Thursday 29th March 2012

Dear Parents/Carers,                                                                 

Whooooosh! There goes another term! This week we ended with a bang, managing to squeeze in our 100% attendance awards, the announcement of our half termly team point winners (the J.K. Rowlings by just 20 team points!), a Learnatics pizza lunch which celebrated the nomination of 12 brilliant learners from across school, an impromptu theatre performance of Aesop’s fables thanks to Miss Fowlers connection with Leeds Grand Theatre, an Easter assembly which announced 12 egg-straordinary creators of phenomenal designs, an Easter bun and biscuit sale, a leavers assembly AND a disco! Phew... No wonder we all need a lie down!

Parent Consultations
It was an utter delight to see so many parents and carers in school this week for the parent consultation meetings. This is such an important celebration of all that your child has achieved and we hope that you found the meetings informative and enjoyable. I would be delighted to take any feedback you may have about how we can make this part of our communication even better – if you have any comments, please email me and let me know your thoughts.

Sport Relief
Our Sport Relief event last Friday raised a great total of £236.00. With Little Sunshines pre-school total of £37.00, the Cookridge community contributed £273.00 in total to this great cause, OR in real terms... paid for 55 children to receive new clothes OR for 27 children to receive counselling in the UK OR provided a meal for 1,365 children living on the streets of Bangladesh OR provided a vaccine for 75 children to protect them against deadly viruses. In our assembly last week, the children were very touched to think that their contribution might affect the lives of children living in the slums of Sierra Leone for whom the task of collecting clean water was a daily ordeal which began at 5am. Last year’s Sports Relief provided clean water for 52,000 people living in such conditions, and they were very proud to contribute to such a fabulous cause. Tellingly, our beautiful Kyla raised her hand at the end of the Sierra Leone clip and simply commented “I didn’t know that people lived like that”. Thank you – your contribution really DOES make a difference to children’s lives, and to your children’s understanding of the wider world.

Sports news
The Year 5/6 team continued their good form in the league with a 4-1 win over Ireland Wood. Despite going a goal down our players never gave up and worked as a team to grab the victory which was thoroughly deserved. Goals from Mackenzie Turner, Jack Appleyard, Robbie Palcios and Elliott Coultas ensured that we move into outright second position in the league with two games left. Robbie deservedly picked up the man of the match award for his goal, two assists and constant work rate up front. Well done to you all!!

Year 3/4 and Year 5/6 Football Club will be on the first Monday back after Easter, the 16th April.

Walking Bus

We are looking to launch our Walking Bus after Easter, and are hoping this initiative will achieve what it has in many Leeds schools – alleviating some of the parking difficulties we face in the mornings. The initial plan is that parents use the parking capacity at the Eyrie pub to drop off their child for 8.20am. Our volunteers will then escort the group into school. If you are interested in your child walking to school with friends in a safe and sociable manner, please complete and return the attached registration form. Please note – children who are not registered will not be allowed to join the bus. If any other parents are able to support the bus, please let me know.

Coffee Morning
The next coffee morning will be on Wednesday 2^nd May 2012, 9-10. Please come along if you have an hour to spare.

Gardening News
Mrs Whitley and Mrs Hawkins are very grateful to those parents who have volunteered their services to undertake the watering and maintenance to our allotment area during the busy coming months. Mrs Whitley will be leading a gardening group for parents on a Wednesday 1.15-2.45pm during the Summer term which will include sharing knowledge and expertise about all things horticultural (she really is a font of all knowledge!) whilst getting on with some of the gardening work, and will also be leading sessions that parents may enjoy, including – for example – how to create hanging baskets that will be the envy of your neighbours! Please let Mrs Whitley or Mrs Hawkins know if you want to come along – or just show up!

Attendance
Cookie – our Attendance mascot – was treated to a whole new summer outfit whilst shopping at Asda last weekend, complete with sunglasses! Enormous thanks to Christian Whitley for taking SUCH good care of our bear – I’m sure he didn’t expect that! Class 8 achieved 100% attendance last week and once again earned the privilege of Cookie for another week, which means that someone in Class 8 gets to take him home over the Easter break... We look forward to reading his diary to see what he has been up to!

