Dear
Parents/Carers,
A
busy week in school that has seen our children really getting to grips with
their new timetables in their entirety. Phonics, reading, literacy, numeracy
and topic work have begun in earnest and the summer holidays now feel like a
long time ago.
Many
of the class blogs are now up and running.. Keep abreast of what’s happening in
your child’s class via the website http://www.cookridgeprimaryschool.org.uk/children/blogs.php
Homework Woes
I
am always very grateful to those parents who take the time to give me feedback
about any aspect of school life. This week, a number of parents have voiced
their concerns about homework – the nature of queries including the volume of
homework (too much!), the length of time children are taking to complete the
homework, the children’s reluctance to complete homework after school and the
fact the completion of homework this year excludes weekends. As I explained to
those parents I have spoken to this week – whilst we are keen to align systems
for homework across school, so that homework routines are established early and
sustained throughout school, we are by no means aiming to establish a negative
attitude towards homework amongst either parents or pupils! Let me assure you
that I will take your concerns back to Monday’s Senior Leadership Team
discussion and will update you on the outcome in next week’s news. Don’t forget
– the parent meetings are also happening next week so if you want an update on
this and information about other aspects of school – please come to the
meetings...
KS1 (Classes 1, 2
& 3)
|
LKS2 (Classes 4, 5
& 6)
|
UKS2 (Classes 7, 8
& 9)
|
Tuesday 25th Sept, 2-3pm
|
Thursday 27th Sept, 9am.
|
Tuesday 25th Sept, 9-10am
|
Parent Survey
This
week you will find the annual parent survey. This was completed and returned by
a small number of parents in September last year (about 30% or 3 out of every
10 of you!) and I am hoping even more of you will use this as a mechanism to be
heard at the start of our second year together. Last year’s survey results
reflected parent concerns about behaviour in school, the sharing of assessment
information and wider communication between school and home. This has prompted
much activity in these areas this year and I hope that you have noted the
benefits of this work. In order to shape the future work of our school, please
take the time to complete the survey and give your views on areas which have
improved and what our priorities should be for the year ahead. Surveys should
be returned to the school office by Monday
8th October.
After school clubs
Our
generous staff have agreed to lead a wealth of after school clubs and you
should have received a letter outlining days/times and options today. Please
return your preferences for school clubs by Monday 1st October so that we can get club lists
organised and clubs started during the week commencing 8th October.
Baby news
The
coffee morning this week was attended by a healthy number of parents and a good
number of new babies and toddlers who took advantage of the new toys on offer.
It is wonderful to get to know our children from such a young age and I would
encourage any mums to make time in their diary for this monthly event – the
more the merrier! The next coffee morning is set for Wednesday 17th October, 9am-10.
In
other baby news, our Assistant Head Mrs Smith is currently blooming! For those
of you who haven’t noticed, she is expecting her first baby in December this
year and Mr and Mrs Smith are very much looking forward to their new arrival in
time for Christmas! Mrs Smith will begin maternity leave in November, to return
in July. During her absence Miss Glendinning will continue her role as class
teacher of Class 6. Our congratulations and best wishes to Mrs Smith...
Brownies
This week, I have news of vacancies at a local Brownie group. I am sure
I am not the only one out there with fond memories of our time as a Brownie,
and many of our established Brownies in school reassure me that some things
don’t change and being a Brownie is still great! This group meet at Cookridge
Methodist Church, Tinshill Road, every Tuesday from 6pm to 7.30pm. Please call
Pauline on 07834 817867 if you are interested.
Friends of Cookridge –
P.T.A.
Cookridge
Primary School takes advantage of a very successful partnership between parents
and teachers to raise funds each year. These funds are used entirely for
enhancement to the school environment or experience for your children – for
purchases that would not be able to happen without the work of a successful
P.T.A. Last year, Friends funds were used to finance, school discos, to subsidise
(and reduce the cost of) school trips and ultimately to make a significant
contribution towards the cost of our new ‘spiderman’ playframe which has proved
very popular indeed! If you would like to continue your work with the PTA or
indeed join the group, then I really want to hear from you. I am currently
trying to establish a date this half term for the first meeting. Would parents
who are interested please let me know their preference for a time to meet
before we decide whether to host the meeting during the school day or in the
evening - please email me and let me know at baileys06@leedslearning.net
Thanks.
Thanks.
Sports News
The
Year 3/4 football team have their first ever game next week with a friendly
match at Horsforth Newlaithes on Friday 28th September.
Attendance
This
year our target is 96%. Class 8 were
last weeks attendance award winners and have spent the week entertaining
Cookie, our school attendance mascot. I know we can work together to match
the attendance in the best schools in the country in the shared understanding
that pupil attendance really does
have a direct correlation with your child’s achievement and future success.
Please see the policies area of the website for a full outline of our updated
procedures for 2012-13 http://www.cookridgeprimaryschool.org.uk/parents/policies.php .
National Minimum
‘Good’ Expectation
|
95%
|
Target
2012-13
|
96%
|
Attendance this
week
|
96.6%
|
Year to date
|
96.2%
|
||||||||
Class attendance
figures for this week are:-
|
|||||||||||||||
Rec
|
Class 1
|
Class 2
|
Class 3
|
Class 4
|
Class 5
|
Class 6
|
Class 7
|
Class 8
|
Class 9
|
||||||
98.2%
|
99.2%
|
95.8%
|
95.0%
|
98.6%
|
95.9%
|
95.3%
|
95.6%
|
95.9%
|
96.3%
|
||||||
Have
a great weekend,
Mrs
Bailey
