Monthly Archives: May 2014

Hello everybody and I hope you had a fantastic weekend.  The weather has been lovely and I hope you have been able to enjoy some of the sunshine.  We have another very busy week at Copthorne and I know that all our children will continue to work really hard.

Year 6 SATs

Well done to our Year 6 students for working so hard during last week’s SATs.  The whole school is extremely proud of  you for your extremely positive attitude and 100% commitment. I know you all enjoyed your special treat of a Pizza Party on Friday afternoon. You definitely deserved it.  Once again Year 6 we are proud of you!

Thank you to all the staff for their hard work leading up to and, as invigilators, during the SATs. We would also like to say a great big thank you to all the parents/carers for ensuring that the children arrived for school in time for Breakfast Club, had a good night’s sleep each night and had 100% attendance during SATs. The whole week was a brilliant team effort.

Fire-fighters’ Charity

Thank you to everyone who brought in their unwanted clothing last week to help raise funds for the school and the Fire fighters’ Charity.  The total amount raised was £59.50 for school funds and £14.87 for the charity.  Once again thank you for your continued support.

Dates for your diary

Friends of Horton Park Competition

The closing date for the Friends of Horton Park logo competition is Friday 23rd May.  The competition is open to all our pupils. Pupils have been asked to produce a simple, clear logo for the Friends of Horton Park.  The logo should be on A4 paper and can be coloured in using coloured pencils, felt tips or wax crayons.  Pupils must put their name and class on the back and be returned by the date shown above.  I am looking forward to seeing our childrens’ creative work.

This week at Copthorne

SAT Tests for Year 2

Year 2 will continue with their SATs on Monday 19th May.  I know they have been working really hard in school in preparing for these important tests and I know that they will do their very best. Once again, I would like to ask parents/carers to make sure that the children have a good night’s sleep and arrive at school in time for breakfast at 8.15am.

KS2 Cricket Competion

Our Year 3 and 4 cricketers will be in action at Horton Church Cricket Club on Tuesday 20th May.  Mr A Khan will be accompanying them and they will be competing against other primary schools in the district.  On Thursday, Years 5 and 6 will also take part in the competition. We wish them lots of Copthorne luck!

Crime Scene Investigation Day!

Year 6 will be turning into detectives this week when they will be asked to solve a crime in school.  A crime scene will be set up in school and children will visit the scene and gather evidence.  They will have forensic training in finger print dusting and taking mug shots.  This event will help the children will their science theme after the Spring Bank half term and also give them inspirations for their future career.  6 Chestnut will be investigating on Tuesday 20th May and 6 Sycamore will have their turn on Thursday 22nd May. Who knows, we may have the future Miss Marple or Sherlock Holmes amongst our Year 6!

On Ilkley Moor Ba’Tat

On Tuesday 20th May, 3 Alder will visit to Ilkley.  Like 3 Larch last week they will be going to Ilkley as part of their creative curriculum work.  They will be comparing and contrasting Bradford and Ilkley.  Last week’s class have been telling me all about the discoveries they made and I am looking forward to hearing about this week’s activities.  Have fun 3 Alder!

City of Sanctuary Celebration

On Tuesday 20th May ten of our children will be going to Horton Grange Primary School to take part in a City of Sanctuary celebration. The event has been organised to highlight refugee week.  The event will demonstrate the plight of refugees and will be a symbolic gesture to reunite our children from Bradford and Jordan together. The children will be given a piece of canvas on which to draw a picture under the heading:What is home?  All the pieces will then be stitched together to create a massive canvas, along with some canvas pieces that have recently been brought back from Jordan that children have also designed. This will be a fantastic learning experience for our children

Exceed Football Tournament

Our football team will play their last game of the league on Wednesday 21st May against Horton Grange Primary School.  I am proud to say that Copthorne have already won the league and wish them well for their final game on this week. The team have done amazingly well all year and every game they take part in they have always given 100%. Go Copthorne!

 Year 4 Assembly

On Thursday 22nd May Year 4 will perform their assembly.  The theme for the assembly will be Egypt. There will be two performances, one at 9.15am and the other at 2.30pm.  We would like to welcome as many parents, carers and their families as possible to either of the performances but ask that you are seated by these times so as not to disrupt the performances.  I am looking forward to seeing all the childrens’ hard work and learning some interesting facts about Egypt.

Copthorne’s Got Talent!!

Our talented pupils will be performing in the semi-finals of Copthorne’s Got Talent on Friday 23rd May.  I am always amazed at the amount of talent we have in school and so proud of the abilities and skills that our children show us each year.  The performances will take place in the hall at 1.15pm for KS1 and 2pm for KS1.

Forest Schools

On Friday 23rd May 4 Poplar will continue with their Forest School Activities.   Next week I will be able to report back on last week’s experiment when the children hid their nests in the trees.  This week they will continue with team building activities with Mrs Robinson.  Have a great time Year 4!

Have a fantastic week everyone and once again good luck to Year 2!

Mrs Shepherd

Hello everyone and thank you for looking at our blog. As usual we have a very busy and important week ahead of us. Over the next couple of weeks we have very important tests for Year 2 and Year 6 and we know the children will, as always, do their very best! Come on Copthorne – You can do it!

