Category Archives: Headteacher’s Weekly Blog

Hello everyone and I hope you had a wonderful holiday.  It was lovely to see all the children on Wednesday morning.  They were all so happy to be back and have settled to learning really quickly. 

I would also like to welcome the parents and children who are new to Copthorne.  I am sure that this will be the start of a great experience for you all. 

Uniform

Thank you so much for ensuring that the overwhelming majority of our children have arrived at school this week looking so smart and proud to represent Copthorne.  School jumpers, cardigans, ties, scarves and polo shirts are available to purchase from Mrs Nisar in school.  We also have a selection of excellent quality second-hand uniform to buy for as little as £2.

Eid-Al-Adha

I am delighted to inform you that we are now closing for 3 days for Eid.  This is a change to the previously published holiday dates.  School will be closed from Wednesday 23^rd – Friday 25^th September inclusive.  These are the only dates during which children should be absent for Eid.  We hope that you will enjoy this special time together. 

 Two Year Old Provision

Building work on our extension for two year olds is due to commence during the October half-term and we are very excited about this development.  As with previous building projects, we will do our utmost to ensure that no disruption is caused to our childrens’ learning.  I will keep you informed of progress on an on-going basis.

This week at Copthorne

Meeting for Year 6 Parents: Secondary School Application Process

Within the next week, Year 6 parents will receive an application pack to apply for their child’s secondary school. The deadline to make a decision for their preferred schools will be 31^st October 2015.  To help you make an informed choice about the best secondary school for your child, we have arranged a meeting for all our Year 6 parents. The meeting will give you the opportunity to learn more about the secondary school application process and about the local secondary schools and how they are performing. In addition , you will be given support on how to complete the secondary school application form. We feel this is a very important decision for your child and it is important for you to attend the meeting which will be held at 9:00am on Tuesday 8^th September 2015 in the school hall. The meeting will last about 40 minutes.

I hope you have a wonderful week.

Mrs Shepherd

Hello everybody and welcome to our blog.  Once again, this is a very busy week at Copthorne as we will be holding our Aspiration week.  Please read the section below to find out what exciting things will be happening in school.

This week at Copthorne

Aspiration Week

This week is Aspiration week in school.  This is a week dedicated to encouraging our children to dream big; think about what they want to achieve in their lives and have the opportunity to shadow a job in school.  We will also have a range of people from different areas of life coming into school for the children to interview and find out about their jobs.  As a part of this, on Monday 29th June, we are inviting children to come to school dressed to represent the profession they would like to work in, in the future.  It would be lovely if you could spend some time with your child discussing their aspirations for the future and the job they’d really like to do.  We are really looking forward to this exciting week ahead.

Year 3 on Ilkey Moor ….

On Tuesday 30th June, Year 3 will be visiting Ilkley as part of their Copthorne Curriculum topic comparing Bradford to Ilkley. Whilst they are in Ilkley the children will be visiting the Cow and Calf rocks which are a famous landmark on Ilkley Moor.  The rocks are named this way because the large rocky outcrop could be said to resemble a cow and the smaller one a calf.  The children will also have a look at the different features of Ilkley Town compared to Bradford town centre as well as comparing rail and road transport as part of their day. I know that the children will have a fantastic day and will learn lots of interesting facts.  Have a splendid day Year 3!

Transition Day

Wednesday 1st July is Transition day for the whole school.   During the morning children will visit their new class for next term and meet their new class teacher and the support staff with whom they will be working.  They will spend the morning  taking  part in activities and tasks to help staff and childen get to know each other.  Year 6 pupils will spend the day at their new upper schools and so will not be expected to come to Copthorne that day. We wish everyone a wonderful and exciting morning.

