Monday 3rd December 2012

Hello Everyone.
I hope you have all had a really enjoyable weekend. I can't believe that it's already December and that we only have 3 weeks left at school before we break up for the Christmas holidays.

This week at Copthorne

Ladies' Evening
This Thursday, 6th December, is Ladies' Evening. The event runs from 5.30-8.30pm and promises to be a great one. The evening will include a hot meal, fashion show, belly dancer, Asian dance display, DJ and mendhi - all included in the price of the ticket: £7.50 per person. In addition there will be a raffle and a couple of stalls. I look forward to seeing you there.

Forest Schools
This Friday, 7th December, half of the children in 4 Poplar will be attending Forest School at St Ive's Wood, Bingley. It is really important that all the children wear warm clothing and have a waterproof coat and, where possible, wellington boots. We wish them all an enjoyable day and look forward to hearing all about it when they come back to school.

Red Day
This Friday, 7th December, we will be supporting the Save our Surgery (SOS) campaign in aid of the Children's Heart Surgery at Leeds General Infirmary. Children must wear basic school uniform as usual but can also wear something red in order to show their support for the campaign e.g. a ribbon, hair band, jumper, hat etc in exchange for a small donation towards the SOS campaign.Thank you for your support in this matter. http://www.saveoursurgery.net/wear-red-day-1



Children in Need
Thank you to everyone who supported our Children in Need Day a fortnight ago. We raised a total of £455.51 which will help support children in need both in the UK and throughout the world. Thank you.

Severe Weather Procedures
Many of you have been asking about the procedures for school during bad weather.

Entrance to school during severe weather
In the event of heavy snow only one path will be cleared into school. This will be from the main gate to the main entrance/office. Please remind all children to stick to this path as other paths around school are likely to be slippy and, therefore, dangerous. Thank you

School Closure before school starts
If the school will not be opening then all parents/carers will be informed by text message by 7.30 am that morning. Please ensure that the office staff have been informed of any changes to your mobile number(s) as soon as possible. In addition, if school is closed this will be shown on the school website www.copthorne.bradford.sch.uk  and on Bradford Schools Online:  https://bso.bradford.gov.uk/Schools/Home.aspx from 7am.
The information will also be broadcast via radio stations: The Pulse, Radio Leeds and Sunrise Radio.

If there is no information about the school available via any of these methods then school is definitely open so please do not contact the school office. Thank you.

School closure part way through the day
Should the decision be made to close school during the school day then, once again, a text message will be sent to parents and posted on our website. Families will be asked to collect their children as soon as possible.

Thank you for your support in this matter.

Wishing you all another good week and here's hoping the snow stays away.

Mrs Shepherd

Monday 19th November 2012

Welcome to another Copthorne Blog
Last week was another busy one at Copthorne. A large number of our Year 6 pupils took the entrance assessment tests for Dixons. I know that they will all have tried their very best and we wish them every success.

Road Safety Training
At Copthorne we strive to keep our children safe and feel that it is very important to give children the skills they need to be able to make informed decisions when it comes to their own safety. Consequently we work with the Bradford Road Safety Team to provide road safety training for all our pupils when they are in Year 3. Children are taught where and how to cross roads safely and what to wear so that other road users can see them. In addition, the children are taught how important it is to be on the lookout for dangers by making sure they can see and hear clearly e.g.Taking out earphones, not listening to music and not using a mobile phone when crossing the road.
Our present Year 3 began their training last week and this continues this week on Thursday 22nd November. I hope everyone has an enjoyable and informative time.

Forest Schools

Hoof Fungus

Our weekly Forest Schools experience continues this Friday and, at present, it is 4 Poplar who are the lucky class that will be spending the day at St Ives Woods. It's great to see the range of interesting things that are found on each visit. A couple of weeks ago it was a piece of fungus called Hoof Fungus which the children found growing on the trunk of a tree. The fungus is so hard, like a horse's hoof, that it has to be almost sawn off. We wish this week's group a great visit and look forward to hearing about their discoveries.

