Newsletter
19 January 2024
Our newsletter aims to keep parents and carers up to date with school news, activities and key information throughout the year.
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A Marsh Headteacher Disclaimer: Highfields School is not responsible for the quality of products or organisations publicised through articles or advertisements in the school newsletter.
Message from the Headteacher On Tuesday we continued with our mixed economy programme of virtual and face to face parents’ evenings. Preferences are evenly split between stakeholders on which is the more effective: virtual or face to face. Later in the year we will be crunching the data/ feedback and deciding whether to make any changes to our current ‘mixed economy’ next academic year. In any event, the face to face Y9 Options and Parents’ Evening went well with one parent taking the time to write, “I just wanted to send my appreciation for the great parent’s evening you all put on yesterday. Thank you for making it happen as an in person one, I feel much more connected to the school seeing my child in the environment, and the teachers we spoke to were so positive and enthusiastic about their subjects and clearly cared about their students.” I am ‘on the fence’ regarding virtual versus face to face but I really enjoyed the ‘buzz’ of families coming together with teachers. (Incidentally, any other headteacher might be perturbed by a parent who runs up to them during a school event, exposes their Nordic socks and shouts, ‘look at these!’. But, this being Highfields, I just assumed that they had accidentally read my bit in the Newsletter last week and had been infected by a small amount of my ridiculousness.) I was so busy speaking to people that I forgot to take a photograph of the parents’ evening or, indeed, of this parent’s socks. I therefore include a picture of Geoff Capes who, as a champion shot putter, would often attend parents’ evenings wearing socks. On the subject of school/ families working together we are also encouraging teachers to make a special effort during January to make phone contact with a number of families to recognise achievements and seek help and advice with any areas for improvement. This initiative inspired this response from a parent… “I am [student’s] mum (Y7) and I just wanted to email you to say thank you for a couple of things. Firstly [daughter] had a fantastic start to her secondary education last term which we are very grateful for - we were very proud that she received some vouchers for her efforts and wanted to say thank you and reassure you that she will spend them wisely. I also wanted to say how delighted we were to receive a call from Mrs Scattergood about how well [daughter] is doing in Drama and Dance. The fact that she took time out of her busy schedule to tell us this nearly brought a tear to my eye (after I'd got over my initial panic that she may have broken an arm or a leg!). As parents who also work in education we fully understand the daily pressures that staff deal with and therefore are all the more grateful.” I can’t take a picture of phone calls so I have included another image of Geoff Capes who, as an ex-champion shot putter, would often practice shot putt by throwing telephones (I bet). Next week I shall remember to take more photographs. Whether you are Geoff Capes, or simply have an interest in him, we hope you have a good weekend.
A Marsh, Headteacher
Coming up next week…
An Evening of Theatre… The show is a sell out!! Thank you to all who bought a cket and we hope you enjoy the performance!
Summer 2024 GCSE/A Level Timetables Timetables for the summer external exams starting in May are now available on the school website on the Exams page. Final versions of the timetables, with afternoon start times added, will be published nearer to the start of the exams, and paper copies will be issued to students at this time. Please note when planning holidays after the end of exams for Year 11 and Year 13 students, that they must be available to sit exams up to and including the exam boards' contingency date of Wednesday 26 June. GCSE timetable: https://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Student-GCSETimetable-Summer-2024-v.1.pdf A Level timetable: https://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/A-LevelStudent-Timetable-Summer-2024-v.1.pdf Year 12/13 Vocational timetable: https://www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2024/01/Student-Vocational-Timetable-Summer-2024-v.1.xlsx.pdf
Dance Trip
Ma hew Bourne’s Edward Scissorhands, No ngham Theatre Royal 29th February for Year 7 and 8. We will be mee ng at the Lumsdale site at 5:30pm. The show starts at 7:30pm. The show will finish at approximately 9.30pm, and we should return by 10:30pm.
Recruitment Event Parents and careers are welcome to attend. The link to the event is here: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/upcomingevents-2912839 This is a great event for students to get a feel for the variety of careers offered within the force from Police Officer, Staff & Volunteer. It is also a great opportunity to network and gain top tips on the recruitment process. The event is on the 17th February 2024 and will be held at Derbyshire Constabulary HQ, Ripley, DE5 3RS. There are three time slots to choose from: 10am – 11am, 11:15am – 12:15pm, 12:30pm – 13:30pm.
Work Experience Opportunity
The application window for a week of work experience at HSE Buxton is now open. Places are limited for our program and so last year we introduced an application process for our Work Experience (WE). We offer one week of work experience to KS4 and KS5 students with an interest in STEM careers, this usually takes place in either June or July, the exact dates for Summer 2023 will be determined by details provided by applicants. Please use this link to access our simple application form, which is provided in MS Forms. The application window closes on February 29th, 2024; and applicants will be notified if they have or have not been offered a placement after that closing date and by no later than March 6th, 2024. If you have any additional questions or if you are unable to access the application form, please contact the Work Experience Coordinator at HSE Buxton – micah.stocks-greaves@hse.gov.uk To help you to decide if our experience is right for you, an overview of the Summer 2023 WE timetable can be viewed below this message, a new timetable for 2024 and more detailed information will be provided for successful applicants before WE week.
Key dates & Calendar