In their child-initiated learning area, Reception’s eager learners delved into the task of exploring mysterious objects within sensory boxes. The children discovered a multitude of curious textures, weights, smells and noises within the boxes, which really got them thinking about using descriptive language to describe what may have been hidden inside. The children were thrilled as they squelched their hands into jelly and felt their noses tingle at the smell of lemon juice. Cheers of excitement and laughter filled the air, which even encouraged one or two adults to have a go! This fun activity linked beautifully with Reception’s literacy lessons where the children have been working hard on supporting their writing by adding adjectives to describe objects that they would need to take on a bear hunt – a topic we have been thinking about this term. At the same time, a fabulous new Reception cake shop opened which allowed the children to role play owning a shop and collaborate to correctly count the change needed to buy various items.

Hannah Feery, Reception Class Teacher

Year 1 listened intently this week during the flying visit of pilot and author Rob Johnson. The children were all ears as they heard about the exciting travel adventures of Pilot Ollie and Pilot Polly in Rome, where they explored the colossal Colosseum, discovered perfect pizzas, and tasted gigantic gelatos! The children then tried their hand at being authors themselves; writing a non-fiction book which included many of the facts that they had learned from the brilliant Jasper and his expert team of firefighters the previous week. The children were quick to include illustrations, captions and labels in their booklets and they are looking forward to sharing their creative ideas with the Reception children when the stories are complete. Year 1 also focused on anti-bullying week in PSHE and discussed what bullying is and underlined what kind of behaviour is acceptable and what is not. The children came up with brilliant slogans such as ‘stop bullying, just be kind!’ and ‘bullies are not the boss!’ to drive home the anti-bullying message. The week culminated with computing, where the children had their first taste of coding. They did really well issuing a set of instructions to their learning partners in order to negotiate a course, picking things up and putting them down along the way.

Kerri Wilkes, Head of Year 1

The children have this week continued their voyage of discovery into the importance of using products which contain sustainable ingredients. Their investigations found that a number of common products contain palm oil, with oil-palm plantations taking the place of the Asian rainforests. These incredible forests are home to a number of wonderful and special creatures, not least orangutans, and the next step saw the children find out everything they could about these rare wild animals. Year 2 used their impressive fact-finding skills to produce some spectacular artwork related to the topic; highlighting and creating awareness and vital importance of looking after our fragile eco-systems. The children sketched, used oil pastels and watercolours to produce some sensational and stunning artwork. Away from the rainforest, the children focused on being reflective courtesy of Ron Berger’s ‘Model of Excellence’ and found that making mistakes was a fundamental part of the learning process and came as a result of critiquing work. Peers offering kind, specific and helpful suggestions allows for multiple drafts and revisions to improve the final outcome of any piece of work. And a powerful message for parents and pupils from Mr Berger is that often we can settle for lower-quality work because we underestimate the capacity children have to create great work. A bit of time, support and clarity allows all learners the opportunity to create much more than we can possibly imagine.

Charlie Millsom, Head of Year 2

This week, children in Year 3 have been discussing and celebrating differences in their personal, social, health and economic classes. Focusing on respecting diversity and cultural understanding, pupils learned about the ‘solve it’ technique when resolving conflicts. And they put their new-found knowledge into practice by recreating scenarios where conflict had occurred and methodically worked through several key steps to find a solution. This learning has really empowered the children to demonstrate sensitivity and empathy toward others, as well as nurturing tolerance and respect. Additionally, the boys in Year 3 had the opportunity to develop their personal and social skills through outdoor learning. Visiting Forest School, the boys learnt how to measure a tree’s circumference and record the information accurately. While the boys were busy in the woods, the girls were involved in some wonderful netball matches at home to Amesbury, where they continue to improve both the skillful and competitive elements of their game. To cap off a busy and rewarding week, Year 3 showed their ever-growing confidence and maturity by reading and performing to Year 4 in the sports hall at Highfield. Well done, Year 3!

Robert Grech, Year 3 Class Teacher

Our Year 5s are busy exploring the genre of comedy in Drama this term, focusing on the plays of Roald Dahl. They have worked on developing the key character skills of voice and movement and are now applying these to the characters from The BFG, The Twits, The Witches, and Danny the Champion of the World. To get the class fully warmed up, an energetic game of ‘Bibbity Bobbity Boo’ began, seeing pupils honing their listening skills and reaction times with (hopefully) quickfire responses of ‘bop’, ‘elephant’, ‘toasters’ and ‘helicopters’! Then it was time to get down to the business of script work. Each group used their teamwork skills to work together to read the lines, explore ideas of how to stage their scene, and then get it up on its feet to build in props and costumes into their staging. Some groups also explored additional roles they could take on, such as a technician, designer and a stage manager, contemplating how they could even develop their ideas outside the classroom by building props and sets at home. The children are working toward performing these scenes to each other as a year group at the end of the term and I can’t wait to see the final performances.

