Daily Archives: July 9, 2013

Welcome to another busy and exciting week here at Copthorne.

I hope you all had a wonderful time in the sunshine this weekend. I spent a very busy weekend as, amongst other things, we held a party to celebrate the 18th birthday of one of my daughters.  It was wonderful to see all of her friends – most of whom I have known since they were just 11 years old  – having grown into such lovely, well mannered, self assured and happy young adults ready to take every opportunity that the world has to offer them – exactly the things we want for the children at Copthorne.

Exceed’s Got Talent

Last Friday I had the pleasure of attending, along with other Heads from our Alliance, the Exceed’s Got Talent final at the Willowfield Centre.  The judges were members of the dance group Son Aash.  All the competitors made us very proud and it is clear that, between the 7 schools, there are many stars in the making. Congratulations go to all of the competitors but particularly to the winners of each section:

Key Stage 1: St Oswald’s

Lower Key Stage 2: USA representing Copthorne

Upper Key Stage 2: Crossley Hall.

Well done to Sara Salem who came 2nd in the Upper Key Stage 2 competition and Anisah who was commended for her dancing in the Key Stage 1 competition.

It was a wonderful event and I would like to thank Mrs Nadia Hussain for organising it.

Now it’s time to start thinking about and practising for next year’s competition!

Lightwater Valley

Well done to Year 6 for their impeccable behaviour throughout last Monday’s reward trip to Lightwater Valley. We are all very proud of you and pleased that you had such a brilliant time – you really deserved it after all your hard work.

Thanks to all the staff who organised and/or accompanied the trip as it wouldn’t have been possible without you.

What’s happening this week?

Environment Week at Copthorne

This week all the lessons in school will have as their basis the theme: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. The children will be exploring many different ways of protecting the environment so as to ensure a sustainable future. There are many exciting and interesting activities planned for the children during this week including: pond dipping, designing and making natural sculptures, making a picnic with as little packaging or waste as possible, woodland treasure hunting, planting,  and forest school trips.

The week will culminate with Green Day on Friday, 12th July. All children can wear a green item of clothing instead of school uniform to increase awareness of environmental issues.

I know that it’s going to be a great week which will enhance our pupils’ understanding of and shared responsibility for our environment.

Thank you to Miss Kneeshaw for organising all the activities.

Year 4 go to Chester Zoo.

As part of their work investigating the habitats of  large animals, Year 4 will be visiting Chester Zoo on Tuesday 9th July.

I know that the children will have a fabulous time and, as usual be wonderful ambassadors for Copthorne. I am sure that they will see a great many of the animals as the weather is so good at the moment. We are all looking forward to reading about your day on the school blog. Enjoy yourselves!

Hook a Book

A number of our Year 5 children have been taking part in the Hook a Book initiative run by Crossley Hall Primary School. The scheme involves children, identified by their teachers, taking part in reading challenges. In this instance the children had to read 8 different books, chosen by school, over a 6 week period. The books include a variety of genres and are aimed at challenging the children whilst stimulating and encouraging them to read more.

12  of our children have taken part and will all be rewarded for meeting the challenge by spending the day fishing this Wednesday, 10th July at Farview Fisheries, Cottingley. Well done to all of you. I can’t wait to hear all about your adventure!

A special visitor

This Wednesday, 10th July, we will be visited by the Strategic Director of Children’s Services in Bradford, Kath Tunstall. Mrs Tunstall is visiting Copthorne to discuss how things have gone in my first year as Head of School. She will also have the opportunity to meet our wonderful children and have a tour around the school. Mrs Tunstall has not yet seen the new extension so I am sure she will be impressed with our beautiful new facilities. We are all very much looking forward to welcoming her to our school.

Bag to School

We are holding another Bag To School collection this Thursday, 11th July. A collection bag has already been sent home with each child. The bag can be filled with any unwanted clothing, shoes, soft toys, belts, handbags and bedding and brought into school at the start or end of the day up to Thursday morning. Please feel free to use black bin bags if you are able to fill more than 1 bag. Thank you to everyone who has already filled bags this year. The funds raised help to provide even more visits and enrichment activities for the children and the recycling will help to protect our environment. Thank you for your support.

Attendance Celebration Assembly

We will be holding our annual celebration of our children’s attendance this week. The assembly will take place at 9.15 am Thursday, 11th July. Letters will be sent home today inviting the parents and carers of those 79 children achieving 100% attendance to the celebration. I look forward to seeing you there. Well done to those of you who have achieved outstanding attendance this year. We are very proud of you all. Thanks to all our families that work so hard to ensure that the children come to school each day.

Achievement Assembly

This Friday, 12th July, at 9am we will be celebrating our children’s achievements. The Star of the Year Award will be presented to 1 child chosen from each class by their teacher. Our Stars of the Year are those pupils who have been inspirational as regards their positive attitudes to school and learning and through the amount of effort they have made. As each award is presented, the class teachers will explain why they have chosen that child.

In addition we will be presenting our 333, 555 and AAA awards to the children in Year 2 and Year 6 who have gained three level 3s or  5s respectively. The AAA (Attendance, Attitude, Achievement) award is presented to children from each of the Year 2 and Year 6 classes who have attended regularly, shown a very positive attitude in all areas of school life and have made outstanding progress.

This is always a very special assembly and we would love as many parents/carers as possible to attend.

Dates for your diary

Week Commencing 15th July: PSHCE Week (See next week’s blog for further details)

Monday 15th July: Transition morning for children from Reception to Year 5

Pupils’ reports are sent home

Tuesday 16th July: Exceed Alliance Attendance Celebration at St George’s Hall (Letters have been sent to those involved).

3.30-6pm:  Open Evening (See last week’s blog for details)

23rd July: Leavers’ Assembly at 9am and 2.15pm

As you can see, it’s going to be even more busy than usual for the next few weeks. We look forward to celebrating all the hard work of our pupils with you.

I hope that all of you have a very good week ahead.

Mrs Shepherd