YEAR 2 ICE QUEEN VISIT

As part of year 2's Ice Topic, the children were taken on a magical snow quest. Armed with their imaginations, they joined forces with a powerful queen, journeyed through a frozen world and defeated an evil king! The children loved every moment and were able to bring forward all of their amazing topic learning. Thank you to 'Perform' for the session, the skills and confidence the children have acquired has been wonderful!

Children’s Mental Health week.

At Highlands, if we are able to confidently state that we have, in the last week, made a difference to the general well being of our community this is something that we feel the entire Highlands community should shout very proudly about.

It warms my soul and fills me with such positive hope for the future of our children if we can continue to educate them about looking after and identifying the traits of good mental health. It is widely known and has been supported by the Government that the mental well being of younger generations is more of a focus now that it has ever been before.  Our hope for Highlands is that we nurture a future and work towards a collective goal because “we believe the emotional well being of our community is the centre of everything we do".

The Mindfulness lunch sessions which ran throughout the duration of Children’s Mental Health week were a great success. Many children attended each day and enjoyed the safe and calm environment to reflect and explore their emotions. For many it provided an opportunity which they had not experienced before to understand and gain a deeper understanding of what some of their emotions meant.

The sessions also offered a space for others to just be still and breathe. It reminded us as an entire community the power of learning to stop and listen to our bodies and mind. To explore our imaginations and to learn how the power of breathing and meditation can enable us to be much more productive.

The focus and the discussions which the community and staff all supported enabled this week to be the best Children’s Mental Health week that we have celebrated so far!

Staff themselves also had some mindfulness training – helping them to be active participators as well as teachers. In addition to this, you – our community – displayed such positive involvement by attending the “Chill out with your child” workshop. I would like to thank The Redbridge Institute who offered this session for free and who we hope to arrange a monthly workshop with in the future terms. The success of our children requires the support of the key duty bearers in their life. The stronger we can make the home-school partnership around the needs of our children, the better our outcomes will be.

I hope that this blog is just the first of many which continue to raise the profile of Personal, Social, Health education alongside the importance of the Emotional well being of our children and adults.

Keep an eye out for the PSHCE newsletter that will make its way to you after half term.

Continue to support your children at home by discussing how they are feeling both in their bodies and in their minds. Be open to talking with your children about these topics and your children will learn to be open with you.

Thank you to everyone that enabled the successes described above.

Miss Vorley

THE THINKING SCHOOL BY DR ATWAL

Congratulations to Dr Atwal for the publication of 'The Thinking School', which describes the theories that underpin the development of this incredible learning community at Highlands Primary School.

http://www.johncattbookshop.com/the-thinking-school

Highlands Young Voices

Highlands Primary School choir took part in the Young Voices Concert at the 02 Arena on 29^th January 2019. The children who took part really enjoyed the experience of performing at the 02 with professional artists, amazing sound systems and lighting effects! The whole experience was unique and one which will be a highlight of their school memories! This year was particularly special as we joined up with the choir from Redbridge Primary School to form a ‘Super choir’. We are already excited to sign up to participate in the 2020 Young Voices.

Year 5 Trip to Greenwich

5Co had a wonderful day exploring Greenwich and the Royal Observatory. They also took their very own trip into space when they watched the 'Universe on our doorstep' show in the Planetarium! The children had an amazing day learning all about space and admiring the breathtaking views! 

Meeting Global Teacher of the Year

Today I had the opportunity to meet the 2018 Global Prize winner for, Best Teacher in the world, Andria Zafirakou. 

Andrea is the Associate Deputy Headteacher at Alperton Community School. Her passion is the creative arts in schools. Her work with the children at her school is inspirational, and I was left in absolute wonder at the positive energy and belief in the power and gift of each and every child she serves. 

She uses her platform with this award to raise the profile of the amazing role that teachers play in society today.

I asked Andria to write a message for the children at Highlands. She responded with the fact that she would like to visit us. I look forward to letting you all know soon of the visit. :-)  

RRS TRIP TO UNICEF HOUSE

Aasiya from 6K and Zaahra from 3CK attended the very first RRS Panel Meeting at Unicef House in Stratford on Friday 8th February. They had the opportunity to present how they feel about attending a RRS school and their ideas for the future of the UNCRC in schools across the country, 

It was an inspiring and empowering day for the girls and one that they said they would always remember. 

Well done Aasiya and Zaahra you are making a difference and showing all the skills of a true Global Citizen.

Year 3 Trip to the Temple

On Thursday 7th February, Year 3 enjoyed a visit to the Ilford VHP Hindu Centre. The children were able to explore inside the temple and watch as members of the community carried out their daily worship. A volunteer from the temple was on hand to talk to the children about Hinduism and answer all their questions.

“I learnt that Hindu’s believe their is one God but that he has lots of different characteristics which are represented by different deities like strength and knowledge”

Road Safety

Key Stage 1 were treated to a 'Zoopa Doopa' assembly this morning, to learn about staying safe on the road. 

The Smart brothers and their zoo of animals showed the children how to 'Stop, Look, Listen and Think' when they come across various types of roads. 

The children thoroughly enjoyed learning about staying safe and we're sure they will feel more confident about all the different road signs they see. 

Letter from the Secretary of State for Education and the Minister of State for School Standards

We are delighted to share the attached letter received today. It is lovely to have our children's learning acknowledged at national level.

Dino Exploration in Reception

Reception children were palaeontologists today and they had a great time learning lots of facts and information about dinosaurs that lived 65 million years ago. The children explored some fossils and bones of dinosaurs and tried to figure out which dinosaurs they belong to. 

What an amazing expedition!!

Year 2 Talented Writers

In year 2 the children have been reading the wonderful book, 'Ice Palace'. 

What we were not prepared for was the exceptional writing that our Year 2 have produced as a result of this inspiring book. 

Please take a moment to read the following passage written by Seth in year 2 as one example of formidable creative writing.

"The crystal clear snow glistened like; rubies, sapphires and emeralds. In the blizzard it had covered the snow even more. So Ivan had to wade through it. It was very hard to push through the deep snow. He felt sulky and thought he might not see his little, wooden hut again. He was thinking quietly about his warm and wooden chair next to the snug little stove, when he heard a distinct howl that felt like a sword that had pierced his heart. It was the loud, hungry cry a wolf makes when it hears it's prey!

The cry was answered by another and suddenly the whole forest was echoing with the noise".

His peers also shared their excellent writing and were very proud to take a photo to share their golden moment :)

Keep up the great writing year 2!!!