Friday 21st October 2011

Dear Parents/Carers,

Well – what a week! Having had the ‘Ofsted’ call on Friday, last week rolled straight into this week with most staff working right across the weekend in preparation for our visitors. On Monday and Tuesday we were interviewing all day and when Wednesday arrived we were relieved to get the process underway. Ofsted inspections are very focused and very gruelling, and rightly so - their role pivotal in supporting school improvement across the country. We have engaged very thoroughly with the process this week to support our own evaluation of where we are at as a school and I thank you for your fantastic support both in returning completed surveys AND an impressive supply of chocolates and biscuits for the staff! I must also take this opportunity to reflect what many of you already know – what a phenomenal bunch of staff we have here at Cookridge. I have been very impressed with the team spirit in the building and the level of dedication every member of staff has shown. No doubt Ofsted will have much advice for ways in which we can improve and I have all the right people alongside me to do what needs to be done... I look forward to sharing our Ofsted news with you as soon as I am able.

Staff appointments

In January, Miss Hobson will join Miss Golia to complete our Year 1 teaching team. Miss Hobson is an experienced teacher who brings much strength to her new role in Class 1 and Numeracy Leadership across school. Most importantly, she was very passionate about her desire to work at Cookridge during interview and cannot wait to join us!

This week, we have also appointed our very own Mrs Speak as a second Assistant Head teacher in school. Mrs Speak will coordinate the efforts of a large staff team to further enhance provision for many different pupil groups in school including pupils with special educational needs, children who speak English as an additional language and higher attaining for more able pupils. Mrs Speak will maintain her class teaching commitment but will work in partnership with Mrs Spiers when she returns from maternity leave in December.  I am sure that you will join me in celebrating this very significant appointment in school and wish Mrs Speak all the best in her new role.

Parent Consultations

Please accept my apologies for the cancelled consultations scheduled for this week. I am sure you can appreciate the need to do so, and thank you for your patience. Please MAINTAIN the time and day given to you for this week and use that appointment on Monday 31^st October, Tuesday 1^st or Wednesday 2^nd November.  We very much look forward to seeing you then. If, for any reason, you are unable to keep that appointment time, please contact the school office so that we are able to rearrange an appointment for you.

The website

I hope that you have been able to take a look at the new school website and appreciate the earliest phase of our developments there. If you have not already done so, explore the site with your child over the half term holidays and encourage them to leave a short message on the message board. This is a secure area where messages left are approved by staff before publishing, but are still a fun way for your child to leave their message for friends to see once approved. Also be sure to show them where the ‘Learning Zone’ is, and encourage them to play some of the 350 games in the Maths area. I will get on with the Literacy section over half term... ! Go to www.cookridgeprimaryschool.org.uk – and let us know what you think!

Coffee Morning

Last week’s coffee morning was well attended and I am grateful to those parents who are taking the time to chat to us in this informal context. The next coffee morning will be held on Wednesday 23^rd November at 9.00am and if you haven’t already managed to come along, please do.

Parent Governors

As we have received two nominations for the Parent Governor vacancy, we will be going to ballot. Ballot papers will be distributed the week after half term and we would urge you to vote for your preferred candidate.

Sports News

Due to field repair work over half-term there will be no football club on the first Monday back (31^st October). Due to the training day the following Monday the first football club, depending upon how the pitch has recovered, is on Monday 14^th November.

Lost Property

Is mounting up! Please ensure ALL items of clothing are NAMED so that discarded clothes can be returned to their owner, where possible, within the school day. We do not have storage for large amounts of lost property and will need to regularly dispose of a large collection of cardigans, t-shirts and even coats that MUST belong to somebody! During parent consultation evenings, we will display the current lost property in the school hall and ask you to come and see if anything might belong to you. Anything left after Wednesday 2^nd November will be donated to a good cause.

