This Week at Cobden

Friday 6th January

Happy New Year!

We have had a lovely start to 2023 at Cobden. Assembly this morning was full of people who have worked hard and behaved well this week. Even though it has been a 4-day week the children have all earned lots of house points. I was really impressed with the work that was shown to me, everyone is working so hard on presenting their work neatly which is super to see.

Keep it up everyone!

Mrs Head 

Friday 9th December

Well, what a busy and challenging few weeks we've had. Next week is our last week of term and we would usually have spent the last couple of weeks doing performances etc. and getting into the Christmas spirit. Unfortunately, as you all know, we have had to deal with the exceptional circumstances caused by a nasty virus meaning events this week had to be cancelled. The good news is infection rates have reduced so we can have our Family Christmas Dinner days and finish the term with our traditional singalong next week.

We also had our Ofsted visit which is something that schools really don't look forward to! It is designed to help a school with areas to develop but it does feel very critical when it's happening and staff are under a lot of pressure. We can't share the outcome until the report is published and that will be in January. However, I want to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to the staff who worked hard, some of them had the horrid virus and should really have been at home. Also the inspectors talked to lots of different children over the 2 days and commented on how happy they were at school and how safe they felt which is the important thing for me. 

One week to go until 2 weeks off, where I'm sure the staff will relax and unwind but the children will be the opposite as they wait for Santa to arrive!

Mrs Head 

Friday 11th November

Well, this week has been a very strange one and almost like we were back in Covid times as a horrid virus has wiped nearly half of the school out! I hope everyone is feeling better next week as school feels very empty.

A lot of classes have been discussing remembrance this week as it is Remembrance Day today. Some Y6 children, Jack, Maya, Gracie and Bello, shared some super work they had been doing in assembly on Tuesday. We had poems written in the style of WW1 war poetry and some diary accounts from nurses who were working in the Leeds General Infirmary during WW2 when it was bombed in The Blitz. The writing was so powerful a lot of us had tears in our eyes.  Well done Y6!

Y5 set off for Robin Wood on their residential this morning. I can't wait to hear what they have been doing and will be here on Sunday afternoon to welcome them all back. Have fun Y5! 

Mrs Head

Friday 4th November

Our main theme this week has been keeping safe. The children have talked about how this is a fun time of year but can also become quite dangerous. Each class has talked about how to keep safe when out Trick or Treating and on Bonfire Night.

If you are going to a bonfire or having fireworks this weekend please have fun and stay safe.

Mrs Head

Friday 14th October 

It was lovely to see so many parents at our parents’ evenings this week. Our Vice Chair of Governors, Mrs Porter, came along on Wednesday and managed to talk to quite a few parents who all had great things to say about our school. Thank you to all the staff who stayed late for these evenings, it makes it a long day for us but we do enjoy talking about the children and how well they are doing! 
We’re nearly finished with our first half term as we break up next Friday for a week. After just 6 weeks of the school year we can see so much progress being made. Mr Kaczmarek was marking some writing the other day and the progress from the first piece of work to the last was amazing. 👍🏼
Mrs Head

Friday 7th October

Well I don’t think any of us thought we would be ending the week with a flood! Unfortunately, we had a burst pipe in the KS1 cloakroom area which meant we couldn’t use the Y1 classroom or the toilets so we had to send everyone home. The children were so sensible and well behaved and thanks to grown ups from home who came to their rescue quickly! The plumber has been and everything will be back to normal for Monday.

Don’t forget next Wednesday and Thursday are parents’ evenings so I hope we get to see lots of you. The children have had a great start to the year and it will be nice for them to share their good work with parents.

Mrs Head 😊

Friday 30th September 

It’s October tomorrow and the weather has definitely been autumnal this week - I need to dig my heated body warmer out from the back of the wardrobe!

We had another great assembly this morning and started by watching a slide show of Y6. Everyone in Y6, along with Mrs Smedley, Mrs Willacy, Miss Williams and Mr Jukes, climbed to the top of Pen-y-Ghent, one of the three peaks. It looks like they had great fun and were really proud of their achievement. 
At our governors’ meeting on Monday, a new Chair was elected. Mrs Porter will still be a governor but Mrs Knutsson is now Chair and will be around school over the next couple of weeks to get to know us all. She is running the London Marathon this weekend, which is very impressive - good luck, Mrs Knutsson! 
Letters will be coming home on Monday about parents’ evenings on Wednesday 12th and Thursday 13th October so please look out for those and send them back in.

Mrs Head 🙂

Friday 23rd September

Even though it has been a four-day week it has still been a busy one at Cobden. Like last week, I have given a lot of stickers out again this week for excellent work and behaviour. I've seen some great writing and maths and some wonderful artwork - I particularly like Evie-May's drawing of a gingerbread girl after Y1 had a visit from the gingerbread man! 

Our school photographer was in on Tuesday so please make sure your child gives you the code to log on and order photos - there were some lovely smiles! 

Mrs Head 

Friday 16th September

I have had lots of children bring me their lovely work this week, I am going to need some new stickers! I have seen some super writing, both in content and presentation, some great maths and lots of interesting cross-curricular work about the Queen. In our Tuesday assembly this week I asked the children what rules they would make if they were King or Queen for the day and they were really thoughtful, thinking of the environment and homelessness especially. Archie became King Charles III and answered "hot seat" questions. I was going to ask other people to come and have a turn but Archie was so amazing he kept going! 

Although it's for a sad reason, enjoy the extra day off on Monday whatever you plan to do, and we will see you back on Tuesday morning for the fun time that we usually have when the photographer is in school!!

Mrs Head 

Friday 9th September

Welcome back to another year at Cobden! It has been lovely seeing everyone and hearing about your summer holidays. Well Done Assembly is my favourite time of the week and this morning was no exception. All children were in assembly for their great attitudes to school and learning and I know teachers are really pleased with how everyone has settled and returned with a good attitude. 

Unfortunately, we have had the very sad news about the Queen yesterday and I know the children have had a lot of questions. We don't know yet if schools will close for a day of mourning but will let parents know as soon as we know. All classes will spend some time reflecting on the Queen's lifetime and the changes to come in the future. Don't forget every child was given a lovely book (picture below) about the Queen earlier this year when we celebrated her 70 years on the throne. I know my grandson was reading his this morning as he heard the news, so I'm sure he will have some interesting facts to share with me this weekend!

Mrs Head