This week, we also gave out 100% attendance certificates to all pupils who have been at school every single day since September. We are currently reviewing the attendance policy, which we hope to share with you shortly after Easter. We will be running a special trip for those pupils who maintain outstanding attendance right the way through till the summer and will be talking with Governors to agree the threshold for attendance that warrants such a reward.

Our attendance this week was 95.2% and is again a good attendance figure which sees us exceed our Local Authority attendance target of 95% this year, though slightly down on last week. Overall this year – September to March – we are at 95.3% overall. We are aiming to exceed all expectations this year to achieve 96% - so keep up the great work in getting your children into school every day.

Fond farewells
We have today said ‘goodbye’ to Mr Llewellyn, Mrs Morrison and Mrs Bowers. We wish them all the very best in their next adventure and have very much enjoyed a day of celebration, reminiscence and fond farewells. Thank you to all parents who contributed to collections and joined us in our celebrations this morning. These colleagues will be greatly missed by a very grateful community who unanimously wish them well in the next phase of their lives.

Have a great Easter break – see you all on the 16^th April!

Mrs Bailey

Egg-straordinary Eggs!

We have been inundated with brilliant egg designs this week, all of which are displayed in the hall and are awaiting final judging tomorrow morning! I'm very pleased to have delegated this difficult task to Mr Llewellyn, Mrs Thorpe and Miss Fowler - I think they have their work cut out to choose just ONE winner from every class because the designs are spegg-tacular!

Here are just a few of the entries....

3 little ladybirds sitting in the grass... How very Spring!

Mickey and Minnie Mouse... Very clever indeed!

 Do you recognise this one?!

 A Hawaaian scene..

A genius hamster design - very convincing! I had to touch it to make sure it wasn't alive!!

 A hugely topical and very intricate design! That entire stadium is FILLED with the excited faces of a massive crowd of supporters... Each and every one of them intricately drawn by out talented designer!

 A Harry Potter fan?!

One Direction.. Before they took off to conquer America!

I wonder if this one was created by our Class 6, 7, 8 or 9 children who have been writing Dr Who stories this half term?! A brilliant design...

This one just made me smile.. You cannot do anything but when you see this egg in the flesh!

Well done to all of our talented little creatives!

You ALL deserve to win.. And some of you will.

Fingers crossed!

Friday 23rd March 2012

Dear Parents/Carers,

It has been such a quiet week in school with the majority of our Year 6 pupils and a team of 5 staff up in Buckden for the residential. The children (and staff!) have had a whale of a time – as usual – and have enjoyed many new experiences during their 5 days away from home. We look forward to catching up with them all on Monday – we are pretty sure they will have some tales to tell!

 

Sports Relief
Our children got into the sporting spirit with a fun filled sport-astic day organised by Mr Gamble. The whole school came dressed for action and tackled the first challenge of the day across the morning. Each class ‘ran’ their mile in turn and it took us less than 3 hours to run our 10 whole school miles... Surely a record?! The afternoon was split into a KS2 penalty shoot out and a KS1 circuit of sporting activities, and throughout the day there was also the opportunity for all to complete a quiz... Competing for a free place at our Judo taster sessions! Thanks to Mr Gamble for his superb organisation of a great day with the right mixture of fun and compassion for those we were raising funds to support. We collected a grand total of £276.00 along with Sunshines pre-school. Thank you!


Sports news
Class 8 did Cookridge Primary School proud yesterday as they represented the school at a Tag Rugby Tournament at Yarnbury football club near Trinity and All Saints College. After a 45 minute trek to get there, the team spent the morning training and getting to grips with how to play tag rubgy. This was followed by an afternoon of non-stop matches against a range of teams from local schools. The children were on the go all day and showed great enthusiasm and fantastic team spirit. Elliott Coultas managed a grand total of 15 tries during the tournament, which was possibly a record for the day! Taylor Longden and Husnain Khan struck up a fantastic partnership setting up some amazing runs that lead to a super string of tries. The girls were not to be out done by the boys and showed no fear even when Year 6 boys twice the size of them were charging towards them! Mr Gamble, Mr Morgan and Miss Fowler were very proud of them all and thoroughly enjoyed the day. Well done Class 8!