Ladies' Evening
As promised in my previous blog the date for the Ladies Evening is confirmed as Thursday 6th December. The event will take place from 5.30pm to 8.30pm and will include: a hot meal, fashion show, dancing display, mendhi and hand massages, and a DJ - all included in the price of the ticket: £7.50 per person. In addition, there will be a professional photographer on hand to take pictures and a couple of stalls. It promises to be a great evening and I look forward to seeing as many female members of our community there as possible.
Tickets will be available to buy from the office by the end of this week - Friday23rd November.

Parents' Feedback
In last week's blog I began the process of publishing the suggestions and comments made by parents and carers during our most recent parents' consultation evening and, as explained last week, I will continue to add to these on a weekly basis:

Suggestions

• Introduce sewing and mendhi classes for teenagers. Through Exceed - our LAP extended schools provision - we provide after school and weekend activities for the young people within our community. I have passed this request to the Exceed Coordinator. If the sewing and mendhi courses for teenagers are being widely requested by our community then Exceed will do their utmost to provide these. At present, however, there have been very few requests for courses of this nature.
• More parents should get involved with school activities. We welcome parental involvement in our school as we believe that it is partnership with our parents and our community which is one of Copthorne's great strengths. One of the ways in which parental involvement can be increased is for parents/carers to accompany classes on trips and visits. By December, therefore, a letter will be sent home asking parents/carers to say whether or not they would be happy to accompany classes on trips. We will then approach those interested.
• Reintroduce Cycle Club. Teaching children how to be safe cyclists is a really important life skill and, at Copthorne, we run Bike-ability training for any Year 5 and 6 pupils who are interested. This training takes place each year in June or July and parents/carers will be informed of this in plenty of time
• Provide a creche during parents' classes. I understand how useful this would be for our parents/carers but I am afraid that we do not have the facilities and/or staff available to be able to provide creche facilities at this moment in time. However, there are two Children's Centres in our locality which often provide childcare/creche facilities: Farnham (01274 573297) and Princeville (01274 573298). Please contact these directly for more information.

Concerns

• The Year 4 doors close before 8.45 and then a child is marked as late. Registration begins at 8.45 am and it is, therefore, essential that all children are in school by this time. Doors will, therefore be closed just before 8.45 am each day but we will ensure that they stay open until 8.44 am.
• I would like more support for children with disabilities during trips.The quality of care provided for all of our pupils both in school and during trips is of an excellent standard. Thorough risk assessments are carried out for every off-site activity so as to ensure that staffing is at the correct ratio and also of the best quality to enable each child to have an enjoyable visit and successfully access the learning. Where parents have individual concerns please feel free to call int to see me so that we can discuss and address these.
• More encouragement is needed for children with speech difficulties. At Copthorne, speaking and listening activities are very important parts of each lesson and learning experience. Strategies such as talking partners are used to encourage children's speech and language development. Where a child is identified as having speech and/or language difficulty then parents are informed and the child referred to the Speech and Language Support Service by our SENCO - Mrs Bradley. We then work in partnership with this service to ensure that the child's needs are effectively met.
• People are unlikely to get a job at this school because they go to people who are known rather than on a fair basis. Copthorne's recruitment policies and procedures were audited by the local authority this September. As a result we have developed a rigorous recruitment system and are confident that only the best candidates for posts, at every level, will be short-listed and recruited regardless of connections with the school or individuals within it. However, if you do still have concerns of this nature please do not hesitate to see me at any stage.

Thanks again to everyone who made suggestions and/or voiced concerns which will help to make Copthorne even better. I will publish and respond to more of these next week.

Have another great week.

Mrs Shepherd

Monday 12th November 2012

Hello again everyone.
It was lovely to see our children returning to school, last Monday, happy and rested after a good break. Everyone has settled back to work very quickly and is showing the Copthorne drive to succeed in all they do.

Copthorne School Dinners are nearly here!
The refit of our school kitchen began during the half term holiday and is almost complete. This means that we will soon be able to begin producing and serving our own food. I know that many of you have concerns about the dinners provided at present. Please be assured that we are in constant contact with our suppliers to improve the quality of the food provided. Thanks to everyone for their patience in this matter.
 
'Even when we think we have nothing we have Copthorne Primary School.'
This was one of the wonderful, positive comments made about our school by parents and carers during our recent parents' evening. Thanks again to everyone who made comments and suggestions. We really value your ideas and comments as we want Copthorne to continue to be outstanding in every way.

