Hello and welcome to our school blog.  As we near the end of this half term I would like to take the opportunity to thank all our children, families, staff and Governors for their hard work and continued support. I am sure that everyone deserves a well earned holiday next week!

I am delighted to confirm that the total amount of money raised last week for our Red Day  was £545.45.  This money will be split between the British Heart Foundation and the Children’s Heart Foundation.  Once again, thank you so much for your amazing generosity.

Our clothing bag collection last week raised £144.00 for school funds.  Again many thanks for bringing in your unwanted clothing and helping to raise money for our children.

This week at Copthorne

Worth Valley Railway

On the afternoon of Tuesday 18th February, 2 Elm will be visiting the Worth Valley Railway.  The trip has been arranged as part of their Creative Curriculum work centred around the theme: Transport. The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway is a 5-mile-long branch line that served mills and villages in the Worth Valley and is now a heritage railway line in West Yorkshire. The line runs from Keighley to Oxenhope and I know the children will have an amazing time on the steam train, learning about how people travelled and how trains were powered in the past.  2 Holly will be visiting the railway on Wednesday 19th February and I look foward to hearing all about their adventure on their return.

Exceed  Year 5/6 Football Tournament

Our year 5 & 6 football team will be taking part in an Exceed football tournament at Grange Technology College on Wednesday 19th February. They will be competing against other teams in our Local Area Partnership.  We wish the children the very best of luck and I know that they will be a credit to themselves and Copthorne.

Parents’ Evening

Thursday 20th February from 3.15pm is the date and time of parents’ evening for the whole school.  Parents will already have received a letter about this explaining that completed slips should be returned to your child’s class teacher who will then be able to issue appointment times.  This year, Years 5 and 6 will be holding their meetings in the hall.  The rest of the school will hold their meetings in the childrens’ own classrooms.  It is very important that parents/carers meet with teachers to discuss their child’s progress, celebrate their acheievemnts and find out about the best way to support children with their learning at home. The evening is also a great opportunity to have a look at the wonderful work our children have produced. I look foward to seeing as many of you as possible on Thursday evening.

Governors’ Vist to Foundation Stage and Key Stage One

On Thursday morning, we welcome two of our school Governors: Mrs Hussain and Mr Myles, to school.  They will be spending  the morning with Foundation Stage and Key Stage One.  They will be talking to the children and looking at the fantastic work they have been doing. After visiting the children they will be meeting the Maths Coordinator (our Assistant Head: Mr Lloyd) to hear about all the work we are doing to further develop Maths in our school.

Year 3 Assembly – Celts v Romans

On Friday 21st February, Year 3 will be presenting their assembly on Celts v Romans.  The children have been learning all about the Romans as part of their Creative Curriculum topic.   You will have the chance to watch the childrens’ work by attending the assembly on Friday afternoon at 2.30pm.  If you would like to attend, I would ask that you arrive at school at 2.20pm in order that the assembly can start promptly. We would like to welcome as many parents and carers as possible as it is always a pleasure to see how much our children are learning.

Half Term Holiday

School closes for half term on Friday 21st February 2014 at 3pm and re-opens at the usual time on Monday 3rd March 2014.  I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and I look foward to seeing you all back to school and ready to begin a new half term.

Mrs Shepherd

Welcome to this week’s blog. I would like to say a big thank you to all parents, carers, children and staff for taking part in the Children’s Heart Foundation ‘Red Day’.  Everybody looked amazing in their red clothes and the children thoroughly enjoyed their juice and biscuits.  I will let you know at a later date how much we raised for this wonderful charity.  Once again thank you for your generosity and support.

This week at Copthorne

Hockey Competition

On Monday 10th February several members of our Hockey Club from years 3 and 4 will be taking part in a mini-hockey competition.  Mr Khan and Mr Afzal will be taking the children to Grange Technology College.  They will competing against other schools in our Local Area Partnership: Exceed.  We wish them lots of luck and I am sure they will do our school and themselves proud.

Leeds City Museum

Lucky 3 Larch will be visiting Leeds City Museum on Tuesday 11th February.  This is in connection with their Creative Curriculum theme: the Rotten Romans. The children will be finding out what it was like to be a Roman soldier. I am sure this will be a very interesting and informative day for our children and I look forward to hearing all about it.

Internet Safety Day

Tuesday 11th February is Internet Safety Day.  Safer Internet Day in the UK is run by the UK Safer Internet Centre.   The theme for this year is ‘Let’s Create a Better Internet Together’. This theme was identified by the INSAFE network as highly relevant in today’s every changing technologically-capable society.  This year, children are being encouraged to think about how their behaviour and actions can contribute to making the internet a better place. The children are encouraged to celebrate the positive aspects of the internet and think about what more can be done by themselves, adults and the internet industry to continue to make things better.  Our children will be talking about how to stay safe on the internet and how to be good digital citizens. During this week there will be a chance to enter a competition which involves designing a poster or leaflet and the children will be completing questionnaires to help us gather their views on cyber safety. If you would like further information please look on our blog under the heading e Safety.

Money for My School Bag Collection

On Wednesday 12th February we have organised a clothing collection to raise money for school projects.  Families should have already received an envelope containing a letter about this which included a plastic bag for them to fill.  Items that are acceptable are resuable clothes, linen, handbags, hats, belts and paired shoes. Black refuse sacks are also acceptable if you need more bags. Please can you let other family and community members know and return your bags to school by 9:00am on Wednesday. This is a great opportunity to start early ‘spring cleaning’ whilst raising funds for our school.