The year 5/6 footballers take on Ireland Wood in their fourth league match at their school on Monday - good luck guys.. Our trophy cabinet needs YOU! As a result of the year 5/6 match, there will be no year 5/6 football club on Monday but the year 3/4 football club will run as normal.

The first round of the after school judo club is due to come to an end next week, and the children who have attended have very much enjoyed their sessions. Today, letters have gone out to those children who have been given a place at the second judo club, starting on Wednesday 25th April. Please return your consent forms along with the £20 fee ASAP to Miss Hyde in the office, or let us know if you no longer wish to take up the place so that we can offer it to others. Thank you.

 
Y6 Photos

Our Year 6 pupils recently posed for their commemorative ‘leavers’ photo. There is a full size photo on display in the office window, so please take a look if you haven’t already. Please note: orders should be returned by Tuesday 17^th April 2012.

Tesco & Nestle vouchers
We are beginning to collect vouchers for schools (of any nature!) to support our school development plans. If you or wider friends and family members are able to collect Tesco or Nestle vouchers (or any others that you are aware of!) please hand them in at the school office. We will duly spend them to enrich our provision!

School Dinners

This week, our talented lunchtime team produced a Mexican extravaganza on Wednesday. The dinner ladies donned sombreros for the event and much fun was had by all. Next week, the ladies will serve up an Easter special menu and several extra children have signed up for a ‘theme day’ meal as a change from their usual packed lunch – hopefully encouraging more children to opt for the great school meals that are on offer. One of our upcoming theme days includes the Jubilee street party – and we really hope we can get the whole school to sign up for that one! More information coming soon....

Please remember there is a 2 week notice period in term time for changes to your child’s dinner option. Please notify Mrs Hyde of any dinner option changes for after Easter before the holidays.

Attendance
Our attendance this week was 95.5% and is again a good attendance figure which sees us exceed our Local Authority attendance target of 95% this year. Overall this year – September to March – we are at 95.3% overall. We are aiming to exceed all expectations this year to achieve 96% - so keep up the great work in getting your children into school every day.

Headteacher forum

Thank you to those parents who attended the first Head teacher forum this week. It is very important to me that I make the time to listen to the views of the whole school community, and I am grateful to the parents who are making the time to share their views with me, on the doorstep, at the coffee mornings, via telephone or email. All concerns are duly listened to and acted upon, of that I can assure you, and it is also lovely to get feedback on the things that you feel are positive changes to our school. Please come along to the next coffee morning, if you haven't already!

The final week before the Easter break: Key events

Please remember, school is closed on Friday 30^th March 2012 for a staff training day and so the children break up for the two week break on Thursday 29^th, returning to school on the 16^th April.

Easter Eggstravaganza

Please boil up an egg or two and help your child to get creative over the weekend, transforming an ordinary hard boiled egg into a character of their choice. Completed eggs should be brought into school from Monday 26^th – each class will have a winner, and each winner will receive a much coveted Easter Egg on Wednesday!

Easter Bun and Biscuit Sale – Friends event

We will be holding the annual Bun and Biscuit sale on Wednesday. Any donations should be brought into school on the day, and all children will have the opportunity to buy a bun or biscuit for 20p.

Easter Disco – Friends event Thursday 29^th March

KS1 pupils should bring their change of clothes to disco from 3.15-4.15, with KS2 pupils returning to school for the disco 4.15-5.15. Please return consent slips and your £1 to the office before the event.
 

Celebration Assembly

You are invited to join us on Thursday 29^th March at 9am for our assembly to celebrate the parting of Mr Llewellyn, Mrs Morrison and Mrs Bowers after many years of dedication to Cookridge.  There will be the opportunity to join the staff members for a farewell coffee straight after the assembly, organised by our PTA.
 