Here are the positive things that our parents/carers had to say about our school.

• Good standard of teaching/education 
• It’s a really good school 
• Excellent refurbishment and layout of new build/school looks much better/ improved facilities/very up to date colours/furnishings 
• Excellent staff/pupil relationships
• Lots of after school, Saturday Clubs and holiday activities
• Focus on students/all teachers’ efforts go in to helping children
• Excellent communication between staff and parents/ Keeping parents updated with child’s  progress
• Commitment and passion to succeed
• Very good school/very happy with it
• I like everything/ Don’t change anything
• Very nice teachers
• Very friendly, helpful staff
•  Organisation
• Good speed, security and accuracy in addressing issues
• Good learning environment
• Raving Readers
• Very supportive of children with disabilities
• The children are really enjoying their experience of school life – credit to all staff at Copthorne – keep up the good work
• RM Maths is good and provides help
• Nice clean environment
• School has a good feel to it
• Happy with the way school is run
• Even when we think we have nothing we have Copthorne Primary School

There were a great number of very helpful suggestions given. I will list and respond to a number of these each week:

    Make parent’s evening start a little later – we will certainly investigate the possibility of extending our parents’ evening by half an hour so that it finishes at 6.30 and, therefore, provides the opportunity for those parents/carers who work late to attend

       Increase length of appointment time for parent’s evening - again, we will investigate the ways in which we will be able to increase the time available for individual appointments by, for example, spreading parents' evening over two nights.

         Children should be able to change their lunch choices every other day – In order for our caterers to ensure that we are supplied with the correct number of dinners and allow them to purchase the correct level of stock we are unable to allow children to change dinner options on a day to day basis. This will also be the same when we move to providing our own food after Christmas. Children will be asked to choose either school dinners, home dinners or packed lunches at the start of each half term and stick to that choice for the entire half term.

        Run a Summer Club - as part of Exceed (our LAP Extended Schools Provision) we already provide a large number of holiday clubs including summer holiday clubs. These clubs are held at a number of schools within our LAP and are open to all the children attending those schools. All children are given information about the holiday clubs available approximately 2 weeks before we break up- this is usually in the form of a leaflet or booklet. Please ask your child about this I will make sure that a text message is sent to all parents when the booklets have been sent home. 

        Have a school newsletter/way of explaining what’s happening in school – A termly newsletter already goes home to each family giving details of all the events and activities taking place in our school. In addition I write the weekly blog giving information about the week ahead and any other matters arising. The blog can be accessed through our website: www.copthorne.ngfl.ac.uk and is located under both: Head of Schools’ Blog and the News area of the website. In addition, each Year group sends home a half-termly newsletter giving information specific to childrens' classes.

       Improve playground equipment – at present we are in the process of ordering a new trim trail for the front playground. This will be similar to the one at the back of the school and I am sure that the children will love the challenge this provides

 

In addition to the above comments, a number of issues were raised as regards aspects of school which need to be improved. I will also respond to a number of these each week:
 

     Dinners: This was, by far, the most common of the areas for improvement. We are aware of this and have taken very positive steps towards improving the situation. Firstly, we are in constant contact with the suppliers of our school dinners in response to parental concerns raised. As a result a number of meals have already been removed from the menu and replaced with more popular and healthier options. In addition, we have employed our own cook (Mrs Ramsden) who has designed and overseen the refit of our kitchen (see suggestions above) so that we will soon be ready to prepare all our own healthy meals for our children.  As soon as we are ready to begin serving our own meals we will be inviting parents in to sample the meals which will be on offer.Thank you for your patience and support in this matter.
   
    Too hot in school – temperature needs to be better controlled: The new build includes under-floor heating. This removes the need for radiators and is more efficient in that heat is stored for longer. We are gradually getting used to the best way of controlling our new system and the new part of school now seems to have a more regulated temperature - neither too hot or too cold.
    
     Children need to be encouraged to change reading books regularly: As part of our Raving Readers scheme school is open each day from 8.30am for children to come in and change their reading books. Children in Key Stage 2 (Years 3 to 6) are expected to put their reading record book and the book that needs changing into the designated area in each classroom at the start of the school day. Children are regularly reminded to do this. In Key Stage 1, likewise, children are asked - each day - to place books and reading records into the appropriate box. We would be very grateful if parents/carers could also remind their child to do this.

