Our Vision

At Highfields Primary School we aim to:

  • Create a culture where all staff and children respect themselves and others, provide opportunities to be creative, promote our 5 key values and encourage everyone to strive to be the best they can be.
  • Prioritise getting to know each child individually and build strong relationships with every family, so that children are well-supported both academically and pastorally.
  • Offer our children a rich and deep curriculum which provides a wide range of experiences, develop their skills, knowledge and interests to give them the tools necessary to prosper in life and succeed beyond the expected.

Our 5 Core Values are…

Resilience - We work hard, do not give up, put in full effort and have patience and stamina. We are self-motivated and have a growth mindset. We have a sense of pride and build self-esteem and confidence.

Perseverance – We stay determined and persist to overcome difficulties and solve problems by using the different strategies at hand to us.

Collaborative - We nurture healthy relationships by working well with others to develop our social skills and become adept communicators.

Positive – We remain positive that good things will happen and when things go wrong, it will not be forever.

Respectful – We respect ourselves and each other and understand that we are free to do what is right. We are supportive, fully inclusive and respectful of others and their differences.

Growth Mindset

Many people believe that a person is born either smart, average, or dumb — and stays that way for life.

But most people don't know that when they practice and learn new things, parts of their brain change and get larger a lot like muscles do when they exercise.

Inside the cortex of the brain are billions of tiny nerve cells, called neurons. The nerve cells have branches connecting them to other cells in a complicated network. Communication between these brain cells is what allows us to think and solve problems.

No one thinks babies are stupid because they can't talk. They just haven't learned how to yet. Some people will call a person dumb if they can't solve math problems, or spell a word right, or read fast — even though all these things are learned with practice.

At first, no one can read or solve equations. However, with practice, they can learn to do it. The more a person learns, the easier it gets.

The children that everyone thinks are the "smartest" may not have been born any different from anyone else. Before they started school, they may have started to practice reading. Then, in the classroom, everyone said, "That's the smartest student in the class." They don't realise that any of the other children could learn to do as well if they practiced reading as much.

What Can You Do to Get Smarter?

By practicing, you make your brain stronger. You also learn skills that let you use your brain in a smarter way just like a basketball player learns new moves. Many people miss out on the chance to grow a stronger brain because they think they can't do it, or that it's too hard. It does take work, just like becoming stronger physically or becoming a better ball player. Sometimes it even hurts! However, when you feel yourself get better and stronger, you will know it was worth it!

Because we understand the need to have a Growth Mindset, we have PSHE lessons and assemblies about it. Teachers and children have embraced the language and the way of thinking that promotes using a Growth Mindset in all lessons.