Friday 15th May 2014.

Dear Parents/Carers,

Phew! It has been a supersonic week filled with the adrenalin and excitement that inevitably arrives in school with the daily opening of KS2 test materials. The Y6 pupils must be commended for their brilliant maturity, personal achievement and the high level of resilience they demonstrated during a week of tests which are designed to test their very metal. Sometimes challenging, I was delighted to laugh with the children after the tests about the tricky bits, the easy bits and the things that took us by surprise. What a tip-top, cracking, blooming beautiful and frankly fantastic bunch of Y6 kids we have! Well done to them, and well done to the staff team who have prepared them so well for this week. It is down to the daily endeavours of Mr Maldonado, Mr Kerr, Mr Gamble, Mrs Turner, Mrs Strahand, Mrs Horsley, Mrs Harrisson, Miss Hester, Mr Deegan and Mr Green that our children have tackled the week with a desire to do their best, a brilliant attitude to live your life by that I hope they take with them, wherever they go…

 

Our wonderful choir…

The children and Opal ladies of the fabulous Cookridge Primary Intergenerational Choir put on a wonderful performance in the hall on Tuesday afternoon! Singing a vast range of music from across the ages, from Vera Lynn to the Beatles right up to Gary Barlow! It is quite extraordinary to marvel at how these children have developed over the time they have been rehearsing together and are truly a wonderful, confident group of beautiful singers! Many thanks to everyone who came along to support the children, it was lovely to see so many of you there supporting them. If you would like to look at photos taken of the event you can view them on the choir blog either by going through the main website or on this link: http://cookridgeintergenerationalchoir.blogspot.co.uk/"​

 

Reception delivery…

Yesterday, Reception received an exciting and mysterious package. The staff didn’t reveal the contents until today and enjoyed a great day with the kids guessing what might be within. The reality hit them today with a grand unveiling – a fantastic large building kit, designed to get the children thinking and working together to build all sorts of BIG models, outdoors. There’s a whole lot of fun on that there trolley – what a super summer term ahead the Reception pupils have lined up!

 

Allotment update

I enjoyed a walk around the allotment this week with the lovely Mrs Holmes, Mrs Denton and Mr Frampton-Tripp. It was a bit of an education for me as this self-formed team know their onions! Admiring the herb garden, they were able to smell and identify the name of every herb gathered there – and there were a few. Keen to join in, I snapped off a ‘herb’ and inhaled deeply – only to be told it was common old garden grass I was clutching! Oh dear – I have a lot to learn… Mrs Denton introduced some tadpoles to the pond and the team have uncovered the strawberry plants, the raspberry bushes and today harvested the rhubarb with some very willing children. We’ll keep you posted. If you want to get involved – give us a shout. I honestly think it’s going to be good fun up there…

 

We have also uncovered a large wellington boot mountain up in the shed. Many apologies – for these must belong to you. We will bring the wellies around into the main playground after school at some point next week – please re-claim your wellies if they’re there and you’ve been looking for them!

 

Cookridge Challenge Night

Disappointingly, we haven’t sold a single ticket for the Challenge Night. It seems you’re not overly interested in competing in an event like this? We’ll take that as good feedback and put our heads back together for the next family event we plan. The Challenge Night is therefore cancelled next week, and the next event is the final event of the year - the Summer Fair, believe it or not!

 

Sports News

A team of Year 4/5 children represented our school in the annual Jim Childs trophy held at Leeds Trinity on Tuesday night. In some appalling weather conditions at times, we managed to play some good football. Despite not making it through the group phase, there is a solid foundation of a great team there which promises a great deal in the future. Special mentions must go to Connor Fenton, Jamie Rice and Arjan Afshari for their outstanding play on the night and to ALL the parents who braved the torrential downpours to support and cheer the team on! Thank you!

