Monthly Archives: November 2013

Welcome to our weekly blog.  I hope you are all managing to keep warm during this very cold snap of weather.

Football Superstars

First of all I would like to say congratulations to our year 5 and 6 footballers who took part in an Exceed Football competition on Wednesday last week.  They won 6-2 against Lidget Green Primary School.  The footballers should be extremely proud of themselves as is the whole school.  our skill, sportsmanship and determination are definitely paying off – as is your new kit. Well done everybody!

Shining Stars

On Friday we presented our Star of the Month Awards.  During our Celebration Assemblies one pupil from each class is rewarded for exceptional learning behaviours and work. Staff working in each class nominate the children they feel have displayed a no excuses, positive attitude. Well done to this month’s award winners.

Holidays in term time

As outlined in a number of previous blogs, I will not be authorising any holidays in term time.

In September the Government’s new regulations on this matter came into force. These state that Head Teachers are not permitted to authorise leave of absence for pupils’ holidays in term time. In spite of these regulations I have recently had a number of parents applying for such leave for their children. Whilst we are sympathetic to the fact that many of our community members have families abroad and that travel is expensive it is vital that we put the education of our children first. The regulations are there because a wealth of educational research has found a direct link between absence from school and poor levels of future progress and attainment. In addition, the new regulations make it clear that those parents/carers taking their children out of school for holidays are highly likely to be issued with a fixed penalty notice of £60 per parent per chid, rising to £120 per parent per child if mot paid within 28 days.

Every school day counts! Pease help to make sure that our children don’t miss out.

This week at Copthorne

The Exceed Alliance

This week, all the Head teachers from the 7 schools in our alliance will meet to review progress against our shared action plan. As well as the children in our 7 schools continuing to learn and play alongside each other, staff continue to work together to address shared school improvement goals.  This enables us to share expertise and learn from each other and, in doing so, continually provide the best possible learning experiences for all of our children.

Year 3 Residential

On Monday 25th November, some of our year 3 pupils will be taking part in a residential until Wednesday 27th. For many of them this will be their first experience of staying away from home for 2 nights without their parents. They will be accompanied by Miss Bradley and Mrs Robinson and they will be joined by other pupils from the Exceed Alliance Group.  The residential will take place at Bewerley Park in North Yorkshire.  The children will be taking parts in lots of activities such as shelter building, visiting Bramham Rocks, canoeing and will be going for a night walk which I am sure will be great fun and very exciting. I hope that the weather stays dry for them and am sure they will have a fantastic time and will be wonderful ambassadors for the school.  his is a wonderful opportunity for our children and I am looking forward to hearing all about their adventures when they return.

Smile Please!

Tempest Photographers will be in school on Thursday, 28th November to take school photographs.  The photographer will take individual portrait-style photos of each child.  If you wish, your children may also be photographed in groups with their brothers, sisters and family members.  If you would like to take advantage of this service, these photos will be taken from 3pm–4.30pm on the day – all you need to do is come along at those times to wait with your children and talk to the photographer about the pictures you would like taken. If you do not wish your child to be photographed then you should have already returned the reply slip on the letter that was sent out with your child last week.

Forest Schools

On Friday, 29th November , Year 4 will continue with their Forest School activities as half the children from 4 Beech visit St Ives Woods with Mrs Robinson and Mrs Shah.  I know that the children are having a great time learning about the outdoor environment and how we should care for it. Keep up the good work everyone!

I hope you all have a lovely week.  Keep warm!!

Mrs Shepherd

Welcome to our blog.  I would like to say a big thank you to all the children and parents for making a really big effort last Friday for Children in Need. You all looked wonderful and I am sure we will have raised lots of money for a very worthwhile charity. I will let you all know about the amount raised as soon as we finish counting it all!

It was also great to see our film-making team moving around the school during lunchtime on Children in Need Day. You all did a wonderful job of interviewing pupils and staff as well as filming to capture the true spirit of the day. I am so looking forward to watching your completed news report.

This week at Copthorne

Inter-faith week

On Tuesday 19th November, as part of Inter-faith week, a group of children will be accompanying Mrs Van Tol to a one-day conference organised by the Diversity and Cohesion Service.  The conference aims to promote good inter-faith relations at all levels, increase awareness of the different faith communities in the UK and increase understanding between people of different religious beliefs. This is something very close to our hearts here at Copthorne as the understanding and celebration of diversity underpin our curriculum.

Our faith assembly this week will be an inter-faith one. 

They’re going on a bear hunt!

Also on Tuesday it will be 1R’s turn to have a trip to the woods.  As art of their current curriculum theme: bears the children will be exploring and trying to find any bears which may be hiding there. I hope the weather stays fine for them and am looking forward to hearing all about their adventure when they return.

