Friday 30th September 2011

Today marks my one month anniversary as Head teacher at Cookridge... Unbelievable! As a staff team, we have looked at increasing the ways in which we reward our children for their brilliant behaviour and attitude to learning day after day. We have devised a new positive behaviour policy which will soon see your child allocated to and earning points on behalf of a team. The winning team each term will be celebrated in our weekly achievement assembly and the team with the highest total at the end of each half term will receive a special reward. In addition, children will earn Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum awards for their individual team points and each half term the class will vote for their own champion ‘Learnatic’, all of whom will be invited to a very special lunch date with me. There are so many great things to reward at Cookridge that we felt it only fair that we had more ways to recognise it. I will shortly be sharing a summary of the new behaviour policy with you, and will be publishing the full version to the website as soon as I am able to... Not long now until I can do the ‘big reveal’ on the new website!

Book Fair

This week’s Book Fair has been a rip roaring success. The hall has been jam packed with excited readers before and after school every day this week, which has been an absolute pleasure to see. Altogether, we have sold over £500 worth of books to our little readers - a fantastic figure given the low cost of so many of the books. Thank you to all parents and carers who have supported the Book Fair and encouraged their children to ‘buy into reading’, to Mrs Laycock for organising the event and to all staff who have manned the stalls across the week.

Music Workshop

During my recent round of classroom discussions, the children were asked what they love about Cookridge Primary school. Across every year group in school, the children were unanimous in the thing they love most – the weekly Music Workshop. Each Thursday afternoon, Mrs Thorpe gathers our children in the hall and they have a fantastic time singing their little hearts out, complete with actions, enthusiasm and a certain amount of musicality! This week and last we have been visited by staff from other schools who – not surprisingly – are hoping to learn from the genius that is Mrs Thorpe. It is wonderful testament to Mrs Thorpe’s talent that not only do staff from other schools recognise it, more importantly – so do our children!

Football

The latest update from Mr Gamble, who is doing a great job as our roaming Sports Reporter... The Year 4/5 team won their match at Newlaithes 4-1. Our goal scorers were Mackenzie Turner, Nathan Brown and Dominic Purrell. The team went into the second half 1-1 but our team remained upbeat, positive and focused on the goal to claim a well deserved victory. Man of the match was Dominic Purrell who managed to score two goals on behalf of Cookridge.

The first league game for our Year 5/6 team is next Tuesday 4^th October at Iveson Primary School. Our players are definitely demonstrating their dedication the Cookridge cause!

Parent Governors

The information for the election of a new Parent Governor should arrive with you today. If you would like to put yourself forward for the role, please complete the paperwork – we want to hear from you. It is important that our governing body is represented by all our community members and I can assure you that you would find the role rewarding, interesting and not too time consuming! If you have any questions about what the role may involve, do get in touch.

Friends of Cookridge

A reminder that the first PTA meeting of this school year is on 6^th October at 6pm. This is another way in which you can get involved in enhancing your child’s primary school years, helping the staff and parents of Cookridge to think of interesting and innovative ways of raising funds for our children.

The first school disco this year is on Thursday 20^th October (the last day of the school term for the children, as we are closed for a training day on Friday 21^st). For the low cost of only £1.00, children are offered a DJ, drink and a biscuit. Years 1, 2 and 3 should attend from 3.00 – 4.00, and Years 4, 5 and 6 from 4.00 – 5.00. Y1, 2 and 3 ‘disco goers’ should bring their clothes into school to change into at the end of the school day and should be collected from their classrooms at 4.00.  Thanks to Mrs Willetts and the Friends of Cookridge for organising what is always a super event.

Coffee morning

A reminder that our second coffee morning is scheduled for Wednesday 12^th October at 9am. There was a fantastic turn out at the last meeting, and I am hopeful that we can sustain this level of enthusiasm for a monthly get together. If you didn’t manage to come along last time, don’t let this put you off – there were plenty of biscuits left over! This is a good opportunity for you to meet other parents and chat to Mrs Laycock and myself about things that matter to you. Hopefully, I will be able to get the website available for your review and feedback at the next gathering also!

Key dates this term

Parent Consultations:  18^th/19^th October

Training Day: 21^st October (school closed)
Friends of Cookridge meeting: 6^th October, 6pm
Coffee morning: 12^th October, 9am

Have a great weekend.