 

Twenty pupils from LKS2 competed at the Ralph Thoresby Kwik Cricket Tournament this Thursday. The competition was held for local primary schools. We are proud to announce that Cookridge A team were the unbeaten winners! The team was led by Captain Sam Appleyard who showed not only great batting & fielding skills but also great leadership on and off the pitch. Rebecca Caines and Joshua Lawrence were particularly impressive in bat scoring 6's and 4's in their innings. Well done to the rest of the team; Connor Fenton, Nicholas Darby, Rebecca Harrison, Nasser Al-Juraysi, Chloe Smith, Zak Moxon & Jamie Rice who all played major parts in what was an impressive team performance. Cookridge B team came 4th in the competition and showed great progress as the games went on. Shania Colefax and Sara- Al Salman worked well together in bat with neither losing points in their innings throughtout the entire tournament! Thanks to Mrs Wood who came back to school on her day off to enable our kids to participate in this great event, and to the parents who came along to support the children.

 

Attendance

Goodness me – attendance actually continues to rise! What a truly phenomenal year we are having – you are amazing. Congratulations to Class 6 with their near perfect attendance this week – 99.4% is a triumph!

 

National Minimum ‘Good’ Expectation				Target 2013-2014		Attendance this week 08/05/2014  -14/05/2014				Year to date 04/09/2013 – 14/05/2014
95%				96%		96.4%				96.1%
Class attendance figures for the W/E  08/05/2014
Rec A	Rec B	Class 1	Class 2		Class 3		Class 4	Class 5	Class 6		Class 7	Class 8	Class 9
98.0%	92%	94.2%	93.3%		98.2%		96.6%	97.2%	99.4 %		97.%	95.5 %	99.2%

 

Leeds Midnight Walk

Some of the staff including Mrs Fletcher, Mrs McHugh, Mrs Arnott and a few of their family members will be taking part in the Leeds Midnight Walk in aid of St.Gemma`s Hospice this Saturday May 17th. St Gemma’s is a hospice which relies heavily on charitable donations. The ladies are busy collecting sponsorship at the moment and would be grateful for any donations you could offer either in person or by using this Just Giving Page at this link: https://www.justgiving.com/cookridgeprimary . ​By donating, you will be helping local people who require the vital care that St Gemma’s Hospice provides. Good luck, ladies!

 

Have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs Bailey

Friday 9th May 2014

Dear Parents/Carers,

This week, Y3/4 have enjoyed their visits into Leeds to visit the museum. It’s been a hectic week with 3 days of trips in a 4 day week but well worth it when you hear the children talk about the joy of a school trip – something none of us are too old to remember! Thanks to the Y3/4 staff team who organised the visit during their hols, and who are always a little bit more tired on a trip day than a school day. Spare a thought, then, for some of our lovely people who willingly went along on all three days… Zzzzzzzzz!

 

Cookridge has Talent

Following my appeal regarding the school allotment last week, I have been contacted by four parents offering their talents. Enormous thanks to Mrs Holmes (who got busy right away, harvesting the rhubarb) and to Mr Frampton Tripp and Mrs Bantock who have both offered their help and eagerness to share their ideas. I am also grateful to Mr Philpott who also let us know about the work that Groundwork do in Leeds communities, an organisation I will be contacting next week. This is exactly how, together, we make a difference to our children’s school experience: sharing ideas, things we know, things we can do and things we just simply fancy getting involved with. More of that! If you want to join the crew – let us know. Many hands make light work…..

 

Friends

An exciting Friends update for you, too. You may recall that our current balance in raised funds is around £8,000. We have therefore planned a spend and this summer expect to add to our fixed playground equipment with another installation. This week, Mrs Turner and I met with Playforce to discuss our plans and we are awaiting the final drawings as I type. I’m hopeful that they will be with us next week and we will display them in the school playground so that you can see for yourself what your support of Friends events has achieved.

 

Cookridge Challenge Night

Don’t forget – the next Friends event is just around the corner: competing in teams to complete quizzes, golf challenges, giant skittles and Wii interactive challenges, amongst other things.  There will be prizes for both the winning and losing teams.

 

Event: Challenge Night!

Where? The school hall.

When? Wednesday 21^st May 2014, 6.30-8.00

Refreshments? Of course!

Why? Why not?!

Cost? £2 per person/child.

If you would like tickets, please call in at the school office where Mrs Lucas, Mrs Lister and Miss Crabtree will be happy to help!

