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 13th 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 29th 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 14th 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 21st 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