Mrs Bailey

Friday 23rd September 2011

Dear Parents/Carers,

Another brilliant week in school! Your children continue to amaze me with their high levels of energy and enthusiasm for their learning and their very chatty demeanour... I am learning new things about your children daily and enjoying this aspect of the role enormously. This week has seen the first of our story time ‘teacher swaps’. Staff all over school have visited another classroom to read a favourite story, much to the delight of our children. Sharing great stories is a great way of continuing to raise the profile of reading in school, get children (and adults!) ‘raving about reading’ and is something we will be doing regularly this year.

Book Fair

We are hosting the Scholastic Book Fair in school from Monday 26^th-Thursday 29^th September. The school hall will be open at 8.30-8.45 and 3.05-3.45 each day so do come along and choose some very good value books with your child.

Hello from Norway!

This week in school we had the pleasure of welcoming three Norwegian visitors into our midst. The visiting teachers were very interested in finding out about the way that we do things at Cookridge and enjoyed their time in our classrooms. They commented upon the wonderful learning environments within our school and were most impressed by our children who were warm, welcoming, chatty and interested in finding out about our visitors and their Norwegian lifestyles. In the next few weeks, we are hosting a visit from a group of Swedish visitors and three of our staff are due to jet off to Slovakia to establish further friendships with teachers and pupils in Slovakia, Ireland and Birmingham. That we are regularly visited by colleagues from all over the world is a huge testament to our reputation for successful International partnerships. We truly are amongst the best of British schools for our work in this field.

Dinner Money Change!

Thank you to all parents for sending dinner money into school on a Monday morning. As I reminded you last week, dinner money costs £1.85 per day (£9.25 per week) for Reception-Year 4 children and £1.90 per day (£9.50 per week) for our Y5/6 children. Many parents are – understandably - sending a £10.00 note to cover the cost of this and this is presenting some difficulty as we are not permitted to keep large amounts of change in school. Can I please ask that you send the correct change wherever possible, or consider sending a cheque either weekly or up to a term in advance, payable to Leeds City Council. Thank you.

Milk Money

All children in Reception, Years 1 and 2 are able to enjoy 1/3 pint of milk daily. Drinking milk as part of the class is something which we encourage. Not only does milk offer obvious nutritional value, ‘milk time’ is often a very sociable time in class. If your child would like milk for the coming year, please complete and return the form which you receive with this letter.

Football

Our Year 5/6 team drew 1-1 with Newlaithes in our first friendly of the season on Tuesday. Man of the match was a tough choice but for his constant work-rate, slick passing, tough tackling and great leadership on the field, Jack Appleyard takes the title this time. Well done to our team for their excellent representation of our school. Our Year 4/5 team will strut their stuff next Tuesday, again at Newlaithes.. The best of luck to them! We also have planned for Friday 30th September a Year 5/6 friendly football match against Brudenell Primary and Queensway Primary on our school field. Please come along and support our team.

Unfortunately, there is no Year 3/4 or 5/6 football club on Monday 26^th September as Mr Gamble is attending a school sport meeting at a local school to find out about further opportunities for us to shine in our sports.

Car parking
Thank you to all parents who are able to master the morning routine, park safely AND get our children into school on time! We recognise that this is not always easy and are exploring ways to support you in parking safely and escorting your family into school. If you might be interested in finding out more about a ‘walking bus’, please contact us and let us know.

Parent Governors

As a vacancy has arisen for a Parent Governor we will shortly be sending out information for the election of a new Parent Governor. Please consider taking up this vital and very rewarding role in school. It is important that our governing body is represented by all our community members who have an active role in leading the school. If you would like to find out more about what this involves, please pop in and have a chat.

Key dates this term

Parent Consultations:  18^th/19^th October
Training Day: 21^st October (school closed)
Friends of Cookridge meeting: 6^th October, 6pm
Coffee morning: 12^th October, 9am

Have a great weekend.

Mrs Bailey

Friday 16th September 2011

Dear Parents/Carers,

Another school week has whizzed by and it’s now beginning to feel like the summer holidays were a long time ago! This week, I have visited each class and had more fun trying to remember the 300 names of the characters that make Cookridge such a wonderful school. I also had the pleasure of holding my first coffee morning as Head teacher and was delighted that so many parents were able to come along, share their ideas and relax with old friends or get to know one another. I will be holding the next coffee morning on Wednesday 12^th October so put the date in your diary and start thinking about the things that matter to you that you want to bring to our attention...

Cookridge Horticultural Show

Last Saturday, Cookridge Primary School’s allotment submitted its first entry to the Cookridge Horticultural Show. The hard work and dedication of our staff, parent volunteers and pupils was recognised when we earned 2^nd prize for our incredible home grown veg boxes, and Class 8 managed to scoop 1^st prize with their art work based on Breary Marsh. The allotment is a fantastic accolade to our school and one which we are keen to continue to develop. Particular thanks to Mrs Hawkins and parent volunteers Mrs Colefax and Mrs Whitley who have ‘gone that extra mile’ in their enthusiasm for this project.

