More maths observations across school, an AMAZING performance and sensational art work in Class 2 and 3 with Lee Threadgold have made this week extra special for me – and a few others around the building! Lee made a return to school – having shown his talent in much of the work undertaken in last years’ ‘year of the arts’ - in the first of a series of visits arranged in support of our Olympics celebrations later this year. The outcomes in Year 2 were typically magnificent. And much fun was had by both children and adults.
Much Ado
The eagerly awaited Class 8 performance took place on Wednesday of this week, and it was utterly sensational. There was obvious talent on display as the children confidently performed a play they had written which incorporated cameos of the Victorian characters attending the opening night of the Grand Theatre and a brilliant version of the Shakespeare play ‘Much Ado about nothing’. I cannot begin to explain how wonderful the evening was. A thoroughly professional outfit, a superb interval which made the evening really feel like a night at the theatre and dramatic performances worthy of Oscars – Christian Whitley you have a BIG future! The really good news is, after a month of business planning, marketing and plain old fashioned nagging, our talented performers have also made a profit – covering the £150 cost of their performance (costume hire, props etc) and MAKING a £140 profit! I am very impressed, and look forward to hearing how they intend to re-invest their money in the next venture. Miss Fowler is a very talented teacher who has orchestrated an incredibly memorable learning experience for our children. I cannot begin to thank her for her brilliance, but thank you anyway. Learnatics
I have this week met the fantastic young people from across school who have been nominated as this half terms ‘Learnatics’. Each class nominates their own ‘Learnatic’ for their own reasons in recognition of brilliant people all over school. These are people whose class mates recognise just how wonderful they are. I will be lunching with my ‘Learnatics’ on Tuesday and I cannot wait! Well done to these special people – it’s not easy to be nominated: you have to be spotted doing the right thing every single day by 25 class mates.. Garden news
You may have noticed the enormous pile of poo in the school carpark?! That was kindly organised by Mrs Hawkins – thank you! – and her army of willing volunteers who spent a Saturday preparing the garden for the busy Spring season. I am confident things will grow well this year with that lot to help it along...! The children are now attending to the garden in small groups on a weekly basis. Gavin - who joined us only 3-4 weeks ago - was grinning so hard when he saw me today that I thought he was going to burst. The only thing he could manage to say was ‘I love gardening Mrs Bailey’ – having promised me a few weeks ago he wasn’t going to like it at all. The children working in the garden really do have immense fun and really work hard as a team to get the job done. Mrs Hawkins and Mrs Whitley are our ‘Garden Angels’ who make the magic up there – Mrs Whitley on an entirely voluntary basis, which is very humbling. We are very lucky at Cookridge to have such a fantastic community to draw upon. Any other adults who are interested in helping out in the garden for a few hours please let us know. In the meantime, Mrs Hawkins has very cleverly mastered the art of blogging all by herself (!) so you can now follow the garden news live at http://cookridgeschoolgarden.blogspot.com/
Toddler news
Mrs Warrior, one of our Reception parents, has asked me to make all parents aware of the Friday Toddler group at Cookridge Village Hall (
There is no need to book, interested mums (and dads) should just pop in, settle down and enjoy the company. For more information please contact Becky on 0113 2672434 or http://www.cookridge-va.org.uk/mums_&_tots.htm
After school sports clubs
Mr Gamble is currently exploring the range of after school sports clubs we are providing, with a view to extending the range that we offer to our children. We are very interested in offering children sporting experiences that lead to a life long passion, interest and involvement in that sport, and also sports that help our children develop confidence, discipline, teamwork etc. etc. After half term, we have our first assembly visitors into school who will be talking to the children about a judo and martial arts club that will be starting during next half term, and we will begin talking to the children about other clubs they might like. We would also like to hear your views. Please take a few moments to complete the sports questionnaire to help us get these choices right for you and your children. Please return completed questionnaires by Monday 20th February.
Funtime childcare – Unfortunately our February half term holiday cover has had to be cancelled due to insufficient numbers.
Attendance
Our attendance this week was a healthy 96% and is the third week we have had a whole school attendance figure above the satisfactory benchmark of 94% and above our 2012 target of 95.5%. Let’s keep this up! Cookie – our attendance mascot – has spent the week shared between Class 1a and 1b with Miss Golia and Miss Hobson, who both had astounding attendance figures of 99.1% I am looking forward to catching up with Cookie – and his diary – on Monday and finding out what he has been up to this week. We will find out on Monday which class has had the highest attendance and where he will be next week. Please remember, we are legally obliged to make first day contact with the parents of pupils who are absent from school. This is a safeguarding measure to allow schools to ensure all children are accounted for – either safely in school or at home with an adult who knows their whereabouts. Please telephone the school office to notify us of a school absence by 9.30am.
Sickness – Please note: If your child is absent from school with sickness then they must not return until they have had 48 hours clear of vomiting in order to avoid passing the symptoms on to other children and staff.
And finally...
The next Coffee morning will be at 9am on Wednesday 29th February 2012. If you haven’t already, please pop in and say hello. I am still keen to get to know you as soon as I can and am very aware that I have not met many of you yet! Bob in.. You don’t have to stay for the full hour! Have a great weekend.
Mrs Bailey
