Our students and staff are truly inspiring and their achievements continue. Our Y8 debating team went over to Lady Manners on Tuesday night and came away victorious as did our cricketers when they beat Antony Gell bowling them out for 44 in 12 overs.
School of Rock has been our most critically acclaimed musical yet. A lovely local resident wrote…
A few other things have happened in the last few weeks which need highlighting but which have been overtaken by the myriad of events occurring recently at Highfields.
Firstly, I want to break my silence on what happened after I became trapped in a piece of clothing on sports day. It was chilly and I had on only a thin jacket so I found a student’s hoodie in lost property. This warmed me up and all went well until I returned to my office and tried to remove it. The clothing was many sizes too small for me and after some minutes I realised I had become trapped and summoned help from the admin team on my corridor. At this point I had managed to extricate myself from the arms of the hoodie but this had only released them into my head space and so I remained submerged inside the hoodie with my arms wrapped tightly over my head. After an initial attempt to pull it off my PA gave up as she had become weakened by hysterical laughter. Instead of raising the alarm, however, she called everyone else to come and witness my predicament. Before long people (I couldn’t see who but I recognised voices) were laughing and taking pictures and saying things like ‘let’s call Ofsted’ and ‘where is the chair of governors when you need them?’. This is NOT ‘we are Highfields’ and as well as a strained shoulder I also received a thump on the head when I tried to stumble blindly back into my office without realising that someone had closed the door.
Also, Starkholmes parents may know that I have taken on an assistant during morning traffic duty in the form of this cat, seen here posing in front of the ‘no dogs’ sign (somewhat smugly, I feel). This cat has been both constructive and respectful and yet when I tried to appoint him to the senior team AGAIN I find myself blocked by bureaucracy and red tape.
Despite these two significant setbacks I feel that the school year has gone well and look forward to another round of Highfields based wonder when we reconvene in September. Until then I wish you and your families a peaceful and restorative summer recess. We are (tired but happy) Highfields.
Andrew Marsh, Headteacher
Coming up next week…
Reminders
Monday22ndJuly
Tuesday23rd July
Thursday15th August
Thursday22nd August
Friday6th September
Monday9th September
Lastdayofterm-schoolclosesat2pm
ENJOYTHESUMMERBREAK!
ALEVELExamResults
GCSEExamResults
SchoolopensforYear7,9and12
Allyearsreturntoschool
Uniform for September 2024
Uniform - Highfields School
Highfields School uniform can be purchased directly online from Trutex Direct or from Kick Off Sport on Holt lane in Matlock. Details of our stockists are also available on the school website (www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk) on the ‘Our School’ page under ‘uniform’. Weurgeyoutoworkwiththesestockiststoensurethatuniformiscorrectlyfittedinlinewiththeschool uniformcode.
Did you know you can hire out our school facilities?
A design sprint for Highfields Sixth Form students, set up by Josh Woolley, from Nottingham Trent University, has been a great success.
Not all school students can find high quality work experience in the field they are interested in. As a result, we wanted to create a project that would give those students some real-world experience. A significant number of them were interested in the areas of design, creativity and marketing. Josh, one of our alumni, from the university’s School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment had been to visit us earlier in the year, and had given some excellent insights into design as a career.
We turned to him again, this time with the challenge of creating a four-day experience. We also wanted students to be able to have the freedom of going out and being inspired by their local environment. Josh found solutions on both counts; firstly introducing us to Google’s Design Sprint innovation - where Google helps businesses create a new product from concept to design and completion within four days, and secondly focusing on street furniture as a project that students could quickly get to grips with in the centre of Matlock.
Street furniture has transformed the appearance of many cities. Students looked at case study examples from London, Liverpool and Sheffield and evaluated them using empathy mapping and SWOT analyses. Josh also coached students through a design process – helping them to think about how to sketch and then develop their sketches (which reflects the iterative process our engineering, art and photography students use in their A levels). He explored different materials they could use to build 3D models. Finally, by using examples from the portfolios of final year degree students, Josh showed us different ways in which they could photograph and present their work.
Part two of our project required some local inspiration. For this we turned to Ken Spencer, Chair of Matlock Civic Association. For over forty years Ken has devoted time towards improving the appearance, image and amenities of Matlock. We met him in the centre of town and he talked with students about key themes in the history of Matlock, explaining the nature of the spa industry and the importance of the railway, but also less well-known episodes like its role in the planning of D-Day. Ken took us to potential sites where new furniture could uplift the image of Matlock. At the same time, he talked through the complexity of actually achieving change. Matlock’s planning and approval processes are governed by three different councils and so, alongside creativity, students came to understand the politics of making things happen in the real world.
Ken’s ideas had given them themes to incorporate into their street furniture. At one stage we thought a separate group would be involved in the marketing of their work, but they decided to take responsibility for presenting and marketing their own work directly to Ken and Josh at the end of the project.
The students responded really well to the time pressure and the brief. The process that Josh had outlined was clearly reflected by each team – although in very different ways. Students had plenty to say when they talked through their ideas, from the themes to the practicalities. One of the students summed up the feeling of other team members when he said that they ‘had enjoyed being given a mission where they could follow their own ideas and use their freedom to get on with tasks they set themselves, because they were in charge of what they were doing’.
The design sprint required vision and creativity, organisation and project management, presentation and articulacy; and it was a real pleasure to see how the students rose to the challenge. Ken is also hoping that somehow it could be used as a spark to catch the imagination of the Civic Association and the Town Council to create some real change. Some of the students have since had the chance to look at design departments on university open days, so Ken and Josh’s guidance has been really appreciated.
Sports Leaders
Saturday 13th and Sunday 14 July
Chesterfield Tennis club
Well done to Harry H Year 7 and Ruby C Year 8 on competing at the Derbyshire Finals of Play the Way to Wimbledon U14 competition 2024. Both showed great determination and resilience and skill playing against opponents from Yearr 9. Ruby won her first match but lost the next one. Harry lost both matches but never gave up. Ruby went onto join day 2 at Duffield Tennis club.
Thursday 18th July
Week 3 of Year 9 Dance leaders visits to Darley Hall Care home
The final week of this amazing project provided movement activities for the residents. Well done to Year 9 and to Max Marshall for taking them.
Many thanks to Max from Galactico and Ross Jillings from Derbyshire Dale Sports for the fantastic support to the Highfields Sports Leadership Academy throughout the year.
Mrs J Allen
Dear Parents/Carers,
Did you know that as well as free school meals during term time, you are also entitled to access FREE holiday clubs this summer?
The Holiday Activity and Food Programme, known throughout Derbyshire as ‘It’s About Me’ is funded by the Department for Education and gives eligible young people access to FREE places at holiday clubs across the county.
If your child is aged between 4-16 and is eligible for benefits-related free school meals, then they are entitled to access It’s About Me holiday clubs for free! There are a huge range of activities available including sports and games, arts and crafts, cookery, dance and music. All clubs include a nutritious meal too! Programmes vary depending on the type and location of each club.
If your child is not eligible for the It’s About Me programme, many clubs also offer paid places where you can book with them directly.
To book your It’s About Me holiday club you will need your unique IAM code which will be distributed via your child’s school. If you have not received your code, but believe your child is eligible for the programme, please contact your school office.
To book your activities and to find out more information go to www.itsaboutmederbyshire.co.uk or speak to your school office. To receive programme information and updates directly to your inbox, Sign-Up for It’s About Me updates.
The Summer 2024 holiday clubs will take place from Wednesday 24th July-Tuesday 3rd September. Excluding bank holidays and weekends. Bookings open on Monday 1st July.
