Message from the headteacher

Please have a look at the following page of this newsletter headed ‘SOS’. We have been contacted by teachers at two schools in Kiev. They throw whatever problems we may face at Highfields into stark relief as they are currently teaching in basements to avoid air raids and have neither electricity nor heat nor running water. They have asked Highfields for some Christmas presents for their students … small gifts will do … can you help? We have from Monday to Friday next week ONLY. Are you finding it hard to get people to do work on your house/car? For our part, getting site projects completed is proving very difficult at the moment. We seem to be encountering repeated claims from employers that their capacity has been limited by understaffing. With this in mind I want to apologise to students and staff who rely normally on the lift at Starkholmes. For far too long it has been under repair and we have had to make repeated calls to Stannah to fix it. I attach a picture which was taken on one of my many visits to operatives working on the various problems the lift has presented. On one occasion I asked the lead technician how things were going and he answered wearily, ‘up and down’…which puzzled me because the whole problem seemed to revolve around the lift refusing to do exactly that. This is just one example of where Highfields’ site team and I are constantly working with contractors to ensure that our student and staff needs are seen to. In other words - we realise that there are issues but these are not for want of effort or action on our part. Thank you to anyone who completed a survey over the last few weeks. In the same way as people responding to surveys are more likely to add comments if they are unhappy, we on senior team are always tempted to overlook all the positive feedback and go straight to the negatives. We read each comment individually (which is how I know that one parent feels that the senior team needs to smile more when on morning bus duty) and try to figure out how we should adapt practice to improve further. As regards bus duty I have taken a photo of myself to see how I appear (see evidence) and I could definitely be more smiley so please honk if you see me grimacing in the rain and I will remember to beam infectiously. On a serious note, thanks again for taking the time to feedback and see the outcomes of the survey later in this newsletter.

In lessons this week I strayed into a food lesson which focused on presentation. I just loved in this lesson the exuberance and the competition between students and teacher. I loved the focus on skill, execution and detail. There is something about food which draws out the best response in students who can occasionally struggle in other lessons. The example pictured belonged to Sophie and showed a range of techniques and skills (in addition, by the way, to dusting her plate with cocoa powder she had also dusted her worktop, sink, apron and face to the point where she looked like a miner just finishing a shift). The teacher had further raised the bar by offering her own example as the one to beat.

мужність українських вчителів дуже надихає мене і моїх колег. Якщо ви знаєте будь-яких вчителів, будь ласка, скажіть їм, що ми думаємо про них у цей жахливий час. Have a good weekend all - remember, if you go shopping, to perhaps pick something from the central aisle which may be suitable for one of the students in the Technical Lyceum School.

A Marsh Headteacher

SOS from Kiev: Technical Lyceum School and Gymnasium 178

Highfields has received an SOS call from two schools in Kiev - Technical Lyceum School (http://tlkpi.kiev.ua/) and Gymnasium 178 (https://178.com.ua/). They are still managing to teach although this is often in basements due to the air raids and without electricity, water or heating due to Russian attacks on power stations. They have children in Y5-Y9 and some of our school community are hoping to send items they are not able to source due to the war, as well as some treats to help brighten their basement lessons and bring some festive cheer.

For one week only: 5-9 December We will be collecting sweets, chocolate, candies, small toys, small torches or candles, batteries, stationery, note books, Christmas socks, small hot water bottles or empty shoeboxes. These will be taken to the children’s schools in Kiev. Please do not wrap presents as they need to be checked before sending on to the schools.

Students can drop off items at either school site:  Lumsdale – please leave items in the white storage container under the Christmas tree in the Wheeldon Hall  Starkholmes - please take items to reception and we will store them in the meeting room until collection.

Contact: swalker@highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk if you have any further questions. Thank you for any support you are able to give.