 

Footwear

Can I please remind children and parents that school uniform specifies black shoes or trainers. There is an increasing number of big, bright trainers and other unsuitable footwear hot-footing it into school. Please be mindful of the uniform when investing in new shoes. Thank you.

Sports News

Year 5/6 Football- The football team kept up their impressive run of form with a 6-2 victory over Ireland Wood on Tuesday. Goals from Sam Appleyard, Arjan Afshari, Mackenzie Turner and man of the match Nathan Brown (3) helped to strengthen our position on top spot in the league and kept up the fantastic record of not being beaten yet this academic year! Long may it continue!

 

Junior Cricket At The Old Mods- Last week, three coaches from local cricket club Old Modernians came into school to coach the entire Year 3/4 cohort in one afternoon! The children had an amazing time, having fun whilst learning new skills- some even showed off their new skills in the assembly talent spot the next day! If your child is interested in joining the junior cricket section at the Old Mods, please contact Mark Ripley on 07970 566139.

Attendance

It is week 30 and still we continue to hold our excellent attendance. I am ambitious that we can maintain this through to the end of the year and secure our finest ever attendance stats! This is brilliant, for the impact on each child’s learning of great attendance is proven – and from the learning I see in school every day, I’d say the proof is in the pudding at Cookridge! Congratulations to Class 4 this week who have pipped Class 9 by 0.7% - fan-tab-u-lous!

 

National Minimum ‘Good’ Expectation			Target 2013-2014			Attendance this week 01/05/2014  -07/05/2014			Year to date 04/09/2013 – 07/05/2014
95%			96%			95.3%			96.0%
Class attendance figures for the W/E  30/04/2014
Rec A	Rec B	Class 1		Class 2	Class 3		Class 4	Class 5		Class 6	Class 7	Class 8	Class 9
91.5%	93.8%	96.4%		95.8%	94.0%		98.7%	90.8%		96.4 %	97.8%	94.4 %	98.0%

Time to shine, Year 6!

Next week, Year 6 pupils right across the UK will be sitting the KS2 National Tests in Reading, Maths and Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar. The tests will take place on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday – so it’s a tough week for an 11 year old by anyone’s standards! We will ensure that all our little champions are well looked after in between tests, with a fun and active week planned. Please do your bit for your children by ensuring they get good sleep, time to relax, a good breakfast on the day and LOTS AND LOTS of love, praise, encouragement and support. The children have worked incredibly hard in preparation for the week ahead and we couldn’t be more proud of them than we already are… Good luck to each and every one of you and remember – we only want you to do your best!

Mr & Mrs Walker suggested via Twitter that we have a non-uniform Friday in celebration of all the hard work put in. Great idea – I’m up for that! Pupils (and staff!) in Y6 are therefore invited to come in their own clobber for the day – including onesies if that’s your preference (Mr M?)  There will be a celebration event of the children’s choosing on Friday and we are very much looking forward to enjoying the next 9 school weeks with our lovely 6’s before they fly the nest in July. Lots of fun between now and then, though…

A final reminder to all Y6 parents – please ring the school office immediately if your child becomes ill on any of the test days so that we can take advice from the DFE on the best way to ensure your child’s talents are appropriately recognised. Thank you.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs Bailey

Friday 2nd May 2014

Dear Parents/Carers,

Another wonderful week in school which has gone incredibly quickly! All ninety pupils in KS1 enjoyed a fabulous day at The Deep in Hull on Tuesday at the beginning of their new topic ‘Into the Deep’. Such memorable learning experiences are a key feature of learning at Cookridge and that is all down to the hard work and dedication of your teachers – who, you can imagine, slept well on Tuesday night!

 

Respect

I received a rather unfriendly letter this week. The grievance raised in the letter by an anonymous parent revolved around the allotment – which was highlighted as ‘a disgrace’ which needed ‘sorting out’. I read this note with great sadness – firstly, that we have a wonderful community resource on the school site that is vastly underutilised. I hold my hands up – I have absolutely no gardening expertise and both Mrs Hawkins and I have previously appealed to the community for their support in helping us to get the most out of a resource which not all schools have. This was not forthcoming. I would welcome any help in getting the allotment operational again and look forward to hearing from you. Secondly, I am disappointed that a parent of the school would think it appropriate or acceptable to communicate with us in such a manner. Your children are happy, successful, thriving learners and wonderful citizens of the world – this does not happen by accident. Please ensure your communication with school is appropriate at all times, as such negativity takes its toll on what is undoubtedly a very hard-working and dedicated staff team who do their very, very best every day. Thank you.

