Hello everyone. I hope your weekend was a good one and that you are ready to begin a new week.
Last week Mr Jacques and myself, along with the other Head Teachers from the Exceed Alliance, joined colleagues from across the country to attend the Inspiring Leadership Conference in Birmingham. This was a wonderful opportunity to hear a range of inspirational speakers and attend workshops to find out about outstanding practice and innovations in school leadership. It was also a time to share ideas and consider the priorities for the improvement of our own schools. The event was truly inspiring and we have returned to school refreshed and with lots of ideas to share with staff, pupils, parents and governors.
Bringing creativity outside
I am delighted to inform you that our new Early Years outdoor provision has now been completed and looks fantastic. A superb beach area has been installed where the children can build sandcastles with their friends along with a flow wall to enable children to experiment with water. We have a wigwam so that the children can take books outside and look at them quietly as well as using their imagination to play. Now that the nice weather is finally here our children can enjoy a picnic on the new artificial grass area or our little footballers can have a game of football. There is also a perspex board where children can paint which will also help them with their creativity and expression. In addition, a low level climbing frame has been built to complement the existing challenging climbing frame. Last but not least we have an amazing story teller’s chair and 4 mushroom stools which are ideal for children to listen to and tell their stories in the fresh air. It is delightful to see our Early Years children playing in and gaining so much from their new environment.
This week at Copthorne
Aspiration Week
It will be a very exciting week at school this week as many of our children ‘take over’ Copthorne for a short time. On Wednesday 18th June the children will be working alongside and in the role of a number of members of staff. In this way, the children will experience what a range of job roles entail. The children will be applying for whichever job they are interested in by completing an application form on Monday 16th June. This will then be followed by interviews on Tuesday 17th June which will be led by the School Council. After the “takeover day”, children will be expected to review the week. Throughout the week we will also have several inspiring visitors in school such as a policeman, a paramedic, a nurse, an architect, a games developer, a badminton player and a Care Assistant. These visitors will be visiting classes to answer any questions that the children may have regarding their profession. This is all part of our work on Investors in Pupils through which we aim to develop our children’s understanding of what different jobs involve, show them the range of jobs that exist, develop their leadership skills and help to raise their aspirations. I know that the staff and children are really looking forward to this experience. Staff are hoping that we will still have jobs by this time next week as we think there is a very strong chance that we may have been replaced by our amazing children!
Diversity in the Woods
On Tuesday 17th June our Key Stage 2 New to English children will be visiting St Ives Wood in Bingley. They will be joining other children from the other schools in the Exceed Alliance to develop their use of language. The children will have lots of fun team building with the other children. This will be a great opportunity for them to meet other pupils and will help greatly with their confidence. Have fun everyone!
Year 4 Bookworms
As mentioned in last week’s blog, we have arranged for our Key Stage 2 children to visit the City Library. As part of Bradford Libraries commitment to supporting the literacy needs and development of children within the Bradford district, they are operating a children’s library ticket amnesty. On Wednesday 18th June, it will be the turn of Year 4 to vist the library and see the vast range of books that the library can offer.
Nursery Welcome Celebration Evening 
On Wednesday 18th June we are holding a very important meeting for parents and carers of children who will be joining our nursery in September. At the meeting parents and carers will have the opportunity to meet the members of the Senior Leadership team and our Nursery staff and to find out about routines and expectations for their child’s time at Nursery. It will also be an ideal chance to get to know the parents of the other children who will be attending and to celebrate getting a place at our over-subscribed Nursery. The meeting will start at 6pm prompt and light refreshments will be served. I would like to congratulate all the parents and carers whose child has secured a place at our Nursery. I look foward to welcoming you all!
The Sound of Music
We are delighted that the Music and Arts Service will be coming to school to deliver a concert for our Key Stage 2 pupils on Friday 20th June. The theme of the concert is the history of dance and they will be playing music showing the pupils different styles of music with moving images of the dances. The group will play a variety of instruments from the string, woodwind, brass, percussion and keyboard families. Children will hopefully recognise some of the music that the group will play and they will be encouraged to answer questions throughout the concert. This should be a wonderful, stimulating and educational morning for the children.
Wishing you all a lovely week
Mrs Shepherd