Friday 20th September

Dear Parents/Carers,

This week I have had the privilege of observing reading sessions right across school. From Reception to Year 6, the children’s fantastic engagement with a wide range of books is plain to see. I’ve seen children reading and chatting to their friends about texts including smelly facts about Vikings, gory facts about snakes and real news reports about Neil Armstrong’s 1969 moon landing! What is evident from the hours spent in class this week is that the children are genuinely interested in the brilliant books we have in school and are very competent and enthusiastic readers. Teaching and support staff across school are very skilled in securing improvements in the children’s reading strategies and there is a definite commitment to the art of learning to read between children and adults. We have some more exciting plans for the development of reading in school this year and next week and look forward to adding further new texts and even more skills in the teaching of reading to our repertoire. And on that note….

 

Books, books, glorious books!

Yes, the Scholastic Book Fair is back at school next week and will be available in the hall from Monday 23rd September until Thursday 27th.  Opening times will be from 8:30 - 8:45 and from 3:05 - 3:30pm. The Book Fair gives children the chance to see, touch and fall in love with the very best children’s books and  also offers the chance to earn free books and for school. Thanks to the number of books sold at previous book fairs, £300 was raised for school in Scholastic vouchers and these have been used to buy some wonderful poetry book sets for guided reading in school. This means that buying books next week is fantastic news for your child in two ways; firstly, they get a gorgeous new book to read and secondly we will be able to invest in even more resources to enjoy and learn from. We would greatly appreciate your continued support of the book fair and we hope to see you there next week!

 

 

Nits!

It appears that the children were not the only ones who were excited to get back to school – we have a healthy batch of nits vying for space in the classrooms! The cases currently noted are amongst the older pupils in school so please check your child’s hair this weekend and see if a visit to the chemist may be required. In our effort to minimise the spread of the pesky head lice, if we notice any child to have nits within the school day, we will be phoning home so that parents can come and collect, treat and return to school as quickly as possible. I bet you’re itching now….

 

Data/contact sheets

We are today distributing your child’s data /contact information. Please check the information we have on record and ensure that it remains accurate. If you need to update a contact number or amend any details, please do so and return to school by Friday 27^th September so that we can update our records and continue to have the necessary contact in the event of an emergency. Thank you.  


 

After school clubs

The great range of clubs got underway in record time this year and a record number of children are involved. We are currently having some difficulty with pupils who are not sure when/where they need to be, and also a proportion of children who are deciding that they do not fancy it today! Please remind your child on days that they have a club, and ensure they have the correct kit where necessary. I would appreciate it if you would also explain to your child that if they have signed up for a club they must attend, as their failure to do so causes worry across school when club registers are taken.

 

School Governors

Last week we circulated the nominations forms for parent governors and look forward to your submissions! Governing Bodies are at their strongest when there is a diverse group of people who share a love of their school and are interested in finding out more about it. If you are keen to get involved, please get in touch or complete the nominations form ahead of the deadline.

 

Friends

A reminder that the first Friends (PTA) meeting is being held in school at 6.30pm on Thursday of next week. Don’t be shy – come along and help shape the plans for 2013-14.

 

Lunchtime Play leaders

Applications for the post of lunchtime supervisor are currently welcome. The closing date for applications is Friday 4^th October so if you are able to offer your time between 11.45 and 1pm each day please call into the school office and see Mrs Lucas for more information.  

 

Coats

As the summer appears to be drawing to a close, please can we ask that parents send children into school with coats please so that staff can encourage them to wear them during play and lunchtimes? It’s COLD!

 

Attendance

We have had a brilliant level of attendance in school this week and I am thrilled that Class 1 have chalked up our first 100% of the year in only week 3! Please keep up this brilliant effort. I am also grateful to parents and carers being more responsible in notifying us of absence through a short phone call first thing – almost 100% there, too!

National Minimum ‘Good’ Expectation		Target 2013-2014		Attendance this week				Year to date
95%		96%		97.1%				96.6%
Class attendance figures for this week are:- 19/09/13
Rec A Rec B	Class 1	Class 2	Class 3		Class 4	Class 5	Class 6		Class 7	Class 8	Class 9
95.7% 95.6%	100%	99.1%	95.2%		95.8%	99.3%	96.6%		95.3%	97.5%	96.8%

 

 

Parent Meetings

Don’t forget, next week we look forward to welcoming you into school to find out more about the learning in your child’s class. Each session in school will include time learning alongside your child, and a brief meeting with the Key Stage Leaders so that we can get the year started well.  Please make every effort to come along and support your child – we’d love to see you! Parents should enter school via their child’s classroom entrance.  

