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Highfield Schools’

Newsletter ‘Growing together,

learning for life’

Newsletter 16 12 June 2020

‘Love School Life’

Dear Parents, Carers and Friends,

I hope you and your families are still keeping well. It has been a pleasure to see some Year 1

and 6 pupils return to school alongside our key workers classes since the beginning of this

half term. I would like to thank parents for helping this process run smoothly by dropping off

and collecting children promptly and respecting our new school protocols. I would also like

to say well done to the children who have done so incredibly well to adapt quickly and

sensibly to all of the recent changes to school life.

Due to the small class bubbles we have created, most teaching staff from all year groups

are now in school planning and teaching full time in either key worker or Year 1, 6 and

shortly Reception classes. I think it is important to take this opportunity to thank them for their

commitment and hard work as they continue to provide remote learning for children still at

home alongside their class teaching commitments. Please understand that as a result, they

may not always be able to respond so quickly to your queries.

For year groups and children who are not able to return, we are currently looking at how we

can safely and securely arrange contact with class teachers this half term. Very shortly,

once all systems are in place, we will be sending information to all parents regarding this.

Finally, once again it is lovely to see the acts of kindness which are so important to provide

help, support and a little bit of cheer during these challenging times.

Well done to all those involved!

Best wishes,

Mrs Allison Morris

Headteacher

Our school value for this half term is Determination

“Achieve something you thought you couldn’t do.” “Believe that you can do it!”

“Work hard. Never give up”. The British Value is Individual Liberty

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Marcus (Plum) & Mabel (Fox) made this fantastic

rainbow transporter celebrating the NHS!

DT Challenge RAINBOW Transporters - deadline for entries 26th June

Frank (Owl) made his brilliant model

completely independently. Ziva (Mouse) explained the rainbow

travels through the open tunnels and

reflects in the sunshine as it travels to

where it needs to go and it uses the two

triangle wings to fly. Great job Ziva!

Harry’s (Badger) resplendent rainbow rocket!

Marissa (Mouse) and her little sister, Selina, were

inspired by the NASA space launch to make this

fabulous transporter!

Denver (Hedgehog) with his

awesome rainbow model and smiles!

Krishna (Badger) has been hard at work

making this amazing rainbow aeroplane.

Evan (Hazel) test riding his superb Rainbow Rider (with

a bit of brotherly help!).

Zoe (Birch) lifts off with this beautiful rainbow spaceship

Rhys (Sycamore) and Jessica

(Hawthorn) worked together on this

terrific transporter! Mingpei (Ash) made this fun rainbow

transporter complete with its own slide!

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I have been making contact with some of you

recently and one thing I am realising is how

different this journey is for many of you; however, a

recurring theme is anxiety, both ours and our

children’s.

Anxiety will be very real for us as parents but also

for our children, sometimes it doesn’t always feel

logical but it can feel very real.

I have put some information together and details

of local agencies who can support you. There is a

wealth of information out there and the following

are just a couple of suggestions which may help.

We are already looking at how we can support

our pupils once they come back into school and

how they may experience school differently, we

are also looking at how we can help our pupil’s

process events of the last few months.

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety is a feeling

we get that is similar

to fear or worry that

occurs when we

are in a situation

that is

uncomfortable or

threatening. A feeling of worry, nervousness, or

unease about something with an uncertain

outcome.

Anxiety is what we feel when we are worried,

tense or afraid – particularly about things that are

about to happen, or which we think could

happen in the future. Anxiety is a natural human

response when we perceive that we are under

threat. It can be experienced through our

thoughts, feelings and physical sensations.

These are some descriptions I have come across

and I think at some points our situation has been

uncomfortable, at times threatening and

uncertain. Anxiety is a perfectly normal response

to an uncomfortable situation so we would expect

there to be some anxiety floating about at the

moment.

How can we support

ourselves and our

children?

When I’m working with children and adults one of

the first things I do is to try and get people to

recognise when they are STARTING to feel anxious;

early recognition helps us to put things in place so

it doesn’t grow.

