Monday 7th May

Hello everyone. I hope you, like me, are enjoying this long weekend. It has been lovely to just be at home relaxing with the family and it was a real treat to be able to be able to set the alarm for a little later this morning after I stayed up late to catch up with the ironing last night!
Last week was another action-packed week for our staff and pupils and this week promises to be another one!

Cindy visits Reception
Last week , children in Reception had a very special visitor as part of their work on caring for animals: Cindy - a toy poodle - came to spend the day with them. Cindy is a very placid dog who loves being handled and cuddled so the children felt very comfortable playing with her, feeding her and even helping to dry her after her bath.Cindy's visit was another wonderful opportunity for our children to learn about what is involved in caring for a pet. Thanks to Mr Bagherian for letting us 'borrow' Cindy for the day.

Diamond Jubilee Community Street Party
Last Monday I sent a letter home with each child which explained the plan to hold a community street party to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Thank you to all of you who have already responded with offers of contributions of food for the community meal and the large number of you who attended a meeting about this event on Friday. Thank you so much for all your ideas and offers of help to cook food for the event and/or help to serve it.
Since then I have received great news: our bid for £250 of funding towards the event from the local council has been successful! Thanks to the local councillors from City Ward for supporting us in this endeavour.
Thanks also to our local businesses who have pledged to support the event either through funding or by providing food and/or prizes.
The 'street party' will begin at 1pm and finish at 4pm. The activities planned include:

• 10 activity stalls designed and run by Year 6
• Bhangra drummer and DJ
• Dance show by our own 'Dancing Dolls' club
• Bouncy Castle and slide
• Family Games from the 50's
• Raffle and Tombola
• Stalls selling Islamic frames, popcorn, small toys, jewellery and Avon (we have limited the number of 'selling' stalls as we want the real focus to be on the community having fun together rather than fund raising)
• Community Meal at 2.30: This is free to all attending the event.

If anyone has any further ideas for activities please don't hesitate to contact me.
I know that, together, we can make this event a huge success and bring our whole community together.

Friday Prayers
An issue raised during Friday's meetings was that the Jubilee event clashes with Friday prayers. Unfortunately, after careful consideration it was decided that Friday afternoon is really the only possible time for the event:
It is the day we break up for school and, therefore, causes as little disruption as possible to the flow of our children's education compared to holding the event mid week.
We wanted to hold our event as as close as possible to the day of the Diamond Jubilee and felt that it would lose meaning if we held it any earlier.
It may reassure you to know that:
We will be providing a room, during the event, for prayer
For anyone who does wish to pray at mosque that afternoon we will ensure that there is still plenty of food available and that the event continues until 4pm.

Thank you for your support and understanding in this matter.

Sustainable Schools
Part of developing our school to meet the Sustainable Schools agenda is to develop our pupils understanding of how to reduce waste and the effect of waste on our environment. Recycling and waste management has also been identified as a key priority for City Ward and so, after a meeting on Friday with City Ward's local area manager, Kate Armitstead, we have agreed to work jointly to address this issue. To begin with we have explained the recycling/refuse collection system to all Key Stage 2 children who have agreed to set a good example for their families in this regard and to explain the system to those where language may be a barrier.
Future activities will include the children producing persuasive leaflets and banners to promote recycling and effective waste management. Then, as part of Environment Week, in July, our children will be creating sculptures from recycled materials.
Working with Kate Armitsted means that we, at Copthorne, can be very active in addressing and meeting the needs of our whole community to ensure positive futures for our children and their families.

Key Stage 1 and 2 SATs
As I am sure you are aware, our Year 6 children begin their SATs tests in a week's time (May 14th) and our Year 2 pupils have already started theirs. In order to support the children it would very very helpful if you could make sure that they stay calm, get a good night's sleep (10 - 12 hours is recommended) and arrive at school in good time. Breakfast Club will be available free to all our Year 6 pupils during SATs week. Thank you very much.
We know that all the children will try their very best and we wish them every success.

Have a great week everyone and thank you for your continued support.

Mrs Shepherd