Have a great weekend.

Mrs Bailey

Jequirity bean alert

We have been asked to make parents aware of the following health announcement.

An alert has gone out for the recall of thousands of beaded bracelets sold in tourist attractions after it emerged they are made from a highly toxic seed. The Eden Project in Cornwall is just one of the vendors which sold the bracelet and is one of 36 retailers urging customers to return the red and black wrist charms.

They are made from the Jequirity bean - a deadly seed of the plant abrus precatorious which contains the toxin abrin, with which contact can be fatal.

Anyone who has a bracelet in their posession is being urged to bag the bracelet, wash their hands (avoiding contact with their eyes) and hand the bracelet in at the nearest police station.

Friday 16th March 2012

Dear Parents/Carers,

This week 3 members of our teaching team have gone to Ireland to meet with colleagues from our partnership schools as part of our Commenius project, we have had artist Lee Threadgold back in school working with our Reception and Year 1 children, a fabulous book day and – as I am sure many of you noticed – mini police officers serving their community. A busy week by any standards...

World Book Day
Today’s book day was truly brilliant and the school was awash with colour, excitement and a whole lot of talking – about books! Your child will today bring home the £1 book voucher which can be used against the value of any book OR used to purchase one of the range of special £1 books produced specifically for World Book Day. Please help your child to spend this voucher and continue to ‘rave about reading’. Thank you to all parents for getting the costumes that made this event a very memorable one for our whole school community.

Next week.... Is Sport Relief day!
Friday 23^rd March 2012 is Sport Relief day, a national event to raise money for good causes. To mark the event, we are having a day of sporting good fun and ask all children to come to school dressed in sportswear so that they can participate in the day’s events. All children are asked for a donation of £1.00 to support the charity and there will be an assembly on the day which makes clear what this day of fun is actually all about – supporting others around the world. As is traditional on Sports Relief day, all classes will be running the ‘Sports Relief’ mile, meaning that across the day we will collectively have run 10 miles in total!

Ireland
Mrs Speak, Miss Hobson and Miss Golia are currently in Ireland. They made their way late Wednesday evening and have a return flight on Tuesday evening, ready to join us and share all their news on Wednesday morning. During the visit the team will visit schools, get to know teachers from all of our partner schools and develop their ideas for the project in school. This project is entirely funded by the EU and is part of the ongoing agenda to ensure our children have an opportunity to learn in collaboration with children all over the globe. This time around, they are even looking into the possibility of leading a trip out to Ireland in the next academic year, which is very exciting indeed! I will share any news/snaps I receive over the course of the week via the school blog http://cookridgeprimaryschool.blogspot.com/

Community Coffee Morning Tuesday 13^th March 2012, 9.00am

This week’s coffee morning hosted by Mrs Riley was a great success and very well attended. My thanks to Mrs Riley for organising this and adding this aspect to our provision for parents. We very much look forward to getting the ESOL classes established and welcoming more members to our community events.

Sports News
The year 5/6 team bounced back from their last match against Adel with an entertaining win against Iveson. A great first half led to a 2-0 half-time lead with Dominic Purrell and Jack Appleyard scoring the goals. We saw off a spirited come back by Iveson to run out 4-2 winners with Dominic scoring a second and an own goal. Man of the match goes to captain Jack Appleyard, a solid and workman like performance in midfield ensuring we won the midfield battle. Brilliant work to all on the field!
 

Parent Consultations

We have allocated appointments to all parents who have returned their slips and you will receive yours by Wednesday of next week. Any parents who do not receive an appointment time should contact Mrs Hall or Mrs Hyde.

Attendance

Our attendance this week was 96.0% and is again a good attendance figure which sees us exceed our Local Authority attendance target of 95% this year. Last October, when Ofsted called, our attendance stood at 94.7% after a period of some improvement. Overall this year – September to March – we are at 95.3% overall and I am pleased with that progress. However, we are still not firmly into a ‘good’ overall category (96%) and so hope we can continue to get this figure up – and optimise our children’s chance of primary school success. Last week, Class 6 won Cookie the attendance mascot.. Well done to them for their impeccable attendance. Thank you to you all for making coming to school every day a priority this year.

