To say this was only a
4 day week, we have certainly crammed a lot in! As well as a busy and
productive 4 days in class, we’ve had several meetings to discuss the Trust
proposals, I’ve met with several companies to discuss our Summer plans for the
playground, we had a photographer in school on Wednesday to capture some
fabulous shots for our brand new school prospectus and we’ve had a very special
visitor in school to help us in our endeavour to become the best school in the
country....
Debbie
Hepplewhite: Phonics Royalty
On Thursday and Friday
this week we were privileged to welcome Debbie Hepplewhite into school. Debbie
has worked with Oxford University Press to develop a range of systematic
synthetic phonics resources which we are now using in school. She has also
worked with the Government to advise about best practice and is involved in the
training of hundreds of teachers nationally in this field. This is the third
day that Debbie has spent with us and she observed and gave feedback about our
current phonics sessions, as well as leading model sessions in class – with as
many of our teaching team as we could fit in one room at once! This really has
been the Rolls Royce of training experiences, and we are delighted that Debbie
is so impressed with the determination and work ethic of staff and pupils at
Cookridge that she has asked us to continue to work with her with a view to us
becoming a model school, demonstrating outstanding practice in this field.
Since its launch in January, the synthetic phonics sessions have already had a
dramatic impact on reading and writing across school and we are very excited
about the practical implications of such a simple and effective tool in our
armoury. We all recognise that our aspiration to be exceptional is the first
step in our journey and I feel that we travelled a few extra miles in that
journey with Debbie’s advice and support this week. My thanks to the teaching
teams who entered into the rigorous dialogue and invested a further two hours
of their time in staff training after school – this is not ordinary commitment
we are seeing here, and will lead to great things!
Stephen
Lawrence Award
Last week’s post
brought some fabulous news: we received our Stephen Lawrence Award! The staff
and children have worked very hard towards this accolade for many years, and it
is testament to the calibre of the International School Council and the work
led by Mrs Speak that it was recognised not only by Ofsted but also by the
judges who visited to assess us for the SLA as an outstanding, embedded and
thriving element of our school. Well done to all of those involved in this
achievement, and particular thanks to Mrs Speak who continues to develop
excellent opportunities for our children to develop global understanding.Friends ‘PTA’ Meeting
The next meeting of the Friends of Cookridge will be on Thursday 17th May at 6.30pm. Please come along if you have an hour to spare. We have one further event to organise – the acclaimed Summer Fayre – and it is not too late to get involved this year and form part of the PTA going forward into 2012-13. Events such as these are only as good as the volunteers who come forward to shape them, so please come along if you are able to get involved.
School
Access – Pupils
should enter school each morning via the school playground. Please note
- if the playground gates are open then the doors into school are still open.
Sporting
Dates for the diary:
Monday 21st May Year
5/6 Cricket Competition at Horsforth CC.Monday 28th May Year 5/6 Armitage Cup competition at Calverley Parkside Primary.
Thursday 31st May Year 5/6 Ubunye Cup competition at Ireland Wood Primary.
Trust
Status
On Wednesday, only 11
parents attended the information meeting about the proposal to form a
Cooperative Trust with local schools Ralph Thoresby, Iveson and Ireland Wood. I
appeal to more parents to voice their views on this proposal through return of
the parent questionnaires, available at the office or to download if you have
lost yours. This and further information is available to download on the school
website http://www.cookridgeprimaryschool.org.uk/our-school/trust.php. The views expressed in the returned
questionnaires will form the basis of the Governing Body’s next decision. If we
do not gather parents’ views, then we are likely to assume parents are happy
with the proposals and may – on that basis – move into the next, formal stage
of the process. Please do not miss your opportunity to have your say.
Attendance
Our attendance this week was a fabulous 96.6% and is
again above our Local Authority
attendance target of 95% this year. Overall this year – September to April – we
are at 95.4%. We are aiming to
exceed all expectations this year to achieve 96% If we are able to sustain a
figure of 97% or more over the summer months, it is entirely possible that we
achieve our personal target this year and – more importantly – that our
children are getting the primary school experience they need which is
inextricably intertwined with academic success through to GCSE and beyond.
Please continue to give your child the opportunity they need to succeed by
ensuring they are in school every day.
Jubilee News
Plans for the Jubilee
Celebration are beginning to take shape! We will celebrate this momentous
occasion on Friday 1st June with a ‘street’ party, and all children
are invited to take a special ‘themed’ school meal on this day. Please send payment to Mrs Hyde marked
‘Jubilee School Meal’ by Monday 14th May. Children will participate in a range of activities across the course
of the day – top secret (or unknown?!) at this point – but what we do know is
that you should begin looking for red, white and blue clothing for your child
to wear on the day, and pencil in an hour or two of your time, for we are
hoping to make a bit of a community event of things!
Summer
dates for your diary:
Thursday
24th May: Tempest
photographers in school – class and team photos
Funtime
Club & Pre-School AGM – Community Room @ 5.30
Wednesday
30th May: Coffee
morning
Friday
1st June: Break up for Half term
Monday
2nd July: Meet
the new teacher morning, plus parent meetings @ 3.10
Thursday
12th July: Sports Day
Monday
9th July & Tuesday 10th July: Year 6 Production
Friday
20th July: Year 6 Leavers Assembly, 2pm
Monday
23rd July: Training Day – School
closed
Have a wonderful
weekend,
Mrs Bailey
