Friday Update - 25.04.2025

Miss McNamara's Message

This week, we held our online safety and social media parent workshop, which proved to be an eye-opening session about the very real dangers children face online today. Although we were a little disappointed to have only four parents from Coppice Valley attend, we were pleased to welcome parents from other local schools after we extended the invitation.

The workshop focused on popular platforms such as WhatsApp, Snapchat and Roblox - platforms that many of our children are using regularly. The session, delivered by an online safety expert, highlighted the ever-evolving risks and how vital it is for parents and schools to work together to keep children safe in the digital world.

In today’s fast-changing online environment, it can feel almost impossible to keep up with new apps, trends, and potential risks. That’s why it’s so important to stay informed through regular updates from those who work in online safety day in and day out. As a school, we are committed to sharing this information with you and supporting you in keeping your child safe online. We subscribe to and pay for the sessions and information we share with you. Please look out for this information in our Friday updates and emails. 

We hope this is the beginning of many more helpful conversations about how we can all play a part in safeguarding our children online. Please see the information below for our second Knowsley online safety course - we strongly encourage you to attend. This is a repeat of the session in January. Let’s continue working in partnership to protect our young people.

Other celebrations this week include:

🌿 Outdoor Learning – Pupils across school have been enjoying outdoor learning opportunities in a variety of subjects, making the most of the spring weather! It has been joyful to be outside and see so many classes and lessons happening which utilise our grounds. What fab teachers we have!
🔥 Forest School in the Spotlight – We welcomed local media this week to showcase our Forest School sessions and our canopy, which is helping us deliver quality learning outdoors in all weathers.
👶 Nursery Plans Underway – Initial meetings have taken place to begin work towards our much-anticipated nursery development - exciting times ahead!

🧽 Mud Kitchen in Action – Our new mud kitchen is now in use, providing pupils with wonderful opportunities for messy, creative, sensory play.
⚽ New Playground Equipment – Children have been loving the new playground equipment introduced this week, adding extra excitement and opportunities for active play during breaktimes.

Thank you for your continued support.

Community News

Anyone for cricket?!

Ripley Cricket Club are recruiting new players for the 2025 season and beyond!

Ripley is a vibrant, inclusive cricket club and we are in our 12th year delivering junior cricket programme. We operate 4 adult teams and have junior teams in every age group in the Nidderdale Junior League.

We are now recruiting new players at under 9 (school years 3 and 4) and under 11 (school years 5 and 6). Training starts on Friday 25th April and continues every Friday from 6.15-7.30pm until the end of the summer term. Matches will take place weekly. 

Training is led by ECB qualified coaches, and all coaches and volunteer helpers are DBS checked and have attended ECB Safeguarding training. Everyone is very welcome and no previous experience is necessary. Every new player that joins as a member will receive a club branded training shirt and match shirt.

To register interest, please call / text  / WhatsApp Mark Hardcastle (Head of Junior Cricket) on 07476992792 or email sbmhardcastle@hotmail.com.

 For children in school years 1 and 2, Ripley are delivering the ECB All Stars Cricket programme. All-Stars Cricket provides a fantastic first experience for all children aged 5-8 years old where they’re guaranteed 8 weeks of jam-packed fun, activity and skills development. The programme is designed to introduce children to the sport, teaching them new skills, helping them make new friends and have a great time doing so. The programme starts on Friday 16th May from 6.15-7.15pm and runs every Friday up to and including our end of season awards evening and barbecue on 18th July. The cost is £50 and everyone will receive a personalised t-shirt, back pack, bat and ball. To book, please visit the ECB website and follow this link here.