Are you a control freak? I don’t really feel I am but I do find it very hard to be out of the workplace and leave the running to others, despite the fact that our senior team is amongst the best on the planet. Mine is not a standard business because at the heart of it are 1,300 young people whose wellbeing and safety are paramount. I know, of course, that we need to see other schools and form external professional networks which are beneficial to students and staff but there are people on our leadership team who do this and are much better at it than I am. Anyway, this my longwinded way of saying that I am going to an ASCL conference on Friday for the first time since 2011. Wish me luck.
In terms of going into lessons I am in and out like a fiddler’s elbow. My favourite thing about this activity is grappling with a new concept. For example, in an A level chemistry lesson this week a student tried to explain ionisation point to me (I almost got there). In another A level lesson, this time English Language, the class was exploring teen sociolect which describes the language teens develop which is exclusive to their peers. I thought it was bussin and sussy and the teacher slayed it. Any suggestion that it was butters is just chatting fraff. (My second language is teen speak*.)
It was a brilliant lunchtime on Wednesday when hundreds of Y9 students gathered on the all weather pitch to cheer on their team in the interform football tournament. At one point the hail stones were so large as to feel like a little electric shock where they struck one’s face, but the general enthusiasm and feeling of friendly competition kept us warm. I feel that this may be perhaps the least interesting or informative photo I’ve ever taken given that it didn’t capture either the hail or the hundreds of students which I’ve just been banging on about.
Finally, I am sorry that my comments in my last newsletter about potentially reducing the size of horses provoked some concern. A student who rides horses explained that if they were much smaller then riders like me would drag their feet along the ground which could be uncomfortable and undignified for both horse and rider. I now accept, therefore, that horses are roughly the right size and that my comments were ill judged.
We are Highfields.
A Marsh, Headteacher
*I just checked this with my teenage daughter and she tells me that some of these words have now been dropped by teens and are considered deeply passé. (Deeply passé was my choice of words, not hers.)
Monday 17th March
Food Tech Practicals (All week)
DofE BRONZE (Until 4.30pm)
Tuesday 18th March
Y10 Sheffield Fieldwork (LC)
Y7 Parents Evening
Wednesday 19th March
Thursday 20th March
Friday 21st March
Reminder – Term Time Absence
In September 2013 the government introduced new regulations making it clear that Headteachers must not give approval for any leave of absence during term time, including holidays, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Any requests for term time leave should be made on a Leave of Absence Form available from the school website and handed in 2 school weeks before the first date of the requested absence whenever possible. You must have received written authorisation before your child can be absent from school.
Parent/carers may be issued with a penalty notice fine or prosecution should leave of 5 days or more be taken which is not authorised by the Headteacher, or where repeated incidents of leave in term time for less than 5 days occur or where the unauthorised absence contributes to wider poor attendance that meets the legal threshold. Absence deemed for the reason of unauthorised leave in term time will be marked in the register with the Attendance code G.
You may be issued with a Penalty Notice should leave be taken which is not authorised. If unpaid this could lead to prosecution under section 444(1) of The Education Act 1996.
Please find our “Final Stretch 2025” document on the school website. This is a week by week revision programme for every subject helping our year 11’s on the countdown to their GCSE’s.
Exams - Highfields School
Please visit the Highfield’s website, Exams and scroll to the Revision Resources where you will find “Y11 Final Stretch 2025.
The programme will be made available on SMHW, during form me ac vi es.
Year 10 Careers Assembly- Police
On Friday 7th March, the Y10 students were visited by Annallei & Joe from Derbyshire Police in their Assembly to discuss careers & future opportunities within the police. This Assembly was part of a series of employer interactions taking place with students across year groups 7, 8 & 10 in line with Careers Week (w/c 3rd March).
Within this Y10 assembly, the key discussion points were as follows:
Is a role within the Police for you?
A five-minute video shown with real life footage highlighting some of the many reasons someone may wish to join the police.
A number of different roles within the police introduced including information on what the job entails and their shift patterns etc
Another video was shown with an employee within the Police discussing their role and why they do it / enjoy it.
Thank you to both Annallei & Joe for coming in and talking to our students about the many different opportunities out there for them within the Police.
National Careers Week
As part of National Careers Week, students from Year 7, 8 and 10 all had external speakers come in and deliver a careers related assembly. Here is how they went –
On Wednesday 5th March, we had Jay Hutton join us to deliver a careers assembly to our Year 7 students. Mr Hutton is from Caunton Engineering, a leading company in the UK within Steelwork. Jay introduced engineering and then began to tell students about his own journey in the industry and his role with Caunton. Jay has worked on projects such as the café at Sainsbury’s in Chesterfield, Amazon fulfilment Centre and the roof of Doncaster Racecourse. He explained how he had an interest in maths and Science since the age of 14 and how hard work has helped him get to where he is now. Mr Rogers, Head of Year 7, had several different students ask him what else they can expect that is engineering related while at Highfields so it seems Jay has sparked the interest in some of our students already. Thank you to Jay for delivering a fantastic assembly to our Year 7 students.
On Monday 3 March, Year 8 welcomed Steve Wood from Galliford Try, a national construction company, into their assembly. Steve gave an overview into his own career journey which included 24 years in the water industry and how he started out as an Apprentice Engineer and is now working as a Performance Manager. Steve was able to show the relevance of how different education routes can lead to a diverse range of careers. He then gave students an insight into the kind of projects that Galliford Try have worked on including highways and the water industry. He finished up by discussing apprenticeships and those available at Galliford Try. Students found the assembly very interesting and informative and it was great for them to see how a single industry can consist of a large number of careers rather than one single employment option. The assembly gave students plenty to think about! Huge thanks to Steve for the insight he gave our students.
Football Fever
“Friday, our Year 8 and 9 Leaders delivered a series of Football sessions to over 150 Year 10 and Primary School Girls. They worked really hard planning the sessions and demonstrated excellent Leadership skills throughout the day. They were true role models to the students they lead.”
Well done Mr Shirtcliffe
Congratulations also to our staff football team who beat Lady Manners 3-1 on Friday.
The Derbyshire Parent Carer workshop is aimed at parents of young people (both with and without an EHC Plan in place) who aspire to move into higher education and/or employment as they get older and will cover the following topics:
Post-16 Options
Supported Employment Opportunities,
Access to Work Funding
Support to Transition into Higher Education (including funding available and what will happen for those with an EHC Plan in place)
Parents can sign up to attend via EventBrite on the following link (which also shows other workshops they are currently offering).