    Thanks, once again, for all your great ideas and comments. It is working together in this way which is one of the very special things about Copthorne.


Every day counts

    Over the past weeks I have met with a number of parents regarding requests for pupils'leave of absence for visits abroad or holidays.  Educational research shows that for every week a child is absent from school it can mean that child falling behind by 1month compared to his/her classmates. A 10 day absence, therefore, potentially means that a child will fall 2 months behind in his or her work compared to others in the class. At Copthorne we want our children to be able to achieve the very best and,although we are very sympathetic to the fact that many of our families have close relatives outside of the UK, we are unable to authorise any absences of this nature.We do have 13 weeks holiday each year and so would ask that holidays be taken during these times. It is a common misconception that children are entitled to 10 days leave.However, this is not the case.

    Authorised leave, of up to 10 days, may be granted in exceptional circumstances such as where a child needs to go abroad for medical treatment and this would always need to be supported by a doctor's letter.

     After 20 days of unauthorised absence we are legally obliged to remove a child from the school role and, as there are such a large number of children waiting to join Copthorne it is unlikely that children who have been removed from our role would be able to be readmitted.

     This policy is in line with all the other schools in our area and is in place to ensure the best possible outcomes for our children. I am very grateful for your support in this matter.

Young Writers

    Over the past months many of our children have been entered into several writingcompetitions. I am thrilled to tell you that a number of our pupils are now 'published authors' and the books containing their winning entries will soon be  available to borrow from our new library.Well done everyone! Keep writing!

 

      Have an enjoyable week everyone.

      Mrs Shepherd

 

Monday 5th November 2012

Welcome back.
Hello Everyone. I hope you have enjoyed the half term holidays and had a restful break and the chance to spend time together with family and friends. Last half term was a very busy one: everyone worked very hard and deserved a really good rest. I am spent the holiday with my family: we were finally able to walk to our new cinema in Halifax - the town has been without one for the past 20 years so it has always meant a car journey for us to Leeds or Bradford so it was a real treat to be able to walk there.
As usual this half term looks set to be very busy and exciting with lots of great activities planned for our children.

Bonfire Night

As you will know, it is Bonfire Night tonight. This can be a great time for families and friends to get together but we ask that that you remind the children about keeping safe. We had a number of incidences in our local area, just before the holidays, of children from another school playing with fireworks which they had bought from a local shop. Like you, we obviously want to keep all our children safe so I would welcome your support in reminding the children never to buy or play with fireworks. It is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to buy fireworks and, similarly, illegal for shops to sell fireworks to anyone under the age of 18. Please could you, therefore, ask the children to tell you if they see any shops in our area selling fireworks to anyone below the age of 18. If you or the children see this happening, please inform our local Community Police Officer who will deal with the matter. Thank you.

Year 6 Support
Thank you to the parents who posted messages/questions in response to my previous blog, enquiring about the support which is/will be in place for our Year 6 pupils to support them through the SATs.
During the last 2 weeks of the half term all our children were assessed in Reading, Writing and Maths. We are now in the process of using this information to group the children according to the level of support they need to achieve/surpass their targets for the end of Year 6. The support may take the form of small group work or 1 to 1 sessions with a teacher/teaching assistant on a daily or weekly basis. Alternatively, it may mean that children are given extra writing/ reading and/or maths lessons during the school day to support or extend their thinking further - according to their particular needs.Whatever the level and nature of the support that has been decided upon you will be informed of by the end of the first week back (9th November). In addition, we are already running RM Maths before school each day to which identified children have already been invited and parents informed. If your child has been selected to attend please continue to support this work by ensuring that your child attends each of and arrives on time for these sessions.

Mathletics
In addition, every child from Year 2 upwards has access to Mathletics via the Internet: www.mathletics.co.uk Your child has his/her own unique password and user name for this. When they log in they will find that their teacher has set them a list of focused tasks. These tasks have been assigned individually to each child in order to address the areas of maths which your child needs to particularly concentrate on. Once the tasks have been completed each child has access to Live Mathletics where they can play mental maths challenges against other children all over the world which will help to further develop their mental maths skills. Please encourage your children to complete the set tasks regularly. Thank you.
For those of you who do not have access to the Internet, children can complete their tasks by attending homework club on Wednesday straight after school.

