Highfields students have already had poems published! Get involved!
The following drop in sessions are available with Mrs Cooper, if you would like more information or a quiet place to write: Monday Lunchtime Week A - Room 9 – 1pm Monday Lunchtime – Week B – Room 10 – 1pm See Mrs Cooper or Mrs Grainger for more info.
Clubs
• Book Club
Tuesdays in the Library from 1pm with Mr Tidmarsh
Come and check out our reading challenge
• Year 7 Homework Club
Thursdays in Room 7 from 1pm with Mr Tidmarsh
*Attendance will count towards Community Award*
Monday LGBT+ group
Lunchtime Lab 1
Y7 and Y8 English Homework Help Lunchtime 1 to 1.30 Rm8 or Rm10 Junior Choir Lunchtime 1 to 1.30 Music Room
Y8 Art and Craft club
Lunchtime Room 1a Y7/Y8 Girls Football
school 3.20 until 4.30
Sports Leaders
1 to 1.30 Cheerleading Week B
1 to 1.30 Parts Mob
Y7/Y8 Boys football Y7 Girls Netball Y8 Girls Netball
Thursday Starkholmes Band
Lunchtime 1.10-1.40 Music Room
Y7 Homework Club
Drama Club WEEK B only
Rugby Week B only
Friday Keyboard Clinic
Y8 Film club
Lunchtime 1 to 1.30 Room 7
Lunchtime 1 to 1.30 Parts Mob
school 3.30 – 4.30 Week B
Lunchtime 1.10-1.40 Music Room
Lunchtime (bring your lunch)
x t r a C u r r i c u l a r
Highfields PE Enrichment Clubs - Starkholmes
Monday - After School 3.20 –
4.30
Y7/Y8 Girls Football – Mr Shirtcliffe –
Field (Boots, Shin pads)
Highfields PE Enrichment Clubs - Starkholmes
Wednesday – After School 3.20
– 4.30
Y7 / Y8 Boys Football – Mr Waller Field (Boots, Shin pads)
Y7 Girls Netball – Miss Geraghty Courts
Y8 Girls Netball – Mrs Allen Courts
Lunch Clubs Starkholmes – 1 - 1.30
• Monday – Handball – Mr Shirtcliffe – Gym
• Tuesday – Basketball – Gym- Mr Harris
• Wednesday - Highfields Leadership – Mrs Allen – Gym
Monday Y11 English support (MWE) Lunchtime 1 to 1.30 in E3
Senior Choir (staff welcome) After school 3.20-4.30 in MU1
Tuesday
Y11 English support (CO) Lunchtime 1 to 1.30 in E2 Sportsleaders Lunchtime 1 to 1.30
C u r r i c u l a r
LUMSDALE
Highfields PE Enrichment Clubs - Lumsdale
Wednesday - After School
3.20 – 4.30
Y10 Football (Boys) – Mr Shirtcliffe
Astro
Girls Y9,10,11 6th form – Mr Shirtcliffe
Astro
Y9 Football (Boys) – Mr Searson
Astro
Highfields PE Enrichment Clubs - Lumsdale
Thursday - After School 3.20 –
4.30
Rugby All years Week B – Mr Shirtcliffe
Field
Y11 Boys Football – Mr Searson
Astro
6th Form Football – Mr Waller
Astro
Y9, 10, 11 6th form Netball - Miss Geraghty
Sportshall/Court
Leaders – 6th form – Mrs Allen
Sportshall/Court
Lunch Clubs Lumsdale – 1 - 1.30
• Tuesday – Highfields Sports Leadership – Mrs Allen
Sportshall
• Thursday – Basketball – Mr Briddon
Sportshall
• Friday – Badminton Smash up – Mr Shirtcliffe
Sportshall
WOTW: Manipulate
TPS: Why do we do Word of the Week?
Having a large vocabulary is not just a skill in reading, writing, listening and speaking, but also in a general knowledge of science, history and the arts. It makes you a more interesting human!
WOTW: Manipulate
Using your MWBs: What do you think this word means?
3…2…1… Show me.
1. Handle or control (a tool, mechanism, information, etc.) in a skilful manner.
2. Control or influence (a person or situation) cleverly or unscrupulously.
Using your MWBs: What type of word is it? Noun/verb/adjective/adverbetc.
3…2…1… Show me.
3. Verb
WOTW: Manipulate
TPS: Synonyms and antonyms (what are these?):
Synonyms – words with a similar meaning
Antonyms – words with the opposite meaning
Using your MWBs: What synonyms can you think of?
3…2…1… Show me.
Operate, control, influence, exploit
Using your MWBs: What antonyms can you think of?
3…2…1… Show me.
Mishandle, bungle, let go
How is ‘Fake News’ manipulating people’s opinions?
Fake news is back on the agenda with changes to Instagram and Facebook, along with controversial social media posts by Elon Musk about the UK government, hitting the headlines ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Could these changes mean that you’re seeing more and more fake news on your feeds, and what steps can you take to ensure what you’re reading is true?
What changes are Meta making to Facebook and Instagram?
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that the company is replacing the use of independent fact-checkers on Facebook and Instagram with X-style ‘community notes’. These will allow users with different viewpoints to agree on notes which add context or clarifications to controversial posts.
