Friday 28th February 2014

Dear Parents/Carers,

What a truly fan-tab-lous first week back we’ve had! I’m gutted it’s Friday already! It’s all been going on…

 

Books, glorious books!

What a fantastic start book week has been to the half term!  Children across school have been buzzing this week as they've explored their focus book through exciting reading, writing, drama, science and art activities.  Reception children have been writing their own endings to Oliver Jeffers' book, Lost and Found which even included the main penguin meeting One Direction to make him more happy! Key Stage 1 have been captivated by the beautiful pictures and story of the Whales Song and wrote some stunning letters and prepared gorgeous gifts that they would send to the whale.  Children in years 3 and 4 let their imagination's go wild when they created their own weird and wonderful medicines using a bizzare cocktail of ingredients inspired by Roald Dahl's, George's Marvellous Medicine. They followed this up with some incredibly written diary entries describing the day they gave the medicine to their evil relative with explosive effects!  Finally, years 5 and 6 enjoyed a magical picture book called FaRther producing some first class writing and art work inspired by the stunning artwork in the book!  It all culminated today with a fantastic show by  West End Musicals in Schools which brought together characters and themes from the books we've been working on!  What a week!  But it doesn't stop there as we have an author visiting school on Monday. Simon Higgins will be sharing some of his books and experiences as an author in an assembly and then working with a group of children from local schools on a creative writing project. Simon will be selling his books for £2.99 after school on Monday in the hall so please come and meet him. You can look up his latest book Moon Shadow, Eye of the Beast!  Watch this space for details of our forthcoming Book Fair event too.......we just love books at Cookridge!

 

Friends

Our fantastic Friends PTA group met last night to make plans for the half term ahead. There are plenty of events to add to your calendar this half term, with a Mother’s Day sale planned for the week leading up to 30^th March, the Easter disco on Thursday 3^rd April and our annual Easter Egg competition which will be happening during the final week of the half term… So get thinking! More news, soon! So far this year, Friends have raised over £5000 and we are near to our £8000 target for new playground equipment. That is simply incredible AND we’ve had some fun along the way! The next Friends meeting is scheduled for 6.30pm on Thursday 27^th March and we will be planning an exciting new event, coming in May – mysteriously titled “The Cookridge Challenge Night”. If you want to get involved in planning a fun, family event please come along.

 

Sports News

The KS2 Ultimate Dodgeball Tournament on Tuesday was a huge success with the drama rumbling throughout school! We had some fantastic games and a great atmosphere was created by all pupils - the noise from people cheering was deafening at times! Huge congratulations to Class 5's Yellow Team who were the winners of the LKS2 competition. They played a 4 game thriller against Class 6's Yellow Team who gained 2nd place. In UKS2 the winning team were Class 9's Yellow team and they played Class 8's Blue team in a tense final.
The sponsorship money raised so far has been outstanding; with one pupil in UKS2 managing to raise over £100 for the British Heart Foundation and school sports equipment! Thank you to all parents/carers who have supported their children through this event. A reminder that all sponsorship forms & monies collected should be put in an envelope with your child's name and event name by Friday 7th March and handed in to the class teacher or school office.

 

On Wednesday, 10 children from Year 5/6 went to St Marys to compete in a Y5/6 Tri Golf competition against other local schools. The event was split into different activities which included putting and chipping and on each activity there were points to be scored. After over an hour of shot making and point scoring, Cookridge managed to come third in the final standings which is an incredible achievement for our first time entering this competition. Well done to Jake Smithson, Essay Belay, Liam Jones, Nathan Brown, Mackenzie Turner, Millie Lucey, Sophie Russell, Willow Driscoll-Duke, Kaceylee Reynolds and Lily Coultas. Special mentions must go to Lily who stepped in at very short notice and to Mrs Turner for her excellent photography skills. The pictures are available to view online on the school sports blog, www.cookridgeschoolsport.blogspot.co.uk/

Y5/6 Football- The school football team continue their league campaign next Tuesday on the school field with matches against Adel St John and Holy Trinity. If you can spare some time, please go and cheer on the boys!

