.doc We will regularly update you with further information as we receive it.
Be the best you can
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Highfields School
Issue 38: 10 July 2020
Newsletter 2019-20 academic year Term dates: 3 September 2019 - 25 October 2019 4 November 2019- 20 December 2019 6 January 2020 - 14 February 2020 24 February 2020 - 3 April 2020 20 April 2020 - 22 May 2020 1 June 2020 - 21 July 2020
Bank holidays: 25 and 26 December 2019 1 January 2020 10 April 2020 (Good Friday) 13 April 2020 (Easter Monday) Friday 8 May 2020* 25 May 2020 (spring bank holiday) 31 August 2020 (summer bank holiday)
INSET days (no students in school): Tuesday 3 September 2019 Friday 6 December 2019 Friday 3 July 2020 Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 July 2020
* Change to May Bank Holliday: Next year's early May bank holiday has been moved back by four days for the whole of the UK to coincide with the 75th anniversary of VE Day. May Day was scheduled to be held on Monday 4 May but will be put back to Friday 8 May for 2020 only.
In line with government guidelines Highfields School closed from 3.30pm on Friday 20 March 2020 to all students apart from those of keyworkers requiring emergency childcare in response to the outbreak of Covid-19.
2020-21 academic year Term dates: 1 September 2020** to 23 October 2020 2 November 2020 to 17 December 2020** 4 January 2021 to 12 February 2021 22 February 2021 to 1 April 2021 19 April 2021 to 28 May 2021 7 June 2021 to 22 July 2021
INSET days (no students in school): • 1 September 2020 • 30 November 2020 • 4 January 2021 • 2 July 2021 • 22 July 2021
** From 2015 schools have been able to consider variations to term dates provided they meet the statutory requirements. With this in mind we have taken the decision to return to school one day earlier for the start of the new academic year (Tuesday 1 September 2020) and finish the autumn term one day earlier (Thursday 17 December 2020). This is to ensure a smooth start to the academic year rather than students starting back with a staggered start on Thursday or Friday. The start of the 2020-21 academic year is as follows (subject to the latest government advice): Tuesday 1 September 2020 - Staff will return to school on Tuesday that will be designated as an INSET day (no students in school). Wednesday 2 September 2020 – students in years 7, 9 and 12 only return to school Thursday 3 September 2020 – all students return to school
ParentView Survey We would like to remind you that you have the opportunity to give your views of school through the Ofsted Parent View survey below. https://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/ The survey is designed by Ofsted and is used by Inspectors when making
Be the best you can
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