Year 6 Sleepover

As we near the end of term, I am delighted to announce that we are organising a sleepover for our Year 6 children.  This is in response to requests from children and will also be used to help raise funds towards up-dating our library which children have also requested.  The sleepover will take place on Friday 3^rd July at 7pm in the school hall where the children will watch a film and have pizzas together.  At the end of the evening the girls will sleep upstairs in the library and group room areas and the boys will sleep in the hall.  Both areas have access to their own toilets and washing facilities so, once it is time for bed, the boys and girls will be kept completely separate.  School staff will supervise the children at all times.  Children will need to be collected from school the following morning at 9am prompt.  Children must bring with them their pyjamas/sleeping clothes, a sleeping bag or duvet,  and  a pillow.  We can supply sleeping bags for those who wish to use them – just let us know about this well in advance. This will be a fantastic and exciting experience for our children and I do hope that as many of them as possible take part. 

‘We’re all going on a Summer Holiday.’

On Friday 3rd July, the children in Reception will be travelling to Scarborough as part of their Copthorne Curriculum theme ‘We’re all going on a Summer Holiday’.  Whilst the children are in Scarborough they will be looking at how different the seaside is compared to Bradford. The children will also be building sandcastles as well as rock pooling.  I am sure the children will have a fabulous day at the seaside and I do hope that the sun shines for them.  Have a lovely time!

Playtimes and lunchtimes

In response to a number of requests from both parents and children, we have decided that from today, there will be no football allowed at break or lunchtimes in either playground.  Football will only be allowed on the Muga pitch and there will be a rota to allow each group to access this area.  We believe that our children will be safer and happier being able to play outside without the risk of being hit by a passing football.  In order to support us in this matter, please ensure that your child does not bring footballs or basketballs etc, to school.  Children on the Muga pitch will be provided with a football to play with.  Thank you for your support in this matter.

Dates for your diary

Open Evening for Parents – Thursday 9th July, 3.00-5.00pm

Attendance Assembly – Friday 10th July, 9.00am

School closes for children – Thursday 16th July at 3.00pm

Thank you all for your continued support.  I hope you have a lovely week and I would like to send our best wishes to all of you that are observing the very long fasts.  Our thoughts are with you at this special time.

Mrs Shepherd

Welcome to all our visitors and thank you for looking at our blog.  As usual we have a very busy week in school with lots of exciting events taking place.

School Council Meeting

Last week, two of our School Councillors, along with Mrs Rice, went to Princeville Primary School to meet with other School Council children from schools in the Exceed Alliance.  The children had lunch and were given a tour of the school.  After lunch they shared ideas and discussed ideas for events they could hold together across the Alliance.  Mrs Rice informed me that the children were fantastic ambassadors for our school. 

This week at Copthorne

Linking Schools

As part of our linking schools project, our linking partners from All Saints Primary School will be visiting us on Monday 22nd June to spend the day with 4 Poplar.  The children have already met, as we joined them for two exciting days, one at Cartwright Hall and the other at their school.  During their visit the children will work with their linking schools partners and carry out a range of team building activities.  I am sure the visit will be a great success and I know that the children are very excited about meeting their friends at All Saints Primary once again.

Exceed in sports event

On Monday 22nd June, several of our children will be attending the Exceed in Sports event which will be held at Horsfall Stadium.  The competition will include a number of different sporting activities and children will compete against children from other schools based in our area.  We hope the children will be able to demonstrate the sporting skills and disciplines they have learnt during P.E. lessons.

Bag to School Collection

On Tuesday 23rd June we will be carrying out a collection of unwanted or used clothes, shoes, belts and handbags in order to raise money for the school fund. You should have already received a letter and collection bag from school but please feel free to fill as many additional bags as you can (bin bags can be used).  We would be grateful if you could also ask other members of your family and our community to fill bags for us. Please ensure that only items listed below are included:

Unwanted clothing, soft toys, belts, handbags and shoes.

The bags should be brought into school before 9am on Tuesday 23 June 2015. We value your help in raising funds which will allow us to provide even more stimulating experiences for Copthorne’s children.  Thank you for your continued support.

Copthorne’s Got Talent – The Final!!

On Tuesday 23rd June, we will be holding our annual Copthorne’s Got Talent Final.  The talent this year, as always, has been spectacular and I am extremely proud of all our children who have taken part this year.  If any parents/family members would like to come to watch the event we would be delighted to welcome you into school. If you are attending, please ensure that you arrive in school by 1.50pm.

