Category Archives: Headteacher’s Weekly Blog

Hello everyone. We are looking forward to welcoming you back to school tomorrow (Tuesday 3rd June). I hope you have all had a fantastic half term break and are ready for an exciting final half term which will be full of lots of interesting learning and activities.

Comenius ‘Once Upon a Time’ in Rhodes. 

This week myself and 3 other members of staff: Mrs Whalley, Miss Armitstead and Mr A Khan are very fortunate to be joining the other members of the Comenius project on the Greek island of Rhodes.  We are very much looking forward to meeting the representatives from the other 9 countries in the project once again. We now consider them our dear friends. Whilst we are in Rhodes we will be learning about Greek culture and visiting the in primary school that we are partnered with.We will also be sharing the film of our children singing the Romanian folk tale and planning the next piece of work that our children will do as part of our ‘Once Upon a Time’ project. In addition we will plan our  visits to the remaining 5 countries (Romania, Lithuania, Spain, Netherlands and Cyprus) and decide which of these will involve our children. As you will know, the children from Copthorne who recently travelled to Turkey as part of the project, had the most fabulous time and we want to gove other children the opportunity to have such an experience.We are all very excited about the visit and  I look forward to sharing our adventure with you on our return.

Where possible we will add daily updated of our exreiences to this blog.

This week at Copthorne

Nursery Farm Trip

Our morning nursery children will visit St Leonards Farm on Wednesday 4th June and the afternoon children will visit the farm on Friday 6th June.  The children will visit the farm to support the current unit of work being carried out in nursery which is all about the farm, animals and growing.  The children will be able to look at all the different animals and also have a chance to play in the playbarn.  Please note nursery will be closed on both days for the children who are not going on that day’s visit.  I hope the children have a lovely day and that the weather stays dry for them. I look forward to seeing the photos and hearing the children talk about their lovely day.

Fossil and Dinosaur Workshop

On Thursday 5th June, Year 4 will be attending a fossil and dinosaur workshop in school. They will be learning how to to tell the difference between real fossils that are millions of years old and highly convincing replicas.  The children will also take part in an actual ‘dinosaur dig’ and gain lots of knowledge about these majestic prehistoric beast.  I am sure the children will have a very exciting day and I look forward to reading about it on the Year 4 blog.

Headingley Cricket Visit

We are pleased to be taking a group of thirty Year 6 children to a cricket education day at Headingley Cricket Ground in Leeds on Friday 6th June.  The children, along with Mr Darr,  will be involved in a range of cricket-based workshops, a tour of the stadium as well as an opportunity to play Kwik cricket on the Headingley outfield.  The children will also get the chance to design a poster related to the Sri Lanka and India test matches at Headingley this summer.  The winner of the competition will have their poster enlarged and displayed during an international match in June.  This is an amazing opportunity for the children to learn about sportsmanship, team work and perseverence and I know they will have a fantastic day.

Forest Schools

Our Year 4 children will be continuing with their Forest School activities on Friday at St Ives in Bingley.  After speaking with the children they are really excited about the activities and experiments they are taking part in. Well done Year 4!

I would just like to remind you all to take a look at our other sections in the blog and would be grateful for any comments you may have.

I hope you have a lovely week

Mrs Shepherd

Hello everybody and I hope you had a fantastic weekend.  The weather has been lovely and I hope you have been able to enjoy some of the sunshine.  We have another very busy week at Copthorne and I know that all our children will continue to work really hard.

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. I know you all enjoyed your special treat of a Pizza Party on Friday afternoon. You definitely deserved it.  Once again Year 6 we are proud of you!

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.

Fire-fighters’ Charity

Thank you to everyone who brought in their unwanted clothing last week to help raise funds for the school and the Fire fighters’ Charity.  The total amount raised was £59.50 for school funds and £14.87 for the charity.  Once again thank you for your continued support.

Dates for your diary

Friends of Horton Park Competition

The closing date for the Friends of Horton Park logo competition is Friday 23rd May.  The competition is open to all our pupils. Pupils have been asked to produce a simple, clear logo for the Friends of Horton Park.  The logo should be on A4 paper and can be coloured in using coloured pencils, felt tips or wax crayons.  Pupils must put their name and class on the back and be returned by the date shown above.  I am looking forward to seeing our childrens’ creative work.