Gardening News 
For all willing volunteers – we need you! We are coming up to the busy time in the school allotment, and would invite any parents who are able to offer 30-45 minutes of their morning to water the beds in the garden area to get in touch with Mrs Hawkins ASAP. Your help is desperately needed to ensure a bumper crop this year – if you are able to offer even one morning a week, it will really help us grow the crops that we aspire to.

Mrs Hawkins and Mrs Whitley also launched the Sunflower Competition last week, challenging all our children to grow the tallest sunflower in Cookridge! Entry into the competition is just 20p... and who knows just how tall you can go? We really look forward to seeing Cookridge in bloom! More details are on the Garden Blog and final measurements and judging will take place in September. http://cookridgeschoolgarden.blogspot.com/

Easter Eggstravaganza
This year to celebrate Easter we are inviting all children to decorate an egg! The decorate an egg competition will be judged, and eggy prizes will be given to the most imaginative designs on display in a special assembly on Wednesday 28^th March. Please encourage your child to get thinking about their design – there are LOADS of ideas if you google the subject! – and be ready to hard boil an egg or two to get them going. Completed eggs should be brought into school from Monday 26^th March 2012. Eggsiting times!

Celebration Assembly
As you are already aware, the Easter holiday marks the date on which we lose three very valued members of the Cookridge teaching team. Mrs Bowers, Mrs Morrison and Mr Llewellyn leave us after many years service to the community, and these are not partings we can allow to happen without due celebration of their individual and significant contribution to the school. We would like to invite any parents who wish to join us in our celebration during a special assembly on Thursday 29^th March at 9am. There will also be the opportunity to join the staff members for a farewell coffee straight after the assembly. Any parents who wish to make a contribution to the leavers’ collections are welcome to do so. Please pass donations to Mrs Hall or Mrs Hyde.

Head teacher forums – Wednesday 21^st March – 2pm to 3pm and 5pm to 6pm
Don’t forget, next Wednesday is your opportunity to join me for the first Head teacher forum. This is an opportunity for you to find out more about the areas of priority work that are currently happening in school, and are your opportunity to voice your views. Mrs Smith – our newly appointed Assistant Headteacher – will also be attending the meeting so please come along as it is vital that the school leadership team has a very clear understanding of parental views so that we can plan school developments with your views at the forefront of our minds. Parents should enter school via the school hall – gates will open at 1.55pm for the afternoon session – and you are welcome to attend with younger children in tow... The more the merrier!
 
And finally, a reminder to all parents that Friday 30^th March is a Training Day and school is closed to pupils on this date.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs Bailey

Friday 9th March 2012

Dear Parents/Carers,

Another busy week at Cookridge – I can barely believe it is Friday again! Lunchtimes got even better this week with the arrival of a ‘boom box’ which quickly drew the attention of many across the playground. It was lovely to see such high excitement and dancing across the age range – 4 and 11 year olds alike united in their joy of shaking some moves to Olly Murs and the like! These very inexpensive additions to the playground are making the differences that we hope for, and we are seeing the great pupil experience we aspire to provide extending through this important part of the school day, which is wonderful.

 
Community Coffee Morning Tuesday 13^th March 2012, 9.00am

Next week will see the first of our Community Coffee mornings led by Mrs Riley.  Mrs Riley is doing a sensational job in school, working very closely with the talented Mr El Sayed to improve the work that we are doing to support second language learners across school. Since January, Mrs Riley and Mr El Sayed have started after school pupil clubs and they now hope to extend their offer to support parents in developing their spoken English, too. This is a great opportunity to learn in an informal context, but also to establish friendships with others in the community. If you would like to find out more about the ESOL classes, please come along to the coffee morning and ask! Both Mrs Riley and Mr El Sayed are shining stars amongst the Cookridge team who are working very hard to ensure our little learners achieve magnificent things and they have my personal admiration for the determination, enthusiasm and skill with which they tackle their role every single day.