 

A final PE note re: kit. Please can ALL children have a suitable pair of trainers for their PE lessons (white soles if possible) and please don't forget socks! This has proved a problem this week with girls who come to school in tights. We don't want anyone getting blisters!

 

Attendance

We keep on coming to school at the minute and we are perilously close to our 96% target! Next week, the local cluster of schools is once again running it’s “Give it 100%” event, with all pupils who attend school every day during the month of March being entered into a prize draw which includes movie tickets for the whole family. With attendance like that below, I have a feeling a good number of our pupils will be in with a chance of winning! It’s an exciting Class 5-6 draw again this week…. Well done, guys and keep it up!

 

National Minimum ‘Good’ Expectation			Target 2013-2014		Attendance this week 13/02/2014-26/02/2014					Year to date 04/09/2013- 26/02/2014
95%			96%		96.7%					95.9%
Class attendance figures for the W/E  26/02/2014
Rec A	Rec B	Class 1		Class 2		Class 3	Class 4	Class 5	Class 6		Class 7	Class 8	Class 9
92.3%	92.7%	96.3%		96.7%		98.0%	95.5%	99.3%	99.3 %		97.2%	98.2 %	97.0%

 

Have a wonderful weekend,

 

Mrs Bailey

Friday 14th February 2014

Dear Parents/Carers,

Happy Valentine’s Day! It has been a cold, wet, blustery week and I’m certain we are all looking forward to a few days without the school run next week – fewer opportunities to get cold and wet. I’m due to sail to Ireland on Saturday….. Wish me luck – force 10 gales, three kids, two dogs and ferries do not necessarily make the best combination!  

 

Movie Night

This week’s Friends event was a great success – thanks to all who came along and enjoyed the show, the tuck shop and just the atmosphere of being together in school late at night… The next big event is the Easter disco, so watch this space and be sure to get your tickets soon after half term.

 

Medicines in schools

May I please draw all parents’ attention to the Medicines in schools policy which is available to view on the school website http://www.cookridgeprimaryschool.org.uk/parents/policies.php. This policy is devised following Leeds City Council’s Health & Safety teams advice and is in line with all other Leeds schools. Of particular significance for all parents are the following facts:

 

Only prescription medication can be administered by school staff, and only where the required dosage is four times a day. Medication required three times a day should be administered by parents outside of school hours.

 

Painkillers such as paracetamol (including Calpol) or ibuprofen and over the counter remedies (e.g. piriton/cough medicines) must not be brought in to school and will not be administered by school staff. This includes e.g. Calpol issued on prescription.

 

Medicines must never be brought into school and passed to staff via the pupil. All parents who have any medication requirements must report to the school office and complete the necessary parental agreement forms.

 

Pupils who require medication for life long illnesses must have a personalised care plan. Parents are asked to contact Mrs Turner if there are any updates to the care plan so that she can discuss how best to achieve the update as quickly as possible.

 

The policy is in place to ensure that school based staff are only asked to administer medication where there are no other options and a child’s health will be affected if the medicine is not administered. Parents are, of course, welcome to attend school within the school day and administer medicines themselves.

 

Book Week

We are going to get next half term off with a bang as we immerse ourselves in a good old book week. Each key phase in school will enjoy all kinds of activities linked to their chosen book. That’s nothing unusual nowadays, as we always seem to have our head in a good book BUT this particular week will then culminate on Friday with a very spectacular musical theatre production based on all four stories being used across school. The stars of the show are real-life West End actors and actresses and we cannot work out quite how they will weave four stories together with music and songs but we honestly cannot wait to see it!

 

Ultimate Dodgeball Tournament

On Tuesday 25th February all KS2 pupils (classes 4-9) will take part in the Ultimate Dodgeball Tournament to raise money for the British Heart Foundation & our school. Every child has received a sponsorship form to raise money so we would greatly appreciate parents helping their children to find sponsors. All sponsorship forms & monies collected should be put in an envelope with your child's name and the event name by Friday 7th March and handed in to the class teacher or school office. Then, let battle (on the court!) commence….

