Step away from the screen

"It alarms me how many parents are using tablets and phones to entertain their children,” says Jeremy Duke, Highfield Priory headmaster, “especially at mealtimes, rather than simply chatting to them and getting to know them better.

“Holidays are a time to catch up with your children and mealtimes are one of the few occasions when you feel like you have their undivided attention.”

At Highfield, children are taught table manners: how to use and hold their cutlery, how to make eye contact with the person to whom they are talking and how to converse at the dinner table.

This is taught in their HPSED (Highfield Public Speaking, Elocution and Drama) lessons as well as teaching the children to speak for a range of different purposes with confidence: speaking to present, instruct, inform, persuade, entertain and inspire.

“At a time when children are spending an increasing amount of time in front of the screen, at Highfield we are fighting to buck the trend, step away from the screen and teach our children how to connect with family and friends,” said Jeremy.

“We know how important interpersonal skills are in the business world and we are working hard to make sure that our future generations are confident and effective communicators.”

Highfield Priory School is the leading Independent Preparatory School in Lancashire (ranked by The Sunday Times as 1st in the North West and 13th in the country).

It is nestled in nine acres of woodland and grounds in the Fulwood area of Preston with excellent facilities and specialist teachers. Jeremy Duke believes in teaching the children to have confidence in themselves and in their ability to compete locally and nationally, to stand up in front of a large audience, to work together as a team and always to put their best foot forward.