This week at Copthorne

SAT Tests for Year 2

Year 2 will continue with their SATs on Monday 19th May.  I know they have been working really hard in school in preparing for these important tests and I know that they will do their very best. Once again, I would like to ask parents/carers to make sure that the children have a good night’s sleep and arrive at school in time for breakfast at 8.15am.

KS2 Cricket Competion

Our Year 3 and 4 cricketers will be in action at Horton Church Cricket Club on Tuesday 20th May.  Mr A Khan will be accompanying them and they will be competing against other primary schools in the district.  On Thursday, Years 5 and 6 will also take part in the competition. We wish them lots of Copthorne luck!

Crime Scene Investigation Day!

Year 6 will be turning into detectives this week when they will be asked to solve a crime in school.  A crime scene will be set up in school and children will visit the scene and gather evidence.  They will have forensic training in finger print dusting and taking mug shots.  This event will help the children will their science theme after the Spring Bank half term and also give them inspirations for their future career.  6 Chestnut will be investigating on Tuesday 20th May and 6 Sycamore will have their turn on Thursday 22nd May. Who knows, we may have the future Miss Marple or Sherlock Holmes amongst our Year 6!

On Ilkley Moor Ba’Tat

On Tuesday 20th May, 3 Alder will visit to Ilkley.  Like 3 Larch last week they will be going to Ilkley as part of their creative curriculum work.  They will be comparing and contrasting Bradford and Ilkley.  Last week’s class have been telling me all about the discoveries they made and I am looking forward to hearing about this week’s activities.  Have fun 3 Alder!

City of Sanctuary Celebration

On Tuesday 20th May ten of our children will be going to Horton Grange Primary School to take part in a City of Sanctuary celebration. The event has been organised to highlight refugee week.  The event will demonstrate the plight of refugees and will be a symbolic gesture to reunite our children from Bradford and Jordan together. The children will be given a piece of canvas on which to draw a picture under the heading:What is home?  All the pieces will then be stitched together to create a massive canvas, along with some canvas pieces that have recently been brought back from Jordan that children have also designed. This will be a fantastic learning experience for our children

Exceed Football Tournament

Our football team will play their last game of the league on Wednesday 21st May against Horton Grange Primary School.  I am proud to say that Copthorne have already won the league and wish them well for their final game on this week. The team have done amazingly well all year and every game they take part in they have always given 100%. Go Copthorne!

 Year 4 Assembly

On Thursday 22nd May Year 4 will perform their assembly.  The theme for the assembly will be Egypt. There will be two performances, one at 9.15am and the other at 2.30pm.  We would like to welcome as many parents, carers and their families as possible to either of the performances but ask that you are seated by these times so as not to disrupt the performances.  I am looking forward to seeing all the childrens’ hard work and learning some interesting facts about Egypt.

Copthorne’s Got Talent!!

Our talented pupils will be performing in the semi-finals of Copthorne’s Got Talent on Friday 23rd May.  I am always amazed at the amount of talent we have in school and so proud of the abilities and skills that our children show us each year.  The performances will take place in the hall at 1.15pm for KS1 and 2pm for KS1.

Forest Schools

On Friday 23rd May 4 Poplar will continue with their Forest School Activities.   Next week I will be able to report back on last week’s experiment when the children hid their nests in the trees.  This week they will continue with team building activities with Mrs Robinson.  Have a great time Year 4!

Have a fantastic week everyone and once again good luck to Year 2!

Mrs Shepherd

Hello everyone and thank you for looking at our blog. As usual we have a very busy and important week ahead of us. Over the next couple of weeks we have very important tests for Year 2 and Year 6 and we know the children will, as always, do their very best! Come on Copthorne – You can do it!

Dates for your diary

Year 2 SAT Tests

The Year 2 SATs begin on Monday 19th May.  As mentioned in previous letters, in order to support our children in preparing for these tests, we would ask that parents encourage their children to spend at least 15 minutes on Mathletics every day and to read daily with their children.  I would also ask that timetables are practised for 1o minutes every day.  Thank you for your continued support in this matter. We know that, by working together, we can help our children to do brilliantly.

This week at Copthorne:

Year 6 SATS

Today, Monday 12th May, Year 6 will begin their SATs.  The whole school wishes them the very best of luck and we know they are capable of achieving great things.  They have worked really hard this year and wish them well this week.  Go for It Year 6!

