Monthly Archives: June 2013

Hello to the whole of the Copthorne community and visitors. Welcome to another week at our busy school.

School Council

Last week Mr Jacques and I had the pleasure of meeting with Unais and Sobia – the Chair and Vice Chair of our school council. We enjoyed listening to all the ideas and issues you have passed on to them. We were thrilled to hear how positively you all feel about Copthorne, howproud you are of the school and about the interesting ideas you have for the future. As you will know we have given the school council a budget to spend on school improvement and it was clear from our meeting that you will make great use of this money. Keep the ideas coming.

Football Stars

Last week our Year 5 and 6 footballers took part in the final of the Exceed football tournament. Our team played exceptionally well, demonstrating real sportsmanship and teamwork whilst praising, encouraging their rivals. I am delighted to tell you that our team came second. Well done everyone and congratulations to the winning team from Farnham.

Copthorne’s Got Talent

Last week saw the finals for the individual Key Stages. There was a great range of talent from a mix of solo and group acts which included; singing, dancing, comedy and even hula hooping. The level of talent was very impressive as was the way the audience supported each of the competitors. It takes a great deal of courage to stand at the front of a hall packed with several hundred children and staff and give a good performance. We are very proud of everyone who took part. The acts through to the whole school final are:

USA: Song and dance group

Anisah: dancing

Desi Dolls: dance group

Sara Salem: dancing

Fast 5: rap group

Sara Sami: dancing

Congratulations and good luck to all of you. We are looking forward to the finals at 2pm this Friday (28th June). I hope that as many parents, family members and friends as possible will be able to come along and see the show.

Year 1 Phonics Screening Test

Last week our Year 1 children took part in the phonics screening test. During the test the children are shown a number of words – both real and nonsense ones. The words test pupils’ ability to blend letters and strings of letters together correctly which is one of the most important skills needed in learning to read. All of the children worked very hard and we are very proud of how well they have done. Thank you to Mrs Scott and Miss Richards for ensuring that the tests ran so smoothly.

This week at Copthorne

Feversham work experience

This week we are joined by a group of young ladies from Feversham College. The girls are completing Year 11 and will be carrying out their work experience with us as extra classroom and office support staff. Several of the girls are ex pupils of ours so it’s great to see them back into our school. Welcome to all of you and we hope you have an enjoyable and useful time with us. 

Reception classes to Lister Park

Both or Reception classes will be visiting Lister Park this week as part of their Creative Curriculum work on planting and growing. I hope that they have an enjoyable and informative visit as they continue to learn about how to protect our environment for the future.

Linking Schools Visit

This Wednesday, 26th June, 4 Poplar will be spending the day with their Link School – All Saints, Ilkley. The children will be meeting up with their link partners from All Saints and carrying out a range of activities to strengthen the bond between the two schools. I wish them an enjoyable visit and know that they will be great ambassadors for Copthorne.

Year 5 Transition

There is an important meeting for parents/carers of all pupils in Year 5 at 9am on Thursday 27th June, in the school hall. The meeting will be run by Mr Nick Smith from Barnardos to provide parents with vital information about transition of pupils from primary to secondary school and will include useful advice on form filling and the choices available to the children and parents. I do hope that as many of our parents as possible will be able to attend and I look forward to seeing you then.

Copthorne’s Got Talent – The Final

As outlined above, this will take place on Friday 28th June at 2pm. Please come along and help to support the great acts.

Dates for your diary

Year 6 Lightwater Valley Trip.

This will take place on Monday July 1st. A letter will be sent home from Miss Bray about this today.

Transition Day

On Wednesday 3rd July all of our Year 6 pupils will spend the day at the secondary schools they will be attending from September. I know that they will have a great time and that the day will help them to meet lots of new friends and to overcome any nervousness they feel.

On the same day we will be holding our own transition event whereby the children at Copthorne will move up to their new classes with their new teachers for the morning. This helps the children to get to know the staff that they will be working with next year, find out about classroom routines and, most importantly, hear about all the wonderful learning experiences that they have to look forward to next year.

Have a great week everybody.

Mrs Shepherd

Welcome to another week at Copthorne. It was lovely to see everyone coming back to school last Tuesday after a well-earned rest. I hope you all enjoyed your holiday and are looking forward to another busy and exciting half term. Hopefully the weather will stay fine for us all.