Saturday Clubs
I had the pleasure of being in school a couple of Saturdays ago and I felt that I needed to say what a wonderful place Copthorne is on a Saturday morning. There are over 60 children attending Saturday Club which includes Wii Club, Arts and Crafts, Archery and Healthy Cooking Club. Children rotate around the different activities so experience everything over the term. On the Saturday morning when I was there, the children's activities included making Halloween Puppets and decorating Halloween buns. Everyone was having a wonderful time and, as usual, our children's behaviour was outstanding and made me very proud. I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to the Copthorne Association for their financial support in helping to fund Saturday Club - because of the Association's support we are able to run the Clubs for the majority of the school year and so provide additional engaging and enriching activities for the children of our community. Thank you too to our Learning Mentors (Mr A Khan, Mr H Khan) and Teaching Assistants (Miss S Khawaja, Mrs F Rehman, Mrs A Khan and Miss A Parveen) who run the club and help to make it such a great experience for our children.

Coming up this half term

Ladies' Evening
Mrs H Nisar and myself are in the middle of planning a Ladies Evening to be held in late November/early December. The evening will include dancing, mendhi and, of course, food! If any parents would be willing to volunteer to help organise this event we would be very grateful. Please let Mrs Nisar or myself know as soon as possible.






4 Poplar to Culture Fusion
On Tuesday, 27th November, as part of our work with the Linking Schools project 4 Poplar will be spending the day at Culture Fusion in Bradford with pupils from our link school: All Saints in Ilkley. We have been linking with All Saints for a number of years and children from Copthorne and All Saints have formed good friendships and have developed a great understanding of each other's lives and cultures. I am sure that this particular meeting will prove just as positive.

End of term

This term will end at the end of school on Friday 21st December. and reopen on Monday 7th January after a 2 week holiday. As usual, we will be building up to the end of term with a festive week during which different activities are planned each day and, about which you will be informed nearer the time.


Wishing you all a great half term.

Mrs Shepherd

Monday 22nd October 2012

Well, here we are almost at the end of our first half term of the year. It's amazing how fast this half term has gone. As usual, it has been a great one for Copthorne with our children working hard, going on lots of trips and visits to bring the subjects they have been learning about to life and being involved in lots of clubs and activities each day.

Thank you to all our families who attended last week's parents' evening. It was wonderful to hear so many positive comments about our children's progress from their teachers. Keep up the good work everyone. Thank you, too, to everyone who made comments about what makes Copthorne  so special and gave suggestions for changes, developments and improvements. We really value your comments and, when we have had the opportunity to read through these in detail this week, will let everyone know what was said and any actions we plan to take in response to your ideas.


Pumps
At a recent meeting of the school's Governing Body, as a result of discussions with a large number of parents, children and staff, it was agreed that it will no longer be necessary for our children to change into pumps when coming in from outside.We have been trialling this with a number of classes since mid-September and have found that not having to change into pumps saves at least 1 and a quarter hours of learning time each week!
We are in the process of buying extra mats for all our entrances but, when the weather is bad we will, as many of you have suggested, continue to encourage children to change into pumps or alternative footwear as necessary. The pumps you have purchased for this year will not be wasted as they will still be required for indoor PE lessons. We know that our parents/carers will support us in this matter as it will mean much better use of lesson times for our children.

Shoes
During the same Governing Body meeting it was agreed that, in line with our school uniform policy, children should wear plain black shoes to school and that trainers should not be worn apart from in outdoor PE lessons. We believe that trainers cause feelings of inequality amongst pupils and may sometimes lead to children being 'singled out' by others for not having expensive brands. This, in turn, puts a great deal of emotional pressure on parents to buy very expensive brands. We feel that it is important for our children to feel safe, happy and equal to one another at our school and believe that children wearing plain black shoes goes a long way to ensuring that this happens. In addition, plain black, low-heeled shoes are much healthier for children's feet and provide the recommended level of support for growing feet. Again, I know that you will understand the reasons for this decision and support us in implementing this new rule about uniform. Please ensure that your children change to wearing black shoes as soon as possible but, at the latest ready for the start of the new year in January. Thank you.