Dates for next half term:-

Friday 21^st October                Training Day – school closed

Monday 31^st October              School reopens after half term

Tuesday 1^st November           Year 1 Skipton Castle trip

Wednesday 2^nd November     Class 8 & 9 at Yorkshire Cricket Club

Monday 7^th November            Training Day – school closed

Tuesday 8^th November           Class 4 & 5 visiting the Danelaw Centre

Thursday 10^th November        Friends Annual General Meeting – 6pm

Wednesday 23^rd November   Coffee morning

Friday 9^th December             Reception and Year 1 Christmas Concert ‘We Three Kings’ - 2pm

Monday 12^th December          Friends Christmas Bazarre - 3.50pm to 5pm

Tuesday 13^th December         Year 4, 5 & 6 Christmas Concert – 2pm and 7pm

Wednesday 14^th December    Year 2 & 3 Christmas Concert – 2pm

Thursday 15^th December         Christmas parties – pm

Friday 16^th December              Christmas Toy Giving Assembly – 9am

                                                 Christmas Carols around the tree – 2.30pm

                                                 School closes for Christmas holiday

Tuesday 3^rd January               School reopens after Christmas holiday

                                                

Have a wonderful half term break – I know I will!

Mrs Bailey

An Inspector Calls! Ofsted visit Wednesday 19th October-20th October 2011.

We today sent home a letter from Ofsted informing you of an inspection in school next week. The letter also included the official Ofsted parents questionnaire, the responses of which form a part of the inspection process. Please take the time to complete the questionnaire with your honest view of the school as this is not only useful to the Ofsted process, but also helps us with our ongoing self evaluation. You will no doubt have noticed that TWO questionnaires were sent home tonight - the official one, and the school based one which was copied and ready to go out prior to our inspection notification.. Completing both will earn you extra Brownie points!

I will also be writing to inform you on Monday that Parent Consultations scheduled for next week will be POSTPONED until after half term as, unfortunately, the Ofsted inspection makes the appointment times scheduled for next week unviable. Not only is it unreasonable for me to ask the dedicated teaching team to meet parents until 8.00pm the night before the inspection, during the first day of the inspection many staff are needed to meet with individual inspectors to discuss different aspects of school. These meetings are unable to go ahead if staff are committed to parent consultations. I am also very mindful of the fact that Parent Consultations are a priority for us in school, should be valuable and informative and I want to ensure that when we do offer them, staff are focused on conversations with you alone.

Thank you for your support during the week ahead.

Mrs Bailey

Friday 14th October 2011

Dear Parents/Carers,

This week I have watched our children rise to the challenge of managing their lunchtime with more independence. No longer will our Y6 pupils be asked to give up 30 minutes of their lunchtime to hand out knives and forks, serve salad and – most unpopular of all – scrape the trays of our younger pupils! All pupils are now asked to do these tasks independently... and they are doing so brilliantly. The salad bar has never been so popular, the clearing area is less congested and tidier than ever and our Y6 pupils are very relieved to have their lunchtimes back!

The website

The wait is finally over.... I am today able to open our virtual doors and urge you to have a look at our brand new website on www.cookridgeprimaryschool.org.uk The website includes lots of useful information about our school and is also a brilliant learning portal for our children, so do encourage your child to have a look at the children’s section, leave some messages and play some of the 350 games that are already available in the Learning Zone Maths area. This is obviously a developing space and we are keen to hear your views as to what else we could be sharing. Please use the contact page if you have any ideas, advice or feedback... that’s what it’s for!

New roles in school

As we have launched our new behaviour policy in school we have also established new positions of responsibility for our older pupils. Our first School Captains and Vice Captains were elected by their peers last week and, as our official school representatives, will take an active role in meeting and greeting visitors, hosting parts of assembly and supporting the school council in making some key school decisions. Our School Captains –Jordan Perrett and Phyllis Hoyle– welcomed our Swedish visitors on Thursday and proved themselves fantastic ambassadors for our school. This is a prestigious role and we look forward to working with our very first Cookridge Captains this year.