Do a body check, what happens to me when I

start to feel anxious, for me I know I start to fidget, I

grow restless. Some people get breathless, some

get a funny tummy, some get agitated, some

people’s thoughts run away with them. At this

point if we can recognise that something has

changed we can put things in place for support.

For example I know I need to get up and walk, I

need to breathe to calm myself down, I give

myself a break, I make myself a cup of tea.

Know what works for you. Have a tool bag filled

with resources to support you and your child. The

very act of working out what works for you is

cathartic and can reduce anxiety as you are

doing something to control it.

Walking, being outside, talking, grounding

exercises, drawing, lego, breathing, yoga,

cooking, cleaning!!

This will be very individual but can be incorporated

into family life, notice when family anxiety rises too

and when you collectively need to do something

different together. All sit together and work out

what your first indication of

anxiety is and how you can

help each other.

Talk to your child about what

works for them, write it down,

put it in a jar and when their

levels rise (when they notice

changes in their body) get them to go and pull a

piece of paper out of the jar and see what they

can do to help themselves relax.

Coping with Anxiety

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Facing the Fear

Anxiety may be generalised at the moment but

avoidance of what is making you anxious may

actually increase anxiety in the long run. If your

child is nervous about coming back to school for

example you can talk about it, walk past it, look at

the website and talk through any worries your child

may have. Avoiding it as it makes your child

anxious may lead them to believe there really is

something to be worried about.

Another example might be your child is worrying

about a relative. Look at the worry, answer the

worry logically, i.e. procedures in place to protect,

the relative is taking doctor’s advice, they won’t

take risks with their health. Facing this worry and

looking at it makes it smaller.

We cannot hide our children or ourselves from this

situation but we can be logical about information

they see and have access to.

Manage your anxiety

Your children are looking to you as an example of

how to cope with stress. We are not perfect we all

react sometimes and it is a good thing for children

to see real reactions but if we mostly manage our

anxiety positively, honestly as appropriate and

proactively we are giving our children a template

for how to manage theirs.

BE KIND TO YOURSELF

Be kind to yourselves, you are doing an amazing

job, this is unprecedented, there are no manuals

on how to manage this,

we are getting through as

best we can.

DO NOT GIVE YOURSELF A

HARD TIME

If we make a mistake, be

honest, we are not

perfect, we are all learning, this shows your child

we can get things wrong and move on.

In the 10 years I have been working here I have

never come across a parent not wanting to do

their best so be kind to yourselves.

We don’t always have to have the answers the

very act of listening can help.

Support

There are a huge amount of resources out there

and I know you will have been sent some recently

but this link takes you to a directory listing local

services and support. There is also information on

our website about mental health, different ways it

may present in people and where to seek help.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have

concerns about your child’s wellbeing or you need

further support. I’m really happy to chat through

any concerns you may have or I can signpost you

to organisations that may be able to offer more

targeted support.

Carol Rushmere

Family Worker

Recent events have reinforced the

importance of teaching about cultural

tolerance and diversity from a young age.

When we reviewed our whole curriculum last year, it was something we wanted to further

develop to provide more opportunities to celebrate diversity and reflect the way we live now

- whilst keeping in line with the requirements of the national curriculum.

Alongside specific assemblies and key events in the school calendar, we look to promote the

teaching of diversity in a very considered and structured way through the choice of our

history and English topics and books as well as through the arts. Although school closure

prevented us from being able to totally roll out these changes this academic year, we

remain committed to this and continue to look at ways to promote diversity for every child at

Highfield.

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Sophia in Hedgehog Class made

a kindness poster for us.

William and Thomas in

Hawthorn and Beech Class

helped their nanna by

washing her car and

mowing her lawn.

Ziva in Mouse Class is doing a cycling challenge to raise

money for Save the Children. If you would like to support her

this is a link to her Just Giving page. Well done Ziva!