Head Teacher of Copthorne
In response to a question posed, after last week's blog, about he current Head of Copthorne I would like to explain our existing staffing structure. At present Copthorne has a Head of School (myself) and an Executive Head (Mr Jacques). I am responsible for the day to day management and strategic leadership of the school and I am, therefore, the Head Teacher. Mr Jacques is our Executive Head and also the Executive Head of Horton Grange Primary school. Mr Jacques' role is to oversee the strategic leadership of both schools and to support me, and the Head of School at Horton Grange,in our new roles. I have access to him for 2 and a half days each week. This model of school leadership is becoming accepted as very good practice throughout the world of education and is proving very effective here.

This week at Copthorne

Year 3 at Nell Bank
Today all of our Year 3 children are visiting Nell Bank near Ilkley as part of their Creative Curriculum Topic: 'On Ilkley Moor Ba' Tat.' I know they will have a wonderful time and be a credit to Copthorne and their families.

Eid
This Wednesday, 24th October, we will be holding Eid parties in school so all our children and staff can come to school in their party clothes. We will also be having a visit from some of the organisers of the Curry Project during which the children will present the mountain of food they have collected to support the project. Well done to each class - you have made a real difference to the lives of large numbers of needy families and individuals in our community. Thank you.

Half Term

School will close at 3pm on Wednesday 24th October for the half term holidays and reopen on Monday 5th November. I wish you all a lovely, restful holiday and a Happy Eid - Eid Mubarak!

Mrs Shepherd

Monday 15th October 2012

Welcome to another week at Copthorne.

Building Learning Power Day
Thank you to our whole community for taking so much time and effort to make last Friday's event such a great day. Both the children and staff had a wonderful time and I know that it will be an event that the children will remember. The children worked hard to learn about their 'learning muscles' and will now be able to tell you about these and how they help us to learn. Well done everyone!

Eureka!
Last week both our Year 1 classes visited Eureka - the children's museum in Halifax. The children had a fabulous time and, as usual, were a credit to their families and to Copthorne. Thank you!

Sickness Bug
Last week a large number of our children and staff suffered as a result of a stomach bug. It is really important that children who have been sick and/or have suffered from diarrhoea stay at home for at least 24 hours from the time of the last incidence of vomiting or diarrhoea. This is in line with the Health Protection Agency's guidance to schools and helps to prevent the bug spreading and causing greater levels of absence. I know that our children are keen to come to school but it is very important that these guidelines are followed so that the bug can completely clear a child's system  - even if they look completely better a child can still pass on the bug to other children. Thank you for your support in this matter.

This week at Copthorne

Parents' Evening
On Thursday 18th October, between 3.15 and 6pm, it is our first Parent's Consultation Meeting of the year.This meeting provides an opportunity for parents/carers to find out about how their children have settled in to their new year group and class, to find out about the targets set in Literacy, Numeracy and Maths and to discuss the ways in which they can support their children's learning at home. Letters have already been sent home informing parents/carers about this and encouraging them to make an appointment to see their child's class teacher. Confirmation of appointment times will be given early this week.
During the evening we will be collecting parents', carers' and pupils' ideas about what makes Copthorne so special and how we can make it even better - so please have your ideas ready.

The Curry Project
All our children and staff are working hard to collect tins and packets of food in support of a local charity - The Curry Project - which feeds families and individuals who are in need. The children are competing between classes to try to collect the most. The winning class will be awarded a class treat. Thank you for your support for this very worthwhile cause.

Eid Assembly
On Friday 19th October there will be a special Eid Assembly presented by Year 5. The assembly will take place at both 10.30 am and 2.30pm in the school hall. Parents, carers, friends and families are warmly invited to attend. Please arrive in time as the assemblies will start promptly. I look forward to seeing you on Friday.

Wednesday 24th October
In order to celebrate Eid, each class will be having a party in their classroom. We would like everyone, including adults, to come in their Eid clothes for school that day. Eid Mubarak!
Wednesday 24th October will be the last day of school for this half term. School will finish at 3pm as usual and reopen on Monday 5th November.

