School of Rock Day
This much-heralded rock extravaganza only came to fruition because last year’s Highfest was washed away by summer storms. Rather than cry foul over their wet weather woe, the young artists channelled their efforts into striking a chord in the school chapel in December. Mr Davies recorded the concert and spent many hours editing and producing a DVD of the rescheduled event, plans for a premiere screening were put in place, and a form bands competition would take centre stage. And so the School of Rock Day was born.
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When the day itself arrived, we were blown away by the amazing rock star outfits. Annabel Manning got the day off to an amazing start at the end of celebration assembly by asking ‘Highfield, are you ready to rock?’ I think you can guess the answer! Forms performed their rock songs in the chapel, compered by our very own Mr ‘Axl Rose’ Dunn, in front of our three resident judges. Standout performances came from 4S with their excellent rendition of AC/DC’s Highway to Hell and 7JR for their wonderful cover of Joan Jett’s I Love Rock and Roll, which earned both forms a perfect 30 score. Our resident bands put on several great performances throughout the day to entertain and inspire our children, including our very own Guns N’ Roses band as Axl Rose (Mr Mühlemann) and Slash (Mrs Baird) thrilled the audience with classic rock anthems Welcome to the Jungle and Sweet Child O’ Mine.
Our catering team entered into the spirit too, providing electric guitar-shaped cupcakes for sus and a rock-themed lunch of Fleetwood Mac and Cheese, Wings of Leon and Flans Ferdinand, while rock-themed lessons took place throughout the day. Mr Ridge looked at Bob Dylan’s protest songs with Year 8, Year 6 developed rock songs about Mary I’s reign of terror using ‘garage band’, and rock song water aerobics took place in the pool. All of this before the main event – the evening premiere of Mr Davies’ recording of December’s stunning rock concert when boarders were treated to homemade popcorn and pop while families and pets took the opportunity to dress up, enjoy the show, submit their rock ‘n’ roll photos and vote for their favourite bands. Results of both the photo competition and the concert voting will be announced very soon. What’s more, planning for next year’s event has already begun…
ROCK UPDATE: We have been overwhelmed by the support, pictures, votes and feedback that we have already received from our wonderful families, but for anyone who didn’t get the chance to watch last week’s rock concert premiere, we are reopening the voting phone lines this Exeat weekend. To watch the concert click here . Vote for your favourite act here and click here for a behind-the-scenes look at the Staff Band rehearsing,
NB: As a permanent memento, DVDs are available to order and collect from the Atrium.
A Novel Approach
Vivid Imaginations Happily At Play In The Nursery
It is truly wonderful to watch our Nursery children use their imagination in their play. It supports the development of creativity and gives children opportunities to practise decision making and social skills such as sharing and collaborating. This week, we watched in amazement as the children made pirate ships from cardboard boxes, using cardboard tubes as telescopes to keep a look out. During a walk, the children decided to make the most wonderful birds nest, discussing among themselves their thoughts on what birds would need to be comfortable. They independently made-up group games, collaborating and sharing ideas. By removing resources, the children blossomed in resourcefulness! The undoubted highlight of the week was World Book Day. The Nursery children loved the opportunity to dress up and we saw a wonderful, diverse array of favourite book characters in school on Thursday. During a circle-time discussion, the children showed their showed of their book character costume and the other children were encouraged to guess which book they were from. The children then became creative and designed their characters using paint, shiny paper, felt, and tissue paper. Finally, we were delighted to welcome the Year 1 children into Nursery to proudly share our books with them.
Rosie Snagge, Nursery Class Teacher
Reception Have A Flipping Good Time On Shrove Tuesday
In Reception, we are all highly motivated by food. If we are being honest, who isn’t?! It makes us both content and energised and is a hugely social part of our day. In eager anticipation of Shrove Tuesday, the class started the week with discussions over some specific ingredients – milk, eggs and flour. What could these particular ingredients possibly make? The children very astutely, and independently, discussed that it was similar to a cake but without sugar. With just a small clue that the finished product can be complemented by golden syrup, lemon juice or sugar, all hands shot up in the air eager to share the realisation that this could only mean one thing.. pancakes! During child-initiated learning time, the children thoroughly enjoyed cracking the eggs, whisking in the flour and, finally, slowly adding the milk. The children worked from a recipe, collaborating and decoding the words, recognising the common exception words and following the steps laid out in front of them. This truly highlighted just how far they have come since they started in Reception; supporting each other in their collaboration, perseverance and wonderful listening. Finally, the children headed up to Forest School, pancake mix at the ready. The fire was carefully built up, with flames entrancing the eager faces, as tummies were rumbling and with anticipation and enthusiasm evident all around. With everything set, the delicious smell of pancakes soon filled the air, children patiently waiting their turn to squirt the mix into the pan or to toss a mini pancake. They thoroughly enjoyed the whole process, from the early classroom discussions to mixing the ingredients and then cooking and eating the delicious pancakes with their friends. We decided to save one last pancake for the very end of the day, when we were back in the classroom enjoying a story to unwind at the end of yet another fantastic day.