In addition, Team Captains were elected to lead our four new ‘houses’ in school and will take the lead in assembly when presenting their team mates with awards, as well as deciding how the winning team will be rewarded each half term. There is a genuine excitement in school about belonging to a team and I have already seen my first visitors who have earned a Head teacher’s sticker for earning 5 team points in one day! Our school council met for the first time on Monday and had the prestigious task of naming our new school teams, choosing authors as their theme.

We have also seen our Playground Friends take to the playground this week wearing their new yellow hats with pride. This is a key role in school which will see them manage a budget for playground equipment, lead games in the playground and ensure all our pupils have a happy lunchtime.

Well done to all our fantastic new post holders whom I am certain will do a fabulous job.

   

Friends of Cookridge

Last year, the Friends group raised £4,900 through their efforts, and these funds were used to subsidise many school trips across the year and to buy gymnastics equipment and waterproof clothing for our Reception pupils. In 2011/12, the committee agreed to raise funds to support playground developments and we would welcome your support in helping us to do so. If you are unable to attend evening meetings but are able to meet during the school day, please let us know so that we are able to accommodate as many volunteers as possible. May I offer my personal thanks to the dedicated team that continue to work very hard to raise funds for our school.

The ‘Friends’ school disco will take place on Thursday 20^th October. Years 1, 2 and 3 are invited to attend the earlier disco (3pm – 4pm), they should bring their disco clothes to change into and should be collected from their classroom doors at 4pm. Years 4, 5 & 6 should return to school from 4pm-5pm, suitably dressed for the occasion. For the cost of £1.00, drinks and a snack will be provided. There will be NO orchestra on Thursday as a result of the disco.

Photographs

Please send orders for photographs into school by Wednesday 19^th October at the latest.

 

 

Sports News

The next sporting event will be Athletics. Our team will be representing the school in a Key Stage 2 Athletics Competition at Horsforth High School on Thursday 20^th October.

 

 

An invitation to Slovakia!

Mrs Speak, Mr Llewellyn and Mr Gamble returned from Slovakia on Tuesday and will be sharing news of their visit with the children during a special assembly next Thursday morning (20^th October) at 9am. You are welcome to join us for the assembly and find out more about this exciting project.

 

 

Parent Consults

Next Tuesday and Wednesday evening, parent consultations are taking place. If you have not already got an appointment, please contact the school office on Monday. It is vitally important that you attend this important meeting and, if you are struggling to do so, let us know so that we can offer an alternative date/time. During these evenings next week, we will also be showing a video in the school hall of the July Learning Festival. This is a fabulous compilation of everything that is brilliant about our school. If you are ‘between appointments’ or have a few moments to spare, do pop in and watch a little. Lost property will also be on display in the hall for you to locate your missing items. Any lost property remaining after Wednesday evening will be disposed of.

 

 

Parents Survey

This week I am sending home a survey which I am asking you to complete and return to school by Friday 4^th November. This is all part of the information gathering as I embark upon a long and successful Headship and I would be very grateful for your completed and honest responses. The survey is also available on the website if you would prefer to complete and submit electronically.

Have a great weekend.

Mrs Bailey

Friday 7th October 2011

Dear Parents/Carers,

I’m quickly finding it’s always Friday morning at Cookridge! The weeks are flying by and we are now only two weeks away from our half term break. This week I have had the pleasure of observing the learning in classes right across school. I have seen committed, hard working staff and pupils everywhere I have visited. Our Poetry Mix-Up day saw pupils of all ages working together to create a poem to present in assembly, as well as having great fun together throughout the day to generate ideas... Brilliant things happen every day here at Cookridge and our children really do have all the right attributes to be whatever they want to be, which is becoming our mantra.

Time to shine at Cookridge

This week, we have begun our conversations with the children about our new positive behaviour policy, which includes many ways to be recognised for every day achievements. I am sending a simplified version of the policy for your information, so that you know just what your child has achieved when they come home bursting with pride some time soon... The full details of the ‘Team Points’ system, the names of the teams, the ‘prizes’ on offer and those elected to the esteemed role of ‘Team Captain’ will all be revealed during Monday’s assembly and the system launched next week. The policy also includes a clear outline of how negative behaviours will be managed in school. Any feedback is, of course, welcome.