Have a lovely week everyone!
Mrs Shepherd

Monday 8th October 2012

What a lovely weekend it has been with sunshine and, miraculously, no rain - it's hard to believe that it's actually October! I hope that everyone has enjoyed the lovely weather and that all of us are ready for another busy and exciting week at Copthorne.

This week's events:
Cook and Eat
On Monday 8th October (today!), from 9 to 11am, Exceed will be holding a Cook and Eat event for parents, carers and members of the community. Those attending will be shown how to cook a number of dishes and will then sample them. The event will be held in our new multi-purpose room. I shall be nipping upstairs to see how everyone is getting on and, maybe if I'm lucky, I'll be able to sample some of the results!

Year 1 to Eureka
Both Year 1 classes will be visiting the Eureka, Children's Museum in Halifax this week.
The visit will support the work that the children are doing as part of their creative curriculum theme on 'Brilliant Bodies'. 1 Oak's visit will take place on Tuesday 9th and 1 Ash on Thursday 11th.
I am sure they will have a wonderful time and I look forward to hearing all about it on their return.I know that they will be wonderful ambassadors for Copthorne through their attitudes and behaviour.

Bun Friday
On Friday (12th October), children in Year 3 will be selling buns for 50p to help raise money towards their trip to Nell Bank later this term If your child would like to buy a bun on Friday they need to bring 50p to school.

Building Learning Power Heroes and Heroines Day
On Friday 12th everyone in school - including the staff- is invited to come dressed as their favourite hero or heroine.  This can be anyone at all who your child sees as their hero or heroine. It could be someone from history, public life, someone famous, a TV, film or a book character or has made up themselves as long as their chosen or created character represents a positive role model for your child.This is part of our work on BLP (Building Learning Power) which is a very effective strategy to help develop children's independent learning skills. It should be a wonderful day for all of us and I know that it will have a very positive impact on our children's leaning. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO NEED FOR PARENTS TO BUY OUTFITS FOR THEIR CHILDREN FOR THIS EVENT - something that the children can put together at home with your help is usually much better and families tend to have a great deal of fun making the outfits together.

Date for your diary
We break up slightly earlier than usual for October half term this year so as to allow everyone to enjoy Eid. School will finish for the half term holidays on Wednesday October 24th at 3pm and will reopen on Monday 5th November.

Have a great week everyone!

Monday 24th September 2012

First of all I would like to say a very warm thank you to all of our parents/carers who attended the Key Stage information meetings last week. These were well attended and provided an opportunity for parents to ask questions about routines, procedures and homework for their child as they start a new year group. Once again, these meetings demonstrated our parents' commitment to and support for their children's education at Copthorne.

Thank you also to the many parents/carers and pupils who have continued to show their support to me as Head of School - your support and kind words are overwhelming and it is great to know that we are all part of a team working to provide the best possible education for Copthorne's children.

News
New teacher for 1 Ash
As you know, at the start of this year I wrote to everyone telling you about our new members of staff. Unfortunately, due to personal circumstances beyond her control, Miss Bibi - 1 Ash's class teacher - has made the decision to put her career in teaching on hold for at least a year. Miss Bibi has been a wonderful teacher for 1 Ash since the start of September and we are extremely sorry to see her go. However, after a rigorous recruitment process we have found a new teacher for 1 Ash: Miss Richards. We know that she will continue the good work begun by Miss Bibi and that the children will have a wonderful year with her. Miss Bibi will leave Copthorne this Friday - 28th September - giving her 1 week with Miss Richards to ensure a mooth transition for the children. We wish Miss Bibi every success in the future and hope to see her back at Copthorne one day.
We are delighted to welcome Miss Richards to the Copthorne family and know that she will be a great asset to us.