 

PE kit

As the quality of sport in school continues to rise, it is essential that your child has the right kit with them in order to take advantage of the fantastic opportunities on offer. It has always been our recommendation that PE kit is brought into school each Monday morning and taken home for washing on a Friday night – thus ALWAYS ready for action throughout the school week. Whilst we try to make it available, pupils do not enjoy wearing ‘spare’ PE kit and it is seldom the right size/fit! Please note – we are also looking to ensure that suitable sports trainers are always used for PE, as Mrs Wood has convinced me that the benefit of good footwear to the athletes in our school is too good to ignore… Please help us ensure your child has access to top quality PE by providing the following kit each week:

 

Indoor kit:

Plain navy blue shorts, a plain white t-shirt and sports trainers with white soles if possible NOT plimsolls/pumps. Black trainers with black soles can leave marks on our school hall floor that are very difficult to remove. Girls can wear skorts if they wish.

 

Outdoor kit:

Blue/black jogging bottoms, plain white t-shirt, and a plain blue/black jumper/fleece. Children are allowed to wear full tracksuits as long as they are suitable and again children must wear their sports trainers as stated above NOT plimsolls/pumps for outside.

 

Attendance

Wowsers!!! A fantastic week, attendance wise with an incredible 100% by Class 1 and Class 9’s 99% both boosting the week’s figure to a cracking 97.2%, and the year to date figure is up another 0.1% Can we get back to 96%, this year? I’m seriously thinking if we can, as a school community, achieve that incredible feat through some cracking attendance between now and July, we will celebrate our achievement with a host of Bouncy Castles up on the field for the day… How about that?!  I will book the sunshine now and organise the castles nearer the time! Keep up the excellent work – and well done, Class 1… We salute you!

 

National Minimum ‘Good’ Expectation			Target 2013-2014		Attendance this week   6/02/2014-12/02/2014					Year to date   04/09/2013- 12/02/2014
95%			96%		97.2%					95.8%
Class attendance figures for the W/E  7/02/2014
Rec A	Rec B	Class 1		Class 2		Class 3	Class 4	Class 5	Class 6		Class 7	Class 8	Class 9
95.4%	93.6%	100%		98.3%		97.9%	96.6%	98.3%	96.0 %		96.2%	96.6 %	99.2%

 

 

There is no training day after half term so we return to school on Monday 24^th February. Have yourselves a WONDERFUL half term and I will see you all, bright and breezy next Monday.

 

 

Mrs Bailey

Friday Golden Time...

A quick trip around school this afternoon and it was allllllll going on! Friday's Golden Time is fun, fun, fun with children everywhere up to their necks in doing what they fancy in the company of good friends. I spotted these two lovely lads had carefully constructed this model by balancing (not fixing) ALL those unifix cubes, one by one. That is some serious patience, right there.... The good news? I didn't sneeze and boy was I glad! Nice teamwork, boys.

Friday 7th February 2014

Dear Parents/Carers,

Only five school days until the next holiday and I think the children are feeling it as much as the staff! It’s been a long, dark, cold, wet January and we are all yearning for some daylight and dry days! Keep on coming for five more days and then we can all have a few lie-ins!

 

A friendly warning!

This week, after a gruelling Monday on the chalk face, I arrived at my car in to find a parking ticket firmly attached to my windscreen. My offence was to park adjacent to a dropped kerb on Tinshill Drive – a mistake that was to cost me £35.00! I’m flagging this not because I am proud of my ignorance (I genuinely had no idea that parking adjacent to a dropped kerb which doesn’t block entrance to a drive WAS an offence) but to make all parents and carers aware of this. This particular dropped kerb is not marked in any way, rests between two dropped kerbs which allow access to driveways and is easy to overlook.  I am aware I’m not the only person who has secured themselves a fine this week, so be careful out there!

 

Mrs Hawkins

Mrs Hawkins has been our ‘Community Queen’ and guardian of the allotment for many a year, working with children on arts projects, community projects and gardening. She has scaled heights and tunnelled low in caving expeditions and zip wires accompanying residential visits on many occasions, and was one of the team who flew over to Ireland on our first ever International residential in 2012.  All children involved have loved their time with Mrs Hawkins and have even won prizes for the fruits and vegetables they have managed to nurture up there on our allotment. Mrs Hawkins will, sadly, be leaving us next Friday. We wish her all the very best in her future and we heartily thank her for everything she has given to the children at Cookridge.