Dates for your diary

Year 2 SAT Tests

The Year 2 SATs begin on Monday 19th May.  As mentioned in previous letters, in order to support our children in preparing for these tests, we would ask that parents encourage their children to spend at least 15 minutes on Mathletics every day and to read daily with their children.  I would also ask that timetables are practised for 1o minutes every day.  Thank you for your continued support in this matter. We know that, by working together, we can help our children to do brilliantly.

This week at Copthorne:

Year 6 SATS

Today, Monday 12th May, Year 6 will begin their SATs.  The whole school wishes them the very best of luck and we know they are capable of achieving great things.  They have worked really hard this year and wish them well this week.  Go for It Year 6!

Clothing Collection

You should have already received a collection bag to raise funds for the Fire Fighters’ Charity  on Tuesday 13th May.   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 in advance for supporting both the school  – by helping us to provide extra resources for the childrens’ learning  -and the charity which raises funds for a very worthwhile cause.

On Ilkley Moor Ba’ Tat

On Tuesday 13th May, 3 Larch will be going to Ilkley as part of their creative curriculum work.  They will be comparing how different Bradford is to Ilkley.  The children will be looking at the differences between Ilkley town centre and our city centre as well as exploring the Cow and Calf rocks which they learnt about when studying the traditional tale: Rombold the Giant.  They will also be visiting the riverside to take a look at the River Wharfe.  I am looking forward to hearing all about their discoveries and I am sure they will have a fantastic day.

Things that go ‘hoot’ in the night

We are very excited to welcome some very interesting visitors to school  on Wednesday 14th May.  As part of Year 2’s creative curriculum theme, Nocturnal Animals, the children will be able  to see and, where appropriate, interact with animals such as snakes, skunks, hedgehogs, foxes, crocodiles and an owl.  The children will have the opportunity to engage with the animals and learn facts about them and their habitats.  This promises to be a very educational and wonderful learning experience for staff and children.

Reception Five Star Awards

In Reception classes our children receive stamps for good work in their ‘counting and writing jobs’.When a child has been awarded five lots of five stars (25 stamps in total), they are presented with a prize and a sticker which parents are invited in to see them receice. I have the great pleasure of presenting these awards to a large number of children this Friday, 16th May.  Congratulations to the Reception children who have worked so hard to earn them.  I am looking forward to meeting them and their parents.

Forest Schools – 4 Poplar

On Friday 16th May 4 Poplar will continue with their Forest School activities at St Ives.  This week they will be doing a small experiment by building nests and putting  pine cones in them in place of eggs.  The nests will then be hidden in the trees and the children will check the following week to see if they are still there.  I will keep you informed as to the outcome of this exciting experiment.

I hope you have a lovely week. Go for it Year 6  – we believe in you!

Mrs Shepherd

Welcome everybody. I hope you are all having a lovely extended weekend and enjoying the good weather today.

Exceed Football Tournament

I am delighted to announce that our football team won their match against Crossley Hall Primary School last week with an amazing score of 6-0.  They are currently top of the league and are one step closer to winning the league with just one more game left to play. We are all so proud of you!!

Dates for your diary

Clothing Collection

We are holding a collection of unwanted or used clothes, shoes, belts and handbags in order to raise money for the Fire Fighters Charity and the School Fund. The collection will take place on Tuesday 13th May at 9:00am. This week you will be receiving a collection bag to be filled with the items listed above.  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. We appreciate your help in raising funds which will allow us to provide even more stimulating experiences for our children whilst supporting the Fire Fighters who provide such a valuable service to us all.

Canterbury CarnivalOn Saturday 10th May the Friends of Horton Park will be holding the Canterbury Carnival.  The parade will start at 12.30pm at Canterbury Children’s Centre in Basil Street with an event in Horton Park from 2.30pm.  There will be lots of entertainment on the day with fancy dress, giant puppets, music and bands, a circus and the Canterbury Dance Crew will be joining in the fun.  This will be a fantastic day out and we do hope that the community will go along and join in the fun.

This week at Copthorne

Art in the woods

On Tuesday 6th and Wednesday 7th May, pupils in 1 Ash and 1 Oak will be going to St Ives Woods in Bingley to take part in Forest School activities. During their visit they will make environmental sculptures as part of their Creative Curriculum theme.  Mrs Robinson, our Forest Schools Practitioner, will be leading the classes through their activities and I am sure they will have a fantastic time. We all look forward to seeing the photographs of their sculptures.

Year 4 Forest Schools

4 Poplar will continue with their Forest school activities on Friday. It is wonderful to welcome them back to school each Friday afternoon and hear about all the exciting and interesting activities they have been doing. Well done to Ramesa for her super shelter building last week –  I know who I’d want with me if I was ever stuck out in the wild!

SATs                                      

I just want to say a great big ‘Well done’ to all of our Year 6 children. We know that many of you are feeling worried about SATs but we believe that, as long as you keep calm and remember all the things you have been taught, you will do well. Remember that you are all capable of great things and there really are no limits on what you can achieve as long as you set your mind to it. You have worked really hard and have the power in you to be utterly amazing. Go for it Year 6!

Have another lovely week.

Mrs Shepherd