Clothing Collection

You should have already received a collection bag to raise funds for the Fire Fighters’ Charity  on Tuesday 13th May.   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. Thank you in advance for supporting both the school  – by helping us to provide extra resources for the childrens’ learning  -and the charity which raises funds for a very worthwhile cause.

On Ilkley Moor Ba’ Tat

On Tuesday 13th May, 3 Larch will be going to Ilkley as part of their creative curriculum work.  They will be comparing how different Bradford is to Ilkley.  The children will be looking at the differences between Ilkley town centre and our city centre as well as exploring the Cow and Calf rocks which they learnt about when studying the traditional tale: Rombold the Giant.  They will also be visiting the riverside to take a look at the River Wharfe.  I am looking forward to hearing all about their discoveries and I am sure they will have a fantastic day.

Things that go ‘hoot’ in the night

We are very excited to welcome some very interesting visitors to school  on Wednesday 14th May.  As part of Year 2’s creative curriculum theme, Nocturnal Animals, the children will be able  to see and, where appropriate, interact with animals such as snakes, skunks, hedgehogs, foxes, crocodiles and an owl.  The children will have the opportunity to engage with the animals and learn facts about them and their habitats.  This promises to be a very educational and wonderful learning experience for staff and children.

Reception Five Star Awards

In Reception classes our children receive stamps for good work in their ‘counting and writing jobs’.When a child has been awarded five lots of five stars (25 stamps in total), they are presented with a prize and a sticker which parents are invited in to see them receice. I have the great pleasure of presenting these awards to a large number of children this Friday, 16th May.  Congratulations to the Reception children who have worked so hard to earn them.  I am looking forward to meeting them and their parents.

Forest Schools – 4 Poplar

On Friday 16th May 4 Poplar will continue with their Forest School activities at St Ives.  This week they will be doing a small experiment by building nests and putting  pine cones in them in place of eggs.  The nests will then be hidden in the trees and the children will check the following week to see if they are still there.  I will keep you informed as to the outcome of this exciting experiment.

I hope you have a lovely week. Go for it Year 6  – we believe in you!

Mrs Shepherd

Welcome everybody. I hope you are all having a lovely extended weekend and enjoying the good weather today.

Exceed Football Tournament

I am delighted to announce that our football team won their match against Crossley Hall Primary School last week with an amazing score of 6-0.  They are currently top of the league and are one step closer to winning the league with just one more game left to play. We are all so proud of you!!

Dates for your diary

Clothing Collection

We are holding a collection of unwanted or used clothes, shoes, belts and handbags in order to raise money for the Fire Fighters Charity and the School Fund. The collection will take place on Tuesday 13th May at 9:00am. This week you will be receiving a collection bag to be filled with the items listed above.  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. We appreciate your help in raising funds which will allow us to provide even more stimulating experiences for our children whilst supporting the Fire Fighters who provide such a valuable service to us all.

Canterbury CarnivalOn Saturday 10th May the Friends of Horton Park will be holding the Canterbury Carnival.  The parade will start at 12.30pm at Canterbury Children’s Centre in Basil Street with an event in Horton Park from 2.30pm.  There will be lots of entertainment on the day with fancy dress, giant puppets, music and bands, a circus and the Canterbury Dance Crew will be joining in the fun.  This will be a fantastic day out and we do hope that the community will go along and join in the fun.

This week at Copthorne

Art in the woods

On Tuesday 6th and Wednesday 7th May, pupils in 1 Ash and 1 Oak will be going to St Ives Woods in Bingley to take part in Forest School activities. During their visit they will make environmental sculptures as part of their Creative Curriculum theme.  Mrs Robinson, our Forest Schools Practitioner, will be leading the classes through their activities and I am sure they will have a fantastic time. We all look forward to seeing the photographs of their sculptures.

Year 4 Forest Schools

4 Poplar will continue with their Forest school activities on Friday. It is wonderful to welcome them back to school each Friday afternoon and hear about all the exciting and interesting activities they have been doing. Well done to Ramesa for her super shelter building last week –  I know who I’d want with me if I was ever stuck out in the wild!

SATs                                      

I just want to say a great big ‘Well done’ to all of our Year 6 children. We know that many of you are feeling worried about SATs but we believe that, as long as you keep calm and remember all the things you have been taught, you will do well. Remember that you are all capable of great things and there really are no limits on what you can achieve as long as you set your mind to it. You have worked really hard and have the power in you to be utterly amazing. Go for it Year 6!

