Cockfield School

Firstly I would like to say a very big thank-you on behalf of myself and the School, to Jane Manvers, who stepped down as chairperson for the Governors this September. Her dedication and hard work was very much appreciated by us all and I hope that I will be able to follow in her footsteps just as well.

We have had a few events in school recently including the Macmillan Coffee Morning, a Book Fair, Sixth Sense Dance and a School Open Morning. The children also attended the Memorial Service on 11th November.

Over the forthcoming weeks we shall see the Christmas Play and enjoy Carols by Candlelight at St Peter’s Church on the last day of term. The children also have their Christmas Dinner and Party to look forward to! A very busy but enjoyable time to come!

The school is also very busy in the evenings with their “after-school clubs” every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The clubs include Crossed Keys, Strikers, Nature Club, Sports Club and Choir practice. Almost all of the children attend at least one of these and they all thoroughly enjoy them! I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

This term we have welcomed six new children into school. This gives a total of 78 children on our roll - the largest number for several years.

In light of the dreadful Tsunami disaster, the children have collected pennies from home and placed them on a large map of the affected area, raising an incredible Ł62.63. Father Simon has sent this money, along with other contributions from the parish, to 'Action Water'.

On Friday 4th February the children will be allowed to come to school in their own clothes in exchange for a donation to UNICEF. The funds on this occasion will go towards 'Food and Nutrition' programme in Ethiopia and Tajikistan. Ł138 is sufficient to set up a feeding centre to bring 200 malnourished women and children back to health.

Crossed Keys are holding a Pancake Breakfast at Cockfield Village Hall on Tuesday 8th February from 8.30am to 9.30am. Pancakes, teas, coffees and cold drinks will be served. All welcome and proceeds will go to Action Water.

The Freshwater Theatre Company will be visiting us on Wednesday 9th February when children will be able to experience 'Victorian Schooldays' and 'Victorian Home Life' with actors playing the role of School Mistress and Housekeeper. The children will attend school in appropriate attire. This should be fun-filled and informative day for the children bringing their history lessons to life.

Finally, we thought it would be fun and educational to arrange an activities day to mark the Chinese New Year. this will take place on Thursday 10th February. The children will participate in a range of activities, which will include the creation of a giant rooster.

The Children of Cockfield School have been invited to provide a display of Country Dancing at the Cockfield Community Councils Fun Day on Sunday 6th June 2004. This is always enjoyable to watch and sometimes the parents are asked to join in, you have been warned!

The pupils of Oak Class will be going on an outing to Wattisham on Wednesday 9th June. They will have the opportunity to look around and learn about Police Helicopters. I’m sure that they will have a fantastic day and a lot of stories to tell on their return to school.

There are a number of clubs running after school during the week. These include Archaeology, Athletics, Dancing, Cycling Proficiency and Recorder. Ocarina and Chess clubs are held during lunch time sessions.

The Staff will be holding a Foundation Stage Evening on Wednesday 30th June. This will enable parents to see how their children are being taught during their first year at school. The children have recently been learning about recycling and waste minimization. Did you know that you can recycle the following and not only help the environment but also raise funds for Cockfield School?

• Bring your aluminium cans to our can recycling enclosure (in the playground alongside the shed, crush the cans using the crusher then place them in the black bin provided.

• Place your unwanted textiles in the textile bin located in the Village Hall Car Park.

The festive season is with us once again and we can look forward to the celebrations that the children, teachers and parents shall hopefully enjoy.

The Christmas Performance will take place on the afternoon of Thursday 11th December at 1.30pm. Parents are warned needle and thread may be required!

The Governors and members of FOCSA have been invited to attend the Annual Christmas Lunch on Tuesday 16th December. They will dine on traditional roast Turkey with trimmings followed by Mincemeat Tart. The children and staff always make us feel very welcome.

The children shall be given the opportunity to experiment with clay on Wednesday 17th December as a Pottery Workshop will be visiting the School. Finally, on Friday 19th December at 2.30pm there will be the Carols by Candlelight at St. Peter's Church. This is always very enjoyable and a lovely way to end the term. If you are able, please do join us.

Recently the children from the school experienced what it would have been like to go to school in Victorian times. The youngsters dressed in period costume while learning about life in the Victorian era. Some of the classrooms were also changed to mirror the times. Teachers also took part, showing the children games and artefacts that would have been used.

The parents shall be given the opportunity to look at their childrens work and discuss their progress with the teachers during the Parents Consultation Evening at the beginning of April.

On Thursday April 3rd a Music Company will visit the school and spend the day singing and playing musical instruments with the children. At the end of the session they shall be able to record their efforts on to a CD.

Circus shall be arriving at Cockfield School on April 10th. This is a workshop and the children shall be dressing up and practising their Circus skills. I'm sure this will be a very enjoyable day for all involved.

Friday April 11th marks the last day of term. The children will be going to church at 2.30pm to remember Easter. Pleas join us if you are able.