This amazing dog is called Elsa. She is a cross between a Border Collie and a German

Shepherd. We have been walking her every two days since the start of lockdown,

whatever the weather. We love her! She is a big dog and loves pulling on her lead when

we are on the way to the park. She always listens when we say the word park. She

doesn’t always bring the ball back therefore we have two balls to throw. In our walk, we

go once around half of the park with her on the lead and then we throw her the ball. Elsa

loves jumping high for the ball (also when she jumps on me, she is the same size as me!) At

the end of the walk, she rests in the shade and we give her loads of hugs and a treat.

The reason why we started walking her was because my mum sent a message on

Facebook offering vulnerable people/people who had to self-isolate help to walk their

dogs. We got a text back from Carole and Adrien-Elsa’s owners-and we started walking

her. Elsa was two when Carole and Adrian got her. She was living with another family

until the mum got pregnant and Elsa had to go. Then Elsa found Carole and Adrian. They

are lovely people! We adore Elsa! She is AMAZING!!

Morgane (Sycamore Class) and her

new friend Elsa!

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LETTERS WITH LOVE PROJECT

The ‘Letters with Love’ have continued to be

sent to local care homes in the area

spreading positivity and messages of kindness

to elderly residents. Thank you to the

additional year groups that have now taken

part and sent off their beautiful drawings and

messages.

We have been notified by Nettlestead Care

Home that their residents were so pleased

with their post, that some of them are writing

replies to you! If you included a return

address on your letter, it will be sent directly

to you. Other post will be sent to the school

and passed on to its recipient.

A big well done and thank you to all those

who have taken part so far. Your heartfelt

messages have made a huge difference to

someone who may

be struggling and

feel lonely during

this time. If you

would like to take

part in this project

then please keep

creating your

beautiful drawings,

messages and poems

and send them to one

of the addresses below.

Miss Coston

Nettlestead Care Home

19 Sundridge Avenue

Bromley

BR1 2PU

Clairleigh Nursing Home

104 Plaistow Lane

Bromley

BR1 3AS

Owl class made this wonderful

photo collage to show their

gratitude to staff returning to

school for the final term this

year. This act of kindness lifted

everybody’s spirits and let staff

know all their efforts are truly

appreciated.

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Winners of this year’s

competition will be

announced today!

You can also read the top

50 shortlisted stories in each

age category.

So, if you’re looking for

inspiration or just some new

stories to read follow the link

above.

Reports

Following a few enquiries I can confirm that we will be providing end of year reports in July for

all subjects. As a Trust, we have decided that the attainment reported will be that which we

observed or assessed in the spring term, when all children were in school following the full

curriculum. This is also in line with Government guidance issued in March about end of year

attainment and cancelling of national testing for Year 6 and moderation of Reception and

Year 2 that normally help inform our judgments. Mrs Morris

Highfield at Home!

Well done to Holly (Plum) and Luke (Elm).

During Lockdown they have been inspired to run a bit

more and have been logging every mile.

On Thursday, Luke had run a total of 100 miles since

Lockdown began! The total was made up of individual 5K

runs and a weekly one mile race. He has built up the

distance he runs to 5 miles!

Holly and Luke have

also been busy

designing sports kits!

Their kit designs were

featured in a recent

edition of Match

magazine and you can

see them here proudly

showing their published

designs. Rightly so!

We’re very proud too.

Notice

Please see both the

Infant and Junior school

websites for updated

NEST behaviour policy

addendum June 2020.

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Summer Term 2020

Design & Technology Challenge

Who can enter? Children, parents and carers

Why? To enjoy a fun and practical challenge with people in your household.

What? We would like you to design and make a

RAINBOW TRANSPORTER

How to enter Email the office with a photo of your model

Who will judge? Teachers

(and all of your fantastic creations will be shown in the next school newsletter!)

Deadline date Friday 26th June

Winner Announced Monday 29th June

How you interpret this challenge and what you use is entirely up to you. It could be any sort of car,

truck, plane, boat, space rocket, made or decorated in rainbow colours. Or it could be a vehicle that

is used to transport a rainbow. Mrs Silk

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Save The Date!

Highfield Virtual Sports Awards

Thursday 25th June, 6pm, on Zoom

Invites will be sent out next week

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