Mrs Hawkins will also be joining the coffee morning to launch the ‘World Crops’ section of the allotment. We are hoping to extend the range of crops we grow to include fruits and vegetables more common in places a long way away from Cookridge! If you would like to get involved in this project, again please come along to the coffee morning and meet the ladies who are behind this very successful enterprise.

Sports News

5/6 Netball Team Take Off!

The Cookridge Year 5/6 netball team entered their first tournament of the year in style on Monday evening at Trinity and All Saints College. Emma Rushfirth, Lucy Scholes, Amy Clarke, Husnain Khan and Khalid Althobiti were led by their captain Harry Cox and did both themselves and the school proud with their fantastic behaviour and positive attitudes. Despite it being their first match of the season and for some their first netball match ever, they played extremely well and secured two wins, two losses and a draw! The team then came back to practice on Tuesday with a steely determination ready to work hard to get to the next level in their game. We are very proud of them and are looking forward to building on this experience and going from strength to strength!

Our next sporting fixture is on Thursday 15th March when our Year 5/6 team will take to the pitch again. This is a football league match against Iveson Primary and will take place on our school field after school. If you are able to come along and support them in their endeavours, please do so!

 

Mr Gamble has begun exploring the possibility of further after school clubs, including zumba, street dance and dodgeball. He has also managed to persuade the Judo club to come back and do another 5 week introductory session of this fascinating sport. He will contact those who are on the waiting list as soon as possible. My thanks to Mr Gamble for the work that he is doing to breathe new life into our sports opportunities in school. He is currently using the parent surveys to shape how we do things here at Cookridge, and as many parents flagged the lack of provision for KS1 pupils in after school sports, this is a priority area for him.... Proof that telling us what you want really does make a difference!

 

Easter Eggstravaganza Meal option–Thurs 29^th March.

The quality of school meals is very good and over the coming months we are hoping to increase the uptake of this option amongst our children. As part of this initiative, we are pleased to be able to offer ALL CHILDREN the option of joining us for special ‘theme day’ menus, on a one off basis.

 

The first of our theme days is an Easter Eggstravaganza! If your child would like to try school meals on this occasion, please send dinner money (£1.90 for Year 5/6 pupils, £1.85 for Reception to Year 4 pupils) in an envelope clearly marked Easter Eggstravaganza to Mrs Hyde by Wednesday 14^th March. Thank you.

World Book Day!

Please remember that on Friday 16th March we are celebrating World Book Day at Cookridge and would like all children to come to school dressed as their favourite book character. We would also ask that all children bring a copy of a favourite book as this will be used for our Cookridge 'sit-in and read' assembly and for work in class. We are all very excited about a day celebrating books and appreciate your support in this!

NEW BOOKS NEW BOOKS NEW BOOKS NEW BOOKS!

Phase 2 of the banding of the new home-school reading books took place this week and we'd like to say another thank you to those parents who have helped with this! We are very close to getting these gorgeous new books into classes and then into homes. Please keep a look-out for an information letter for parents that will be given out soon to explain the changes in the home-school reading books and how you can support your child with reading at home. These are very exciting times for reading at Cookridge.

 

Attendance

Our attendance this week was 96.4%. Again, this is a pleasing figure and sees us exceed our target figure for the year. Last week, Reception won Cookie the attendance mascot and I am certain he has had a wonderful week in Reception. Keep it up everyone – we CAN get better at coming to school every single day!

Punctuality

Please note that registration takes place in classes at 8.45am promptly and it is important that your child is in school at this time. The classroom doors will close at 8.55am, and any pupils arriving after this time should be escorted into school via the school office in order that their attendance can be recorded accurately and your child’s safety guaranteed. Please DO NOT drop children off on the roadside at this time and expect them to make their own way into school, as the playground is not supervised by school staff before school.