Harvest

Our children will be singing in celebration of Harvest festival in a special assembly on Friday 14^th October with our special guest, a visitor from Caring for Life. As is traditional for this celebration, we are collecting donations of non-perishable food products on behalf of Caring for Life, who have kindly agreed to distribute across the community. Donations of tins/packets should be brought to school on Friday 14^th October – if every child can bring just one tin, we will have almost 300 gifts to share... Thank you for your support.

Slovakia

On Wednesday, an intrepid team of three consisting of Mr Llewlyn, Mr Gamble and Mrs Speak set off for 6 days in Slovakia. Arriving at 4am on Thursday, this initial visit is an opportunity to meet teachers from our new partner schools in Ireland, Slovakia and Birmingham and agree some exciting projects all our children will be involved with. Funded by the EU, our International focus during the next two years is environmental issues across the UK and Europe and provides a rich opportunity for our children to work with children beyond our school.  The team will return late Monday evening, tired but enthusiastic I’m sure, and we look forward to hearing about their adventures.

Football

In our first League match of the season, our team worked hard and defended well but were beaten 1-0 this time.. Our first defeat this year, but let’s not dwell on that! Our next Year 5/6 match is on Friday 14^th at West End.

Community News

Cookridge Village Scout Group have applied to Natwest Community Force for a £6,000 grant to support their ongoing development. They need your help! Their bid will only be successful if they receive enough votes but, happily, anyone can vote! Visit  http://communityforce.natwest.com/projects/:,  enter your postcode and Cookridge Village Scout Group should appear. It is just a case of clicking on the icon, registering and then voting. Spread the word and encourage friends and family to vote for this valuable community resource.

Holiday Childcare

Funtime will be running their holiday club during October half term on Tues 25^th, Wednesday 26^th and Thursday 27^th October. They can offer childcare between 7.45am and 5.45pm on these dates, at a cost of £3.00 per child per hour. Take advantage of full daily booking of 10hours and save £5.00!
 

The holiday club is open to all children aged 4 years to 12 years regardless of whether they attend the before/after school club during term time. A trip to the cinema or bowling will be arranged over the three days covered, dependent upon numbers attending.

Booking forms were sent home last week but can be requested at our school reception if you have lost yours. To secure a place, please return the booking form with payment as soon as possible, confirming the times and dates required. Funtime also accept payment via childcare vouchers. Funtime staff are available in the community room before and after school if you have any queries.

 
Parental feedback
As I find out about systems and organisation at Cookridge, can I thank those parents who are taking the time to provide very valuable feedback about the things that we can do differently. Not only is investigating your queries providing valuable clarity for me personally, it is also giving us an opportunity to re-think what we do and, where necessary, make improvements. We are very determined to get every aspect of the school day ‘right’ and appreciate your support in helping us to do so. Next week, I will be sending home a parental survey which is another opportunity for you to ‘have your say’. Please take a few minutes to complete and return it and be an active voice in your child’s future.

Coffee morning

Join us in the Community Room after dropping your child off next Wednesday 12^th October for coffee, biscuits and a time to relax in good company. Mrs Laycock and I were delighted by the number of parents who took us up on our offer last month, and we’re hoping to see more new faces next week. Younger siblings are welcome to attend and might even find a companion!
 
Have a great weekend.

Mrs Bailey

Friday 30th September 2011

Today marks my one month anniversary as Head teacher at Cookridge... Unbelievable! As a staff team, we have looked at increasing the ways in which we reward our children for their brilliant behaviour and attitude to learning day after day. We have devised a new positive behaviour policy which will soon see your child allocated to and earning points on behalf of a team. The winning team each term will be celebrated in our weekly achievement assembly and the team with the highest total at the end of each half term will receive a special reward. In addition, children will earn Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum awards for their individual team points and each half term the class will vote for their own champion ‘Learnatic’, all of whom will be invited to a very special lunch date with me. There are so many great things to reward at Cookridge that we felt it only fair that we had more ways to recognise it. I will shortly be sharing a summary of the new behaviour policy with you, and will be publishing the full version to the website as soon as I am able to... Not long now until I can do the ‘big reveal’ on the new website!

