Monthly Archives: December 2013

Hello everybody and welcome to our final blog for 2013! This week promises to be a very exciting and fun filled week with lots of Christmas activities for staff and children.

 Last week at Copthorne was another great one. Our year 4 pupils welcomed a very exciting visitor to their classrooms.  Matthew –  the Didgeridoo Man – delivered a day long ‘Australia’ workshop to both Year 4 classes.

The children made boomerangs and painted them in the style of traditional aboriginal art. All the children played the didgeridoo, learnt a lot about Austaralia and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  I enjoyed listening to the range of interesting sounds that were coming out of their classrooms!

On Friday, 5 Willow enjoyed their visit to the Colour Museum where they discovered some very interesting facts about light and colour. On the same day, 4 Poplar went to Nell Bank to take part in a School’s Linking Project with All Saints Primary school in Ilkey.  The children met their link partners for the first time and took part in a range of outdoor team building activities with each other. A great experience for everyone involved.

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

This week at Copthorne

Attendance Reviews

As you know at Copthorne we are continually working to ensure that every child has the best learning opportunities.  In order to make the most of these opportunities, it is vital that children attend school regularly.  The national average for primary school attendance is 96% and where a child’s attendance falls below this figure it is likely to adversely affect their education and we would consider this a cause for concern. Consequently, throughout this week, I will be meeting the parents of the children whose attendance is below 90%. Then, immediately after the Christmas holidays, I will be meeting the parents of those children whose attendance is below 95%. The purpose of these meetings is to discuss reasons for absence and to find ways in which we can work together to improve indivudual pupil’s attendance.   Thanks to all of you who ensure that our children attend school regularly.

Magical Monday

Monday 16th December is Magical Monday: staff and children can wear a crown or tiara like one of the 3 kings. 

Year 5 at the Colour Museum

Also on Monday, 16th December it is 5 Cedar’s turn to visit the Colour Museum.  The visit has been arranged in order to support the current Year 5 Creative Curriculum theme. The museum covers the science of light and colour and I am sure that our children will find the day very interesting and informative.

Thackray Medical Museum

The children in Year 2 will be visiting the Thackray Museum on Monday 16th December.  This visit has been arranged in order to support the work the children are doing about Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole. The Thackray Medical Museum is a wonderful place to visit and I know that our children will learn a great deal from this experience.

Tinsel Tuesday

On Tuesday 17th December pupils can wear something sparkly e.g. a piece of tinsel. I am sure that the whole school will be full of sparkle.

Wrapping Paper Wednesday

Wednesday 18th December is Wrapping Paper Wednesday and children can wear a paper hat made from wrapping paper.  Today we will also be enjoying our Christmas meal and are all throughly looking forward to it.  

Football Tournament

A number of our  Year 5 and 6 pupils will be taking part in an Exceed Football competion at Grange Technology College this Wednesday, 18th December. We wish them well and I am sure they will be a credit to themselves and to Copthorne. Go team!

Trimmings Thursday

Thursday 19th December is Trimmings Thursday and we will be decorating ourselves with a Christmas bauble or a tree decoration, please avoid those baubles which may shatter!

Whoops a Daisy Angel

Year 1 will be presenting our Nativity Assembly on Thursday 19th December at 9.15 am and 2.15pm.  This year’s production is Whoops a Daisy Angel and the children have been working hard to make their performance magical. It would be lovely if as many people as possible could attend either or both of these assemblies to support our children and celebrate their hard work. 

Please arrive promptly so that the children are not distracted by too many interruptions.

 Year 5 Swimming

There will be no swimming this week for Year 5 pupils as the pool has closed for the Christmas holidays.

Festive Friday

Friday 20th December will be Festive Friday.  Children can wear party clothes for our Christmas celebrations.  We will also be holding a whole school assembly where staff and children will have our annual Christmas sing-a-long.

 A special visitor

Father Christmas will visit Nursery and Reception children during Thursday and Friday this week so get ready to tell him your Christamas wishes.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all an enjoyable and relaxing holiday and thank you for your continued support in making Copthorne the wonderful place it is. Thank you also for your many Christmas wishes, cards and gifts – once again, we are all overwhelmed by your generosity. 

School will open again at the usual time on Monday 6th January 2014. I look forward to seeing you all then and hearing about what our children did during the holidays.

Mrs Shepherd

Hello everyone and welcome to our blog.  I hope you are all keeping warm now that the weather is getting rather chilly. As usual we have another very busy week at Copthorne.