Have another lovely week.

Mrs Shepherd

Welcome back, everyone. I hope you have all had a lovely, restful holiday.  I am looking forward to seeing all the children refreshed and ready to begin a new term. It is going to be a very busy one with lots of fantastic learning experiences to look forward to.

    Year 6 and Year 2  SATs

As you will be aware, the Year 6 and Year 2 SATs tests will take place in the next few weeks. In order to support our children in preparing for these tests, we ask that all parents and carers ensure that the children are working on the activities that their teachers have sent home recently.  We thank you for your support in this matter and are sure that these activities will help your child to achieve what they are truly capable of.

Thank you to all the Year 6 parents and carers for sending their children to the extra tuition lessons during the holidays.  This proved to be a very successful few days and I know that the children, along with myself, thoroughly enjoyed the lessons.  Once again thank you for your continued support.

This week at Copthorne

Reception Trip to Pets At HomeThis week our Reception classes have an exciting treat to look forward to. The children will be visiting ‘Pets at Home’ on Forster Square Retail Park in Bradford.  The trip is part of their topic for this half term: “Pets and Parks”.  I am sure the children will have a fantastic time there and I look forward to hearing all about it from them. 1 R’s visit will take place on Tuesday 29th April and on Wednesday 30th April it will be the turn of 2R. Have a wonderful time everyone.

 Exceed Football Tournament

Our Year 5 and 6 football team will travel to Grange Technology College with Mr A Khan on Wednesday 30th April to compete against other schools in the Exceed partnership.  We wish them the very best of luck and as always, we are very proud of them for getting to this very exciting stage of the competition. I am sure that our children will be excellent ambassadors for Copthorne.

Interfaith Explorers           

We are delighted to be hosting a presentation by Interfaith Explorers this Wednesday, 30th April. The presentation will take place from 3.15 to 4.15 and staff representatives from up to 20 local schools will be attending.

Interfaith Explorers is a free online primary educational learning resource supported by UNESCO and designed to add value to RE and PSHE lessons by helping pupils respect religious and cultural diversity.  It can be used as part of planned National Curriculum work, or in response to a particular social or cultural issue that emerges in the public realm. At Copthorne we know that one of our most important roles as educators is to develop our children’s social, moral, cultural and spiritual understanding and, therefore, we are looking forward to hearing about how Interfaith Explorers will support the work that we are doing.

Forest Schools

On Friday 2nd May, 4 Poplar will continue with their Forest School activities at St Ives in Bingley.  Now that the weather is getting a little warmer the children will be able to experience different activities compared to those that are carried out in the Winter. I’m sure that the group will, as usual, have an amazing time learning about the outdoor environment and how we should care for it. 

I hope you all have a lovely week.

Mrs Shepherd

Hello everybody and welcome to a busy week at Copthorne. Our boys and girls continue to work really hard and we are extremely proud of their positive attitude. I am sure that you are looking forward to the Easter holidays during which the children will be able to have a well-earned rest and, hopefully, enjoy the sunshine.  School will close on Friday 11th April at 3pm and re-open at the usual time on Monday 28th April.

Chick Update

I am delighted to tell you that the eggs we had delivered last Monday have now hatched! We now have 9 chickens in school that we are looking after.  The children have been really excited about our visitors and have been watching the chicks in the brooder box as they eat and sleep.  We will keep the chicks until next Wednesday and then they will be taken to a small holding where they will live a lovely free-range life. We will be kept regularly updated on their progress.

Football Tournament Success

I am pleased to announce that our fantastic football team have gained a place in the Exceed cup final against Horton Grange Primary School.  They were victorious against Farnham – beating them 1-0 on Wednesday. They will now play against Horton Grange on Wednesday 25th June.  Congratulations to the team for playing superbly – the school is so proud of you all.

This week at Copthorne

Copthorne’s Got Talent

On Wednesday and Thursday the second round of  Copthorne’s Got Talent will be held.   Three acts from each year group will perform for the judges to gain a place in the semi-final.  I would like to thank all the pupils that have taken part in the competition and to the staff that have given up their lunch times to help organise the competition.

