School news

MiSAC Competition Mrs Stafford

About two months ago we advertised the MiSAC (Microbiology in Schools Advisory Committee) competition to Highfields students. Students had to design a social media page to inform young people about vaccines and there were cash prizes available for students and their school.

We received entries from year 9 and 10 students, entering as either individuals or groups. Unfortunately there was a limit on the number we could enter as a school so I had the difficult job of choosing the successful entrants. The successful entrants sent in are given below:

Zaid (Y9) Daniel, Ezra, Oliver, Sam (Y10) Abigail, Rhianna (Y10) Ellie (Y10) Charlotte (Y10) Polly (Y10) Louise, Emily (Y10) Tamlyn (Y10) Amelia, Holly (Y10)

The winners will be posted online later in the year, so I will keep you posted – good luck!

Geography fieldwork postponed Mrs Barker

The geography department is very disappointed to have to postpone this year's river study at Edale, especially as the weather is proving glorious, and we very much felt it was our turn to have some lovely weather after last year's torrential rain in which we undertook the fieldwork.

We have been in touch with our partners at the National Park Education Service and they are very much looking forward to working with us in the autumn, when we hope to reschedule the fieldwork. In the meantime, one of this week's lessons has involved a piece of fieldwork in your garden (or close to your house), just so that you don't feel your are missing out too much!

Alternative learning activities

We thought that you may be interested in the following alternative learning activities for students to complete regarding resilience and kindness. This is totally voluntary and not part of the work students are expected to complete.

Coronavirus Activities

We know that the coronavirus has put schools under immense pressure and these are uncertain times for us all. To help we’ve created a special coronavirus edition of Newsthink. As schools are now closed (except for vulnerable pupils or children of critical key workers) we’d encourage you to share this resource with parents and students so they can learn online. Or alternatively you can create a safe forum for discussion with those remaining in school. The quick activities included in this new teaching resource will help develop young people’s resilience and explore acts of kindness within the community. Using photos, facts and real-life scenarios 11 to 18-year-olds will consider how they could respond to different situations and the value kindness can play at this difficult time. Learning objectives  Understand what both the coronavirus and a pandemic are.  Gain knowledge and understanding of expert advice on health and safety.  Explore the phenomenon of ‘misinformation’: understand why fact checking is so important and encourage critical thinking in difficult situations.  Explore the meaning of kindness, and how they can start developing this in their own lives We know the education community is doing amazing things to support each other and we’d like to thank you for using and sharing our resources. We have a wide range of other free resources on our website to help build resilience which you can explore here.

Download the coronavirus resource >