Dear
Parents/Carers,
This
half term has started as it will no doubt end.. Busily! We have lots to do in
our end of year ‘business’ and plenty to do in preparation for our September
start! Next week will see the final end of year assessments complete our
Teacher Assessment picture for this year, and all the teachers are very busy
completing highly personal reports for your child which will include clear
information about their attainment and progress this year. Reports will be home
with you on Friday 13th July. But let’s not dwell there: there is
still much fun to be had between then and now! Our Reception and Year 1 pupils
have this week begun their topic entitled ‘It’s a gardener’s world’ and have
been captivated by Fairies! Absolutely brilliant to see girls AND boys absolutely
mesmerised by this mythical creature, and the Fairy Gardens
Jubilee – tastic!
Friday
1st June – our final day of last half term – was a brilliant day,
worthy of additional mention. It really was wonderful to welcome parents and
grandparents into school to share the afternoon with us, and I am very grateful
to all parents and grandparents who came along and bore with us as we made last
minute amendments to the program to host an indoor outdoor event! Greg
Mulholland – local MP – also attended, and his tweet about our work on the
Queen’s knickers led to an impromptu visit by the Calendar news team. As a
result, some of our children actually featured in the evening’s news broadcast
about Jubilee celebrations across the region! A very exciting end to the term –
and the children’s rendition of ‘Land and Hope and Glory’ was a truly fitting
end to the day.
Year 6 – mini parliament
Today,
Year 6 had a special visit from Greg Mulholland. Greg has made 3 separate
visits to Cookridge in recent weeks, and it is wonderful to see our local MP so
actively engaged in the business of local schools, especially ours! Today, he
was conducting a ‘mini parliament’ for our Year 6’s ahead of their visit to
London next week, where the lucky travellers actually make a visit to the
Houses of Parliament and get to see first hand many of the things they have
learned about today. We are very grateful to Greg for giving us so much of his
time of late – although rest assured we are not trying to influence your
child’s political stance in any way!
Meet the teacher – date for
your diary
In
the next few weeks, I will be informing you of your child’s class teacher for
the coming school year. There is a ‘transition’ morning on Monday 2nd
July where your child will spend the morning with their new classmates and new
class teachers. This year, there will also be an opportunity for you to come
into school at the end of the school day to see your child’s new classroom and
meet the class teacher, as well as picking up some key information about some
of the ‘housekeeping’ next year. Please make every effort to be available to
come to these meetings, as it is a great opportunity to get your bearings ahead
of September and support your child in making a smooth transition into their
next class.
Trust
update
The Governing Body convened an
extraordinary Governing Body meeting on Wednesday to consider the outcome of
the consultation process and agree the next steps. Given the largely positive
support for the formation of a Cooperative Trust with local schools, the GB
agreed to proceed to the next stage of the process and a statutory notice will
be published in the Yorkshire Evening Post on Monday 18th June. Please note -
this does not mean that the process is complete and a final decision will be
made following this second - and wider - consultation when this 4 week process
ends.
Friends of Cookridge
A
reminder that the PTA Summer Fayre is coming up soon, and we hope to see you
all at the Fayre on Saturday 30th June, 2-4pm. As ever, there will
be fantastic range of stalls and attractions and we are confident that you and
your family will have a great day. The monies raised at the Fayre will be used
to invest in what we hope will be a great new playground development installed
over the Summer. Can any parents who are not intending to buy recently
distributed raffle tickets please return unwanted books into school, as we are
desperately short!
Sports News
Yesterday
8 children and Mr Gamble went to Horsforth CC to compete in the Leeds Drax
Cricket Competition. Despite great team-work and determination, we sadly didn't
qualify for the finals. There were some notable performances from Harry Cox,
Holly Pemberton and Husnain Khan, who hit 3 sixes and bowled extremely well in
every match. The children were a credit to the school as they never gave up and
willingly shook hands and applauded the opposition teams at the end of the
match.
Today, children from Reception-Year 5 have taken home a letter regarding our very exciting range of brand new after school clubs next year. With this comprehensive program of after school sports clubs, we aim to introduce our children to new sports that we’re hoping will inspire a new hobby or interest far into the future. Please take the time to read the letter and discuss the options with your child. Once decided, please complete the form and return to either Mr Gamble or the school office. If you have any queries about the clubs then please see Mr Gamble as early as possible or use the new school sport blog http://www.cookridgeschoolsport.blogspot.co.uk/ to leave a message or offer any feedback.
Summer Sporting Dates For The Diary:
Monday
18th June- Key Stage Two Football Club.
Tuesday
19th June- Key Stage Two Netball Club.
Thursday
21st June- Year 5/6 Football Competition, Ubunye Cup match @ Ireland Wood
Primary.
Monday
25th June- Key Stage Two Football Club.
Tuesday
26th June- Key Stage Two Netball Club.
Attendance
Our attendance this week was down slightly at 96.2% but remains above our Local Authority attendance
target of 95% this year, with a year to date percentage of 95.6% This
marks a further increase of 0.01% to our overall 2011-12 figure as a result of
our excellent attendance last half term. Please, please, please help us to maintain this position in the
next 5 weeks and resist the urge to book a holiday during term time, as
tempting as the British weather may make this! Remember, permission for
holidays in term time will not be authorised and your child will miss out on
some of the fun activities and experiences that come with Summer 2 in a primary
school. Those pupils who have maintained 100% attendance across the year (and
there’s only 23 of you!) will be enjoying a special school trip before the end
of the school term, and this year for the first time all pupils who have
maintained a position above our LA target (95%) will be entered into a special
‘chancer’ draw allowing 10 additional pupils to enjoy the trip. Remember..
You’ve got to be in it to win it!
New prospectus
The
postman on Wednesday brought us a very exciting package – a proof of our new
school prospectus! We had a second photo shoot on Monday to try and get some
outdoor shots, as our first two shoots fell on very rainy days! This time,
though the sun was far from shining, we managed to get up on the field and into
the garden – and the photos look spectacular. My enormous thanks to all parents
who have given their permission for the photos to be used in the prospectus,
and to all those children who offered their services and smiled their broadest
smiles. The entire prospectus is based on the theme of ‘Making A Difference’
and the end result is really fabulous! I look forward to sharing the finished
prospectus with you in due course.
Have
a wonderful weekend,
Mrs
Bailey