Schools Prom

On Thursday 10th April, 16 of our Key Stage 2 children will be representing Copthorne at an annual school prom to be held at St George’s Hall in Bradford.  Along with children from other primary schools in the district our children will be rehearsing throughout the day at the venue and then performing in the evening to  a large audience which includes school staff, family and friends.  The children have spent a lot of time rehearsing for this performance and they are a delight to listen to.  I hope that as many of their family and friends will be able to support them and watch this wonderful performance. I am certainly looking forward to it.If you would like more information on how to purchase tickets for the prom please contact St Georges Hall on 01274 432000.

Year 2 Easter Assembly

On Thursday 10th April, Year 2 will perform their Easter assembly.  There will be two performances, one at 9.15am and the other at 2.15pm.  We would like to welcome as many parents, carers and their families as possible to either of the performances but ask that you are seated by these times so as not to disrupt the performances.  I am looking forward to seeing the culmination of our Year 2 childrens’ hard work.

Egg Decorating Competition

This week we are holding an egg decorating competition in school.  The competition costs 50p to enter and entries need to be in school by 8.40am on Friday 11th April.  There will be a prize for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in each year group and the winners will be announced before we break up  for the holidays on Friday afternoon. Each entry needs to be as creative as possible. In past years we have had some amazing entries. and I’m sure that this year will be no exception.  Happy decorating!

Forest Schools

The remaining half of the pupils from 4 Poplar will begin Forest Schools activities on Friday.  I know that the children will have a great time learning about the outdoor environment and how we should care for it.  Have a wonderful time everyone!

I hope you have a wonderful time with your families over the Easter period and I look forward to seeing the children back at school on the 28th April at the usual opening time. Year 6 -Remenber to keep working on Mathletics and practising the other activities your teachers have given you as well as getting some rest.

Mrs Shepherd

Hello everybody and I hope you have had a lovely weekend.  I hope all the mums had a happy Mother’s day and that you were spoilt by your wonderful children. You all deserve it!

Linking Schools Project

Last week 4 Poplar welcomed pupils from All Saints Primary School in Ilkley as part of their Linking Schools project.  The children spent the day at Copthorne meeting their partners to whom they have already been writing.  The children had an “indoor picnic” in school and spent time doing team building activites.  It was a delight to welcome them to Copthorne.

Fruit and Milk 

Just a reminder to let you know that milk and fruit money is now due for next term.  If your child is in Year 1 or 2 and they would like to have milk, the amount for next term is £10.  If your child is in Year 3, 4, 5 or 6 and they would like to have fruit, the amount for next term is £8.  Please send all money in an envelope with your child’s name, class and fruit money clearly labelled no later than Friday 4th April 2014.

Multi Sports

Last Monday some of our KS1 children went to Grange Technology College with Mr H Khan to take part in a multi-sports tournament.  They met children from the other Exceed schools and took part in activities involving jumping, running, catching and balancing. They had an amazing time and were a credit to our school.

This week at Copthorne:

Delivery of Chicks

We are very excited, today, to welcome the annual arrival of a set of fertilised eggs which we hope will hatch into chicks.  This is an exciting time in school as we watch the chicks prepare to hatch.  When the chicks have hatched they are moved to a brooder box where children can watch the chicks as they eat and sleep. This year, the eggs will be incubated in Nursery and we know that this will be a great opportunity for our children to learn about living things.

Rounders Tournament

The rounders team will take part in an Exceed rounders tournament today. Along with Mr A Khan they will travel to Grange Technology College and I am sure they will do their very best to do our school proud – Good luck to them all!

Year 4 – Eden Camp Trip

On Wednesday 2nd April, Year 4 will be going to Eden Camp near  Malton in North Yorkshire.  The visit has been arranged in order to support the work currently being carried out in the classroom on World War 2.  Eden Camp is a Modern History Themed Museum housed within the grounds of an original World War Two prisoner of war camp.  It was developed into a museum by local businessman Stan Johnson to stand as a tribute to all people, civilian and military, who endured hardship throughout World War Two.  The children will be able to experience the sights, sounds, smells of wartime Britain. This is always a very popular trip with Year 4 and I am sure the children will learn lots of interesting facts to extend the learning they have been doing in class.  Have a lovely day, everyone!

Exceed Football Competition

Copthorne’s football team will take part in the Exceed’s semi-final cup game against Farnham Primary School on Wednesday at Grange Technology College.  They have done so well to get to the semi-finals.  Go Copthorne!