Brilliant Bodies at Eureka

On Wednesday 20th November 1 Ash will be visiting Eureka Science Museum in Halifax.  Eureka is a magical place to learn and play and I am sure that, like 1 0ak last week, the children will have an interesting and fun filled day learning more about their current curriculum theme: Brilliant Bodies.

Football Tournament

Also on Wednesday several of our year 5 & 6 pupils will be taking part in a Football Tournament against other schools in our Exceed Alliance.  We wish them well and I am sure they will be fantastic ambassadors for the school.

Protect our teeth

On Friday 22nd November the Fluoride Varnish Dental Team will be visiting school to speak to parents of children in nursery and reception.  Parents will be receiving a letter this week with more information.  This is a special programme for 2-4 year olds which is run every year to help fight tooth decay in young children and involves the children’s teeth being coated with a layer of fluoride varnish. No wonder our children have such beautiful smiles!

Thanks to everyone for another inspiring week at Copthorne. Keep up the great work.

Mrs Shepherd

Welcome back to another half term at Copthorne. Thanks to all our families for making sure that all the children arrived happy and ready to learn last Monday morning. As usual we have a very busy few weeks coming up and have lots of exciting activities planned.

This week at Copthorne

KS1 Football Tournament

On Monday 11th November, several of our KS1 pupils will be going to Grange Technology College along with Mr A Khan to compete in a football tournament against the other 6 schools in our Exceed Alliance.  We wish them every success and I am sure that, as usual, they will be fantastic ambassadors for our school. Wearing their smart new Copthorne kit should inspire them even more to play to the highest standard.

School Improvement Partnership Visit

Also on Monday we welcome Mr Terry McDermott. Mr McDermott helps us to evaluate how effectively we are continuing to improve our school and advise us on our next steps. I am confident that he will feel, as we do, that Copthorne continues to be outstanding.

Meeting Individual Needs

On Monday, Miss Rosindale (our Literacy Coordinator) and I will be delivering a workshop each as part of Bradford College’s Meeting Individual Needs Conference. Miss Rosindale will be working with delegates to show them how we are using Talk for Writing strategies to raise standards of pupils’ writing at Copthorne and I will be exploring strategies for teachers to use in order to meet the needs of More Able learners in the classroom.

At Copthorne we believe that work like this, which supports other teachers and schools and encourages us to learn from each other, is a very important part of the work we do. We are delighted that, for the second time, we have been invited to contribute to the professional development of existing teachers and the teachers of the future.

If you go down to the woods today…

On Tuesday 12th November, the pupils in 2R will be visiting Hirst Wood as part of their topic for this half term: Bears.  We hope that they have a wonderful time with their bears and that the weather stays fine for them. I look forward to hearing all about it on their return. We will post the pictures from the visit on our website as soon as possible.

Eureka Children’s Museum 

On Wednesday 13th November,  1 Oak will be visiting Eureka Science Museum in Halifax.  Eureka is a magical place where children play to learn and I am sure the children (and adults) will have a interesting and fun filled day learning more about their current Curriculum theme: Brilliant Bodies

Children In Need

This Friday, 15th November, is Children In Need Day. At Copthorne we will all be dressing in our pyjamas, onesies and dressing gowns to help raise money for this great cause. If children wish to take part we ask that they bring a donation of at least £1.

Also, the theme of this year’s event is Bare Faced – the idea being that everyone adds a paw print to their face either with face paint or using one of the temporary Pudsey transfers. We will have a limited number of these available for children to buy on the day at a cost of £1 each. There will also be other Pudsey Bear activities going on throughout the day such as colouring competitions and bun sales. Look out for the letter that will be sent home with your children during the week which will give more details.

Come on Copthorne – I know we can make this the best Children In Need Day so far!

Reception Assembly 

On Friday 15th November at 2.15 pm it will be the turn of our Reception classes to deliver their assembly. The theme will be Bears and will reflect some of the work that is being done as part of the current Creative Curriculum theme. Parents and family members are warmly invited to attend and are asked to be at school by 2.10pm in time for a prompt start.

It is always a pleasure to watch our children deliver their assembles and see how, at such a young age, they are being given such rich opportunities to develop and celebrate their speaking, listening and performance skills.

4 Beech to St Ives

Also on Friday, half of 4 Beech will continue their Forest Schools activities at St Ives Woods. It was wonderful to see them all arriving back to school last Friday wearing the woodland crowns that they had made during the day and with such enormous smiles on their faces. I am sure that they will have equally positive learning experiences this week.

I hope you all have a lovely week.

Mrs Shepherd