Rebecca Lane, Reception Class Teacher
Tales Brought To Life By Year 1 Storytellers
‘Tell me the facts and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever’ (Indian Proverb)
The magic of story time and reading for pleasure is alive and kicking in Year 1. Either the children are always listening so attentively that the classroom is completely quiet or they are participating in the storytelling so actively that everyone is joining in with a familiar tale. This is the magic of story time. On World Book Day, on Thursday, caring Year 1 took some of this magic to Nursery. The children chose books that they were really familiar with that they could proudly retell to the younger children using key vocabulary or phrases, read the story off by heart, or simply read it directly from the book. No matter which option they took, the Year 1 children could participate fully in the storytelling process and fulfil their own individual potential. They were also inspired to write their own stories, many based on familiar events and patterns found in our classroom story books. So if you are in need of a good book recommendation, our book reviews can be found in the Brookham library.
Kerri Wilkes, Year 1 Teacher
Space Theme Offers Food For Thought For Year 2
Year 2 had the opportunity to take their learning to the Oak Leaf Café this week, which provided the ideal location for our budding chefs to create a fantastic array of space-themed snacks. Tying in with our PSHE ‘Healthy Me’ topic, the children discussed the importance of eating a variety of fruit and vegetables before persevering to use a knife effectively, which enhanced their fine motor skills. There was much excitement and deliberation about how to design and create rockets, planets, aliens and other wonderfully enticing cosmic feasts. While preparing their creations, the children developed their knowledge of the topic with a Solar System quiz, which they extended by generating questions for each other. Moreover, Year 2 were delighted to sample their culinary delights, reflecting on what went well and what they would change if they were to repeat this creative culinary activity.
Henrietta Platt, Year 2 Teacher
Healthy Bodies And Healthy Minds By The Book For Year 3
Inspired by the PSHE theme ‘Healthy Me’, the children continued learning about how to make healthy choices for both their bodies and their minds. They have set themselves personalised fitness challenges with the aim of improving their speed, strength, flexibility or stamina, at home and at school. Some want to run, jog, swim, skip or cycle for longer periods or for greater distances; jump further or canter on their ponies for longer. Simultaneously, they have been learning about the proportions of nutrients that make a healthy meal, good portion sizes and considered healthier food choices, to prevent excess consumption of sugars and fats. The children understand the need to balance dietary intake with a minimum of one hour’s daily exercise. As always, abundant energy, creativity and enthusiasm was evident as the children demonstrated their increased understanding of this popular topic. Continuing their musical theme after the incredibly successful and enjoyable informal music concert on Wednesday, World Book Day began with a musical theme of a different kind as the children collaborated to find as many books and book characters as possible in ‘MC Grammar’s World Book Day Rap’. Promoting healthy minds further, the children recognised the healthy benefits of reading for enjoyment, quiet relaxation and sharing moments with friends. They were delighted to have selected a new book to read from the visiting Haslemere Book Shop and overjoyed to receive their new titles on World Book Day. Armed with their new titles, they simply couldn’t wait to start reading!
Shirley Jervis, Year 3 Teacher
Literary Loves Brought To Life By Year 4
The Year 4 classrooms were abuzz with all things books on Thursday. Fantastic Mr Fox met James Bond, Anne of Green Gables mingled with Alice in Wonderland and Robin Hood rubbed shoulders with Alex Rider as the children were transformed into their favourite book characters to celebrate World Book Day. The day began with the most incredible costume parade in the Sports Hall, compered by the one and only Ms Trunchbull. Orchestrated by Cruella De Vil (aka Mrs Warner), the school’s book day celebration resulted in an impressive, adventurous array of colourful and diverse costumes across the year groups, with Year 4 and their enthusiasm and can-do attitude playing a starring role in proceedings. Not only did Year 4 don their figurative and literal creative hats when dressing up, but many decorated rocks as their favourite book characters to display in the library as part of ‘reading rocks’. World Book Day is always full of excitement, but it is also great opportunity to discuss stories and authors, characters, and engaging facts and to learn about books the children (and adults) may never have previously heard of. This World Book Day was exactly that. Year 4 loved sharing their favourite books and thinking about what they might read next.