KS1 (Classes 1, 2 & 3)	Tuesday 24th September, 1.30pm (class) and 2.00pm (hall).
LKS2 (Classes 4, 5 & 6)	Wednesday 25th September, 1.30pm (class) and 2.00pm (hall).
UKS2 (Classes 7, 8 & 9)	Thursday 26th September 1.30pm (Y6 = session in class/Y5 information meeting in hall); 2.00pm (Y6=information meeting in hall/Y5 session in class).

 

Have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs Bailey

Friday 13th September 2013

Dear Parents/Carers,

Our first full week has been action packed with a first run through the new timetables, new children joining us; an old friend coming to visit us and the first of our parent meetings of the year we have glided into the school regime without a thought of the holidays, long since passed…

Debbie Hepplewhite

Back in 2011/12, we welcomed national expert in phonics Debbie Hepplewhite into school to help us launch a brand new approach to the teaching of this very important aspect. In the past two years, the success of our Floppy’s Phonics program has been unprecedented, with 93% of Y1 pupils this year securing the pass threshold in the Y1 national phonics test: a fantastic outcome, and 20% above all schools nationally. This week, whilst delivering training to other schools in the area, Debbie was keen to come back and see us as a friend and keen supporter of Cookridge. We are incredibly grateful to Debbie on so many counts: for the fantastic work she has done in developing the program we follow, for showing us exactly how to implement it successfully two years ago, for staying in touch with us and, this week, for coming back to help us align KS2 phonics and spelling practice with the outstanding practice established in Reception and KS1, following her Phonics International program. She has, once again, given some very sage and perceptive advice that we are excited to implement in the coming weeks and months – we will keep you posted!

 

School Governors
Again, I invite parents who think that they may be interested in becoming a part of the group of parents, staff, members of the community and Local Authority representatives who govern our school to get in touch with us and have a chat. The governing body offer critical support, challenge and guidance to the school leadership team in school and are very important to the future of the school. There are currently two vacancies for Parent Governors in school. Across this week, I have had only one expression of interest but luckily – there is time yet! Interested parents are welcome to attend our first Governing Body meeting of the year on from 5.30 on 18^th September (NOT 16^th, as incorrectly billed last week!) as visitors, to meet the governors and see for yourselves the work that we do.

Friends

Last year, our PTA (Parent Teacher Association) group ‘Friends’ had a busy year, successfully managing the Christmas and Summer Fairs, a movie night, a magic show, school discos and a Y6 ‘prom’. This year, we have even bigger plans for fun, family events that offer good value for money. Our first ‘Friends’ meeting of the year in on Thursday 26^th September at 6.30pm. Please, please, please come along to the meeting – we really do need parents to help us think of new ideas for getting families together, offering fun events for the children and raising a little bit of money along the way for school resources that we just couldn’t have otherwise. We also need to decide how to spend the £4000 we raised last year…

 

Before and after school conduct
Once again, I have been approached by several parents and local residents who have expressed their concern about the conduct of irresponsible parents and carers who continue to drop off and collect their children in an unsafe manner. Illegal parking and stopping in areas clearly marked otherwise are not acceptable behaviours and seriously affect the flow of traffic on Tinshill Drive each and every day. It is of prime concern to us, as such conduct will inevitably lead to an accident where our children will be injured. I must also express my disdain when I hear of the frequent altercations that arise as a result of this. May I respectfully point out that swearing and threatening behaviour directed at staff members or other parents will be treated very seriously and may result in you being banned from the school site. I will be liaising with the police to enforce cooperation during these challenging times of the school day and encourage all parents who witness irresponsible parking to do the same, with our children’s safety in mind.

Attendance

After a disappointing academic year which saw our weekly attendance figures drop to an all-time low of 62% in some classes in the last two weeks of the summer term, our overall attendance figure for 2012-13 dropped to 94.5% and below national expectations. This turn in events has halted our attendance improvement trend since 2011 and is no doubt a matter for Local Authority and Ofsted scrutiny who have high expectations of school attendance and on-going improvements. I urge parents and carers, once again, to support us in our work in this area – not because of external pressures but because the statistics clearly demonstrate a very strong correlation between high levels of attendance and academic success.  Put simply, your child’s future is seriously affected by lower levels of attendance and, for that reason, we will continue to monitor and manage this aspect very closely.
 
Three important things you need to know about attendance in 2013/14:

1)     All parents/carers are expected to contact school and notify the office of an absence on the first day of absence. Failure to do so may result in a home visit, as it is our duty to establish the whereabouts of a child not present for school where no explanation has been given.

