Daily Archives: July 13, 2014

 

Hello everyone and welcome to an extremely busy and exciting week at Copthorne.  As we near the end of term we have lots of activities to fit in before we break up.

This week at Copthorne

PSHE Week

This week at Copthorne we will be holding our Personal, Social and Health Education Week.  This special week aims to further improve our children’s personal and social skills and their understanding of the many different aspects of health through  a wide range of new learning experiences. There will be lots of fun and exciting activities for children to take part in such as horse riding, ice-skating, bowling, water-based activities and trips to the park.  There will also be a climbing wall for the children to enjoy and Key Stage 1 will have the opportunity to take part in Go Karting. Our children’s understanding of healthy eating will be furthered through a cooking competition, where the children in every class will have to produce a healthy meal and a smoothie. There will also be a poetry and a poster competition related to health ,which children will carry out in their classes. Year 5 will also be visiting the Positive Life Centre to investigate the health risks associated with drugs.

There are also activities to support staff well-being such as lunch-time head massages! This promises to be an exciting and fun-filled week for both children and staff.

Enterprise Week

Last week was our very exciting Enterprise Week at Copthorne. All our children  worked as class teams to develop a business idea to raise money for School Fund in order to purchase new playground equipment.. The aim of the week was to develop our pupils’ enterprise and maths skills and encourage them to collaborate effectively. The children  developed and trialled their product ideas last week before deciding on a final product which they will sell at their class stall on Thursday 17th July.  During Open Evening that night, between 3pm and 4pm , parents, carers and family members will also have the opportunity to visit the Enterprise stalls for each class. The children have been working hard to set up their own class business and this will be an opportunity to see their ideas and buy their wares so please bring some money with you as we wouldn’t want you to miss out on a bargain and the opportunity to celebrate the children’s hard work!  The children will have the opportunity to visit the stalls from 2.30pm that afternoon so we would be grateful if you could give them a small amount of money so that they can buy some of the products that are on display.

 

Lightwater Valley Trip

On Monday 14th July our wonderful Year 6 children are being rewarded for al their hard work and positive behaviour since joining Copthorne by spending a day at Lightwater Valley theme park. This is a very popular trip and I am sure the children and staff who will be accompanying them will have a fantastic day. I am looking forward to hearing all about it on Tuesday.

“We’re all going to the seaside”

As part of their Seaside theme, Year 2 will be visiting the beach at St Anne’s on Monday 14th July. The children have been studying Grace Darling in class.  Grace,  along with her father, inspired the idea of the RNLI (Royal Navy Lifeboat Institution),  Grace was born in 1815 and lived with her father, the lighthouse keeper, in a lighthouse on the Farne Islands in Northumberland.  Grace became famous for helping her father to rescue the survivors from the SS Forfarshire when the ship was driven by a storm onto Harcar rocks on 7th September 1838.  Whilst at the beach, the children will be able to see the Royal Navy Lifeboat and learn about what fantastic work the men and ladies do to keep us safe at sea.  Have a lovely day Year 2! We hope the weather stays bright and sunny for you.

Achievement and Star of the Year Assembly

On Wednesday 16^th July at 2pm we will be holding our Achievement and Star of the Year Assembly for our children.  This is to celebrate hard work our children put in to achieving our amazing end of Key Stage 1 and 2 test results.  Once again, our children have shown great determination, real focus and a wonderful attitude to learning to achieve wonderful results. I look forward to seeing as many families as possible at this fabulous event.

Attendance Assembly

We will be holding our Attendance Assembly on Thursday 17^th July at 9am.  This is a wonderful assembly to celebrate all our children who have achieved excellent attendance throughout the year and to thank their families.  We would like you to come and join us in this celebration as you have made it possible for your child to achieve these awards.  If for any reason you cannot join us then can I take this opportunity to thank you very much for making sure that your child attends school every day and on time.

Open Evening

On Thursday 17th July from 3-6pm we will be holding our annual Open Evening for parents, carers and family members. During the Open Evening you will be able to visit your child’s classroom and look at the work he/she has been doing throughout the year. In addition, you will be able to visit your child’s new classroom and meet his/her teacher for next year. Children’s reports will be given to you as you arrive for the event so that you can chat informally to the teachers about these during the evening should you wish to do so. Reports for the children whose parents do not attend the Open Evening will be sent home with the children at the end of school on Friday 18th July.

Goodbye Mrs Dew

As you may be aware, Mrs Jean Dew is retiring from teaching after 28 years at Copthorne.  We know that many of you and your children have very fond memories of Mrs Dew and would like to say goodbye to her.  We have therefore arranged a Farewell Coffee Morning in the school hall at 9am on Friday 18^th July. This will give parents the opportunity to come and chat informally to Mrs Dew and wish her well as she leaves Copthorne ready for the next exciting stage in her life.  We appreciate that many of you will be fasting for Ramadan at the time of the event but hope that you feel able to attend. We look forward to seeing you there.

Farewell to Mrs Gamble and Mr Sandhu

On July 22nd we also say a sad goodbye to Mrs Gamble who has worked tirelessly with Year 6 to support and guide them in achieving the highest standards. Mrs Gamble leaves us for a school in Huddersfield where she will become a specialist Maths Teacher. We thank her for all her hard work and commitment to Copthorne and wish her every success in her new role. We will miss her terribly.

Mr Sandhu, 5 Cedar’s class teacher, is also leaving us next week. Mr Sandhu has dreamt of working in the Middle East for some time and has now secured a teaching post in Dubai. We thank him for his hard work and calm, caring manner. I know that 5 Cedar will miss him terribly as will all the staff and pupils. We hope that he enjoys his adventure in Dubai and hope that he will come back to the UK to visit us often.

Dates for your diary

Exceed Attendance Celebration

The annual Exceed Attendance Celebration for all those children who have achieved 100% attendance and no lates this year, takes place on Monday 21st July from 12.30-3pm at the University of Bradford. Letters have already gone home to the parents of the pupils achieving the award. I look forward to seeing you at the event and celebrating another great achievement for our pupils.

Leavers’ Assembly

The Year 6 Leavers’ Assembly will take place on Tuesday 22nd July at 9.15 am and 2 pm. Parents, carers and family members are encouraged to attend and see our Year 6 in their final production at Copthorne. The event is always very entertaining but also very poignant as we say goodbye to our amazing children and share with them some of their Copthorne journey. I hope to see as many of you there as possible.

I hope you have a lovely week and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at one of our events.

Mrs Shepherd