Monthly Archives: April 2013

Hello everyone. Welcome to another exciting week at Copthorne.

It was great to welcome you all back to school last Monday. It means so much to all the staff in school to see the children arrive with such happy, smiling faces. Many people believe that a smile is contagious and I agree.

One of the many special things about Copthorne is the way that children, staff and parents greet each other every day with a cheerful ‘Good Morning’ and a quick chat about the weekend or the day ahead – it makes each day start really  well.

Attendance

Once again I feel it is important to talk about pupil attendance. It is vital that our children attend school regularly. As I have explained on previous occasions, for every week of school that a child misses he/she can fall behind their classmates by up to a month. In addition, absence can affect a child’s friendship groups as he/she many find it very difficult to slot back into school after a period of absence. Although we are sympathetic to the fact that many members of our community have family living abroad I must remind you that – unless there are extenuating circumstances such as medical reasons –  no absence for a holiday or a visit here or abroad will be authorised. Anyone who does take their child out of school will, potentially, be liable for a Local Authority fine. I am sure that you understand that this policy has the very best interests of our children at its heart and I look forward to your support in this matter.

What’s happening this week?

Year 3 Residential

A group of children from 3 Larch and 3 Alder will be setting off after lunch today for a 2 night residential at the Kingswood Centre in the Peak District. The children will be accompanied by Miss Bradley and Mrs Robinson and are part of a larger group of Year 3 children and staff from our Exceed Alliance schools: Horton Grange, Princeville, Farnham, Lidget Green, Crossley Hall and St Oswald’s. The group will be taking part in a range of activities  including: quad biking, raft building, archery, circus skills, the giant swing and aeroball. It all sounds very exciting and I am sure that all the children will have a wonderful time and, as usual, be great ambassadors for Copthorne.

This residential is a great opportunity for our children to have their first experience of staying away from home in a safe and stimulating environment. It also gives them the chance to develop friendships with other children from their local community. There will be lots of opportunities for team and confidence building during their stay and I am looking forward to our children returning and telling us all about what they have done and  learnt.

We will send regular text messages to parents to let them know that the children have arrived safely and about how they are getting on. This information will also be shown on the notice board outside the Year 3 cloakroom.

I look forward to hearing all about this adventure when the children return to school on Wednesday afternoon.

Film Studio Training

We recently purchased a portable film studio for our pupils. This includes a full size, professional movie camera, lights, microphones and a green screen. This will allow our pupils to produce professional-style films such as  weekly news reports, reports of special events, and dramatic productions to support their work in all subjects but – particularly – in English. It is a great opportunity for pupils to develop their skills in speaking, listening and creativity.

During our staff meeting tonight we will be joined by a number of our pupils who are Digital Leaders. Together we will be trained on how to set up and use the equipment. The Digital Leaders will then support the teachers in teaching all pupils and support staff in the use of the equipment. Look out for our finished films – these will be shown on the TV in our main entrance and, where possible, on the Website.

School Council

On Tuesday 23rd April at 1pm, Copthorne will be hosting another meeting of the School Councillors from the Exceed Alliance Schools. During these meetings all the children from the School Councils are able to discuss and share ideas for their schools. The children also learn about the correct way to run official meetings. So far, these events have proved to be a really positive way for children to develop and take interesting and innovative ideas back to their schools.. We look forward to finding out about the ideas they bring from the meeting.

Egyptian Day

Year 4 have a very special day to look forward to on Wednesday 24th April. It is Egyptian Day. There will be a visitor in school and the children will be taking part in a wide range of workshops and activities. I am sure that there will be lots of blogging about this and I look forward to reading all about the new learning that will have taken place.

Jess the dog comes to visit. 

On Wednesday, 24th April Reception classes will have a very special visitor spending the day with them: Jess, Mrs Bentley’s dog, will be visiting our school. This is part of the children’s work on pets and how to care for them. I know that everyone will make Jess very welcome – we’ll just have to make sure we don’t spoil her too much!

Have a wonderful week everyone.

Remember, you can reply to and post your comments in the ‘Post a Reply’ section at the bottom of this post.

Mrs Shepherd