2)     Holiday absence must be requested via a form available to collect from the school office. As explained in the letter distributed last week, in line with new laws introduced by the government holiday absence will not be authorised and may result in a fine.

3)     Parents of pupils whose attendance is presenting concern (falling below 90%) will be required to meet with school staff to discuss how we can help improve attendance. Where parents fail to attend these meetings, referrals will be made to Attendance Improvement Officers (AIO’s) in Leeds. 

 This year, our attendance bear Cookie has retired as he has been so well loved and well-travelled during the past two years it is time for him to put his feet up! We have introduced our new attendance bear Bourbon who will continue to visit the class in school with the highest attendance each week, following Wednesday’s tallying exercise. Pupils may also win prizes linked to weekly attendance, and 100% attendance each term and each year is also recognised and rewarded. Congratulations to Class 6 who secured over 99% attendance in the first week back and will be the first hosts of Bourbon next week…

National Minimum Expectation		Target 2013-2014			Attendance this week				Year to date
95%		96%			96.5%				96.3%
Class attendance figures for this week are:- 13/09/13
Rec A Rec B	Class 1		Class 2	Class 3		Class 4	Class 5	Class 6		Class 7	Class 8	Class 9
96.2% 95.5%	97.4%		98.1%	93.1%		96.1%	97.9%	99.3%		92.0%	98.9%	96.4%

Parent Meetings
Don’t forget, shortly we look forward to welcoming you into school to find out more about the learning in your child’s class. Each session in school will include time learning alongside your child, and a brief meeting with the Key Stage Leaders so that we can get the year started well.  Meeting times/dates are as below – Y5/6 parents/carers please note the amendment to the information in last week’s newsletter: apologies!

KS1 (Classes 1, 2 & 3)	Tuesday 24th September, 1.30pm (class) and 2.00pm (hall).
LKS2 (Classes 4, 5 & 6)	Wednesday 25th September, 1.30pm (class) and 2.00pm (hall).
UKS2 (Classes 7, 8 & 9)	Thursday 26th September 1.30pm (Y6 = session in class/Y5 information meeting in hall); 2.00pm (Y6=information meeting in hall/Y5 session in class).

Have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs Bailey

Friday 6th September 2013

Dear Parents/Carers,

A heartfelt welcome to all of our new families, and a warm welcome back to the rest of you! I trust that you all had a wonderful, fun filled summer holiday with your children but am grateful to you all for bringing them back to us: we’ve missed them! Wednesday was a day of excitement as old friends were reunited, and the chatter over the lunch table was fabulous to overhear as the children made sense of their new rooms, new systems, new classmates and – in many cases – new teachers… The feedback was all positive, with any minor fears behind them by lunchtime. Welcome back – let’s crack on!

Staff welcomes…

This week, we welcomed Mrs Lucas to our school office, Assistant Head Mr Kerr to Y5/6 and Mrs Wood to our team. Mrs Wood will be teaching PE right across school and is looking forward to the challenge that that brings, and Mrs Lucas and Mr Kerr are keen to embrace their own particular challenges! Welcome aboard…
 
…and farewells
During the final week of term, Mr El Sayed secured a teaching post in Kuwait. He began this role during the summer holidays and so will not be returning to us at Cookridge. I am delighted that Mr El Sayed has secured such a prestigious role and wish him well for the future. It does, of course, leave us with a bit of a gap! I will be meeting with governors in the next few weeks to discuss our next steps in ensuring that our provision for second language learners in school continues to be ‘top notch’.

School Governors

There are currently two vacancies for Parent Governors in school, and we will next week begin the process of electing parents to those roles. We are keen to gather a range of parents of children from right across school and so would particularly welcome interest from parents of pupils in Reception and Y5/6. Governors collectively bring a whole range of skills and interests and this very diversity is the beauty of the group. I would welcome any parents who are interested to get in touch so that I can explain a little more about the role. Our first Governing Body meeting of the year is due to take place on 16^th September and any interested parents are welcome to sit in on the meeting to find out what it’s all about – just give me a ring or email me next week so I can save you a seat.. Your voice matters and yours could be the voice that brings about important transformation in a school where we aspire to be the amongst the best in the country.

