Reception have been learning to count both forwards and backwards this week. Chairs were initially placed strategically in the classroom to replicate a bus, with different numbers of children getting on and off at each ‘stop’, leaving the children to pool their knowledge to work out how many passengers were left on each time. Reception also discovered that number tracks were a great resource, using dice and instruction cards to move either backwards or forwards to a different number on the track.

Natasha Jacklin, Reception Class Teacher

Continuing their summer term theme, Year 1 headed to Goodwood farm in search of an answer to the question ‘where does my food come from?’ Getting a close look at the arable and dairy side of Goodwood’s farming operation, the children asked some wonderful and intelligent questions surrounding crops, pollinators, calving, milking and meat and gained a real understanding of the words ‘local’, ‘organic’ and ‘seasonal’. The end result was that Year 1 gained a tremendous insight into the working practices of UK farms, including the machinery they use and the effect of the climate on farming.

Rebecca Lane, Year 1 Class Teacher

In phonics, Year 2 were tasked with reading and writing words containing the sound ‘oa’ and using their ‘Fred fingers’ technique to segment words into sounds before spelling a word. The children have taken on board the importance of attention to detail when writing dictation sentences and the need to add the necessary punctuation and form the letters correctly. Our phonics lessons help the children learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension and vocabulary. It also allows them to spell effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into composing what they write.

Kerri Wilkes, Year 2 Class Teacher

Year 3 have this week been busy learning the names of various male and female family members in French, which culminated in the children creating their own family trees. After discussing the concept of how family trees work, and deciding how far to extend the branches of their own immediate families, Year 3 completed the task by finding out the necessary information under their own steam. It proved to be a fascinating exercise and one child proudly told the class how he was, in fact, related to the legendary Guy Fawkes!

Leana Staring, Year 3 French Teacher

In geography this week, Year 5 have got to grips with the terms longitude and latitude and applied that understanding to learn about the Tropics and the Prime Meridian. The resourceful children showed great initiative to seek out and explore atlases to find out through which countries the Prime Meridian runs and in which hemisphere certain countries and cities are located. Year 5 loved the challenge of exploring the different lines of longitude and latitude on a map and discussing the international date line. And this was of particular interest to our international pupils, who could explain the location and current time to their intrigued classmates.

Ed Elgood, Year 5 Class Teacher

Having won the toss and put Lambrook into bat, skipper Rupert E and Toby W bowled tidily in the opening few overs before the visitors seized control to put 150 runs on the board, helped in no small way by a clutch of no balls and wides and some loose fielding. Highfield recovered their poise and showed much better application with the bat, with Arthur H (34), Henry M (21) and Toby W (18) putting the Lambrook bowlers under pressure before falling short by 43 runs.

Oliver Hamilton, Boys’ U11A Cricket Coach

A narrow defeat against Lambrook was testament to the young players’ dedication, teamwork and skill, providing spectators with a thrilling display of under-11 cricket talent. Both teams celebrated the spirit of the game, showcasing respect and camaraderie despite the competitive nature of the fixture.

Simon Gunn, Boys’ U11B Cricket Coach

The U11A girls’ cricket season started with a bang with a brilliant 44-run win against Lambrook. Having lost the toss and been put into bat, Highfield put their early net sessions to good use as they played some fantastic shots and ran well between the wickets. Tiger E punished any bad balls, hitting several boundaries, and Alice C and Grace C scored useful runs to keep the run rate ticking over as the home side scored 68 runs. In reply, Lambrook were shackled by an excellent display of bowling and fielding from Highfield, with Luella R and Annie L taking smart catches and wicketkeeper Arabella C excelling behind the stumps while Rosie H was the pick of the bowlers as the girls wrapped up an impressive win.

Dan Bather, Girls’ U11A Cricket Coach

Despite losing to Lambrook by 46 runs in their first match of the season, the girls’ U11B team played their part in an entertaining game which featured wonderful batting and fielding skills from both teams. Although Highfield fell short on a chilly day, I’m really proud of the girls for giving 100% effort throughout the game.

Jordan Knapp, Girls’ U11B Cricket Coach

Despite being a little bit nervous ahead of their first game of the new cricket season against Lambrook, Highfield’s U11C team needn’t have worried as they demonstrated excellent bowling, batting and fielding skills throughout. They really did play some excellent cricket, gaining in confidence every over, and were only beaten narrowly after an even game.

Stephanie Turner, Girls’ U11C Cricket Coach

In science, Year 7 embarked on their study of sound. Having previously learned about how the ear works, this week’s focus was on the defining features of sounds (frequency and amplitude) and how these affected the pitch and volume of the note heard. As well as learning how to represent different notes on paper, the children also investigated how to vary the pitch of a bottle by changing the volume of water in the bottle and then blowing across its neck. The children found that as more water was added the pitch of the note went up as the column of air vibrated more frequently. They then found that when each of the bottles was hit with a xylophone hammer the emptiest bottle made the highest pitch note. A discussion on this result reversal led to the discovery that the empty bottle would be lightest and thus would vibrate more frequently than a heavier, filled bottle.

Peter Hesselmann, Year 7 Science Teacher

Year 8 have worked enthusiastically on their descriptive writing skills in English this week, using pictures as a stimulus. This has allowed the class to develop and extend their vocabulary as they approach Common Entrance. One particularly pleasing part of the lesson was a whole-class discussion, as all of the children got the chance to contribute ideas in turn toward the setting and tone of the stories.

Lucy Hendry, Year 8 English Teacher