The winners of the competition will then go on to take part in a grand final against our other LAP schools on Thursday 25th June. I would like to wish all our finalists the very best of luck. Go Copthorne!

Pirate Day – Year 1

On Friday 26^th June, Year 1 are very lucky to be having a visit from a Pirate. We will be carrying out a range of pirate themed activities which will support their learning in class. To celebrate our pirate day children are welcome to come to school dressed as a pirate for the day. This is always a fantastic day for the children and I am looking forward to hearing all about what they have learnt from the Pirate.

I hope you and your families have a blessed Ramadan.  Thank you for all your continued support.

Mrs Shepherd

Welcome to our blog and I hope you have had a lovely weekend.  The weather has finally changed for the better and I hope that you have managed to spend some time in the beautiful sunshine.

 Internet Safety

We take the security of our children on the internet extremely seriously. Therefore it is very important that we work together to ensure your children’s safety. Whilst use of the internet and different forms of technology are second nature to many children, they can often lose sight of the dangers they are facing.  There have recently been allegations circulating that a particular app called ooVoo is being used as a vehicle to groom young people. To sign up for this app there is a minimum age of 13. If you are aware that your children use this app then we recommend that you delete it, as it is not appropriate for children of primary age.  It is important that parents and guardians understand the potential dangers and what can be done to avoid these dangers. We do, of course, talk to the children about internet safety, but it is important that this message is reinforced at home and that you regularly talk to your children about their use of the internet.  Some sites, which you can access at home to find out about the dangers of the internet, are listed below. Some of them have materials on which are suitable to access with your children to help reinforce the messages we deliver at school.

www.thinkuknow.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/13908828

www.kidsmart.org.uk

www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/online-safety

If you have any concerns or queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us here at school.

Year 6 Writing Assessments

As their parents and carers will already be aware of, our Year 6 children are working exceptionally hard in preparation for their final writing assessments which will take place on Thursday this week (18th June). Each and every one of our children have remained so focused on producing their best writing ever and it has been inspiring to see some of the fabulous work they have already produced, demonstrating just how much progress they have made in this area of their work. Keep going! We are immensely proud of you.

PSHE Week

Last week at Copthorne we held our Personal, Social and Health Education Week.  The week proved to be a fantastic experience for both children and staff.  It was lovely to see all the children smiling and enjoying themselves as they came in and out of school from their various activities.  We were also blessed with beautiful weather all week.  All the children took part in a cooking competition, where the children in every class produced a healthy meal and a smoothie.   Mrs Whalley and myself have thoroughly enjoyed the food that was presented to us last week and I think it is going to be very difficult to choose a winner!  I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who contributed to the week in any way and especially Mrs Shah and Mr Darr for making this week such a well organised and thoroughly engaging one.  The children have learnt a lot about how to cooperate with and care for one another as well as how to keep healthy.  We will be holding an assembly today in school to present children with certificates and awards for the poems, posters and meals they produced.

This week at Copthorne

Cricket Education Day

We are pleased to be taking a group of 30 Year 5 and 6 children to a cricket education day at Headingley Cricket Ground.  The trip will take place on Friday 26th June.  The day will involve an assembly hosted by some special guests, a range of cricket-based educational workshops, a tour of the stadium as well as an opportunity to play Kwik Cricket on the Headingley outfield.  As only 20 schools from around the whole of Yorkshire have been invited to this event we feel very fortunate to be taking part in this educational and truly memorable day.  I am sure the children will have a fantastic time and, as usual, be great ambassadors for Copthorne.

Copthorne’s Got Talent: Semi Final

On Friday 19th July, we will hold Copthorne’s Got Talent semi-final.  Everyone in school is very excited and looking forward to seeing who will go through to the finals which will be held on Tuesday 23rd June.  The judges have reported that they have seen some amazing acts this year and we wish all our children taking part in the competition, the very best of luck!