Summer Changes

As is typical of the summer holiday, the school building has benefited from a bit of a makeover. The changes this summer include large panels of block colour – and I’m talking COLOUR! – which has really injected vitality into the top corridor. Mr Lucas should take the credit for just how fabulous the place looks, as he has long since had in mind large panels of red, yellow and green and this year he was the man that made it happen! Pinnacle have replaced carpet in the cloak room areas throughout school which has given those areas a fresh, new look and with a few subtle furniture changes, some newly fitted smartboards and a little bit of teacher magic, the classrooms look just fabulous.  The most important work that happens every summer is at the hands of a very dedicated cleaning team. My grateful thanks to them for reaching high and bending low to painstakingly remove all the dirt and debris that inevitably builds up over the course of a year. We really are sparkling – thanks team!

School Dinners

The new menu is available to view on the school website http://www.cookridgeprimaryschool.org.uk/parents/school-menu.php. The cost of school meals this year  is £1.95 a day (£9.75per week) for Rec-Y4 pupils, and £2.00 a day (£10.00 per week) for Y5 and 6 pupils. Parents wishing to swap to school meals or vice versa can do so with 2 weeks’ notice at the school office. They’re really rather good and I was glad to get back to the hall this week for some real food, after 6 weeks of ‘heating up’ my own!

Website, Twitter, Blogs and getting in touch!

We pride ourselves on keeping you abreast of exactly what’s happening in school. You will receive this newsletter each Friday but can also access more frequent information via twitter and on the school blog. This year, each key phase in school has a collective blog, so you can access news and information about your child’s class day-to-day via the web addresses below, or by clicking on the blogs tab on the website. Any letters sent out by phases will also be posted there, should you misplace them. Put the link on your favourites and come and visit us often!

http://cookridgeprimaryschool.blogspot.co.uk/ Whole school news and information	https://twitter.com/CookridgePrimar Whole school news and information
http://reception2013.blogspot.co.uk/ Reception Class	http://ks1cookridge.blogspot.co.uk/ Class 1, 2 and 3
http://lks2cookridge.blogspot.co.uk/ Class 4, 5 & 6	http://uks2cookridge.blogspot.co.uk/ Class 7, 8 & 9

 

After School Clubs
Today we send out duplicates of the letters informing you of your child’s after school club allocation this year. All clubs start next week so be sure to note when and where you are collecting your child! The clubs were very popular and some have a waiting list, so offers may be updated throughout the year. The list of available clubs is available on the school website. Any parents of children new to school or with any enquiries should contact Mrs Turner to find out about available places.
 
We also sent out late information about the range of after school music clubs being introduced this year. If your child is keen to begin playing an instrument – or is keen to continue playing their instrument of choice – then please call into the school office where we can pass on some information and put you in touch with Yorkshire Music Education Service, who will be leading the clubs on our behalf.

Football club returns for another exciting season next Monday 9th September. Children will need to bring all their belongings to Class 9 at the end of the school day and get changed there. At the end of the club, children need collecting from the fire doors outside class 9. All children attending football club MUST have shin pads and football boots. There are still several places available and if your child is interested, please see Mr Gamble.

Parent Meetings

At the beginning of each school year, we invite you to come into school to enjoy a session alongside your child. This year, parents are invited to join us for a little bit of mental maths. This is your chance to see what happens in school in order to embed some pretty fancy mental maths skills! There will also be a follow on welcome and information meeting with the Key Phase Leader so there should be no question left unasked by the end of the session! Please make every effort to come along to these important sessions and find out how you can best support your child during the coming year. The meetings are:

Reception	Wednesday 11th September, 1pm start.
KS1 (Classes 1, 2 & 3)	Tuesday 24th September, 1.30pm (session in class) and 2.00pm (information meeting in the hall).
LKS2 (Classes 4, 5 & 6)	Wednesday 25th September, 1.30pm (session in class) and 2.00pm (information meeting in the hall).
Year 5 (all Y5 pupils in Classes 7, 8 & 9)	Thursday 26th September 1pm (session in class), 1.30 pm (information meeting in the hall).
Year 6 (all Y6 pupils in Classes 7, 8 & 9)	Thursday 26th September  2pm (session in class), 2.30pm (information meeting in the hall).

We really, really hope to see you there! And there endeth Week 1…

Have a great weekend.

Mrs Bailey

A new school year in 3...2...1!

Good evening all!

I hope you've all had a wonderful, fun filled summer and are feeling relaxed and refreshed, and looking forward to the year ahead? We are all ready for you! We've been busy over the summer getting the school spic and span and it looks pretty good... Seriously BRIGHT so bring your sunglasses!


Remember - there are Training Days on Monday 2nd and Tuesday 3rd September, so school is open to pupils on Wednesday! We seriously cannot wait to see you - we have really missed you and can't wait to hear what you've been up to! Bring your best smile and let the good times begin...

See you on Wednesday.