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Headteacher’s Newsletter
Easter 2016
Traditionally it is the spring term that sees a leap in children’s
progress and that would appear to be the case this year as the
children have really excelled throughout this busy but brief
term, having a lot of fun in the process. As you will see in this
newsletter, we have made the most of every moment and
enjoyed many uplifting and enriching experiences. I hope you
will enjoy reading all about it.
One World Evening
The much anticipated One World Evening took place on Friday
11th March and once again was a huge success. A big thank you
to the talented musicians from our school community, who
gave their time to entertain us; to all the volunteers who helped
in many ways; to the children for their traditional costumes and
a big thank you to everyone who brought such delicious and
inspiring food for us all to share. This great celebration of our
diverse school community raised over £1000.
Rainbow Day
Many thanks to all the children for getting into the spirit of
Rainbow Day once again this year. It was a fun event with the
hall a sea of bright colours and smiling faces. Well done, we
raised an amazing £2005.75 from sponsorship money - what an
achievement. Thank you to everyone who kindly sponsored the
children.
Nathanial 5km Run
Many congratulations to Nathanial in 1JC for running a 5km
race recently in Hyde Park in just 39 minutes. What a
wonderful achievement; a real inspiration to get all of us
running, adults and children alike. Thank you very much to
Nathanial for raising £305 for our Outside Stage.
Mandarin
Over the last few weeks, every class at Highgate Primary has
celebrated the Year of the Monkey with a special activity,
including making Chinese lanterns, Chinese dragons, monkey
faces and traditional Chinese New Year cards. On Wednesday
2nd March, Highgate Primary was treated to a wonderful
Chinese New Year Roadshow, generously provided by experts
from the Confucius Institute, London Southbank University.
Their
performers entertained the children and staff with exciting and
beautiful displays of Chinese music, dance and martial arts. This
year the Gong Fu routines and a stunning umbrella dance were
particular hits with the audience, as well as a performance from
Reese in 2LG who delighted us with a song in Mandarin as part
of the celebrations.
William and Pan Laoshi go to China
Last week Pan Laoshi and I enjoyed the most wonderful week in
China as guests of the Confucius Institute. In sub-zero
temperatures, we spent the first few days in the city of Harbin
in the north east of China, where we had the opportunity to
visit schools and experience the Chinese education system. It
was fascinating to compare and contrast the Chinese class-
rooms with ours. What we experienced will certainly influence
the way we approach teaching and learning at Highgate Primary.
The second part of the week was spent in Beijing where we had
the opportunity to visit some of the wonders of the world
including the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and the Summer
Palace. The scale and beauty of what we saw, along with the
different sounds, smells and tastes, made this a trip to savour.
To read more, my China blog is on the school website at:
http://www.highgateprimaryschool.co.uk/classes/mandarin/willia
m-goes-to-china
Art Workshop with Ruth Corney
Over the last few weeks we have been lucky to have the artist
Ruth Corney at Highgate Primary. Ruth worked with the
children from Nursery to Year 6 to create two pieces of art,
which will be displayed around the school. Taking inspiration
from artists Hundertwasser and Schwitters, the children used
many different techniques including painting, drawing, sticking,
and collage to produce of work of art that encompasses the
creativity and inspiration children experience at school. Thank
you so much to Ruth and artist Ali Crowther for inspiring so
much enthusiasm and creativity.
Year 3 to the British Museum
Year 3 paid a second visit to the British Museum, this time to
visit the African gallery. This fantastic collection of exhibits
really inspired the children, with highlights being the collection
of African masks and a peace chair made out of
decommissioned metal guns. They were also lucky to be visited
by Jodie Collins, who set up a charity called Beyond Ourselves.
This charity has worked in Zambia setting up schools and
providing an education to children.
Year 5 to Highgate Cemetery
As part of their topic 'The Ghosts of Highgate Past', children in
Year 5 enjoyed a fascinating morning at Highgate Cemetery.
They loved listening to stories about the famous figures buried
in the East part of the cemetery, including the philosopher Karl
Marx, the artist Patrick Caulfield and the writer Douglas Adams.
Lunch in the park, followed by a study of Highgate High Street
all contributed to making this a rather special trip, if a little
spooky at times.
Year 1 to Highgate Village
As part of their topic Amazing Architects, Year 1 explored the
varied architecture of North Hill. For homework the children
had each researched a different building, which they talked
about as they walked past. They continued up to Highpoint
where the children produced some fascinating observational
drawings of the building from within the gardens.
Reception at Kentish Town City Farm
Reception children were bubbling with excitement when they
visited Kentish Town City Farm recently. This wonderful
community farm certainly lived up to all their expectations.