Head teacher forums – Wednesday 21^st March – 2pm to 3pm and 5pm to 6pm

Please make a date in your diary to attend one of these informal meetings where I will share school news, updates and developments. I will also answer any questions parents may have, and hope to take your feedback about the last six months, as well as your hopes for the next six.

And finally, thank you to all parents who have returned their parent consultations slips. We are busy collating this information and will share appointment times with you very soon. If you haven’t already done so, please return your slip this week.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs Bailey

Did they find their way, Lewis?

I was delighted by Lewis Bird's news this week - two guinea pigs should by now be tucked up in bed... a brand new hutch in a brand new home! Lewis has re-homed the hairy creatures, and I am certain that they will be very loved by their new family. Lewis has been very excited about their arrival this week, and has done all the necessary research to be the right kind of parent.

This snapshot of the information leaflet he has produced to capture everything he has found out about guinea pigs since he got the wonderful news that he is getting two of his own tells its own story..

Those guinea pigs are going to wonder why it's taken them sooooo long to find you, Lewis! If you have a few minutes, send me some photos so we can see your lovely new family here!

baileys06@leedslearning.net

Comic Book Capers!

Tom Gill and Harry Cox proudly presented their comic book to me this week... And do you know what? It was good! These lads have taken every thing they know about comic books from years of reading them and poured all that expertise into their own productions.





Great stuff boys - great to see you working together to achieve magnificent things! The boys are producing comics together in their own time - and if these snaps are anything to go by, they have a BIG future in the field!

Slapped Cheek Syndrome

Just a brief note to let you know that we have a number of cases of 'slapped cheek syndrome' in school. This is an infectious condition caused by a virus called Parvovirus. The symptoms in children are mild flu-like symptoms which may occur prior to the classic symptom of a red rash to the face. It is most infectious before the rash appears until the onset of the rash.. so once the rash is out there is no need to keep your child off school, providing they are well enough to attend.

This is a mild virus which children often have without parents even being aware of it. Slapped cheek, however,  can be harmful to pregnant women so please be aware of its presence in school.

Friday 2nd March 2012

Dear Parents/Carers,

Another fabulous week in school. We have, this week, been visited by very important people – those judging us for the Stephen Lawrence Award. This Award – should we be successful in achieving it – is fantastic recognition for the many years of work invested by the school towards creating a culture of equality and global understanding. As Ofsted recognised, Cookridge really are at the forefront of what is happening nationally and internationally in this field, and we are very hopeful that – when we do get the letter in a few weeks from now – we are sharing some very good news! The visitors in school were absolutely blown away by the quality of work happening in school and commented very positively about the level of passion and enthusiasm that was evident amongst the children and staff whom they spoke to as part of the judging process. The children involved really were incredible ambassadors for our school... Fingers crossed! 

Amazing things in Class 1!

I am staggered by the quality of the WRITING the children in Class 1 are producing! This week, I was visited by several of Miss Golia’s writers who very proudly showed me their story writing, based on the fabulous ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ book. Zak described his journey to his magical land.. “A private sweet car pulled up and the engine was made out of cotton candy and the horn was made out of marsh mellow...”  Raj’s descriptions as his character arrived in the magical land were beautiful.. “It was so steaming that Raj had to walk on his toes and some camels pulled up. He hopped on. The camels were sparkling with stars because it was night.” As soon as Lilly arrived in her magical land, she spotted the fact that “Flower birds zoomed in the sky. The flower birds swooped into the chocolate. Chocolate drops dropped from the sky and splashed on the bubbles.” And Summer noticed “There was a trail of chocolate in the white snow which led me to a private chocolate sleigh with chocolate huskies. It climbed mountains and went round bendy corners. It went bump, bump, bump and took me to where the wild things are”. I am constantly amazed by the enthusiasm for writing our young writers present. Rightly so, they were SO PLEASED AND CONFIDENT about their writing that they spoke about wanting to be writers when they grow up. I told them that’s what I hoped to be, too, when I grow up! With talents like theirs, they really should keep that dream! Well done, Miss Golia and the Year 1 team for inspiring great things!

