Summer 2026

24 April – NEWSLETTER

EDITION 62

Head’s Welcome

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to this week’s newsletter.

In this edition, we share some of the exciting activities and trips Sixth Formers have participated in recently, including a Biology fieldtrip in Highbury Fields and a visit to the Freud Museum.

Also this week, half of Year 8 braved the tube strikes and headed to the West End to see Hamilton. Students enjoyed this fantastic show that truly brings to life the story of America’s fight for independence. We will be sharing more about the trip in next week’s newsletter.

Tim Fox
Headteacher

Sixth Form Success

Biology Field Trip

Before the Easter break, Year 13 Biology students completed their final practical experiment in the form of fieldwork in the Fields. The practical focused on the affects of soil compaction on the growth of grass. The A-level biologists inserted knitting needles into the ground and measured how deep they would go.

“Taking part in hands-on fieldwork was fun!”

– Amina, Year 13

Their results supported their hypothesis that the areas where soil was most compacted had the least grass growing. This is particularly evident in parts of Highbury Fields where members of the public cutting across the grass, instead of walking along the concrete footpaths.

“Working together out in Highbury Fields felt like a nice way to mark the final practical of Biology A-level.”

– Zuhayba, Year 13

Year 13 visit to the freud museum

Written by Sultana, Tayyibah and Sahra.

Our visit to the Freud Museum was an incredible experience that brought our Unit 11 psychological perspectives to life by allowing us to see exactly where and how Sigmund Freud conducted his ground breaking work. Walking through the rooms where his ideas were developed gave a completely different perspective on his work. Seeing details like his famous psychoanalytic couch, where he listened to his patients, brought a new level of understanding to his methods, turning classroom concepts into something vivid and tangible.

The beautiful house and sunny weather made for a perfect afternoon, and we highly recommend the trip to anyone interested in the history of the human mind. A huge thank you to Ms Gomez for organising the day!

Work experience Support needed

We are currently looking to secure work experience placements for our Year 12 students on 25 – 26 June 2026. In particular, we are searching for placements in the following areas of work:

Law
Journalism and media
Healthcare
STEM

If you can help the school source placements for our Sixth Formers, please email Ms Douse: rdouse@highburyfields.islington.sch.uk.

Trips and Enrichment Activities

uPCOMING Trips

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We have some fantastic trips lined up. Scroll through the carousel below to see what’s in store for each Key Stage.

Parent volunteers needed

There are many trips coming up for which we are seeking parent volunteers. If you are willing to chaperone students on any of the following trips, please email rdouse@highburyfields.islington.sch.uk or call the school. The approximate time commitment is also included below:

Year 10 Noughts & Crosses Drama trip: 13 May (11am – 4:30pm)
Year 10 Neals Yard Dairy trip: 19 May (9am – 1:30pm)
Year 10 Imperial War Museum: 26 June (8:30am – 3:30pm).

Other news from across the school

British Science Week

Year 7 students recently took part in a poster competition for British Science Week, a national event encouraging young people to think big and get creative. This year’s theme invited them to imagine a positive, happy future for children, sharing ideas through bold and imaginative poster designs. Congratulations to the following winners:

Anaiya
Maeve
Alisha
Eliza
Willow
Zoe
Alicia.

Well done to all who took part – we were blown away by the creativity, thoughtfulness, and originality on display!

Pictured: Zoe’s poster design (7/Rosa Parks)

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ HFS Rewards ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Attendance

Here are top performing forms for attendance last week:

Top Forms for Attendance
Year 7: 7/Junko Tabei – 98.61%
Year 8: 8/Marie Curie – 98.07%
Year 9: 9/Helen Keller – 100.00%
Year 10: 10/Sylvia Earle – 99.03%
Year 11: 11/Margot Fonteyn – 96.92%
Sixth Form: 12/Amelia Earhart – 97.59%

Merit Awards

Congratulations to all students who achieved merit milestones last week.

120 Merits
Headteacher Merit

Year 7: Tanem and Rayan
Year 8: Elfida and Hanifa
Year 9: Dania
Year 11: Caitlan.
.

240 Merits
Board of Governors Merit

Year 7: Alice and Ayla
Year 8: Raya and Hanna.

.

Students of the week

This academic year, we have introduced ‘Students of the Week’ to recognise individuals who have demonstrated excellent commitment to learning and the community. Here are the successful students from last week:

Year 7
7/Chimamanda Adichie – Erin
7/Frida Kahlo – Munira
7/Helen Sharman – Sara
7/Junko Tabei – Sumaiyah
7/Rosa Parks – Sorayah-Rose
7/Winona LaDuke – Anaiya.

Year 8
8/Alicia Keys – Aleena
8/Jane Goodall – Molly
8/Martgaret Atwood – Basma and Taybah
8/Marie Curie – Lyra and Khadija
8/Nawal El-Saadawi – Lavin
8/Serena Williams – Anisha.

Year 9
9/Barbara Hepworth – Sara
9/Katherine Johnson – Amra
9/Wangari Maathai – Lila, Alisia, and Bela
9/Helen Keller – Melisa and Zohra
9/Olga Korbut – Zayna.

Year 10
10/Adams – Hajira
10/Ganguly – Jasmine.

Year 11
11/Ada Lovelace – Lyla
11/Kelly Holmes – Zuhaira
11/Margot Fonteyn – Melaniia.

Sixth Form
Year 12 – Tilly
Year 13 – Sultana.

Our Parent Community

Spotlight on: Stress Awareness Month

Stress Awareness Month has been held in April for the last 33 years. London Waiting Room has many resources that can help you to take a moment, understand your stress triggers, and develop coping strategies to prevent burnout. Find out more and find resources below.

Information and resources

The Hidden Dangers of Pinterest

Pinterest tends to fly under the radar. Unlike Instagram or TikTok, it has never attracted the same level of public concern; it’s older, it’s built around image collections, and most of us consider it benign, if we think about it at all.

The White Hatter, a Canadian digital safety organisation, published a blog post highlighting that platforms presenting as visual or creative tools (eg. Pinterest, VSCO, Tumblr, Lemon8, and Canva) often include messaging features that are not obvious.

The question worth considering is not “what app is my child using?” but “what can that app actually do?”

Read the White Hatter blog post