Summer 2026

5 june – NEWSLETTER

EDITION 67

Head’s Welcome

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you had a restful break.

As we head into the final half term of this academic year, our Year 11s and Year 13s continue their concentrated work on their respective examinations. All of us here, at Highbury Fields, are both supporting and inspired by their hard work.

In other news, our Year 12s have started teaching students in younger years the foundations of cooking, after school. We have also been reflecting on the importance of keeping fit and healthy, which our Year 7s and Year 8s represented fantastically before the half-term break, with their assemblies on the benefits of walking.

Tim Fox
Headteacher

Culture concert

A quick update on our Culture Concert auditions for next week.

The audition day has been changed to Thursday 11th June at 3:30pm.

Students from all year groups can sign up to this years Culture Concert. It is a fantastic opportunity to sing, dance, perform, and celebrate your culture!

Sixth Form Success

sixth form are cooking up a storm

Written by: Lanetta / Year 12

This Monday was our first ever session of the MEF Cooking Club, run by some other Sixth Formers and I. This week we made tikka tofu skewers and all of the Year 8s really enjoyed the fun and engaging session!

Eleanor said: “I enjoyed the company of the Sixth Formers and their humour.”

Jocelyn and Hazeinei said: “It was a bit stressful but we got there in the end and enjoyed frying our Tofu Tikka in the pan”

Alice and Erin said: “ Despite the stressful environment , we loved the support from the sixthformers”.

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.

news from across the school

Celebrating National Walking Month and Walk to School Week

This year, our Year 7 and Year 8 Sports Leaders helped our community celebrate National Walking Month and Walk to School Week by visiting form times and assemblies to discuss the importance and benefits of walking.

Students shared how walking can improve both physical and mental health; helping you stay active, boost your mood, increase energy levels, and even improve concentration in lessons.

The Student Leaders expressed that whether it’s walking to school, going for a walk with friends or family, or simply getting outside more often, every step counts towards a healthier lifestyle and planet!

a great way to unwind (some yarn)

Crochet Club is a relaxing and enjoyable space where students can unwind, be creative, and socialise with friends. Members learn new crochet skills and create a variety of handmade projects while supporting one another and sharing ideas. Whether students are complete beginners or already experienced, everyone is welcome to join in the fun and learn something new.

“Crochet helps me to relax and clear my mind”
– Bianca / Year 8

“Crochet is really chill and you can learn a lot”
– Khadijah / Year 8

“I learned to crochet at crochet club and then for Mothers Day I made a bouquet of flowers. I really love crochet club because it’s a calm space where you can talk and crochet”
– Abigail / Year 7

If you’d like to join crochet club then get in touch with Ms Emencheta.

hoop hoop hooray!

Currently, Netball Club is especially proud of the Year 7 team, who recently achieved first place in a competition against local schools. A brilliant achievement for the club!

Netball Club is a fantastic opportunity for students to learn new skills, play competitive matches, and develop teamwork and confidence. Students work together to improve their passing, shooting, and match play while building strong friendships along the way.

give me an ‘H’! Give me an ‘F’! Give me an ‘S’!

Cheerleading Club is currently working hard to choreograph an exciting routine for Highbury Fields School’s upcoming Sports Day. Students are learning pom routines, dance moves, jumps, and stunts while bringing plenty of energy and team spirit to every practice.

The club is full of enthusiasm, creativity, and confidence, and they can’t wait to showcase the final performance at Sports Day.

Trips and Enrichment Activities

uPCOMING Trips

sign up on Arbor Today so you don’t miss out

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 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 Imperial War Museum: 26 June (8:30am – 3:30pm).

Healthcare Engineering Workshop hosted by the UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering (IHE)

We are delighted to share an exciting opportunity for KS3 students to take part in a full-day Healthcare Engineering Workshop hosted by the UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering (IHE) and supported by STEM Dorado, a STEM outreach organisation.

During the workshop, students will explore how engineering and science are used to improve healthcare through:

Hands-on experiments
Interactive presentations
A science quiz
Sessions led by real healthcare engineering scientists

This unique experience will give students insight into real scientific practice while also helping them develop valuable transferable skills such as teamwork, communication, problem-solving, and presentation skills.

As places are limited, interested students are asked to submit a short written statement explaining why they would like to take part. This will help organisers select students who will benefit most from the experience.