Dates for your diary

Bag to school Collection (Collection of unwanted or used clothes, shoes, belts and handbags ): Tuesday 23rd June 2015

Wishing you a lovely week

Mrs Shepherd

Hello everyone and thank you for your interest in our school  This week is a very exciting and busy week in school as we hold our PHSE week.  We have lots of exciting activities taking place for children and staff.

Last week a small group of us had the pleasure of travelling to Cyprus for our final Comenius project meeting. We had an absolutely fabulous week during which we met all 40 children in the Cypriot school, spent time with them learning about the school system and actually delivered a lesson. The children were lovely, welcoming and keen to learn about school in the UK. They seemed to enjoy our lesson about Goldilocks and the 3 Bears which involved drama and teaching the children a song. We were very sad to leave but look forward to further strengthening our links with the school as our children will become pen-pals with the children there.

PSHE Week

This week at Copthorne we will be holding our Personal, Social and Health Education Week.  This special week aims to further improve our children’s personal and social skills and their understanding of the many different aspects of health through  a wide range of new learning experiences. There will be lots of new, fun and exciting activities for children to take part in such as horse riding, ice-skating, bowling, water-based activities and trips to the park.  There will also be a climbing wall for the children to enjoy and Key Stage 1 will have the opportunity to take part in Go Karting. Our children’s understanding of healthy eating will be furthered through a cooking competition, where the children in every class will have to produce a healthy meal and a smoothie. Year 5 will also be visiting the Positive Life Centre to investigate the health risks associated with drugs. We will also be holding a staff well-being evening. This week promises to be another wonderful experience for both children and staff.

Nursery Open Evening

On Tuesday 9th June we are holding a very important meeting for parents and carers of children who will be joining our nursery in September.  At the meeting parents and carers will have the opportunity to meet the members of the senior leadership team and our Nursery staff and to find out about routines and expectations for their child’s time at Nursery.  It will also be an ideal chance to meet and get to know the parents of the other children who will be attending and to celebrate securing a place in our wonderful Nursery.  The meeting will start at 6pm prompt and light refreshments will be served.  I would like to congratulate all the parents and carers whose child has secured a place at our Nursery.  I look foward to welcoming you all!

Year 2 visit to the National Railway Museum

On Thursday 11th June Year 2 will visiting the National Railway Museum in York.  This visit has been arranged in order to support the work being carried out during their Creative Curriculum lessons centred around travel and transport.  I hope the weather holds for them and I am sure they will have a fantastic time. I look forward to hearing all about their new learning on their return.

Wroot Travis Visit

Forty of our children will be visiting one of our linking schools in North Lincolnshire, Wroot Travis, on Thursday 11th June.  The children have already met the Wroot Travis children when they visited us in February and have been exchanging letters.  I know our friends at Wroot Travis are looking forward to seeing their pen pals again, as are the children at Copthorne and it should be a very enjoyable trip. This linking project is a great opportunity for our children to learn more about life in a rural setting and to compare their experiences with those of the children in a small school.

Maths workshop for parents

The nursery staff will be holding a Maths workshop for parents on Friday 12th June.  The timing for the day is as follows: Morning parents: 8.45am – 10.00am. Afternoon parents: 12 noon – 1.15pm As part of the session, staff will be showing how parents can help children develop their understanding of maths through rhymes and games.  They will also be looking at how to use Maths bags to enhance learning.  We hope as many of you as possible can come and join in the fun.

Wishing you all an enjoyable week.

Mrs Shepherd

Hello everyone and welcome to our blog.  I hope you have all had a fantastic break and are ready to begin the last half term of this school year. The next few weeks are going to be really busy with lots of exciting activities happening.

Cricket Competition

During the last week of term, our Under 9 and Under 11 Cricketers played in a final against other local primary schools.  I am pleased to inform you that the team came second in the competition and were presented with certificates.  Mr Khan said that the team played really well and were a real credit to the school.  Well done everyone!