Extreme Readers!

Our Summer ‘Extreme Readers’ competition came to a head on Monday as Miss Fowler proudly announced the winners in assembly. Our children – and staff - read in some weird and wonderful places, including laundry baskets, shed roofs and tree tops and if the photos are to be believed our staff were most often found in the foot of a wardrobe or in the depths of a cave over the summer! Our winners each received a badge and a £10 WH Smith voucher to spend on a prize of their choosing. We look forward to announcing our next ‘Extreme Reading’ Competition and hope that even more of our children choose to compete – you’ve got to be in it to win it!

Let’s Grow

In recognition of our status as a ‘growing’ school, this year our Nursery will be collecting the Morrisons ‘Let’s Grow’ vouchers. If you have any vouchers to donate, please pass on to our Nursery staff or via the office. Thank you.

Open House

Today you receive your first ‘Class News’ of the new school year and I hope that you find the information useful. The upcoming learning I have read about certainly sounds like fun. Please make a special note of the ‘Open House’ sessions each class teacher hosts each week. This is just an opportunity for you to pop into school when you have a moment to have a look at the great things your child has been doing and is a very generous offer on our teachers’ part. My thanks to all teaching staff for being so freely giving of their time to help you to get involved in your child’s learning.

Football
Football club begins on Monday. If your child has joined this year, please ensure they bring all their belongings to Class 9 where they will get changed at the end of the school day and from where you should collect them at 4.10pm. On Tuesday 20^th we will be playing our first sporting event of the year when our Y5/6 travel to Newlaithes to try their luck against the reigning league champions. My thanks to Mr Gamble for organising and manning the event and the best of luck to our little champions!

School Meals
Having eaten school meals alongside our children for the past two weeks, I can honestly say that our dinners offer lots of choice, are of good quality and offer tremendous value for money. A school meal costs £1.85 per day (£9.25 per week) for Reception-Year 4 children and £1.90 per day (£9.50 per week) for our Y5/6 children. Please give 2 weeks’ notice at the school office for a change of dinner option. Can I please remind parents that dinner money should be paid each Monday morning or can be paid half termly in advance if this is more convenient for you.

Friends of Cookridge

Our PTA group are very keen to begin the new school year by welcoming new members to the group. If you have any time to give to this very important aspect of our school, please come along to the first meeting of the year on the 6^th October at 6pm. If you are able to lend your support to the organisation of just one event across the year, it will help our group to flourish and develop new ideas for raising funds on behalf of our children. Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances the Asda bag packing planned for tomorrow, Saturday 17^th September, has been cancelled. We will notify parents as soon as a new date has been arranged.

Key dates this term

Parent Consultations:  16^th/17^th October

Training Day: 21^st October (school closed)

Friends of Cookridge meeting: 6^th October, 6pm

Coffee morning: 12^th October, 9am

Communication with parents

The website developments are well underway and I very much look forward to being able to launch a new look site soon.

Have a great weekend.

Mrs Bailey

Friday 9th September 2011

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome!

What an extraordinary week! Two minutes ago, it was Monday morning and we opened our doors to welcome almost three hundred excited children back into school for the first time in six weeks. Your children have made a brilliant start to the new school year and have clearly enjoyed re-acquainting themselves with friends, both children and adults. May I extend a particular welcome to children and parents who, like me, are new to our school. I hope that your child has enjoyed their first week half as much as I have, and that they have each told you at least one fascinating fact about their first week in their new class.

Communication with parents

From this point forward, there will be a weekly newsletter sent home each Friday. This will be a regular update of school news and events and a vital source of information for you. The newsletter will also be available to view online via the new school blog http://cookridgeprimaryschool.blogspot.com. We are currently upgrading the website, a further portal for information for yourselves and a brilliant learning space for your child. We will be launching this in the next few weeks... Watch this space!

Next week, you will receive your class newsletter which will outline the learning your child will be tackling across the coming term. If you have any questions about this, please contact your child’s class teacher who will be happy to arrange a time to talk.

Our first Parent Consultations of the year will take place on Tuesday 18^th and Wednesday 19^th October. This will be an opportunity to find out how your child has settled into their new class, and also find out about their learning and targets for the year. Appointments will be arranged nearer the time.