As some of you will already have seen, we unveiled our beautiful wall art last week. We have worked with a company specialising in designs for schools, QBED, to create two beautiful intallations which we believe truly represent our school and which will inspire and motivate all our pupils, staff and stakeholders. Please feel free to have a look when you are next in school and let me know what you think.

In my job as Head of School I am lucky to be able to see our children both at work and at play very day. Each time I go into a classroom I am proud to see the way the children behave and are so keen to learn and take part in all aspects of the lesson. During playtime and lunchtime last week I saw that same wonderful behaviour and, especially pleasing, children helping each other and encouraging each other in their play. I know our Befrienders do a great job but it was also wonderful to see everyone playing so nicely and being great friends to one another. This is one of the many things that make our school so very special. Keep it up Copthorne!

This week’s events

Special surprise    

Something very special will be happening in our school today which will help our Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 to become even better writers but… IT’S A SURPRISE! I look forward to telling you all about it in next week’s blog, although I  think you’ll be hearing about it from the children when they get home after school today!

Transition Week

This week all of our Year 6 children, along with their peers from the Exceed schools, will be taking part in a range of transition activities. Children will be working alongside their new classmates on a range of team-building, challenge and sporting activities. Mr A Khan is leading the events and will be transporting our children to and from Grange Interlink Centre each day where they will also meet and spend time with members of staff from the secondary schools they will be attending. We wish you all an enjoyable week and hope that you will make lots of new friends and feel confident about moving from Copthorne.

Fire Fighter’s Charity Clothing Collection 

Just a final reminder to bring any unwanted clothes, shoes, belts, handbags and soft toys into school today as we are having a collection on behalf of the Firefighter’s Charity which helps to support serving and retired firefighters and their families when this is needed. I know that this charity was touched by the generosity of your support in the past and hope that you will be able to donate as many bags as possible so that we can help the men and women who protect us and our homes. Thank you for your support in this matter.

Visit from Staincliffe CE Junior School    

At Copthorne we believe that we must always be willing to share our practice with and learn from other schools. This is one of the ways in which we ensure that the school is constantly improving and moving forward.

This afternoon we will be welcoming visitors from a Dewsbury School. I was contacted recently by a member of the senior leadership team from Staincliffe Junior School in Dewsbury. Staff had been looking at our previous OFSTED report and our most recent Key Stage 1 and 2 results and were interested in finding out how we secure such high levels of pupil progress and attainment. Our visitors are particularly interested in the way we teach reading throughout the school. I am looking forward to welcoming Ms Dobson and Mr Thornton to Copthorne and I hope that they have an informative and useful afternoon.

Miss Fuller returns 

Today Miss Fuller -one of our teaching assistants from Foundation Stage  -is returning to work after a year of Maternity Leave. Miss Fuller gave birth to a beautiful baby girl last June. We are so pleased to welcome her back to Copthorne.

We do like to be beside the seaside   

On Tuesday, 11th June, Year 2 are off to the seaside. The children and staff will be travelling to St Anne’s where they will be spending the whole day by the sea. Children will be playing in the sand,  paddling in the sea (under very close supervision and if the weather allows!) and having an ice cream after their packed lunch. This visit supports the Creative Curriculum theme that the children are studying at the moment and I know that it will help to make the sights, sounds, smells and experiences of the seaside to life.

Remember to be outstanding ambassadors for Copthorne and have a great day . I am looking forward to hearing and reading all about it when you get back.

School councillors interview Head of School   

This Tuesday afternoon, 11th June, the Chair and Vice Chair of our School Council will be interviewing me about my vision for Copthorne. We will also be discussing the School Council’s ideas for making Copthorne even better. This is the first time we have arranged a meeting of this sort but I hope that it will become a regular occurrence from now on. Bring on the questions and the ideas!

Horton Park

Our Reception classes will be visiting Horton Park on Wednesday, 12th June, as part of their unit of work: Where We Live. I know that they’ll have a great time exploring the park and learning about all the things there are to do there. The children will also be able to demonstrate all the things they have learnt about Road Safety whilst walking there.

Jorvik    

As part of their Creative Curriculum theme: Vicious Vikings, Year 3 will visit the Jorvik Museum this Thursday, 13th June. The Jorvik is an amazing place and it will definitely help to bring all the learning to life. There will be lots of photos taken and we will ensure that these are posted on our website as soon as possible after the trip. Have a great day everyone and remember: Look after each other.

Thought of the week

‘The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.’ BB King

 Have another wonderful week.

Mrs Shepherd