Monday 4th February 2013

Welcome to another busy week at Copthorne. I hope everyone has had a restful weekend and has enjoyed being able to get about without the snow getting in the way.

Visit to London
During Thrsday and Friday last week, along with Mr Jacques and Mrs Stephenson (Head of School at Horton Grange), I was fortunate in being able to visit 3 primary schools in London. The schools operate on a system of leadership very similar to our present one. There is an Executive Head with the overview for all 3 schools and then each school has its own Head of School. Being able to visit other schools in this way was a fabulous opportunity. It gave me loads of ideas to bring back to Copthorne which will help us to improve our wonderful school still further. Pupils and staff at each school made us all feel very welcome and I am hoping that we will now be able to develop some links between our pupils as a resut.
During our time in London we were also able to visit the BETT exhibition where hundreds of ideas to develop the use of ICT and new technologies in the classroom were being demonstrated. This too was a great opportunity and, as a rsult, we will be further developing the use of I Pads and introducing a lot of new software into school.

New prospectus and web site under development

As I reported in last week's blog, we are in the process of developing both a new web site and prospectus for Copthorne. The photographer, Mark, spent most of last Tuesday with us taking the photos which will be used. Mark said that he thought our children were wonderful: polite, happy and fully engaged in their learning and he said that there was a very positive atmosphere at Copthorne which he could feel as soon as he arrived. It is always good to get an visitor's view of our pupils and our school especially when it confims our belief that Copthorne is a very special place. 
Well done to everyone for making Mark so welcome and especially the children who had their photographs taken - I have seen some of the pictures and you have all helped to show what makes Copthorne so special.

This week at Copthorne

Parents' Forum
We will be holding two meetings this week where parents can come along and meet the School Leadership Team: Mr Jacques, Mrs Whalley and myself. The meetings will be an opportunity for parents/carers to find out about our ideas and plans for Copthorne and to share their ideas and concerns about any aspect of the school. We look forward to seeing as many parents/carers as possible at the meetings.The times for the meetings are as follows:
Monday 4th February at 9am
Tuesday 5th February at 2.30pm

Year 6 to the BRI
This week both our Year 6 classes will be visiting the Bradford Royal Infirmary for their IMPS training (Injury Minimisation Programme for Schools).
6 Sycamore's visit takes place on Tuesday 4th February and 6 Chestnut's on Wednesday 6th February.
Each class of children will visit the local accident and emergency unit accompanied by their teacher and other adult helpers from school. The visit includes:

• A guided tour of the emergency department, which allows children to experience many of the concepts learnt in the classroom when applied to the real world.
• A session using an interactive DVD where children are taught the principles of first aid and injury minimisation.
• A session in which children are taught the principles of emergency life support using individual manikins.

The main aim of the visit is to help prevent accidents and give children the skills they need to be able to minimise injury when accidents have already taken place.
On their return to school the children will be doing some follow-up work related to the visit. I look forward to hearing all about it.

Maths Master Class at Bradford Grammar School
4 lucky year 6 children will be travelling to Bradford Grammar School on Wednesday 6th February to take part in what we hope will be the start of a course of Maths Master Classes. The pupils will form part of a group of 28 Year 6 children (4 from each LAP school) who will be spending 2 hours at the school working with Bradford Grammar staff and Year 13 students to develop their level 6 maths skills. This Master Class forms part of our work with the pupils we feel are capable of achieving a Level 6 in Maths in this summer's SATs. Nationally, the average level a child in Year 6 achieves is Level 4. Attaining a Level 6 is a challenge as this is the expected level for a Year 8 child, but one which, we believe, a number of our children can achieve. I am sure that all the children will have a great afternoon and I would like to thank, once again, Mr Riley  - the Head Teacher at Bradford Grammar, hIs staff and pupils for providing such a great opportunity for the children from our community. I hope that this is the start of our schools working more closely together.

 School Council meet the Friends of Horton Park
This Tuesday, 4th February at 11am, our school council will meet with representatives from The Friends of Horton Park. The purpose of the meeting is for the Friends to  work with our pupils to develop plans for a new play area in Horton Park.This is a great opportunity for our pupils to influence their own community and to make sure that their ideas are listened to. This should also help to increase the number of children from our community who use the park in the future.

Bag to School
The collection of unwanted clothing, shoes, bags, belts, bedding and soft toys will take place on Wednesday 6th February. All bags that have been filled can be brought into school at the start and end of each school day up to 9am on Wednesday 6th February. Please try your best to fill as many bags as possible as all funds raised will help us to deliver even more exciting experiences for Copthorne' children.

Governing Body Meeting
There will be a meeting of Copthorne's Governing Body at 4.30pm on Wednesday 6th February in the group/community room. We look forward to seeing as many of our Governors there as possible.

Travelling by Tuba
This Thursday, 7th February, we will be holding a very special event for our pupils. The classical music duo: 'Travelling by Tuba' will be providing a Show and Workshop Day at Copthorne. The day will begin with a performance for the whole school and then individual workshops for a number of classes will take place throughout the day. I know that this will be a great experience for our children. For more information you can visit the Travelling by Tuba website by clicking on the link below:
http://travellingbytuba.com/

Head of School's Drop -In session
This week's sessions will take place between 2pm and 3pm on Thursday 7th February. If you would like to drop in to chat or have ideas/concerns you wish to share then feel free to contact the school office who will make you an appointment during these times. It is always a pleasure to chat to our parents/carers and family members and I look forward to seeing you then.

Future Events

February Half Term Holidays
School finishes at 3pm on Friday 15th February and reopens on Monday 25th February at the usual time.

Parents' Consultation Evening
Parent's Evening will take pace on Thursday 28th February from 3.15-6.15pm. Letters will be sent home at the end of this week.

I wish you all another great week.

Mrs Shepherd