Rosie Statham, Head of Year 4
Musical Year 5 Find Their Rhythm
Year 5 have been studying rhythm this week and discovered how this is the bedrock of all music. The children threw themselves into learning a body rhythm exercise to practice group work and performance. Body rhythm (also known as body percussion) is the use of various parts of the body to make sounds and create a rhythm or a beat. Year 5 quickly realised that they could create a catchy rhythm simply by clapping hands, stomping feet, hitting their chests and slapping their thighs. Splitting the group into boys and girls, the children then worked collaboratively to produce a well-timed melody. Curiously, and much to the amusement of Year 5, they also learnt how to spell the word ‘rhythm’ using the mnemonic ‘rejoice happily your teacher has measles!’
John Mühlemann, Head of Music
Year 6 Have Cross-Country Courses All Mapped Out
Throughout the course of this term, Year 6 have been further developing and honing their OS mapwork skills. While the majority of these skills were first covered in Year 5, the children’s efforts this term have been focused on building confidence in the use of these skills and the ability to use them in more practical settings. Following the hugely successful Highfield invitational cross-country event in February, Year 6 have been using their mapwork skills to develop potential new courses for future events. Having been allotted an area to work in within Highfield and the surrounding area, and a reminder that cross-country races shouldn’t finish in the middle of nowhere, Year 6 have been busy creating their own routes. The mapwork skills that they have learned helped enormously in this task, including using a grid reference for start and finish points of different sections, measuring distance to show the full extent of the race, understanding of relief and contour lines to describe which sections will be more challenging, and compass direction to ensure that runners don’t end up in Haslemere by accident! It has been a delight to see the engagement shown by the year group, as well as their creativity and desire to produce accurate course routes. It is a challenging task but they have shown a desire to show off their abilities and combine their skills. As a result, Year 6 have plenty to build on as they continue to practice map skills through thematic topics in the terms to come, and it will be interesting to see what the Sports Department think of their suggested routes.
James Figgis, Head of Geography
Year 7 Get Their Teeth Into Tasty Spanish Topic
This term in Spanish, Year 7 are busy covering one of their favourite topics – food! The topic of food and healthy living offers a great opportunity for learning and experiencing Spanish culture at its best, allowing pupils to explore the language in varied and more exciting contexts. The children displayed great levels of vocabulary and grammatical recall as they ordered food and drink in various different scenarios. The lesson will also stand Year 7 in good stead for their forthcoming Spanish cookery lessons. The skills learned in the classroom could be embellished at home, with the children perhaps writing down the weekly shopping list in Spanish, following a simple recipe to make a tortilla española, paella or some gazpacho, or helping order a nice glass of vino tinto de Rioja or una cerveza for mum and dad on their next trip abroad!
Adela Munoz Garcia, Year 7 Spanish Teacher
Highfield’s first team had a tough opening game on Wednesday against Edgeborough to kick off the U13 lacrosse festival. Edgeborough flew out of the blocks with some fast attacking moves and fierce defending, immediately putting the hosts on the back foot. Despite the early onslaught, the Highfield girls grew in confidence and eased their way back into the game as the match progressed. Some excellent defending from lacrosse novice Pilar on her debut, coupled with Highfield’s improved showing, resulted in a much closer second half, but Edgeborough stayed strong and held off the hosts’ second-half thrust to win 6-1. In their second match, against Twyford School, Highfield played with determination and skill, driving the ball well into their opponent’s half and moving with subtle changes of pace which resulted in a flurry of Highfield goals, including an incredible solo run from Imogen, in a superb 7-1 win. Playing on an adjacent pitch, the U13B team played some terrific lacrosse. While being competitive, the girls always played with a smile on their faces. And while Highfield were ultimately beaten by Edgeborough, Twyford and St Edmund’s, the girls tried exceptionally hard and we could not have asked any more from them. Their play noticeably improved from game to game and the margin of defeat narrowed each time. They also showed fantastic spirit which was commended by the opposition, both players and staff alike. The U13C team also played extremely well, beating St Edmund’s 3-1 in their opening game before scoring the only goal of the game in a thriller with Edgeborough and narrowly losing to Twyford. Particular praise must go to Sorcha for her excellent effort.
Natalie McIntosh, Year 8 Lacrosse Coach