If you have not already done so, please provide Mrs Hall or Mrs Hyde in the school office your up to date contact information. It is vital that we are able to contact you in an emergency and we ask you to please be responsible for ensuring that mobile numbers are current. It would also be beneficial for you to give permission for your details to be included on our Parentmail service, as text messages are a great way of communicating urgent information to large groups of parents and one that we will use from time to time. You can only receive these texts if you have given permission. Again Mrs Hall or Mrs Hyde would be happy to help you sign up.

If you need to contact us, you can ring, email us via the website or call in. Your views matter to us, so please share them.

Training Days

School will be closed for staff training on Friday 21st October, Monday 7^th November and Friday 30^th March. Further dates will be notified as soon as they are agreed.

Get involved

We are keen to involve as many of you as possible in shaping the school into the future. To this end, there are a number of opportunities which you are very welcome to make immediate use of...

Next Wednesday, there will be an opportunity to meet myself, Mrs Laycock and – we are hoping! – a number of new parents. Please join us for coffee and biscuits in Funtime after settling your child into school. This will be an opportunity for you to ask any questions, put forward your views for shaping our school and chat with like-minded parents. We hope to see as many of you there as possible and aim to make these a regular date for your diary. Younger siblings are welcome, so come along, if just for ten minutes!

As parents in school, you are all members of the Friends of Cookridge. Our PTA group are very active and are to be celebrated for their organisation of many successful fundraising events each year. Membership is good fun and a great way to get to know other parents and staff. If you would like to get involved, please contact Mrs Willetts or come along to the first meeting of the new school year which will be coming up soon... New members would be a fabulous addition to a great team and we hope to see as many of you there as possible.

Volunteers in school are very welcome. If you are able to offer any time to help out in any way possible please contact the school office to arrange an appointment to meet us and discuss how our partnership can be mutually beneficial.

Reading

This year, a key school improvement priority is centred on reading. We believe there is no greater gift than that of ensuring all our children develop a love of books during their primary years, and take our role in that very seriously. Throughout the year, we aim to invest in new books to support both the teaching of reading in school and to improve the range of books available for your child to borrow from the school library. Next Monday’s assembly will see the outcome of our ‘Extreme Reading’ summer competition. Photos of children reading in bizarre and unusual places have been coming in all week – to our great amusement! Thank you for taking the photos that have made this competition a great success. My thanks to Miss Fowler for being the brains behind this particular initiative and for her inspirational leadership of the reading agenda in school at this early stage. We have lots planned and hope that you join forces with us to bring reading to the forefront of our children’s lives.

Finally, thank you very much for the warm welcome I have received since Monday. I am very much looking forward to the year ahead and hope to meet as many of you as possible during the next few weeks... bear with me as I get to know the many names and faces that make up our school community! If you see me around, please do say ‘hello’.

Have a great weekend.

Mrs Bailey

Monday 5th September 2011

Dear Parents/Carers,

I hope that you and your family have enjoyed your summer holiday and are now looking forward to the year ahead. It is with great pleasure that I introduce myself as the new Head teacher of Cookridge Primary School.  I am delighted to have been appointed to lead such a fantastic school and am already impressed by the dedication of the staff team in their preparation for the new school year. I will work tirelessly to meet the needs of your children so that they continue to enjoy a quality education in a brilliant school in the months and years ahead. My first priority is getting to know you and your children and I plan to spend much of my time doing just that in the coming weeks..

Prior to this position, I have been a teacher for fifteen years and a school leader across two Leeds schools. I have always felt that I have the best job in the world – that of seeing children develop into wonderful young people who can make their way confidently in the world.  As a mother of three young children myself, I fully appreciate the value of a good school which puts the happiness, wellbeing and achievement of children at the heart of every decision it takes. I am passionate about helping every child to aim high and achieve their goal. I am fortunate to be joining an excellent staff team who are clearly fully committed to creating a magical and memorable primary school experience. I look forward to becoming a valued member of your community and believe that, together, we can only make a good school even better in the coming years.

Although I plan to meet as many of you as I can on the playground before and after school in the coming weeks, I appreciate it may take some time to meet you all! If you see me around,  do come and say 'hello'. In addition, next Wednesday 14th September, Mrs Laycock and I will be holding the first of our ‘coffee mornings’ in the ‘Funtime’ room.  We will be able to answer any questions you may have and listen to your ideas for our school community. It is my hope that these become a regular date where we can meet, get to know one another and make plans for Cookridge Primary together. If you are able to pop in and share a biscuit after settling your child into school next Wednesday between 9.00 and 10.0, please do so... Younger siblings are, of course, welcome to join us.

It remains for me to say welcome back to a new school year – it has been great this week to finally have you back and see the school building bustling with excitement and enthusiasm for the year ahead.