The children started the spring term on 7th January. They all seemed to enjoy their break but are ready to get back into the swing of school life. The Governors joined the Staff on the 6th January to help contribute to the School Improvement Plan for 2003. The School Improvement Plan is a document that we use to define areas within the school where we feel improvements can be made. This could be within the Curriculum, Professional Development, Classroom Management, Governor Training, Resources and Finance and the Environment. The targets are recorded, we decide on the success criteria, how it is achieved, evaluation methods, a time scale, people responsible and finally the cost. We then consult this document during the school year to access the progress of the targets. It is indeed a very useful tool.

FOCSA were busy over the Christmas period. They serenaded folk from the Bradfields and Cockfield on the 16th and 17th December with their carol singing. These were both very successful evenings and approximately Ł250 was raised. Our thanks go to, all the people who kindly donated to our school funds, and warmly welcomed us into their homes, and it was much appreciated.

We have been collecting empty ink computer cartridges at school, as they are recyclable. If you have any at home we would be grateful if you could keep them for us. They can either be brought to the school or they can be taken to Cockfield Post Office as Barbara and Ralph have kindly agreed to be a drop-off point. We raised Ł63 last term alone so you can see it's most definitely worthwhile saving them. We also collect aluminium cans and the tops to Nestles cereal packets.

I am delighted to announce that the Governing Body has appointed Mrs. Ann Morley as the new Head Teacher at Cockfield Primary School. Mrs. Morley has been a member of staff at Cockfield for a number of years; she is very popular with the children and parents. I would like to offer my congratulations on behalf of the school and we wish her luck in her new position.

The governors have been busy over the last two months preparing the Annual Report to Parents. Mrs. Tracy Perry has worked extremely hard to publish the report and the AGM was held on Tuesday 8th October 2002. The meeting was reasonably well attended. This is the governors' opportunity to share with the parents the work that goes on behind the scenes in the everyday running of the school. We are responsible for making decisions with the guidance of the Head Teacher and are accountable for the school's budget. We meet twice a term. The first meeting is clerked by the LEA and covers the legal papers, whereas the second meeting is more informal and concentrates on matters arising within our school. We also have three committees Curriculum, Personnel and Finance and finally Building and Premises.

We have had two changes to the Governing Body. Firstly, Rev. Simon Hill has replaced Mrs. Betty Barrett as ex-officio Governor. Our thanks to Betty for all her contributions. Mrs Michelle Wright has become the teacher representative.

The autumn term saw seven new children welcomed to Cockfield School and they, along with all the other pupils, have settled well into School life. We also welcomed Mrs. Wright as the new Gold Class teacher and Miss Catchpole as the new Red Class teacher.

The new Playing Field equipment is now fully installed and operational and is complemented by a new wildlife area, both of which have been hugely successful. A pond has been added along with decking to provide a platform for the art of ‘Pond Dipping.

The children brought a selection of fruit and vegetables to School in order to celebrate the Harvest Festival on the 30th September. This is a particularly popular event in our calendar enjoyed by all the children and parents who attended the church service.

Tuesday 8th: Annual Governor’s meeting for parents and FoCSA AGM, 3.30 pm at the School

Olive Arbon, who as some of you will be aware is the school’s caretaker and cleaner, has retired after 35 years service to the school. At a special assembly she was thanked and presented with a vacuum cleaner, prior to a tea party, enjoyed by all who attended. Olive has always been very loyal and hardworking and will be sorely missed by pupils and staff alike. Olive’s position has now been successfully filled by Mrs Sue Farrow of Thorpe Morieux and we look forward to making her welcome to the school.

Further welcomes are to new arrivals Miss Debbie Catchpole, who starts with the school as the new leader of Year 2 Red Class, and Mrs Michelle Wright, who will be the new teacher for Year3/4 Gold Class. Please join me in wishing them all future success throughout their time with us.

Mrs Ann Morley takes up the position of acting Head Teacher whilst we consider the applicants for the permanent role which will be made at the start of January 2003.

Finally, I am in disbelief as I write this as the clouds are so dark and heavy with rain. Hopefully the next few weeks will bring the summer weather which we can all enjoy.

The Spring term has proved to be busy for the School with several visits providing great interest for the children.

We had acknowledgement from Peterborough United Football Club that they would be offering after school coaching and in addition to this, Trevor Cox represented Ipswich Town Football Club, who took assembly and organised skills lessons for each individual class.

The children have had the opportunity to learn about a wide variety of percussion instruments through a demonstration by Mr. Bright, a visiting music specialist. His visit was complemented by a workshop session for both 3 and 4 year pupils. Thanks to the Friends of Cockfield School Association for their sponsorship of this particular event.

The scholastic Book Fayre was held in the school from 25th - 30th January 2001, which complemented World Book Day being celebrated on 1st March 2001.

P.C. Seager visited us on the 16th March along with an official police dog handler and two trained animals. This was treated with great excitement from all the children who experienced a very informative demonstration.

Red class have been learning about schooling during the Victorian age with a visit from Ann Eddington on 9th March. History really came alive during her role as a Victorian schoolteacher and kitchen maid.

The term ends on Friday 6th April with an Easter service at St. Peter's Church.