From the Principal
It is my privilege to welcome you to Highfields School. It is a school rich in history and full of hope for the future. I invite you to explore our website as a first taste of our beautiful school. I also want to extend a warm welcome for you to come and experience our school in person.
School visits provide an important encounter for families considering Highfields for their children, as there is a significance about the school that needs to be experienced, to be understood. We really can’t be compared to any other school and are proud of how often parents remark that Highfields feels very different from their experience of schooling. When visitors come to Highfields they are met, not by a rigid system of schooling, but by an elegant web of overlapping, dynamic relationships and opportunities at work. Highfields is a school full of life, fun and exciting learning experiences for all.
In daily practice, our educators intentionally design preschool and school experiences that sustain and support relationships and that celebrate children’s unique personalities, learning styles, interests and passions. We strongly believe that schools should be designed for children, not children for school. We resist any model of learning that would try to fit children into a ‘one size fits all’ educational box. Instead, we pride ourselves in offering an educational and community experience for children, families and educators that is beyond compare.
Since its beginnings in 1945, Highfields has been defined by its unique learning culture. Deeply embedded within this culture is an uncompromising respect for young children’s capacity to learn, think and work together cooperatively and respectfully. Listening to children and giving them voice and influence over their educational experience is at the heart of purpose. The importance of play and inquiry-based learning can not be underestimated when I reflect on what makes our school such a special place for young learners.
As Highfields School’s fifth Principal, so many have come before me and have invested richly in the school’s story. An uninterrupted history of employing invested, passionate and exceptional early childhood and primary educators and leaders, has ensured Highfields stands out today as a brilliant light for what is possible in early learning.
In that light, it is my strong commitment to sustain our unique learning culture into the future, such that every child, from our youngest to oldest, would start every day running towards learning and life at Highfields – full of enthusiasm, anticipation and delight.
Deborah Cook, Principal
A little bit about Mrs Cook
- Masters of Education (Curriculum & Administration)
- Bachelor of Education
- Diploma of Teaching (Primary)
Deborah began as a teacher at Highfields in 1998, moving to the role of Principal in 2002. The shift was an obvious one for the school. As Principal, Deborah naturally combined her significant skills and experience as an educator with her strong administrative and leadership capacity. Since her appointment, Deborah has led the school from strength to strength, building from its rich beginnings as a niche environment for young children’s learning towards a future that continues to embrace the best of what is possible for children from Preschool to Year 2.
In her first years as Principal, Deborah continued to build on, previous principal, Jan North’s vision to see the school moving forward in response to the latest research into high quality and effective practice for children from Preschool to Year 2. Jan’s vision, and Deborah’s continuing leadership, led to big changes for Highfields, most significantly represented by a shift towards significantly smaller class sizes and the establishment of a collaborative teaching model across the school. These shifts reflected, and continue to reflect, Highfield’s choice to position children’s educational experiences in the context of significant, respectful and transformative relationships. Smaller class sizes, a redesign of the outdoor and indoor environments, and the teaming up of teachers to work together to design curriculum for children, created a platform for the school to embrace inquiry-based approaches to learning that position young children as directors (not just participants) in their learning journey.