Friday Update - 10.01.2025 - Happy New Year!
Posted 9th January 2025
Miss McNamara's Message
What a challenging week it’s been with the snow, ice and freezing temperatures! I want to take a moment to celebrate the incredible efforts of our staff and thank you for your ongoing support and understanding.
Here are some of the hurdles we’ve tackled together:
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Parent Care: Thank you to all parents for carefully assessing your own travel conditions each day and prioritising safety. Your careful decisions have been a big help. Thank you for amending children arrangements to accommodate our temporary BAS timings.
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Staff Travel and Parking: With roads icy and conditions hazardous, staff have gone above and beyond to get to school safely. Some have had long walks with no vehicle access, we have given each other lifts in to school and parking has been especially tricky. Each day, we have had push each other out of the car park, with the side streets not suitable for vehicles.
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Site Safety: Grit bins are empty, council deliveries haven’t arrived, and it’s been an “everything by hand with a shovel” job to make paths safe for everyone. We must recognise the relentless hard-work of our site supervisor, Greg Hall. He has been committed to ensuring the school could open, clearing our paths daily and getting onto the surrounding streets to break up the worst of the black ice.
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Daily Changes: Each morning, we’ve adapted to changing site conditions, updating fire evacuation plans to ensure that everyone can not only get into school safely but also out safely in an emergency. These have been communicated to staff early in the morning. Indoor play has mean that staff have given up their breaks and lunchtimes to supervise pupils inside.
Your kind emails and messages at the gate have kept staff morale high during these difficult days. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we’ve navigated last-minute changes and prioritised everyone’s safety.
This week has demonstrated the commitment of our Coppice Valley community, and I couldn’t be prouder of our children and community.
Arbor Parent App - In-App Messages
As you will have seen during this week, we have added a method of communication from school. Due to the rising costs of text messaging, we will no longer be using this service. Instead, all quick messages and emergency updates will now be sent through the Arbor App.
To ensure you receive these messages promptly, please follow the instructions in the link below to enable push notifications on your device. If a message is not read within the app, an email will be sent to notify you that a message is waiting.
Please Note: While quick updates and emergencies will be communicated via the Arbor App, more detailed or lengthy communications will continue to be sent via email.
KS2 PSHE / RSHE drop in session Tuesday 28th January 3.30 - 4.30
We would like to invite you to an after-school drop-in session to learn more about our delivery of the Personal, Social, Health, and Economic (PSHE) curriculum at Coppice Valley, including our Healthy Relationships teaching and policy.
- Share insights into the RSHE curriculum and policy.
- Support you in discussing sex education, puberty, and friendships with your children.
- Explain how our spiral curriculum ensures teaching is age-appropriate and developmentally sensitive.
Author Visit - Bethan Woolvin
We are excited to welcome award-winning illustrator and author Bethan Woolvin to our school on Monday, 20th January! We have developed a whole-school focus and unit based on her book Hansel and Gretel. Bethan will be sharing the magic of her beautifully illustrated books through a series of workshops on the say.
To make this visit even more special, books by Bethan Woollvin will be available for purchase through Imagined Things Bookshop. To ensure your child’s book is ready for Bethan to sign on the day, please place your order by 15th January. Don’t forget to include your child’s name in the notes at checkout!
If you’d like to explore books not currently listed, feel free to reach out to the bookshop via email, phone, or by visiting in person.
This is a fantastic opportunity for our students to learn more about the magic of storytelling and illustration. Let’s make this a day to remember!
We will also be having a themed lunch this day, please find the menu below.
Lunchtime Update
We’ve amended our lunchtime set-up to create a more welcoming atmosphere. The tables are now arranged like dining tables, giving the environment a more restaurant or family feel.
We’re also gathering feedback from the children and making adjustments as we go to ensure this change is positive for everyone.
Toolkits are now available!
Miss Wright has lots of toolkits available - families can borrow a toolkit to share at home for two weeks at a time. If you would like any further information, please email wrights@cvps.rklt.co.uk.
We have the following available:
- KS1 Wellbeing
- KS2 Wellbeing
- Games Night
- Yoga
Next Week
We hope to be able to get back out on the playground early next week as the temperatures warm up.
Please ensure that pupils have appropriate footwear for wetter conditions. As always, we will continue to assess the grounds daily to ensure safety.
Spring 1 - Week 2 Menu
Spring 1 Key Dates
Monday 6th January - Inset Day
Tuesday 7th January - School opens to children
Monday 20th January - Hansel and Gretal Special Lunch - Author Visit
Tuesday 21st January - Family Breakfast
Tuesday 28th January - KS2 PSHE/RSHE Drop In Session 3:30-4:30pm.
Friday 7th February - Walk to School Day
Friday 7th February - NSPCC Number Day
Tuesday 11th February - Safer Internet Day
Wednesday 12th February - Young Voices Concert
Friday 14th February - Valentines Special Meal
Friday 14th February - School Closes for Half Term
Spring 2 Key Dates
Monday 24 February - School Opens for children
Tuesday 25th &Thursday 27th March - Parents' Evening
Friday 4th April - School Closes for Easter Holiday
Community News
DanceEd Classes
NEW DanceEd dance & acting classes at Woodlands Methodist Church Hall, Wetherby Road, Harrogate on Monday afternoons starting 13th January 2025! They are offering a FREE Trial Dance and Acting classes!⭐️
Parents must book a trial lesson via the website or class4kids booking page:
Family Fun Day - Harrogate College