 

Better Leeds Community

Andy Brown has been in touch to highlight the work being done in the area to create a better community in our area. Andy has been working for Leeds City Council’s Better Leeds project since mid-November as a neighbourhood community organiser and is out and about, door to door, listening to local residents' views on what's good  about the area ,along with learning of any issues, concerns and ideas for improvement, including to services. The aim is to bring more people together in conversation to find a voice to influence and contribute positively to their area. He aims to connect people and help groups of local people with setting up and developing any projects, events and campaigns that arise from the listening research. Andy will be at Monday’s coffee morning to introduce himself or can be contacted via andyb@betterleeds.org.uk if you wish to share your thoughts.

 

Sports News

We’ve chalked up two wins this week as our pupils have represented us in both Dodgeball and Football! Wednesday’s Dodgeball match against Horsforth St Margaret’s was quickly followed by the Year 5/6 football team’s performance,  continuing their impressive start to the league campaign with a hard fought 4-3 win over Adel St John yesterday. It was hard work in the mud but Cookridge put in a great team effort, determination and wanted the win more than the other team. The goals came from Liam Jones (1), Mackenzie Turner (1) and Cobie Hey (2). A special mention to Sam Appleyard who played his first game for the team and did incredibly well but the man of the match was Cobie Hey for his two goals which won us the game. Well done to all you boys, we are currently top of the league!

 

 

Attendance

Another solid week, attendance wise, is brilliant news overall. It is plain to see the children are flagging and I am sure they are all looking forward to the lie ins that are inevitable during the impending holiday – keep encouraging them to keep it going for five more days before we can all re-charge!

 

Class 1 have surpassed the rest this week, securing 98% attendance and bagging Bourbon for the week ahead – congratulations Class 1! 

National Minimum ‘Good’ Expectation			Target 2013-2014		Attendance this week 30/01/2014-05/02/2014				Year to date  04/09/2013- 05/02/2014
95%			96%		95.8%				95.7%
Class attendance figures for the W/E  7/02/2014
Rec A	Rec B	Class 1	Class 2	Class 3		Class 4	Class 5	Class 6		Class 7	Class 8	Class 9
94.6%	89.6%	98.0%	97.0%	97.6%		97.6%	96.3%	96.3%		95.5%	94.1%	95.2%

 

Punctuality

Parents who, from time to time, have arrived at school after 8.55am will be aware that pupils must then enter school via the main office and are asked to sign their children in via the signing in system. This is obviously crucial from a pupil safeguarding point of view, as registers have been completed and returned to the office by this time each day and the signing in system records your child’s presence in the building. It is a concern that there is such a high volume of late entrants into school. I fully appreciate that there are occasions in all our lives when late arrival at school is a fact of life - however it is a worry if a pupil is late more often. Given school timetabling and routines, please be mindful that a pupil who is late may well miss the same session on all occasions they are late – an acute issue as that session is likely to be a core area. There is a direct correlation between persistent lateness and lower levels of achievement in those areas and that learning missed will never be repeated. Lessons start promptly at 8.45am in order to meet statutory learning times expected by the government and to give your child their best chance of success – please be on time.

 

Next week

Remember there are NO after school clubs running next week as it is the final week of term. All clubs will be back from Monday 24^th February, including football which makes its return after the winter break.

 

Friends

Don’t forget it’s Friends Movie Night next Wednesday 12th February at 5.00pm. Pupils must be accompanied by an adult and should enter school via the hall or the Class 5 entrance at 5.30pm. Pupils should enter school via the hall. Remember to bring your pocket money for the Tuck Shop! I’ve got mine…

Next Friday its Valentine’s Day BUT I’m not expecting any cards! It is, however, non-uniform day. All pupils who come in their own clothes and make a voluntary contribution to our Friends pot will be entered into a special prize draw which will be drawn in assembly that day. It is also our themed lunch day so if you have booked a one-off school meal, don’t forget you won’t need a pack-up that day…

 

Coffee morning

I’ve got the kettle on and tea will be brewed and coffee poured on Monday 10^th February from 9-10. Come along to the Beehive if you have any thoughts, ideas, good news or concerns you would like to share. See you then!

 

Have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs Bailey