Book Fair

This week’s Book Fair has been a rip roaring success. The hall has been jam packed with excited readers before and after school every day this week, which has been an absolute pleasure to see. Altogether, we have sold over £500 worth of books to our little readers - a fantastic figure given the low cost of so many of the books. Thank you to all parents and carers who have supported the Book Fair and encouraged their children to ‘buy into reading’, to Mrs Laycock for organising the event and to all staff who have manned the stalls across the week.

Music Workshop

During my recent round of classroom discussions, the children were asked what they love about Cookridge Primary school. Across every year group in school, the children were unanimous in the thing they love most – the weekly Music Workshop. Each Thursday afternoon, Mrs Thorpe gathers our children in the hall and they have a fantastic time singing their little hearts out, complete with actions, enthusiasm and a certain amount of musicality! This week and last we have been visited by staff from other schools who – not surprisingly – are hoping to learn from the genius that is Mrs Thorpe. It is wonderful testament to Mrs Thorpe’s talent that not only do staff from other schools recognise it, more importantly – so do our children!

Football

The latest update from Mr Gamble, who is doing a great job as our roaming Sports Reporter... The Year 4/5 team won their match at Newlaithes 4-1. Our goal scorers were Mackenzie Turner, Nathan Brown and Dominic Purrell. The team went into the second half 1-1 but our team remained upbeat, positive and focused on the goal to claim a well deserved victory. Man of the match was Dominic Purrell who managed to score two goals on behalf of Cookridge.

The first league game for our Year 5/6 team is next Tuesday 4^th October at Iveson Primary School. Our players are definitely demonstrating their dedication the Cookridge cause!

Parent Governors

The information for the election of a new Parent Governor should arrive with you today. If you would like to put yourself forward for the role, please complete the paperwork – we want to hear from you. It is important that our governing body is represented by all our community members and I can assure you that you would find the role rewarding, interesting and not too time consuming! If you have any questions about what the role may involve, do get in touch.

Friends of Cookridge

A reminder that the first PTA meeting of this school year is on 6^th October at 6pm. This is another way in which you can get involved in enhancing your child’s primary school years, helping the staff and parents of Cookridge to think of interesting and innovative ways of raising funds for our children.

The first school disco this year is on Thursday 20^th October (the last day of the school term for the children, as we are closed for a training day on Friday 21^st). For the low cost of only £1.00, children are offered a DJ, drink and a biscuit. Years 1, 2 and 3 should attend from 3.00 – 4.00, and Years 4, 5 and 6 from 4.00 – 5.00. Y1, 2 and 3 ‘disco goers’ should bring their clothes into school to change into at the end of the school day and should be collected from their classrooms at 4.00.  Thanks to Mrs Willetts and the Friends of Cookridge for organising what is always a super event.

Coffee morning

A reminder that our second coffee morning is scheduled for Wednesday 12^th October at 9am. There was a fantastic turn out at the last meeting, and I am hopeful that we can sustain this level of enthusiasm for a monthly get together. If you didn’t manage to come along last time, don’t let this put you off – there were plenty of biscuits left over! This is a good opportunity for you to meet other parents and chat to Mrs Laycock and myself about things that matter to you. Hopefully, I will be able to get the website available for your review and feedback at the next gathering also!

Key dates this term

Parent Consultations:  18^th/19^th October

Training Day: 21^st October (school closed)
Friends of Cookridge meeting: 6^th October, 6pm
Coffee morning: 12^th October, 9am

Have a great weekend.