This week at Copthorne

Comenius Trip to Cyprus       

Today myself, Mr Jacques, Miss Nelson and Miss Bentley will be travelling to Cyprus to meet with our Comenuis friends for the final meeting.  Over the last 18 months staff and children have visited all 9 Countries involved in the project and have learnt an enormous amount about primary education in each country. Most importantly though is the work our children have done around the theme of the project: ‘Once Upon A Time’. Our children have been involved in writing about and sharing a local fary tale about Rombold the Giant, have contributed to a joint fairytale between the 10 countries and have learnt and then retold traditional tales from the other countries in writing, through drama and through song.

This week we will be spending time in the Cypriot school, teaching a class about Goldilocks and the 3 Bears. We are really looking forward to it. We will also be taking part in the school’s end of year/leavers ceremony which we are so honoured to be a part of.

It will be sad to see this project coming to an end as we have all learnt  so much from it and have made such great friends in each country. We hope to become involved in another project very soon.

Year 6 Transition Meetings

This week in school we will have some representatives from local upper schools visiting a number of our Year 6 pupils.  This is an ideal opportunity for the children to ask any questions they may have regarding their transition to upper school and also the staff visiting will be able to reassure children and will explain what to expect in their few days when they arrive at their new school.  These meetings always proved popular and informative and allay any fears our pupils may have.

Year 3 Pedestrian Training

On Tuesday 2nd June, Year 3 will be having a pedestrian training classroom session with members of the Road Safety Team.  The children will be learning about how to cross the road safely and about the dangers of crossing the road between parked cars and busy junctions.  The following week during PHSE week, the road safety team will return and take the children out to the road in front of school where they will be given practical training.  This always proves to be an excellent training session for our children so that they can be safe when crossing the road.

Off to the Wind Farm

Year 3 will be visiting Ovenden Moor Wind Farm on Wednesday 3rd June as part of their science topic ‘forces’.  They are learning about how things can be propelled by air.This will be a fantastic learning experience for the children to see how turbine technology has developed.  Ovenden Moor Wind Farm has been generating electricity since June 1993 and is built on Yorkshire Water land at Hollins Hill near Warley Moor reservoir.  The current turbines at Ovenden have been supplying renewable power for over 18 years and can produce twice as much power with half as many turbines as the original ones.

 Copthorne’s Got Talent – Quarter Finals

The quarter finals of  Copthorne’s Got Talent auditions take place on Thursday 4th June.  All the children have been fantastic and the talent shown has been inspiring.  I am extremely proud of all the children who entered and did not make it through to the next round.  You have all shown great perseverence and have supported others well.  Good luck to the remainder of the finalists and I am looking forward to the semi-finals which will be held later this month.

I hope you have a lovely week and thank you for continued support.

Mrs Shepherd

Hello everyone and I hope you all have had a lovely weekend.  I can’t believe we have nearly reached half term and I would like to thank you all for your continued support.  I hope that you all have a well deserved rest next week and the sun shines for you.

Year 6 SATs

Well done to our Year 6 students for working so hard during last week’s SATs.  The whole school is extremely proud of  you for your extremely positive attitude and 100% commitment. Thank you to all the staff for their hard work leading up to and, as invigilators, during the SATs. We would also like to say a great big thank you to all the parents/carers for ensuring that the children arrived for school in time for Breakfast Club, had a good night’s sleep each night and had 100% attendance during SATs. The whole week was a brilliant team effort. Now we’ll be focusing on writing ready for the final assessments in June. Keep going everyone!

Under 9’s Drax Cricket Competion

Last week, 8 of our Year 3 and Year 4 pupils attended the under 9’s Drax cricket competition at Park Avenue cricket club.  They played against other local primary schools and won all their games to take first place and secure a place in the Drax Bradford finals.  On Thursday 21st May they will attend the finals and play against other teams that qualified in their groups.  It will be a tough competition but we feel our team is ready for the challenge.  Good luck Copthorne!!

This week at Copthorne

KWIK Cricket Competition

On Monday 18th May some of our pupils will have the opportunity to play in the Under 11’s KWIK cricket competition against other pupils from other primary schools in Bradford.  The competition will be held at Great Horton Church Cricket club.  This will be an ideal opportunity for our pupils to put their sporting skills into practice and interact with pupils from other primary schools in our area. We have a strong team who have been well trained and of whom we have high expectations. We are aiming to make it through to the Kwik cricket Bradford finals.

