Lower School

Looking back, but always ploughing on forward!

I know I say it every year, but I cannot believe how fast the years speed by and here we are again at the end of another busy academic year. This year we have had the start of the Golden Celebrations added into the mix.

As I write this, the Reception children are off on their school trip to Sacrewell Farm. There was huge excitement as they boarded the bus - never quite sure if it’s the trip that excites them or the packed lunch! The children have certainly settled in well to Lower School and it’s been great to watch them grow in confidence as I meet them around the school or haring around on the playground.

The Year 1 children seem so much older as the year closes and I always get a cheery hello or a door rapidly opened for me in the corridors. In Year 2 they are always busy rushing about, huge smiles on their faces, and the corridors echoing with their giggling and chattering! Oh my goodness, how tall the Year 3 children seem at the end of the year, and they are well-mannered, confident children who have grown so much, not only emotionally but physically too!

We can surely remember a few weeks back, when June had never seen so much rain, and Founders’ Day was held for our parents. We didn’t let the weather dampen our spirits and a fantastic showcase was held by the children. We always remark on how the children constantly rise to the occasion and this certainly was the case. ‘Back through the Decades’ took us on a fabulous journey, starting with the tricky subject of ‘The Future’ for the Reception children but they certainly impressed with a rendition of ‘When I Grow Up’ from the show Matilda.

The Year 1 children showed us that not only their singing skills but also their dancing skills are second-to-none as they performed ‘Hall of Fame’ and, keeping up the theme of 50 years, Year 2 performed ‘Gold Forever’, again wowing us with some great solos.

Finally, Year 3 tugged on the heartstrings with ‘These Are The Days’ and before it got too emotional the photos of our Year 3 parents back in the nineties allowed a few giggles from the audience. After the entertainment, the parents were welcomed into their children’s classrooms and there were various activities for them to enjoy together. There was ‘The Quiz of the Nineties’ for Year 3. I can’t comment on who was the most competitive…

I must remark on how fabulous the displays were in the marquee. The teachers and children had put so much effort into researching their decade; it made an impact on the walls and it was great to see the children getting their hands on old technology - surely typewriters aren’t that old?

As we end another term and new class lists have been distributed, I would like to wish our Year 3 children good luck as they move into Upper School. They have met the challenges set at the beginning of the year, supported their Reception buddies magnificently and have become confident in their own abilities. We wish you well. Stay positive and over the summer if you ever have a moment to reflect on your time in Lower School I would like to share this quote with you from the great Winne the Pooh himself: “We didn’t realise we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun.”

On behalf of all the staff in Lower School we hope you all have a wonderful summer; may the sun shine every day and we will see you back in September for more Golden Celebrations!

Lower School Leader Pastoral

The universe is the limit at Copthill

The famous phrase “time flies when you are having fun” is certainly true for the last academic year at Copthill School. It is incredible how quickly the time has passed and how many achievements have been accomplished this year by everyone.

All our children across the school continue to embrace the attributes of ‘The Copthill Learner’ through problem solving, working as a team, independently exploring, thinking creatively whilst being responsible and reflective. It is delightful to see the sense of achievement on a daily basis as our children persevere and succeed whilst mastering new skills.

As staff and teachers working in the school, we have also been evaluating our own attributes against the Copthill Learner qualities, and every child in each year group has worked hard to establish what they feel is an excellent Copthill teacher! Some of the ideas were highly poignant and insightful while others rather amusing!

The School Council has spent time gathering and collating ideas from their peers to establish the true definition of an excellent lesson and teaching experience.

Teachers have worked tirelessly this year to create a unique Copthill curriculum tailored to the requirements of our pupils. A new process called ‘Lesson Study’ has enabled teachers to work closely together to analyse in-depth the quality of learning in our lessons to maximise pupil achievement in every year group. The focus for our lesson studies across the school has been to maximise pupil progress, with excellent results through the implementation of our new marking policy.

As adults and children, we are still continuing to learn each day. Just last week one of our Reception children was reflectively analysing the phrase ‘The sky's the limit’ and, having recently learnt about planets, space and rockets, decided that at Copthill we needed to say: “The universe is the limit!”

How true.

Academic Head of Lower School

RECEPTION

YEAR 1

YEAR 2

YEAR 3