Book news
This week’s ‘Book Banding’ fest was supported by some very dedicated parents who stickered and stamped for all they were worth. Thank you to them all. Mrs Harrison even came back yesterday for a few more hours – now that’s dedication for you! The new books will be an established part of the home reading scheme very, very soon and we will be very proud to share these fabulous resources with you – we know you will love them!

Advance notice of the need to find a costume!!

On Friday 16^th March we will be holding a BOOK FESTIVAL. In celebration of the best books in the world, we are inviting all children (and staff!) to choose a favourite book character and dress up as them for the entire day!!!! Miss Fowler is thinking through the finer details of the day-long event and we will be sharing that with you next week... I don’t know much - but I know it will be a great day!

Sports news

Judo kicked off with a vengeance this week! The children were very enthusiastic about their first session and their laughter could be heard a long way away from the hall as they got to grips with some of the basics. Mr Gamble is in the process of trying to secure a second 5-week session to commence after Easter for those children currently on the waiting list.

Last night our Year 5/6 Football team played their first league home game of the season against champions Adel St John. Despite defending doggedly and tackling furiously, we succumbed to a 12-1 defeat with Jack Appleyard scoring an over-head bicycle kick with his left foot. The Man of the Match award goes to Faisal. Despite the score, he never gave up and was sweating buckets at the end, well done!

A reminder to our Netballers that Monday 5th March is the Year 5/6 Netball Competition at TASC. Good luck guys!
 
Walking Bus news
We are getting very near to launching our ‘Walking Bus’ in an effort to alleviate some of our parking difficulties and encourage children to walk to school in a safe but sociable way. We have had our visit from Mr Sadler at Leeds City Council, have planned the route and are awaiting the necessary CRB checks on our willing volunteers. The walking bus will set off each school morning from The Eyrie pub on Holtdale Approach. This provides a good ‘drop off’ point as the landlord has kindly agreed that we can use his car park. Children can arrive (and be left with our very generous volunteers) from 8.20am and the bus will set off at 8.30am promptly. Please note – any child joining the walking bus can only do so if they are registered. We will be sending out the registration forms to any interested families very soon and aim to get the walking bus launched after the Easter holidays. If you are interested, please let us know by calling into the office or emailing baileys06@leedslearning.net . Any parents who are able to ‘lead’ the bus in partnership with our other volunteers – we are also keen to hear from you! Enormous ‘thank you’s’ to Mr and Mrs Land and Mrs Colefax who will be leading the walking bus on its maiden voyage and whose determination to see the bus get going has been the driving force behind the fact that it is, indeed, coming soon!

Attendance

Our attendance this week was 96.7%. This is a great improvement on recent weeks and sees us back into a good position and above our target figure for the year. Thank you to all parents who are helping us to achieve our improving position in this area – your efforts really are making a difference. Last week, Class 1b won Cookie the attendance mascot AGAIN! Let’s see who it will be this week...

Coffee morning – NEXT meeting 9am on Wednesday 18^th April

This week’s coffee morning was a lovely event. We are now beginning to get a good number of parents coming along and a small number of little people who are using the hour to make new friends!

 Head teacher forums – Wednesday 21^st March – 2pm to 3pm and 5pm to 6pm

The Head teacher forum meeting is an informal information and discussion meeting in which I will be sharing news of the things that are happening in school, including post Ofsted developments and measures taken to establish consistently calm and purposeful behaviour in school. This is a matter that I am keen to discuss with parents as it is crucial that we create the kind of community we want for our children together – so your views are a very important part of our shaping the future agenda. Please come along to one of the parent meetings and voice your aspirations for the future of our school.

Dog Fouling – Will parents bringing dogs to school please  act responsibly and clean up any ‘poo’ deposited by their animals.

 
And finally, this week you are receiving letters for parent consultations to be held during the final week of this half term. Please return your slips giving your preference for an appointment time as soon as possible so that we can get ourselves organised! We really look forward to seeing you there.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs Bailey