 

Parent Governor Vacancy

Last half term, we appealed for interest in the role of governance from the parent community as we currently have a vacancy. This opportunity still stands and I would be delighted to chat to any parent who may be interested in finding out more about the role.

 

Friends

Our very small but very dedicated Friends group met once again last night to finalise plans for the planned Challenge Night and the big event of the year: The Summer Fair. We desperately need more parents to get involved in the Friends group, which sadly may not be able to continue with the current numbers as the ambitions of the group cannot be met with a core team of just 5 mums and dads. Again – if you are able to support the endeavours of the team in any way whatsoever, please call into the school office and let us know. The next Friends event is a brand new one on the calendar:

 

Cookridge Challenge Night

This fabulous new event is for all ages!  You will be able to compete with other families in teams in activities such as quizzes, golf challenges, giant skittles and Wii interactive challenges.  There will be prizes for both the winning and losing teams.

 

It is on Wednesday 21^st May 2014 in the school hall at 6:30 – 8:00.  Come to the school office to purchase your tickets (£2 per person/child) and sign up for a team (Please note that all children must be accompanied by a paying adult).  Refreshments will be available on the night.

High 5 Netball Competition

Pupils from years 5 & 6 competed in the Leeds North West SSP Hi Five Netball Competition at Prince Henry’s on Tuesday. The team consisted of Srosh Akbari, Millie Lucey, Matthew Caines, Mackenzie Turner, Cecilly Mwashako, Kaceylee Reynolds and Shazanna Morton. Cookridge finished their group in 2nd place narrowly missing out on a place in the SSP Finals. Srosh and Matthew were impressive in defence making some vital interceptions and Millie & Cecilly both scored points in attack. Mackenzie Turner impressed players and spectators with a magnificent shot from the edge of the shooting circle. He insists it was a fluke however we all know it was pure skill! Team captains Millie & Srosh organised the bibs, positions, score sheets and match times. It was a pleasure to witness such maturity and leadership and to see the children experience the success that comes with sporting achievement at this level – thank you to Mrs Wood for organising! Special mention must also be made of Mrs Turner and Mrs Caines for their unwavering support of sport at Cookridge – what fine cheerleaders you are!

 
Year 6 Rugby League Coaching

Year 6 pupils started rugby league coaching sessions last week with Leeds Underdogs. There are some spaces left at this club. If you have a child in Year 6 who would like to come along please come to the school office & ask to speak to Mrs Wood for more details. The coaches are particularly keen on getting more girls involved – so come on ladies… You might find a hidden talent!

Attendance

This week saw a huge number of 100% certificates distributed to children right across school. We are now twenty-eight school weeks into the thirty-nine week school year, and 35 pupils received their certificate today as they have not missed a single day so far– a fantastic achievement! We also awarded certificates to those pupils who came to school every day between January and April, securing 100% attendance across the term – again… Wonderful. Congratulations to Class 9 this week for their top scoring 99.2% - and to all for maintaining our 96% school target for yet another week.

 

National Minimum ‘Good’ Expectation		Target 2013-2014		Attendance this week   24/04/2014  -30/04/2014				Year to date   04/09/2013 – 30/04/2014
95%		96%		96.9%				96.0%
Class attendance figures for the W/E  30/04/2014
Rec A Rec B	Class 1	Class 2	Class 3		Class 4	Class 5	Class 6		Class 7	Class 8	Class 9
92.8% 94.6%	98.4%	96.7%	96.6%		97.9%	93%	98.7 %		98.3%	98.6 %	99.2%

 

 

Remember – it’s a Bank Holiday weekend so school is closed on Monday.

 

 

Have a wonderful, long weekend and we will see you all on Tuesday for another week of fun and frolics…

 

Mrs Bailey