They met all sorts of farm animals, ground some corn from
which to make bread, fed the chickens, stroked some goats and
gained a wealth of knowledge about farm animals in the process.
Everyone enjoyed themselves immensely down on the city farm.
The Egg Project
It’s been a fascinating few weeks at Highgate Primary thanks to
our living egg project. To celebrate National Science Week, the
whole school learnt about the life-cycle of a chicken from
mating to observing the eggs hatch. The children learnt about
the stages of the embryo, the care required to look after the
chicks in their brooder box and how to handle the chicks as
they grew. The whole school has adored having the chicks as
our house guests and they have inspired many creative,
informative Eggtastic projects from the children. We are sure
they will be very happy in their new homes. Thank you to the
Ogden Trust for funding this fascinating project from Living
Eggs.
Year 4 Class Assemblies Year 4 entertained the school with two memorable assemblies
about Ancient Greece. 4BJD recounted the epic tale of Jason
and the Golden Fleece as he set sale in the Argo, fought off
every challenge that came his way on his quest to remove the
fleece from a golden dragon. ‘The Myth’ by 4JS was a highly
entertaining and enlightening Ancient Greek talent show.
Sustainability Week 2016
The Green Council have been very busy this term working on
plans for this year’s Sustainability Week which is set for June.
Following on from last year’s very successful week of events
including writing to the Prime Minister and planting trees in the
allotment, the Council is looking to have an even bigger impact
this time around. Please do get in contact with any member of
the Green Council, or Ollie, if you have any project ideas. We
are always looking out for visitors to join us on our quest to
make the school and local community a greener and more
sustainable place.
Football News Highgate Primary has had a busy few weeks in football. We
invited Eden Primary School to take part in a mixed football
competition for Year 4s. Two teams from each school played a
four game tournament, with Highgate coming out on top
overall. This was followed by a tournament at Muswell Hill
Primary, which involved Eden, Highgate and Muswell Hill. Huge
credit to the new Highgate team players for both walking to the
tournament and then playing in high winds, hail stones and
freezing conditions. Unfortunately we had to settle for second
place in this tournament, however the results didn't affect the
mood and spirits of the team.
Cross Country On a cold and sunny evening in early in March, 14 of our Year 5
and 6 children took part in the Cross Country Championships
at White Hart Lane. It was a tough race; a long route with an
eye watering hill start, followed by 1.25 miles of swamp. Well
done to Tobin in 5DN who came 8th overall and Nell in 5DN
who finished first of all our girls. Many congratulations to every
one of our runners who all finished in the top half of the field.
Hats off to August who ran the cold, wet course with no shoes,
having lost them in the mud, and Tobin who made it with only
one shoe.
Haringey has the best team in the UK with several young
England international standard athletes training with the squad.
Please note that children can go to free Cross Country and
track and field training every Tuesday evening at the Haringey
track, taught by expert coaches. Please speak to Dan if you
would like more details.
Hockey
Highgate primary entered the Haringey inter-schools hockey
tournament at Fortismere school, with 18 schools across the
borough competing. Highgate Primary finished 6th in the
tournament after three impressive wins, narrowly missing out
on a semi final place. Excellent performances from everyone,
particularly Milo in 6NL, Migena in 6NL and Marley in 5DN.
Family Centre Blasting off to space with their junk model rockets and clay
aliens, followed by a week inspired by that colourful elephant
Elmer, the Family Centre children have had a super busy few
weeks. They love watching for signs of Spring in the allotment,
especially seeing all the frogs swimming in the pond and the
group made these beautiful daffodils. Our Family Centre
children will certainly be ready for starting school when the
time comes!
Summer Fair The next big school event will be the Summer Fair on the
afternoon of Saturday 2nd July, when the theme will be Toy
Story!
Important dates for your diary The summer term promises to be busy, so please make sure
you have these important dates firmly in your diaries:
Tuesday 12th April Summer Term starts
Friday 22nd April
9.30 am
3SM Assembly
Wednesday 27th April
North London Music
Festival
Friday 29th April
9.30 am
3OP Assembly
Year 6 Cake Sale
Monday 2nd May
Bank Holiday
Friday 6th May
9.30 am
1EJ Assembly
w/c 9th May SATs week
Friday 13th May 1JC Assembly
Friday 20th May REH Assembly
Nursery Cake Sale
Friday 27th May
RKI Assembly
w/c 30th May
Half Term
Monday 6th June Back to school
I hope you all have a really well deserved Easter holiday.
With best wishes
William William Dean
Headteacher
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