A
heartfelt welcome to all of our new families, and a warm welcome back to the
rest of you! I trust that you all had a wonderful, fun filled summer holiday
with your children but am grateful to you all for bringing them back to us:
we’ve missed them! Wednesday was a day of excitement as old friends were
reunited, and the chatter over the lunch table was fabulous to overhear as the
children made sense of their new rooms, new systems, new classmates and – in
many cases – new teachers… The feedback was all positive, with any minor fears
behind them by lunchtime. Welcome back – let’s crack on!
Staff welcomes…
This
week, we welcomed Mrs Lucas to our school office, Assistant Head Mr Kerr to
Y5/6 and Mrs Wood to our team. Mrs Wood will be teaching PE right across school
and is looking forward to the challenge that that brings, and Mrs Lucas and Mr
Kerr are keen to embrace their own particular challenges! Welcome aboard… …and farewells
During the final week of term, Mr El Sayed secured a teaching post in Kuwait. He began this role during the summer holidays and so will not be returning to us at Cookridge. I am delighted that Mr El Sayed has secured such a prestigious role and wish him well for the future. It does, of course, leave us with a bit of a gap! I will be meeting with governors in the next few weeks to discuss our next steps in ensuring that our provision for second language learners in school continues to be ‘top notch’.
School Governors
There
are currently two vacancies for Parent Governors in school, and we will next
week begin the process of electing parents to those roles. We are keen to
gather a range of parents of children from right across school and so would
particularly welcome interest from parents of pupils in Reception and Y5/6.
Governors collectively bring a whole range of skills and interests and this
very diversity is the beauty of the group. I would welcome any parents who are
interested to get in touch so that I can explain a little more about the role.
Our first Governing Body meeting of the year is due to take place on 16th
September and any interested parents are welcome to sit in on the meeting to
find out what it’s all about – just give me a ring or email me next week so I
can save you a seat.. Your voice matters and yours could be the voice that
brings about important transformation in a school where we aspire to be the
amongst the best in the country.
Summer Changes
As
is typical of the summer holiday, the school building has benefited from a bit
of a makeover. The changes this summer include large panels of block colour –
and I’m talking COLOUR! – which has really injected vitality into the top
corridor. Mr Lucas should take the
credit for just how fabulous the place looks, as he has long since had in mind
large panels of red, yellow and green and this year he was the man that made it
happen! Pinnacle have replaced carpet in the cloak room areas throughout school
which has given those areas a fresh, new look and with a few subtle furniture
changes, some newly fitted smartboards and a little bit of teacher magic, the
classrooms look just fabulous. The most
important work that happens every summer is at the hands of a very dedicated
cleaning team. My grateful thanks to them for reaching high and bending low to
painstakingly remove all the dirt and debris that inevitably builds up over the
course of a year. We really are sparkling – thanks team!
School Dinners
The
new menu is available to view on the school website http://www.cookridgeprimaryschool.org.uk/parents/school-menu.php.
The cost of school meals this year is £1.95 a day (£9.75per week) for
Rec-Y4 pupils, and £2.00 a day (£10.00 per week) for Y5 and 6 pupils.
Parents wishing to swap to school meals or vice versa can do so with 2 weeks’
notice at the school office. They’re really rather good and I was glad to get
back to the hall this week for some real food, after 6 weeks of ‘heating up’ my
own!
Website, Twitter, Blogs and
getting in touch!
We
pride ourselves on keeping you abreast of exactly what’s happening in school.
You will receive this newsletter each Friday but can also access more frequent
information via twitter and on the school blog. This year, each key phase in
school has a collective blog, so you can access news and information about your
child’s class day-to-day via the web addresses below, or by clicking on the
blogs tab on the website. Any letters sent out by phases will also be posted
there, should you misplace them. Put the link on your favourites and come and
visit us often!|
Whole
school news and information
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Whole
school news and information
|
|
Reception
Class
|
Class
1, 2 and 3
|
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Class
4, 5 & 6
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Class
7, 8 & 9
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Today we send out duplicates of the letters informing you of your child’s after school club allocation this year. All clubs start next week so be sure to note when and where you are collecting your child! The clubs were very popular and some have a waiting list, so offers may be updated throughout the year. The list of available clubs is available on the school website. Any parents of children new to school or with any enquiries should contact Mrs Turner to find out about available places.
We also sent out late information about the range of after school music clubs being introduced this year. If your child is keen to begin playing an instrument – or is keen to continue playing their instrument of choice – then please call into the school office where we can pass on some information and put you in touch with Yorkshire Music Education Service, who will be leading the clubs on our behalf.
Football
club returns for another exciting season next Monday 9th September. Children
will need to bring all their belongings to Class 9 at the end of the school day
and get changed there. At the end of the club, children need collecting from
the fire doors outside class 9. All children attending football club MUST have
shin pads and football boots. There are still several places available and if
your child is interested, please see Mr Gamble.
Parent Meetings
At
the beginning of each school year, we invite you to come into school to enjoy a
session alongside your child. This year, parents are invited to join us for a
little bit of mental maths. This is your chance to see what happens in school
in order to embed some pretty fancy mental maths skills! There will also be a follow
on welcome and information meeting with the Key Phase Leader so there should be
no question left unasked by the end of the session! Please make every effort to
come along to these important sessions and find out how you can best support your
child during the coming year. The meetings are:|
Reception
|
Wednesday
11th September, 1pm start.
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KS1
(Classes
1, 2 & 3)
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Tuesday
24th September, 1.30pm (session in class) and 2.00pm (information
meeting in the hall).
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LKS2
(Classes
4, 5 & 6)
|
Wednesday
25th September, 1.30pm (session in class) and 2.00pm (information
meeting in the hall).
|
|
Year 5
(all
Y5 pupils in Classes 7, 8 & 9)
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Thursday
26th September 1pm (session in class), 1.30 pm (information
meeting in the hall).
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Year 6
(all
Y6 pupils in Classes 7, 8 & 9)
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Thursday
26th September 2pm (session
in class), 2.30pm (information meeting in the hall).
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We
really, really hope to see you there! And there endeth Week 1…
Have
a great weekend.
Mrs
Bailey