Year 5 Copthorne’s Got Talent Auditions

This week it will be the turn of Year 5 and Year 6 to show the judges what amazing talents they have when they audition for Copthorne’s Got Talent. The judges have told me that in the previous round of auditions the talent was amazing and I am really looking  forward to seeing the range of skills and abilities that our children have.

Important Dates

Spring Bank Holiday: Monday 25th to Monday 1st June inclusive

Teacher Training Day: Monday 1st June: School will be closed for children

Once again I hope you have a fantastic break and I look forward to seeing our children back to school on Tuesday 2nd June at the normal time.

Mrs Shepherd

Welcome everyone and thank you for looking at our blog.  This week is an extremely busy week in school as our Year 6 children take their SATs.  Please see below important information on how to help your children throughout this week.

This week at Copthorne

Key Stage 2 SATs

As you will already be aware, children in Year 6 have to sit very important end of Key Stage 2 tests.  These tests will start today and will run upto and including Thursday. The tests will cover mathematics, reading, spelling, punctuation and grammar. We want all our children to achieve their best and would ask that you support us by:

• Ensuring they attend school every day to take the tests
• Ensuring they get a good night’s sleep before the tests
• Ensuring they have some revision time and relaxation time, it is important to do both
• Ensuring they have had a good breakfast

In order to help we are offering all Year 6 children a free breakfast at Breakfast Club this week. We also ask that all Year 6 children arrive at school for 8.15am from Monday to Thursday of this week. This will allow us to register the children and settle them so that they are calm and happy before the tests begin.

Thank you in anticipation of your support and we would like to take this opportunity to say to each and everyone of our children – YOU CAN DO IT!  All the staff are behind you and willing you to do your very best.  Good luck everyone!
Year 1 Phonics Screening

During the week beginning Monday 15th June, children in Year 1 will undertake a short phonics screening check.  This check is a statutory assessment of your child’s progress in phonics and is designed to ensure that your child receives appropriate support with phonics and reading at school.  Your child will work with their class teacher to read a set of 40 words using their phonics knowledge.  The results of the check will be reported to the Department for Education and results will also be reported to Parents/Carers in your child’s end of year report. 

A meeting was held in school last week about this but unfortunately not all parents were able to attend. We have arranged for an alternative date and hope that you will be able to attend this important meeting on Wednesday 13th May at 3.10pm.  Although your child is not expected to do any additional preparation at home, to support your child with their phonics and reading skills please access Phonics Bug as often as possible and encourage your child to continue to complete the homework.  Thank you for your continued support.

Magic Moments

Working at Copthorne we experience  many ‘magic moments’ with our children. A special moment for me this week was over-hearing a conversation between a Year 2 child and a Nursery Nurse as they walked down the corridor together:

Child: I’m a learner aren’t I?

Nursery Nurse: You are indeed a learner

Child: I’m learning all the time aren’t I? We’re all learning aren’t we?

Nursery Nurse: Definitely. We are all learners here.

How wonderful that our children are so proud to learn and want to celebrate this at every opportunity.

Words of the week

In order to extend our children’s use and understanding of vocabulary I will be posting a Word of the Week for each Key Stage in our blog. Please encourage your children to find out what the word means and then to use it correctly in a number of sentences throughout the week. This will help our children to become more fluent readers and writers. Thank you.

Key Stage 1: Demand

Lower Key Stage 2 (Y3 and 4): Distinctly

Upper Key Stage 2 (Year 5 and 6) : Vulnerable

Have a lovely week everyone and remember Year 6 – You can do it!

Mrs Shepherd

Hello everybody and welcome back to a new term at Copthorne.  I hope you have all had a lovely Easter break and I am looking forward to seeing the children return to school, ready to learn.  This term is an extremely busy one and staff will be working hard with Year 6 and Year 2 children as they prepare for their SAT tests.