School Council Meeting

Our School Council members will be visiting Crossley Hall Primary School on Thursday 13th February with Miss Kneeshaw.  They will be meeting other School Council members from Exceed to exchange ideas and to talk about what projects they have been working on in their own schools.  The children will have a tour around Crossley Hall and also have their lunch there. I am sure that they will return with lots of new ideas that we will be able to read about through our blog.

Forest Schools

This week marks the turn of 4 Poplar to take part in Forest Schools at St Ives Woods with Mrs Robinson. Like 4 Beech, I am sure that 4 Poplar’s children will have a wonderful time in the fresh air, developing their investigative and team work skills whilst caring for the environment.

Resident Inspector Training

On Monday and Tuesday this week I will be attending training delivered by a lead OFSTED inspector. The aim of the training is to give school leaders an insight into the school inspection process from the point of view of an inspector. During the two days, we will be developing a deeper understanding of the processes involved in arriving at secure judgements about a school. I am sure that the course will be extremely useful in helping us to evaluate Copthorne even more effectively and accurately.

I hope that, like me, you are looking forward to the week ahead.

Mrs Shepherd

Hello everyone and I hope that you all had a lovely weekend.  I can’t believe that we are now in the month of February, how time flies when you are having fun! last week was another action packed one at Copthorne and this one will be just as exciting and interesting.

Dr Who Workshop

Last Friday several of our children visited the National Media musuem to attend a Dr Who workshop.  Each of the children were accompanied by a parent/carer and Mr A Khan led the visit.  The children had an amazing morning learning about circuits and got involved in lots of fantastic workshops including making their own daleks! When they arrived back to school they were full of enthusiasm and all came away with a small gift.  Many thanks to Mr A Khan and all the parents and carers that attended with their children.

Born in Bradford Study

Last week we hosted representatives from the Born in Bradford study.  The researchers worked with our Reception children to assess their continuing development.  Born in Bradford is one of the biggest and most important medical research studies undertaken in the UK.  The project started in 2007 and aims to answer questions about our health by tracking the lives of 13,500 babies and their families.  This will provide information for studies across the UK and around the world.  By studying children from all cultures and backgrounds as their lives unfold, the Born in Bradford team hopes to find out more about the causes of childhood illness  in order to be able to prevent these in the future

This week at Copthorne

Welcome back Mrs Shah!

Today, we welcome back Mrs Shah who is returning from maternity leave.  It is lovely to have Mrs Shah back at school almost a year after she gave birth to her beautiful son. I am sure everyone will give her a a very big welcome.

6 Chestnut – “Chocolate and Chips”

On Monday 3rd February it is the turn of 6 Chestnut to visit Shibden Hall.  This is part of their creative curriculum theme “Chocolate and Chips”.  During the trip the children will be carrying out a range of workshops all related to life in the Tudor era.  I am sure the children will have a great day and learn lots of interesting facts. I hope that they will tell us a great deal about this on the Year 6 blog.

Well done to 6 Sycamore for their positive attitude and behaviour during their trip to Shibden Hall last week.

IMPS Visit for 6 Sycamore

This Tuesday 4th February, 6 Sycamore will visit Bradford Royal Infirmary as part of the Injury Minimization Programme for Schools.  This is a very popular trip which we arrange for year 6 pupils and it is designed in order to give the children some basic First Aid Training and awareness of how to respond in emergency situations.  6 Chestnut will have their turn on Wednesday 5th February. Once again. I look forward to hearing all about the experience when the children return to school.

Travelling Tuba Workshops

We look forward to welcoming the Travelling Tuba workshop to our school on Wednesday 5th February and Thursday 6th February.  The musicians will be bringing a tuba and other brass instruments into school and showing the children how to make music with these and other instruments.  You will be able to see the children’s’ work by attending a musical performance on Thursday at 2pm in the hall.  It would be wonderful to see as many of you as possible to enjoy the amazing sounds that these instruments make and to see how much our children have learnt over the two days.

Red Day

On Friday 7th February we will holding a “Red Day”. This event is to support the work of the Children’s Heart Foundation which supports the families of children who are receiving intensive care.  This is charity is very close to Copthorne as the daughter of one of our members of staff, Mrs Ljimani, had open heart surgery when she was 6 months old.  Thankfully she made a full recovery but it is thanks to the Children’s Heart Foundation that that the family received the support that was needed at the time.  On Red Day the children and staff can come to school wearing red clothes for a £1 donation.  We will also be selling red juice and biscuits at morning playtime for 50p.  We know that you will support us in ensuring our Red Day is as successful as we hope it will be.

Exceed Drama Club – Aladdin

The Exceed Drama club will be holding their performance of Aladdin on Friday 7th February at 6pm at Grange Technology  College.  I am so pleased that two of our students will be performing in this.  The children have been attending the drama club every Thursday after school along with other children from the Exceed schools.  I am sure the children will be fantastic and a credit to our school.  If you would like to go and watch this wonderful pantomime, there are limited places available.  If you would like to purchase tickets then please contact Nadia Hussain on 01274 570237.

Childline Assembly

Also on Friday 7th February, Childline Schools service will be delivering an assembly in
our school to years 5 and 6.  This is a programme delivered by Childline staff and volunteers for every child in the UK in years 5 and 6.  The assembly aims to give children  an understanding of abuse in all its forms including bullying and an ability to recognise the signs of abuse.  It also gives them knowledge of how to protect themselves from all forms of abuse and an awareness of how to get help and sources of help, including Childline.  One or two weeks after the assembly there will be class-based workshops about keeping safe.  I am sure this will be a very informative and enjoyable event.

I hope you all have an enjoyable week.

Mrs Shepherd