We encourage interested KS3 students and families to take advantage of this fantastic STEM opportunity.

Please see the above flyer for further information and the QR code for registration.

A trip to the Ballet for the current year 8s

The school is delighted to have been able to reserve tickets for the whole of the current Year 8 cohort to see Matthew Bourne’s production of ‘Cinderella’ at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in January 2027, when students will be in Year 9.

This is a very special opportunity to experience a wonderful ballet. The school hopes that your daughter will look forward to the show next year.

Click Here To Find Out More

Trip to Beligian Battlefields

For Year 9 (current Year 8), there is a particularly exciting wider curriculum trip that your daughter has the opportunity to attend during the upcoming academic year. The school will be running an overnight trip to Ypres in Belgium, which is open to all Year 9 students.

The Battlefields trip has been a most memorable experience for previous students and I am sure this will be a trip that your daughter will enjoy, and remember for many years to come.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ HFS Rewards ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Attendance

Here are top performing forms for attendance last week:

Top Forms for Attendance
Year 7: 7/Winona LaDuke – 100%
Year 8: 8/Serena Williams – 96.25%
Year 9: 9/Wangari Maathai – 97.27%
Year 10: 10/Nicola Adams – 96.84%
Year 11: 11/Margot Fonteyn – 86.82%
Sixth Form: 12/Amelia Earheart- 96%

Merit Awards

Congratulations to all students who achieved merit milestones last week.

30 Merits
Form tutor Merit

.

Year 8: Aleena

.

60 Merits
head of year Merit

.

Year 9: Alisha and Ella
Year 10: Marnie
Year 11: Tanisha

.

120 Merits
Headteacher Merit

.

Year 7: Lauren, Ameerah, Alice, Greta, Eshaal, and Anisa
Year 8: Basma, Amani, Helin, Natalia, Duru
Year 9: Elif and Naz
Year 10: Aysan, Ceylin, Hana, Sana, Nati

.

240 Merits
BOARD OF GOVERNERS MERIT

.

Year 7: Chloe, Andarge, Olivia, Maymana, Ed-Lynne, Ela, Sarah, Elig, Kontos, Maya, Manuela, Amira, Lily, Alicia, Hermela, Asia-Chenae, Eliza, Sophia
Year 8: Darcey, Million, Elsa, Lyra
Year 10: Asia
.

500 Merits
Commitment to Learning
Merit
.

Year 7: Bonnie
Year 8: Daisy

.

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 – Alice and Bella
7/Frida Kahlo – Ria, Avana-Mae, Iris, and Hannah
7/Helen Sharman – Eleri and Amira
7/ Junko Tabei – Sumaiyah and Frida
7/Rosa Parks – Isra, Andita, and Feyza
7/Winona LaDuke – Maia, Charley, and Julie

Year 8
8/Alicia Keys – Iman, Martha, and Liv
8/Jane Goodall – Ajanta, Raya, Shannon, Molly, and Ayvah
8/Margaret Atwood – Mira, Helin, Yealietta, Maylee, and A’Kaylah
8/Marie Curie – Natalia, Joycelyn, and Arielle
8/Nawal El-Saadawi – Alexandra, Violet, Erin, and Lavin
8/ Serena Williams – Olivia and Hazivinei

Year 9
9/Barbara Hepworth – Nailah and Zoe
9/Katherine Johnson- Karis
9/Wangari Maathai – Rana

Year 10
10/Jacqueline Du Pré – Eleyna
10/Mae Jemison – Oniba
10/Sylvia Earle – Amelia

Our Parent Community

board games to some, fun games to others

All donations gratefully accepted via main site reception.

Our students love to keep busy during lunchtimes. We would greatly appreciate any unwanted games which are still in good working order, but we are especially eager to find:

Board Games, especially Battleships and Snakes and Ladders
Connect 4 or similar ‘in a row’ games
Card games, especially Dobble, Uno, Snap or Set
Decks of playing cards
Jigsaws
Dominoes

The Education Hub – How we are helping kids stay active at school

A new post, “How we are helping kids stay active at school”, has just been published on the The Education Hub blog.

Evidence shows less than half of young people get the 60 minutes of activity a day they need – with girls, those with SEND and those from disadvantaged backgrounds affected the most.

If you’d like to hear about how the Department for Education is going about turning this around then read the attached article.