Sarah Baird, Head of Drama

Year 6 worked exceptionally hard in the build up to their recent pre-tests, where their knowledge of the technical aspects of the English language were put to the test. Parents, do you know your subjunctives from your past progressives? In addition to their grammatical superpowers, Year 6 have been honing their comprehension skills through their reading of Ian Serraillier’s The Silver Sword, which follows the painstaking journey of four young Polish children during the Second World War and their defiant search for their father. This week, when reading aloud as a class and developing fluency and expression, the children met Jan – who Malie and Aurelia described as a ‘stubborn yet caring ragamuffin’ – and his cockerel, Jimpy. The children have relished the chance to explore how Serraillier develops this character and his relationship with Ruth, the self-taught schoolteacher. The children are full of awe and wonder as to how the story might unfold – and I’m wondering if Ruth, too, had the subjunctive on her syllabus!

Flora Aubrey-Thomas, Year 6 Class Teacher

In DT, Year 7 have begun a project to make acrylic clocks. Half of the class used computer-aided design software to draw up clock designs which will be laser cut on acrylic later in the term while the other half got to grips with engineering techniques as part of the process. The computers offered the young designers the opportunity to research the properties of thermoplastics and compare them to thermosetting plastics; the children discovered that both are polymers but behave differently when exposed to heat. Thermoplastics can melt under heat after curing while thermoset plastics retain their form and stay solid once cured. The engineering element looked at tap stocks and die stocks, which relates to threads, with a view to creating simple, hand-cut acrylic plastic and threaded rod pencil holders. The aim of the lesson was to get the children to appreciate what computer-aided design can do and to gain an understanding of the complexity of plastic properties.

Jamie Dew, Head of DT

After a week of training, followed by a promising pre-season fixture against a local club side, the boys were eagerly anticipating the first match of the season against Cranleigh. Tully B stepped up to captain the side this week, winning the toss and choosing to kick to put immediate pressure on the opposition, and a strong chase and dominant tackle gave Highfield some dogged momentum in the opening stages. But Cranleigh did a great job at slowing the game down and maintaining possession at the breakdown, making Highfield work increasingly hard in defence as the half unfolded. And a few missed tackles early on in the half gave the opposition a soft try to take the lead. Highfield hit back aggressively and for the next 10 minutes the majority of the phases from both sides was kept within the two 10-metre zones, until a loose pass was scooped up and carried deep into the Highfield 22 by one of Cranleigh’s larger forwards before being efficiently recycled at the ruck and passed out to an elusively quick winger who carried the ball over the line to give Cranleigh a two-try lead. The next 10 minutes saw Highfield exert real pressure on the opposition, who were set on holding onto the ball rather than offloading. Direct running and strong carries allowed Highfield to build up several phases of play, taking the boys from the opposition 10-metre line to within five metres of the try line. But a spilt ball gave relieved Cranleigh a knock-on advantage and the home side lost their forward momentum. Shortly after, a knock on from open play again gave Cranleigh the ball in their 22, and with acres of space in behind Highfield’s scattered defensive line, the boys found themselves chasing a long kick which, quite fortuitously for the opposition, landed in the arms of one of their chasers who carried it over the try line for a 3-0 half-time lead. Highfield made a bright start to the second half but somewhat ran out of steam at the mid-point; throwing the ball out of contact, falling off tackles and an almost non-existent line speed in the defensive line gave the opposition plenty of time and space, and they carried over the whitewash three more times before Ryder L took the initiative from a penalty advantage, saw space in behind the Cranleigh defensive line and chipped over the top to score a consolation try before the final whistle. It was a hard pill to swallow in the first match of the season, especially given the breadth of talent in the team, but at the end of the day Cranleigh were more efficient at getting the little things right.

Oliver Hamilton, U13A Boys’ Rugby Coach

The U13B team took part in a tenacious match against Cranleigh prep on Wednesday. Both sides took to the field bristling with excitement as this was, after all, the first rugby fixture of the season. Highfield dominated the first half and scored a number of wonderful tries. Arguably the best of which came from Gonzalo, the Spanish flyer at full-back, who received a kick on his own line and proceeded to weave around the entire Cranleigh team, scoring 60 metres further up the pitch under the opposition posts. The second half was a closer affair and Cranleigh started to take control of possession which led to some well-worked tries. Highfield’s defence remained strong throughout, however, and although they eventually lost narrowly, seven tries to six, they remained defiant throughout. A special mention must go to player of the match Rafe O, who led his troops very ably. His resolute tacking throughout the fixture, some indeed try saving, kept the side competitive throughout. All in all, a very positive start to the season. Hopefully, this game will provide the launch pad for future victories this season.

James Ridge, U13B Boys’ Rugby Coach