Comic Relief Day

Last term we held a fundraising day to raise money for Comic Relief. Comic Relief helps lots of projects worldwide, helping people who are living tough lives in the UK and around the World. We held lots of events in school, such as a bake off, selling red noses and “sponging the teachers”.  I am delighted to tell you that the total amount raised was £448.20. Thank you so much to everybody who supported this fantastic charity, it was a wonderful day and as usual, was supported so well by the school and our entire community.
Saturday Club

Last week saw the end of Saturday Club for this term.  To finish off the club the children had a small party.  Pupils attending the club for the past 9 weeks have had the opportunity to be involved in cooking classes, ICT, archery and youth club.  Mr A Khan has informed me that all the pupils have been a pleasure to teach and have shown real enthusiasm during the activities.  Thank you to all the staff involved in running Saturday club and to the children for being so wonderful.

A new round of Saturday Club will be starting in a couple of weeks’ time so please look out for the notices about this in school.

Rounders Competition

On Monday 23rd March, 10 pupils attended the Exceed rounders competition at Grange Technology College.  The competition included all 7 schools from the Exceed cluster, Copthorne had a very successful day as the pupils won all 6 games to take the title of competition winners.  Well done to the children involved as they put the skills learnt in the after school rounders club into practice in the competition and showed great sportsmanship.  Well done Copthorne!!

This week at Copthorne

Year 2 – Forest Schools

This week Year 2 will be visiting St Ives Woods in Bingley as part of their Copthorne Curriculum theme.  The children will be looking at nocturnal animals and their environment.  The children are really excited and looking forward to this trip.  This visit will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.  I hope you have a lovely time Year 2.

I hope you have a lovely week and once again, thank you for your continued support.

Mrs Shepherd

Hello everyone and I hope you had a lovely extended weekend and spent some wonderful time with your families.

This week at Copthorne

Reception Circle Time

Over the next couple of weeks, our Reception classes will be carrying out a special Circle Time topic.  This is the time where the classes will be reflecting on personal views and opinions and staff will be encouraging children to express their feelings.  The classes will be looking at baby pictures of children and how they look and develop over time.  We would be grateful if parents could bring their child’s baby pictures into school so that we can share this with all the children and reflect on how different children develop.  Please could you bring the pictures to school on Wednesday 6th May. Thank you.
Year 3 trip to Saltaire

On Tuesday 5th and Wednesday 6th May, Year 3 will be going on a trip to Saltaire to learn about the history of Bradford.  The children will be travelling on a train and then spending the day walking around Saltaire identifying the historical and geographical features of the village. This trip is linked to the children’s current Copthorne Curriculum theme: the history and geography of Bradford.  I am sure this will be an enjoyable and learning-filled day out for the children.  Have a lovely time Year 3!

Nursery trip visit to St Leonards Farm

On Thursday 7th and Friday 8th May, Nursery classes will go on their annual visit to St Leonard’s Farm.  This visit has been arranged in order to support the theme of work carried out in Nursery. This is always an enjoyable day for our young children, where they can learn, first-hand, about the range of different animals that they hear so much about in nursery rhymes and stories. I know that our children and staff are really looking forward to it.  I am waiting in anticipation to hear all about their adventures.

Cannon Hall Farm Trip – Reception Classes

As part of their topic “Doing the Animal Bop!”, our Reception classes will be visiting Cannon Hall Farm on Thursday 7th May.  Children will be looking at the different kinds of animals, learning about the noises they make and about how they change as they grow. Each child will also be having an ice-cream! This is always a lovely trip for the children and I know they are very excited about it. I lok forward to seeing the work they do about this visit on their return to school.

Under 9’s DRAX Cricket Competition

We are delighted to be able to offer our children the opportunity to play in the Under 9’s DRAX Cricket competition against pupils from other primary schools in Bradford. The DRAX cricket competition will be held on Thursday 7^th May.  The competition will be held at Great Horton Church Cricket Club and we will travel to and from the venue in the school minibus. We feel this is an opportunity for our pupils to put their sporting skills into practice and interact with pupils from other primary schools in our area.

I hope you have a lovely week.

Mrs Shepherd