Spring has sprung!

Yet again the days, weeks and months are whizzing by. Earlier this week, we were basking in glorious sunshine after a weekend enjoying the CPSC Spring Fair, and I may have even spied two cricket pitches being mowed; Summer is literally just around the corner. Lower School enjoyed World Book Day with class books ranging from ‘The Snail and the Whale’ to ‘Stone Age Boy’. The Year 3 classroom doors turned into cave entrances, which fitted in wonderfully with their UG! topic. The award for amazing effort must go to the Year 2 teachers as they chose ‘Where’s Wally?’ for their doorways; every child and member of the teaching, music and catering staff adorned their doors. It was great to watch children and teachers try to find themselves! A huge thank you to all the children for dressing up on Mismatch Day to recognise the amazing work of Comic Relief. Lower School never let us down! Thank you to all the parents for supporting a great cause. Over £750 was raised and then we ask you again to support a sponsored silence in aid of the people of Ukraine. At the time of writing, we aren’t quite sure how the children will remain silent for a certain amount of time but we thank you in advance for your support and generosity. Spring has certainly arrived around the school and it’s great to see the children able to make excellent use of their surroundings. At the beginning of this week, the Reception children ventured beyond the school grounds when they visited the Genever’s farm in Uffington to see the newborn lambs. They’ve spotted owl pellets, which indicate that these birds are nearby; maybe Mr Campbell could make another owl box or bird box and attract more of our feathered friends. Now the travel restrictions have been lifted, Year 1 children didn’t need a COVID passport for their ‘Where in the world?' topic. What an amazing way to learn the 7 continents by creating their own papier mache globes - I wonder which exotic holiday destination they have their eyes on! Swimming has also helped the Year 1 children decide on their favourite port of call and it’s been amazing to see their confidence in the water grow each week. It’s fabulous to have these opportunities open up for them again. Year 2s seem to be bursting at the seams; they have definitely shot up in the last few months and look ready for any challenge set. The popular visit to The National Space Centre was a definite highlight and I believe they had a ‘cosmic’ experience! The children also enjoyed a visit from Neil Bontoft (Lincolnshire’s Stay Safe Partnership) who delivered a ‘Friendship and Dealing with Emotions’ workshop to help the children understand their feelings and how they should be empathetic to their friends. They discussed what makes a good friend. The teachers remarked on how useful it was and of great benefit to the children. Year 3 children have been busy being little entrepreneurs in a Dragon’s Den influenced activity. Over the last couple of months, they have been creating healthy biscuits to be served as a whole-school snack. The children worked in small teams adding their own secret ingredient to a basic recipe, investigating and designing which net shape to use for the biodegradable packaging and coming up with a name for their biscuit - all without any arguing! All this was achieved and we were very proud when they presented their products to Mr Teesdale and our Head Boy and Head Girl. After tasting 9 biscuits, the judges declared Mango Melts the winner and we all look forward to tasting these in the future. This was a real highlight of the term and we are so proud of all the children as they congratulated each other and approached each task in a mature, responsible, respectful and reflective manner, showing true Copthill values. Hopefully they will remember these as we approach our Celt Day as I’m not sure the Celts followed many rules! It has been another busy term and we are very grateful for the enthusiasm and energy the children always show across the curriculum. As we prepare for a new term, we are certain this will continue. Have a wonderful Easter break; relax, replenish and rejuvenate - the Copthill 3 Rs for the parents!

Sunshine, muddy puddles and new beginnings!

The beautiful spring weather has been a pleasant surprise to all of us. At Copthill, we have an incredible breadth to our curriculum which is not restricted by the weather. Come rain or shine, we are outside enjoying the school grounds and, at the moment, we are all learning a great deal about seasonal change. What could be a nicer learning environment than bathing in spring sunshine whilst squelching in thick mud or splashing in puddles? Our younger children have been learning about dinosaurs and fossil hunting. We cannot go anywhere around school quickly as there are fossils everywhere. Mr Teesdale will soon need to budget for extra gravel as a day doesn’t go by without our children squirrelling away fossils and flint in their pockets or backpacks. At home time the other day, I delivered a child to the gate who had definitely had a fruitful day and was covered in all manner of outdoor materials. Our parents are always very understanding although I did have to comment on this occasion,”We have had a fantastic time and your child is wearing her day!” During the last training day, our staff embarked on an exciting new development to our curriculum. Elaine Sutton, an educational consultant, enthused the staff with her new Dimensions curriculum, “Learning Means the World”. We have thoroughly enjoyed using Dimensions as the foundation for our curriculum for many years across the school from Nursery to Year 6. It uses a thematic approach to learning which is fun and exciting whilst providing the essential curriculum coverage, skills and knowledge necessary to be a successful Copthill Learner. The curriculum has the flexibility to be tailored to the needs of individual children placing them at the heart of their education. Dimensions also allows for continuity and progression across all key stages and is highly successful in allowing children to become independent explorers, team players, responsible citizens, problem solvers, reflective learners and responsible citizens. ‘Learning Means the World’ has been developed to take our learning to a global level. It offers the same breadth and depth to our Copthill curriculum whilst encompassing four main themes - communication, conflict, conservation and culture. We have already been working in year group teams to prepare for this transition for September. We are all very excited about a change that will greatly impact our children’s learning whilst making them more globally aware. The added benefit of this curriculum is that each theme is addressed by the whole school at the same time connecting all year groups through a shared theme during whole school initiatives and assemblies. Just like the weather, our Copthill learning adventure is bright and full of hope.