Boy, has it RAINED this week!! Across the course of the week, we have doubled the number of indoor play and lunch times that we had had in the previous 4 terms – which tells us something about how lucky we’ve been weather wise so far this year. Despite that, our Reception and Year 1 children visited Yorkshire Wildlife Park to launch their latest topic ‘Out of Africa’. I have to say, the children’s exhilarated faces and excited news as they came back through the doors at 3.30 was life affirming stuff – I felt positively energised from the jet stream of excitement that returned to school, each child with their individual piece of news to share with me about the day... Just wonderful! Memorable experiences like these are a part of the magic of the primary school experience and I am confident that every single one of our 90 children who went on Tuesday were touched by a little bit of that magic this week. My grateful thanks to the teaching team who organised the event and to the army of staff and volunteers who made the day so special – despite the rain!
Teaching and Learning Review
This week, we were visited by our colleagues from Leeds City Council who undertook observations right across school. This ties in with our school wide focus at the moment – to get EVERY lesson into an outstanding place for ALL of our little learners. The process also involved conversations with the children about their school and their learning, all of which feeds into our next push for improvement - what the children think is crucial. The team commented favourably about some of the elements we have been working hard to embed into our lessons – paired work and collaboration, speaking and listening, the children’s heightened understanding of their own learning targets, higher levels of challenge. Given our focus across the year, we are thrilled that they were particularly impressed by the children’s high levels of enthusiasm around reading. We are pleased with the feedback and grateful for the time invested by the local authority to support our journey for improvement. Personally, I would like to take this opportunity for celebrating the fantastic staff team we have at Cookridge. We are very lucky to have a dedicated team of teachers who are ‘going that extra mile’ right now, working together to achieve our goals. It’s a privilege to lead such a dedicated and talented group of professionals. TV Notoriety for Mr Gamble!
It was only a matter of time.. This week, Mr Gamble was asked to appear on TV. It wasn’t Sky Sports who came-a-knocking though (?) but local news networks. On Wednesday – surely the wettest day of the year so far? - Mr Gamble, Miss Carroll and Miss Glendinning took 20 fantastic children down to Millennium Square in Leeds for an Olympic Ceremony to celebrate reaching the milestone of 100 days until the Olympics begin in London. The children ranged from Year 1 to year 6 and were chosen because of their fantastic commitment and dedication to sport both in and out of school. The children were super and a credit to themselves and the school, coping with the pressure of the media and the poor weather. We had a ‘flash’ appearance on Calendar news, and there is more ‘news’ on the school blog... Sports News
The Year 5/6 footballers play their penultimate league game at Adel St John on Tuesday hoping for revenge for the 12-1 defeat earlier in the season, with a win guaranteeing a quarter final place.The Year 3/4 football team kick start their season with a friendly match at Newlaithes Primary next Friday. We will be defending the Leo Jones Trophy soon so this match will be a good test for us!!
The second Judo Club will start on Wednesday. Children involved should get changed in their classrooms and then take everything to the hall where they should be collected at 4:15pm. Those children who have not paid yet for the sessions need to pass payment to Mrs Hyde before the sessions begin. Please speak to Mr Gamble if you have any further questions.
Netball Club have expanded and are now inviting Year 3 and 4 children to join in the fun. If you haven't received a letter but your child wants to join, then please ask them to speak to either Miss Golia, Miss Fowler or Mr Gamble.
Responsible Behaviour - before school
I appeal to all parents and carers to act responsibly during the sometimes challenging morning routine. The parking situation continues to be a source of concern for us, and I would urge more parents to consider walking to school OR parking a short distance from school and walking the last few hundred yards. The difficulty arises from the fact that all parents are trying to park, disembark and escort their children into school within a 10 minute time frame... With 300 pupils – that’s a lot of cars on Tinshill Drive. I am very concerned that a number of our local residents have reported not only persistent parking across their driveways but – more disturbingly – that they have suffered verbal abuse from parents and carers who they have asked to move. Please be considerate when parking in the mornings.My second area of concern lies in the number of children who arrive at school independently – some of them with up to 30 minutes of waiting time. Please be aware that school staff do not supervise the playground before school and the advice we give – in line with LEA guidelines – is that children should be supervised by parents or carers at this time. Concerned parents have also made me aware of a number of incidents where parents have directly spoken to unaccompanied children about their before school behaviour where they have witnessed something not to their liking. I must ask ALL parents to refrain from doing so. If you see something of concern, please make school staff aware so that they are able to manage the situation on your behalf. Parents challenging children in this manner can lead to a ban from the school site for the adults involved and this is not a situation any of us want to find ourselves in. Rest assured, we will take up any concerns you have – so please do not put yourself in this position.
Attendance
Our attendance this week was 94.9% and is this week satisfactory and below our Local Authority attendance target of 95% this year. Please continue to make your child’s attendance at school a priority and ensure that whenever they are fit and well enough to do so, they are in school. Please remember, all requests for holiday in term time will be unauthorised and our Attendance Improvement Partner will be notified of any unauthorised absence of this nature. Overall this year – September to April – 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. Coffee Morning
The next coffee morning will be on Wednesday 2nd May 2012, 9-10. Please come along if you have an hour to spare – it will be good to catch up as it feels like a long time since we last had a chat! Mrs Smith – our new Assistant Head – will also be coming along to this first coffee morning, and we will be looking to gather your views about the curriculum.. What do YOU want your children to be learning in school? If you have a view – come and share it!
Have a wonderful weekend,
Mrs Bailey