Year 6 – Copthorne’s Got Talent Auditions

On Wednesday we will hold the Year 6 Copthorne’s Got Talent Auditions.  Unfortunately this had to be postponed last week but we are looking forward, this week, to seeing what great talent our year 6 children have.  The judges have described level of talent that they have already seen in the school as amazing and now cannot wait to see the Year 6 acts.

School Council Meeting

On Thursday 3rd April, it will be the turn of Copthorne’s School Council members to host members from other Exceed schools.  The children will have lunch and then a tour around school.  After lunch they will meet and share ideas and discuss projects that have already taken place.  As well as the the Exceed School Council members, a group of children from Stanbury Primary School in Haworth will also visit be visiting Copthorne to have a look at our wonderful school.  We look forward to welcoming them all.

I hope you all have a super week.

Mrs Shepherd

Welcome to our blog and a very special welcome home to the 8 members of the Copthorne family who have returned from their exciting adventure in Turkey.

The group comprised 4 of our Year 5 children: Uzayr, Isa, Miranda and Ayesha and 4 members of staff: Miss Wood, Mrs Rice, Mr LLoyd and Mr Jacques. The group had an absolutely wonderful time and experienced a great deal of Istanbul’s culture and famous sites. The children stayed with Turkish families and were looked after beautifully. As usual they were a credit to Copthorne.

We would like thank our Turkish hosts for their friendship, care and great hospitality. We look forward to seeing the entire Comenius group again during the next meeting which takes place in Rhodes this June.

This week at Copthorne

Reception classes go shopping!

This week, our Reception children will be visiting our local Asda store to look at the range of food for sale and to learn about how we buy and pay for our shopping. I am sure they will learn a lot about the types of goods a supermarket sells and enjoy their shopping experience.

Governors visit our school

Once again we are thrilled to welcome members of our Governing Body as they come in to school on Wednesday 26th March to spend time in Key Stage 2. Governors will be spending time in lessons talking to and reading with children as well as answering any questions the children have about the governing body. After the meeting, Mrs Hussain – the Chair of Governors – will meet with Mrs Gamble (our Science Coordinator)  to hear about the current picture as regards Science in our school. We are really looking forward to giving the governors even more opportunities to be activiely involved in our school.

Strike Action

On Wednesday 26th March some members of the NUT (National Union of Teachers) will be taking industrial action. Although the majority of the school will remain open, we have had to ask some classes to stay at home as we will have insufficient staff to teach them or to ensure their health and safety. The classes affected are: Nursery (both morning and afternoon), 1R, 1Oak, 2Elm and 5 Willow. Therefore, children from these classes should not attend school on Wednesday 26th. Children from all other classes must attend as usual. We apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause.

We wish you all a pleasant week ahead.

Mrs Shepherd

Hello and welcome to our blog.  I hope you have had a lovely weekend and that you are all enjoying the beautiful sunshine.

This week is another full one for Copthorne with lots of interesting activities planned to help our children make great progress in their learning.

Super Archers

Last week our archery team went to the Khidmet Centre to compete in an Exceed Archery Competition.  I am delighted to inform you that they were the overall winners of the competition by a clear margin and have been presented with the winners’ shield for the fifth year in a row.  Two members of our team were each also awarded a trophy for the highest and second highest scores in the competition. Congratulations to the member of the Crossley Hall team for coming third.  Well done to all our archers: we are very proud of you!

This week at Copthorne

Environment Week

This week we are holding our ‘Environment Week’.  The theme this year is ‘Reusable Energy’.  There will be a lot of geography-based activities happening from Nursery to Year 6. These include;

• experiencing lessons without electricity or paper,
• Bottle Drive: a prize for the class who can recycle the most plastic bottles,
• visit to a wind turbine
• visit to recycling area at a supermarket
• forest schools

To raise awareness of our theme, on Friday 21st March, children can wear green clothes to school instead of uniform. In exchange, we ask each child to donate £1 to raise money to encourage sustainability through the planting of fruit trees in our school grounds. I would just like to thank you in advance for your support throughout this week.  I know you will support our children’s understanding of reusable energy at home by talking to them about what it means and what it looks like in our community.