Meta has said this will help to promote free speech on the platform because fact-checkers intervene too much meaning that “too much harmless content gets censored.” Donald Trump and his allies had previously criticised Meta’s fact-checking policy for censoring right-wing voices.
X owner Elon Musk, whose platform uses similar crowd-sourced community notes to factcheck or rebuff posts, has described the changes as “cool”.
Write in your form time exercise books
Two sentences with the word manipulate in them. For example:
Fake news was used to manipulate the viewpoint of the people.
He used the screwdriver to manipulate the cupboard open.
WOTW: Manipulate
TPS 1: Why is increasing our vocabulary important?
Speaking frame: Increasing our vocabulary is important because…
TPS 2: Where might we see the word manipulate in life?
Speaking frame: We might see the word manipulate…
Secondary 15 Minute Lesson
Your latest results: “Do you want to be more confident talking about money?”
“It should be easier talking about money because if you find something difficult you need to be able to ask for help.”
Churchill Academy
“If you're not confident with money you may end up losing it in the future.”
Woodfield Academy
Yes No
“We feel confident about dealing with money as we have a lot of information about it in our Personal Development lessons.”
Stanground Academy
“We don't need to know that much about it now because as kids we don't have a lot of money to manage.”
Heckmondwicke
Grammar School
60,105 young people voted this week! Were you one of them?
Your latest results: “Do you want to be more confident talking about money?”
Our mission at GoHenry is to give young people a head start in life by helping them get smart with money, so it’s great to see so many of you want to increase your confidence with money and how you manage it. Savings is definitely one great way to do that. Establishing good money habits from a young age is really important, so keep asking questions about money to build up your confidence and knowledge for the future.
Louise Hill, co-founder & CEO, GoHenry
Want to share your views with us? Share your votes and comments by logging into your VotesforSchools account. You can also get in touch at secondary@votesforschools.com Your views on “Do you
Does learning about your emotions help you feel better?
1 Why are we talking about this?
Children's Mental Health Week is taking place from 3 rd-9th February 2025 and is organised by Place2Be. This year’s theme is “Know Yourself, Grow Yourself”.
1 Why are we talking about this?
“Does learning about your emotions help you feel better?”
Let’s consider our mental health, emotions and people’s experiences as we prepare to vote Yes or No on this
VoteTopic.
2 Tuning in
Individual activity (4-5 mins)
Let’s consider some ways that we might learn about emotions. Let’s quickly look through some examples. Privately, give yourself a thumbs up under the table if this is a way you learn about emotions.
2 Tuning in Reading fiction
Keeping a record of your emotions
2 Tuning in
Reading non-fiction like textbooks and autobiographies
2 Tuning in Watching film and TV
2 Tuning in Reading people’s experiences online
2 Tuning in Experiencing emotions first hand
2 Tuning in
Organisations such as Mind and YoungMinds offer young people help and advice on emotions and mental health. Check out this week’s Help Sheet for further guidance.
Reading advice online from trusted sources
2 Tuning in Sharing and listening
2 Tuning in Lessons at school
3 Feeling better soon?
Class discussion (5-8 mins)
Today we are voting on: “Does learning about your emotions help you feel better?” Let’s return to some of our ways of learning and look at some scenarios. If you feel confident, share your views with the class on whether you think the person will feel better because of their learning.
3 Feeling better soon?
This character is having to deal with a broken heart. There are some feelings here that I have felt in the past.
Reading fiction
Will the person feel better because of this learning?
3 Feeling better soon?
Watching film and TV
Psst, I’m pretty sure I’m being led by feelings of anger sometimes.
Wait a minute…
That would explain a lot. Has it taken a film for you to realise that though?
Will the person feel better because of this learning?
3 Feeling better soon?
Reading non-fiction
Huh, feeling anxious is our body’s natural response to stress. The hormones adrenaline and cortisol are involved.
Will the person feel better because of this learning?
3 Feeling better soon?
Experiencing emotions first hand
This is the most emotional pain that I’ve ever experienced in my life. I know what got me here though, and I’ll learn from it.
Will the person feel better because of this learning?
4 Growth mindset
We started today’s lesson thinking about Children’s Mental Health Week’s theme: “Know Yourself, Grow Yourself”. We could all learn a little more about emotions, no matter our age.
4 Growth mindset
We started today’s lesson thinking about Children’s Mental Health Week’s theme: “Know Yourself, Grow Yourself”. We could all learn a little more about emotions, no matter our age.
Individual reflection (1 min) Can you think of an emotion you would like to understand a little better? How could learning about this help you in life?
Now’s
your
chance to vote on: “Does learning about your emotions help you feel better?”
Yes
Knowing why we feel something can help keep things in perspective and help us feel better quicker.
Hearing what types of emotions we can feel, and when, is useful. We might then know what to expect.
Learning that other people experience similar feelings helps as you know you’re not alone.
In the moment, emotional reactions can take over and lots of learning about it will not help.
Our feelings are personal to us. You can’t just learn your way to feeling better.
We learn about our emotions as we experience them. Until you go through certain things in life you don’t really get it.
No
We will be sharing your thoughts on this topic with Place2Be, Childline, The Children’s Society, Mind and Barnardo’s.
Log in to your VotesforSchools account to submit your vote and leave a comment.
