Young Spanish linguists in Reception were tasked with learning the words for different wild animals, sea creatures and farm animals, and they proved up to the task. The children paid careful attention to listen to, sound out and spell the Spanish words for the various animals before carefully drawing and colouring in pictures of their favourites. The children were delighted to add some new words to their Spanish vocabulary and showed great imagination while designing their pictures.

Sergio Heredia Rodriguez, Reception Class Spanish Teacher

Year 1 made the short trip up the A3 to the brilliant RHS Wisley gardens to gain a more in-depth understanding of plants. The young scientists and botanists of tomorrow asked intelligent questions to further develop their appreciation of the diverse plants seen at Wisley, embellishing the work that they have done in the classroom, particularly in relation to their spring term topic about bees.

Rebecca Lane, Year 1 Class Teacher

On Monday, Year 2 took part in Churcher’s Junior School’s netball festival. Split into teams of four, the children got so much out of the day; learning the importance of teamwork and communication in competitive sport, learning to share in each other’s successes, not allowing themselves to become too disheartened when things don’t go to plan, and being gracious in victory and defeat.

Jo Gordon, Head of PE

During DT and digital literacy lessons, Year 3 have been working together to generate ideas on researching, designing and testing a saleable fruit smoothie. This week, the children got to present smoothies – as well as detailed posters explaining the ingredients used and the businesses which supplied them, the name of the smoothie and the benefits of drinking fruit smoothies – to an expert panel of judges who work in the food industry, including Marco, our very own catering manager, our head chef Paul and the chef from Coppa Club Guildford. The children really impressed the judges with their reasoning behind their smoothie recipes, costings and designs.

Rosie Statham, Head of Lower Prep

In another busy week there was just time for Year 5 to review an important element of Latin grammar – verb endings. The chants of “o, s, t, mus, tis, nt” rang round the classroom once again to ensure this mantra was properly learnt and on the tip of the tongue whenever needed. While not everyone is talking like Julius Caesar just yet, they are learning to use Latin to help work through passages with more complex English, as well as practising their coding by following the strict rules about endings.

Alex Walker, Head of Classics

Highfield’s U11A team battled to a brilliant 1-1 draw against a tough Westbourne House team in a game played in great spirit. All the girls gave everything throughout the game, which saw brilliant passing, dribbling, defending and shooting. Although the game ended all square, the effort and determination the Highfield girls put in made it feel like a win. The girls are clearly enjoying their football, which augers well for the rest of the season.

Jordan Knapp, Girls’ U11A Football Coach

Playing with bags of energy, effort and enthusiasm and smiles on their faces, the U11B team were rewarded with a fine win against Westbourne in an entertaining game. While Highfield’s midfield and forwards were a constant threat, the battling defence and the two goalkeepers were delighted to keep a clean sheet to secure the win.

Eleanor Ingamells, Girls’ U11B Football Coach

The U11Cs blazed another trail of glory on the football pitch this week; beating the opposition in what is fast becoming their customary convincing and comprehensive fashion! The girls secured a comfortable 2-0 win in a good-natured match, dominated by a Highfield team full of confidence and self-belief.

Steph Turner, Girls’ U11C Football Coach

As part of their studies on body systems in science, Year 7 got a close look at the dissection of a lamb’s lung and were shown all the different parts that make up the respiratory system, including the trachea, bronchi, bronchioles and alveoli. They were particularly amazed to see the lung inflated by air and asked a great many intelligent questions and displayed real maturity in their knowledge of the respiratory process. Next week, Year 7 will be dissecting a heart and looking at the different chambers, arteries and veins.

Oli Backhouse, Year 7 Science Teacher

Year 8 have been working hard in PSHE on their topic of safe and respectful relationships. This has meant digging deep into recognising signs of healthy relationships and considering signs of consent or, perhaps even more importantly, how you might be able to tell when someone might not want to do something. The children looked at relationship scenarios and identified healthy behaviours and warning signs, including considering tone of voice and body language as well as words spoken.

Zoe Thesiger-Pratt, Head of PSHE