I can now confirm that the total amount raised for Children in Need was £534.19.  This is absolutely tremendous and on behalf of the charity I would like to thank you all for your generosity.

Thank you to everyone who brought bags to school for the firefighters’ collection.  I will let you know in due course the amount we raised for school funds.

This week at Copthorne

On Monday 9th December our netball team will take part in a netball competition at Grange Technology College.  I am sure they will be great ambassadors for our school and we wish them well.

On Tuesday 10th December, Year 3 will be visiting All Saints Church in Little Horton as part of their current topic ‘light and dark’.  They will be looking at the beautiful stained glass windows in the church and we are very grateful to the Church for welcoming our children.

A special visitor will be working with Year 4 this week.  The visitor will be delivering a day- long workshop to support Year 4’s creative curriculum topic:Australia.  The children will experience a variety of different activities exploring Australia’s indigenous culture.  4 Poplar will have their workshop on 12th December and 4 Beech will have theirs on 13th December.  It should be a very interesting and fun day and I am looking forward to hearing all about it.

On Thursday 12th December our School Council pupils will be going to Princeville Primary to meet with other School Councillors from the other chools from our Exceed Alliance.  They will talk about what they have done in school, share their ideas and have a tour around Princeville. We look forward to hearing all about our pupils’ ideas for the future at Copthorne.

On Friday 13th December Year 5 will be visiting The Colour Museum.  The visit has been arranged in order to support the theme of work carried out in Year 5 Creative Curriculum lessons. The museum covers the science of light and colour and I am sure they will find the day very interesting and informative.

Also on Friday, 4 Poplar will be taking part in a School’s Linking Project.  This involves the children working with another school on joint projects.  The school we are linking with is All Saints Primary in Ilkley.  The children have already exchanged information about each other and now they are going to meet each other for the first time at Nell Bank, where they will undertake a range of outdoor team building activities with their link partners.  I am sure the children will have a wonderful time and make lots of new friends.

Have another great week, everyone.

Mrs Shepherd

Hello everyone and I hope you have all  had a lovely weekend.

School Photographs

It was lovely so see all the children looking so smart and, as usual, behaving so well on Thursday when they had their school photographs taken.  If you would like to purchase the photographs then please bring the pack back to school in the envelope you were provided with. Please remember to include your order and the correct amont of money or a cheque,which should be made payable to the photographer.  The last date by we can receive the orders in school is Friday 6th December.  Please note the school office is unable to give out any change from photograph money.

Year 3 Residential

On Wednesday our year 3 pupils returned from their residential at Bewerley Park.  They all had a fantastic time and I am sure they have told you all about their adventures and the activities they took part in.  I would like to thank Mrs Robinson and Miss Bradley who accompanied them on the trip and I am sure they were grateful for a good night’s sleep on Wednesday night! I would also like to thank the children for being so well behaved and for being wonderful ambassadors for our school.

This week at Copthorne

Protect our teeth

On Tuesday 3rd December the Fluoride Varnish Dental Team will be visiting school again to apply the fluoride varnish to those Nursery and Reception children’s teeth whose parents have already signed up for the programme.  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. This will help our children to keep their beautiful smiles!

Fire Fighters’ Charity Bag Collection 

Also on Tuesday 3rd December we will be carrying out a collection of unwanted or used clothes, soft toys, shoes, belts and handbags in order to raise money for the Fire Fighters Charity and the school fund.  You should have received a collection bag last week, 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.

Governing Body Meeting

This half term’s full Governing Body Meeting will take place at 4.30pm on Tuesday, 3rd December. At Copthorne our Governors are an integral and highly valued part of the school’s leadership team. Together we work to provide the very best learning experiences and outcomes for our pupils. This week, members of the Governing Body will be meeting with Miss Rosindale to receive a report about current standards in and planned actions for English/literacy at Copthorne. I am sure the meeting will be an informative and enjoyable one. This meeting forms part of a regular cycle of reports to the Governing Body by subject leaders in our school.

Year 2 Open Morning

On Wednesday 4th December at 9.00am, Year 2 will be holding a very important parents’ morning.  This is an opportunity for parents of children in Year 2 to observe their child’s lesson in class. Afterwards there will be an informal and friendly discussion which will last approximatley 15 minutes, during which parents/carers will be able to ask any questions about their child’s education.  This is a great opportunity to find out, first hand, more about how the children in Year 2 learn and the methods used to teach them. We look forward to seeing as many year 2 parents as possible.

I hope you all have a lovely week

Mrs Shepherd