Turkey Visit

I know that, today, there will be 4 of our children and 4 members of staff who will be very excited about their visit to Istanbul in Turkey. They depart from Manchester airport this morning and will return home on Saturday. The visit forms part of our Comenius project. The children will be staying with Turkish families for a true taste of Turkish culture.  During the visit the staff and children will be meeting representatives from the other 9 countries in the project, visiting some Turkish primary schools to share ideas and plan the visits to the remaining 5 countries (Romania, Lithuania, Spain, Greece and the Netherlands) and visiting a range of famous and iconic landmarks in Istanbul.  The children will also be spending a day in school with their partner children from the host families. This is a wonderful opportunity for everybody involved and I know that they are really looking forward to the trip.  We wish our staff and pupils a safe and enjoyable journey and look forward to hearing all about their adventure on their return.

Forest Schools

Today, 3 Alder will be visting St Ives in Bingley with Mrs Robinson as part of Environment week.  They will be participating in activities in relation to ‘Reusable Energy’. The children will be looking at how plants use energy and how animals can help the environment. On Tuesday 18th March it will be 3 Larch’s turn. These visits also support children’s science learning as they are able to apply existing knowledge in a real- life context.

Copthorne’s Got Talent

On Tuesday 18th March, it will be the turn of Year 4 to show the judges what amazing talents they have.  The children are very excited about this popular event and I know the judges are looking forward to seeing what talented artists we have in school.  On Thursday this week Year 3 will get their turn to impress the judges.

Recycling

As part of our Environment Week, Year 2 will be making a trip to the recycling centre at Morrisons on Friday 21st March.  They will be collecting the plastic bottles from each class from the bottle drive and will recyle them on behalf of the school.  A wide range of products can be made from recycled plastic, including new plastic bottles, garden furniture, water butts, compost bins and fleece jackets/jumpers.  In fact it only takes 25 two litre plastic bottles to make an adult sized fleece! So, carry on recycling everyone and protect our planet!

Have a great week, everyone.

Mrs Shepherd

Welcome to our blog and I hope you’ve all had a lovely weekend. It was great to see the sun shining and to have no rain. Let’s hope that carries on!

I would like to say a big thank you to our wonderful parents, carers and staff for making World Book Day, last Thursday, a tremendous success.  It was wonderful to see so many children and staff members taking part and dressing up as their favourite book character.  The children learnt lots about different books and authors. There are also a number of reading activites planned for next week.

I am delighted to share some really lovely news this week: one of our Year 5 pupils, Mohammed Malavia, and his sister found some money in the playground  and then they handed it in to the school office.  The money was eventually claimed and the owner was so happy that he left them both a reward.  I am so proud of Mohammed and his sister and this is a wonderful example of how honest and caring our pupils are.  Well done!!

The Year 5 boys enjoyed their first week of swimming last week and were very excited when they returned.  I am sure over the next few weeks they will grow more confident and enjoy the experience even more.

This week at Copthorne:

Copthorne’s Got Talent

This week we begin the first round of auditions for Copthorne’s Got Talent.  It will be the turn of Year 1 and Year 2 this week to show the judges what amazing talents they have.  This is a very popular event and I look forward to seeing the range of skills and abilities that our children have.

Thwaite Mill Museum

On Tuesday 11th March, Year 6 will be visiting the Thwaite Mill Museum in Leeds.  The visit is in association with Environment Week which will be held in school from Monday 17th March.  During the visit the children will take part in a water force workshop.  They will then be sharing their experiences with our Reception children during the following week.  This trip should be a very informative and enjoyable one for our children and I am looking forward to hearing all about the workshop on their return.

Ilkley Toy Museum

Year 1 will be visiting Ilkley Toy Musuem on Wednesday 12th March as part of their Creative Curriculum work this term on toys.  The museum has lots of interesting toys dating from 350 BCE to modern times. Classes that have visited the museum previously have had a wonderful time which was apparent from the work they produced. I am looking forward to seeing the outcomes of this year’s visit.

Mini-Olympics

As part of their work this term on staying healthy, Reception children will be holding a mini-olympics on Wednesday afternoon.  They will be using a range of skills that they have been learning about such as staying in one space, travelling in different directions and lots of other activities.  I am really looking forward to watching the children and I am sure they will enjoy the challenges and have lots of fun as well as keeping fit!

Forest Schools

4 Poplar will carry on with their Forest Schools activities on Friday.  We are hoping the weather will now stay the way it has been this weekend and that the children will enjoy the fresh air over at St Ives.

Last week’s group had a fantastic time learning about shelter building in spite of the weather.

 I hope you all have a super week.

 Mrs Shepherd