Mrs Bailey

Friday 23rd September 2011

Dear Parents/Carers,

Another brilliant week in school! Your children continue to amaze me with their high levels of energy and enthusiasm for their learning and their very chatty demeanour... I am learning new things about your children daily and enjoying this aspect of the role enormously. This week has seen the first of our story time ‘teacher swaps’. Staff all over school have visited another classroom to read a favourite story, much to the delight of our children. Sharing great stories is a great way of continuing to raise the profile of reading in school, get children (and adults!) ‘raving about reading’ and is something we will be doing regularly this year.

Book Fair

We are hosting the Scholastic Book Fair in school from Monday 26^th-Thursday 29^th September. The school hall will be open at 8.30-8.45 and 3.05-3.45 each day so do come along and choose some very good value books with your child.

Hello from Norway!

This week in school we had the pleasure of welcoming three Norwegian visitors into our midst. The visiting teachers were very interested in finding out about the way that we do things at Cookridge and enjoyed their time in our classrooms. They commented upon the wonderful learning environments within our school and were most impressed by our children who were warm, welcoming, chatty and interested in finding out about our visitors and their Norwegian lifestyles. In the next few weeks, we are hosting a visit from a group of Swedish visitors and three of our staff are due to jet off to Slovakia to establish further friendships with teachers and pupils in Slovakia, Ireland and Birmingham. That we are regularly visited by colleagues from all over the world is a huge testament to our reputation for successful International partnerships. We truly are amongst the best of British schools for our work in this field.

Dinner Money Change!

Thank you to all parents for sending dinner money into school on a Monday morning. As I reminded you last week, dinner money costs £1.85 per day (£9.25 per week) for Reception-Year 4 children and £1.90 per day (£9.50 per week) for our Y5/6 children. Many parents are – understandably - sending a £10.00 note to cover the cost of this and this is presenting some difficulty as we are not permitted to keep large amounts of change in school. Can I please ask that you send the correct change wherever possible, or consider sending a cheque either weekly or up to a term in advance, payable to Leeds City Council. Thank you.

Milk Money

All children in Reception, Years 1 and 2 are able to enjoy 1/3 pint of milk daily. Drinking milk as part of the class is something which we encourage. Not only does milk offer obvious nutritional value, ‘milk time’ is often a very sociable time in class. If your child would like milk for the coming year, please complete and return the form which you receive with this letter.

Football

Our Year 5/6 team drew 1-1 with Newlaithes in our first friendly of the season on Tuesday. Man of the match was a tough choice but for his constant work-rate, slick passing, tough tackling and great leadership on the field, Jack Appleyard takes the title this time. Well done to our team for their excellent representation of our school. Our Year 4/5 team will strut their stuff next Tuesday, again at Newlaithes.. The best of luck to them! We also have planned for Friday 30th September a Year 5/6 friendly football match against Brudenell Primary and Queensway Primary on our school field. Please come along and support our team.

Unfortunately, there is no Year 3/4 or 5/6 football club on Monday 26^th September as Mr Gamble is attending a school sport meeting at a local school to find out about further opportunities for us to shine in our sports.

Car parking
Thank you to all parents who are able to master the morning routine, park safely AND get our children into school on time! We recognise that this is not always easy and are exploring ways to support you in parking safely and escorting your family into school. If you might be interested in finding out more about a ‘walking bus’, please contact us and let us know.

Parent Governors

As a vacancy has arisen for a Parent Governor we will shortly be sending out information for the election of a new Parent Governor. Please consider taking up this vital and very rewarding role in school. It is important that our governing body is represented by all our community members who have an active role in leading the school. If you would like to find out more about what this involves, please pop in and have a chat.

Key dates this term

Parent Consultations:  18^th/19^th October
Training Day: 21^st October (school closed)
Friends of Cookridge meeting: 6^th October, 6pm
Coffee morning: 12^th October, 9am

Have a great weekend.

