Message from the headteacher

Open afternoon/evening on Wednesday was intense but kind of amazing (from my point of view). We had an unprecedented level of interest: so much so that we then had to try and thin out the crowds to avoid the chances of (even double jabbed people) getting Covid, like I recently did. Luckily, our community was amazing and the evening, whilst still busy, never seemed to be overcrowded. We were humbled to receive stunning ‘reviews’ the next morning. One parent, an executive head of two Derbyshire schools wrote:

“What was very clear is just how proud both the pupils and staff are to be part of Highfields. The ‘buzz’ around your school was palpable despite our tour being the last of the evening and the time getting close to 9pm. Our student tour guide was a true ambassador for Highfields and I would personally like to pass on my daughter’s thanks to her –she was quite simply inspirational and has left a lasting impression on her. As too did the member of staff in the car park at the end of the evening (apologies I didn’t get her name but she drove a white, electric car), who despite having finished for the evening took the time to ask us how our evening had been and spoke about how proud she was to be a member of staff at Highfields and how it was ‘an amazing place to work’.

Your staff were approachable, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and clearly had excellent relationships with their pupils. The way in which they engaged with the tour guides and those on the tours showed a deep level of respect both ways, again something I believe is the backbone of an outstanding school.”

The image shows Y6 students and parents visiting our new sports facilities. Thank you to all who planned and took part in this event. I hope some of our visitors will now consider applying!

During lockdown almost all school clubs went into hibernation. This year we are desperately reviving clubs and I would urge you to get your child to sign up. The club that took my fancy was astronomy with Mr Ruston but it very much depends what your child’s interests are as to what they may join. About 300 years ago I joined a school band club and this eventually turned into a musical education and degree which got me, in turn, into teaching which resulted in a career which I have absolutely loved (so far). The best thing is that many of our clubs are being offered by sixth formers which really underlines the fact that these are not extra lessons… they are genuine clubs to develop more niche interests.

It’s not good enough for us that these clubs get going. We also want to make sure that they are attended by a range of students. Amongst these should be a cohort known as ‘SARU’ (students at risk of underachievement). This year we created two directorial roles on senior team whose job it is to focus on students who, without further focus and support, will not ‘be the best they can’. Miss Wallhead and Mrs Morgan succeeded in being appointed to these roles and their job now is to identify students at risk of underachievement and then ensure that the school does everything it can to engage and support them through our wider curriculum. More on that later.

After my enforced period last week working from home, I have got back into lessons this week to sample our curriculum and ensure that students are behaving kindly and considerately at all times. The thing I most love is when different year groups or classes are looking at different aspects of the same theme. For example an A level German group were looking at German politics post the collapse of the wall in 1989. Meanwhile, just down the corridor, Y9 historians were looking at Germany in the post war period (The Treaty of Versailles etc). Then A level linguists were considering German industry and German enthusiasm for the EU whilst in A level science they were trying to use an industrial technique to fabricate aspirin (Jobe, apparently, was the first student in ages to manage to create PURE aspirin). It’s the interconnectedness of everything which fascinates me.

Finally… I took this photo early on a misty Wednesday morning. It captures a year manager speaking to one her students about the day ahead.

I love this school.

Have a lovely weekend.

We are Highfields.

Andrew Marsh Headteacher