Meet the new team
This week we will be holding 2 meetings for parents to come along and meet Mr Jacques (the Executive Head), Mrs Whalley(Acting Deputy Head) and myself. We will be talking about our vision for Copthorne and the ways in which we intend to continue and further develop our links with the community. There will be plenty of opportunity for you to ask questions and voice any concerns/share any ideas you may have regarding school.We really look forward to seeing you at one of the meetings. The times for the meetings are as follows:
Tuesday 25th September: 9am                        or
Wednesday 26th September: 2.15pm

What's hapening this week?
Today, Monday 24th, at 9.30 our Reception Clsses will meet the School Nurse. She will talk to them about her job and tell the children about some of the ativities she will be doing with them during this year such as height/weight checks and dental health checks.
On Tuesday, 25th September at 9am, we are holding a Maths Workshop for parents/carers of children in Reception classes. The workshop will explain how maths is taught in Reception and will give paents/carers some exciting ideas to help support their children with maths at home.

Forest Schools
Mrs Robinson will be leading our first Forest Schools trip to St Ives on Friday. Children from 4 Poplar will be the first to go this year. Forest Schools is a wonderful oportunity for our children to experience learning outside of the classroom. The children learn how to care for the natural environment and are taught skills such as woodcraft. The children have a wonderful time playing in mud and building shelters - it is an opportunity for many children to show their imagination, initiative and leadership skills beyond the classroom environment.
Mrs Robinson has already spoken to the children about what to wear but, in case there is any confusion, the children should be in warm, old clothes (not school uniform) that you don't mind getting dirty; sensible, study footwear for walking; and a waterproof coat. It is really important that children do not wear jeans: these hold water if it rains and can cause children to become very cold.
I wish everyone a great day and look forward to hearing all about your adventures.

Have a great week, everyone.
Mrs Shepherd

Monday 17th September

Home safe and sound!
Our group of 35 Year 6 children who spent last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at Hawkshead in the Lake District, arrived home safe and sound on Friday afternoon. As expected the staff accompanying them said that they had been well behaved and great fun to be with - a credit to both their parents and to Copthorne. I am looking forward to hearing all about their adventures when they are all back in class today. I expect that many of them were very tired and have had a good rest this weekend. The Hawkshead residential is a wonderful opportunity for our children to stay away from home for a short time and to experience learning outside of the classroom. I hope that even more of our children will be able to enjoy this experience next year.

Events this week.

Meetings for parents/carers of pupils in Key Stages 1 and 2
This week we will be holding meetings for parents/carer of children in KS1 (Y1 and 2), Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4) and Upper Key Stage 2 (Years 5 and 6). Each meeting will be n opportunity for parents to find out about routines and procedures for their child's new and to hear about expectations as regards behaviour and homework. The meetings will also include discussions about how you can support your child's learning at home. You will also be able to ask any questions and raise any general concerns at these meetings.

The dates and times of the meetings are as follows:
Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4)
Monday 17th Septmber 9am and 2.30pm

Upper Key Stage 2 (Years 5 and 6)
Wednesday 19th Sepember 9am and 2.30pm

Key Stage 1
Thursday 20th September 9am and 2.30pm

Reading workshops
We are holding 2 workshops for parents of children in Reception classes. These workshops will explain how we teach the children to read and give parents ideas of how they can support their child's reading at home. These will take place at 9am and 2.15pm on Wednesday 25th September.

On Ilkley Moor Baa Tat!
Year 3 will be visiting Ilkley this week: 3 Alder's visit takes place on Thursday 20th September and 3 Larch's on Friday 21st. Once there each class will explore the locality and the natural environment, collecting lots of information ready to compare Ilkey with Bradford as part of their Creative Curriculum theme. They will experience walking on part of the Yorkshire Moors which will prepare them to write stories about a strange visitor who arrives there!

Developing others
Copthorne will be hosting a number of events. The first of these is a training event for 21 teachers from schools in our LAP (Exceed). This will be held on Monday 17th in our wonderful new group room and will involve training about Building Learning Power which is a strategy we have already introduced in our schools to help develop pupils' independent learning skills. The training course will introduce the scheme to many of our new teachers so that they can champion the scheme in our schools.

Parent volunteers
Thank you to those of you who have volunteered to help in our school by supporting children in the classroom in a variety of ways. We are so grateful for your held as it enables us to provide even greater opportunities for our children. However, we do have a very large waiting list of volunteers so please don't be disappointed if we are unable to say yeas straight away to your kind offers of help. Mrs Whalley will contact you as soon as new vacancies for volunteers become available.


Wishing you all a great week.
Mrs Shepherd