Mrs Bailey

Friday 16th September 2011

Dear Parents/Carers,

Another school week has whizzed by and it’s now beginning to feel like the summer holidays were a long time ago! This week, I have visited each class and had more fun trying to remember the 300 names of the characters that make Cookridge such a wonderful school. I also had the pleasure of holding my first coffee morning as Head teacher and was delighted that so many parents were able to come along, share their ideas and relax with old friends or get to know one another. I will be holding the next coffee morning on Wednesday 12^th October so put the date in your diary and start thinking about the things that matter to you that you want to bring to our attention...

Cookridge Horticultural Show

Last Saturday, Cookridge Primary School’s allotment submitted its first entry to the Cookridge Horticultural Show. The hard work and dedication of our staff, parent volunteers and pupils was recognised when we earned 2^nd prize for our incredible home grown veg boxes, and Class 8 managed to scoop 1^st prize with their art work based on Breary Marsh. The allotment is a fantastic accolade to our school and one which we are keen to continue to develop. Particular thanks to Mrs Hawkins and parent volunteers Mrs Colefax and Mrs Whitley who have ‘gone that extra mile’ in their enthusiasm for this project.

Extreme Readers!

Our Summer ‘Extreme Readers’ competition came to a head on Monday as Miss Fowler proudly announced the winners in assembly. Our children – and staff - read in some weird and wonderful places, including laundry baskets, shed roofs and tree tops and if the photos are to be believed our staff were most often found in the foot of a wardrobe or in the depths of a cave over the summer! Our winners each received a badge and a £10 WH Smith voucher to spend on a prize of their choosing. We look forward to announcing our next ‘Extreme Reading’ Competition and hope that even more of our children choose to compete – you’ve got to be in it to win it!

Let’s Grow

In recognition of our status as a ‘growing’ school, this year our Nursery will be collecting the Morrisons ‘Let’s Grow’ vouchers. If you have any vouchers to donate, please pass on to our Nursery staff or via the office. Thank you.

Open House

Today you receive your first ‘Class News’ of the new school year and I hope that you find the information useful. The upcoming learning I have read about certainly sounds like fun. Please make a special note of the ‘Open House’ sessions each class teacher hosts each week. This is just an opportunity for you to pop into school when you have a moment to have a look at the great things your child has been doing and is a very generous offer on our teachers’ part. My thanks to all teaching staff for being so freely giving of their time to help you to get involved in your child’s learning.

Football
Football club begins on Monday. If your child has joined this year, please ensure they bring all their belongings to Class 9 where they will get changed at the end of the school day and from where you should collect them at 4.10pm. On Tuesday 20^th we will be playing our first sporting event of the year when our Y5/6 travel to Newlaithes to try their luck against the reigning league champions. My thanks to Mr Gamble for organising and manning the event and the best of luck to our little champions!

School Meals
Having eaten school meals alongside our children for the past two weeks, I can honestly say that our dinners offer lots of choice, are of good quality and offer tremendous value for money. A school meal costs £1.85 per day (£9.25 per week) for Reception-Year 4 children and £1.90 per day (£9.50 per week) for our Y5/6 children. Please give 2 weeks’ notice at the school office for a change of dinner option. Can I please remind parents that dinner money should be paid each Monday morning or can be paid half termly in advance if this is more convenient for you.

Friends of Cookridge

Our PTA group are very keen to begin the new school year by welcoming new members to the group. If you have any time to give to this very important aspect of our school, please come along to the first meeting of the year on the 6^th October at 6pm. If you are able to lend your support to the organisation of just one event across the year, it will help our group to flourish and develop new ideas for raising funds on behalf of our children. Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances the Asda bag packing planned for tomorrow, Saturday 17^th September, has been cancelled. We will notify parents as soon as a new date has been arranged.

Key dates this term

Parent Consultations:  16^th/17^th October

Training Day: 21^st October (school closed)

Friends of Cookridge meeting: 6^th October, 6pm

Coffee morning: 12^th October, 9am

Communication with parents

The website developments are well underway and I very much look forward to being able to launch a new look site soon.

Have a great weekend.

Mrs Bailey