Cockwood Priamry School

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Class 1 Science

As part of our unit on how we see things, the children were given the challenge of designing and making their own periscope. We had some brilliant designs!

Platinum Award Winners Autumn Term 2011

Well done to these children for demonstrating outstanding effort and commitment. A super achievement.

Global Citizenship

Children, staff and governors alike have spent a fabulous two days working alongside Chartwell Dutiro. Chartwell is a singer, composer, musician and story teller from Zimbabwe that now lives and works across Devon with children and adults of all ages. He taugh the whole school a song in his native language, shona, about a beautiful bird and he worked with a group of 15 key stage 2 children and taught them a song about a lady riding on a white hyena. The youngest children in the school enjoyed a morning of playing on the 'mbira', a wooden instrument with metal prongs that are plucked to vibrate and make a tuneful sound.

Class 1 and 2 found it really interesting to find out all about the Bindura District and the school and village where Chartwell grew up. He told the children about segregation and apartheid and discussed racism in the present day. This provoked some sensible discussion and many questions. Both classes followed up these discussions using descriptive writing to describe Chartwell without mentioning colour, looking beyond the superficial and focussing on the person, their qualities and their characteristics.

Chartwell is helping Cockwood School make a link with his old primary school in Zimbabwae and we hope to develop a sustainable partnership that will enable our children to learn more about what it is to be a global citizen. The children will explore the similarities and differences between themselevs and the children of Chiriseri Primary School. Chartwell will be taking work from our children out to Africa with him in April and bringing work back for our children to explore. This is a wonderful opportunity and one we are keen to promote.

SCIENCE- class 1 and class 2

This term Science across key stage 2 is focussed on 'Rocks and Soils'. Cockwood School were extremely priveleged to welcome Mr Rod Crook for 2 special days exploring, investigating and experimenting with a large range of rocks. Rod was Headteacher at Cockwood for many years and it was delightful to see him engaging with our current pupils. His knowledge of geology is outstanding and he completely enthralled the children with his enthusiasm for the subject.

The children particularly loved spending the afternoon discovering 'volcanoes' , 'flint napping' and working with 'fossils'. The children will be building on the work they have done with Mr Crook and it has inspired and motivated some great learning.

Class 3's trip to Pennywell

The class enjoyed a visit to Pennywell farm to watch the Nativity. The children had the opportunity to dress up as characters from the story and joined in with some traditional carols.

We also visited Father Christmas and were treated to an early Christmas present. While we were there we visited the reindeer and saw the other larger animals they have at Pennywell. A fantastic time was had by all!

SNOW WHITE AND THE EIGHT DWARF'S- STAFF CHRISTMAS PANTO 2011

An excellent evening was enjoyed by staff, pupils, parents and members of the local community at the annual Cockwood Players Staff Pantomime. This years production didnt disappoint and as usual a traditional story was given a modern and comical twist by the Cockwood team. The event is always a last minute rush but once again staff showed there is no limit to their talents!!! Sally Stoneman played an amazing wicked Queen and Miss O'Rielly excelled as Snow White. The Thriller dance routine choregraphed by Miss Elston looked fantastic on stage...we even looked like we knew what we were doing!!! Miss Elston played a great Doris Dumplings and got lots of laughs alongside laurie Phillips as Muddles. A HUGE thank you to everyone involved...too many to mention. A brilliant production and great end to a very busy term.

'We're Going On a Bear Hunt' ART PROJECT- CLASS 3

The topic for this term in class 3 has been based around the story 'We're Going On a Bear Hunt'. The children have been lucky to be involved in an art project working alongside a professional artist to create wall hangings to decorate The Northcott Theatre foyer for the forthcoming production of the show of the story. The children had been discussing and exploring what a forest and trees look like and made a small 3D model prior to the artist coming into school. She spent some time with them formulating their ideas and experimenting with a range of mediums. Over two days 2 banners were completed and 2 further banners have now been submitted from further work in class. The display has now been installed at The Northcott and will be open to the public for the run of the show. Class 3 are VERY excited as they are off to see the show week commencing December 12th and will also see their artwork on display. WELL DONE CLASS 3.

Christmas Craft Day

Class 1 and 2 have all had an oportunity to make cards and a decoration ready for Christmas. We were very lucky to have Mary Heard and Sarah Blundell come in and give up their time to work alongside the children to produce some top quality pieces of work. Each child was able to make two Christmas cards, a gift tag and a triangular bauble containing a surprise! This is the second year we have run a Christmas craft day and all the children benefitted from our
visitors expertise. A HUGE thank you to Mary and Sarah who provided all the materials for the day and organised the individual activities.

Gifted and talented Sculpture Workshop

Three children from class 1 attended a two week sculpture workshop at Kenn School. They designed and developed a piece of sculpture and worked alongside an art specialist to learn new skills in this area.

Class 2's production of The Tempest

Class 2 have had a busy few weeks, they have performed the dress rehearsal of The Tempest in the village hall to the local community and also performed at The Northcott Theatre to a sell out audience. ALL the children were amazing, learning their lines, projecting their voices and getting into character. Their costumes and make-up looked fantastic on a professional stage and everyone adpated well to the lights and ambience of the setting. It was a challenging journey at times but the sense of achievement the children felt after the event was immense. It has been a thoroughly worthwhile project to be involved in and we have some budding thespians amongst our pupils! A HUGE congratulations to everyone.

Farewell Father David

It was very sad to have to say goodbye to father David this week. He is leaving the local parish to start work in a new church.

He has supported the school on many occasions over the last 5 years, both at the church and in school with regular assemblies and input into RE lessons.

He presented us with a super photograph of Cockwood that had a lovely message to the staff and children on the back.

We presented him with a card that every child had made a contribution to and a new clock to always remember his time spent at Cockwood School.

We will miss him dearly but wish him well in his new post.

Bye bye Father David!

Bikeability

Children in Class 1 enjoyed a series of bikeability sessions, where their aim was to become safe cyclists. They were fortunate enough to help open the new Exe Estuary Cycle Path. Thank you to everyone who supported the pupils during the week and Jenny Steer, the professional photographer who took these shots.

 

Bat boxes

In keeping with our habitat topic and with the proximity to Halloween, Bryony and Jeremy, parents of a child in class 3, paid a special visit to Class 1 on the 21st of October. Bryony, a wildlife consultant and bat conservationist, brought in some live bats to show our class. She taught us a lot about the various indigenous species. We learned about their features, life cycle, habitats and even heard some clips of bats using echolocation.

Jeremy, a carpenter, then demonstrated how to create bat boxes. Class 1 worked hard in groups to create their own wooden boxes. We will soon erect these boxes in the local woodland to provide safe habitats for local bats to hibernate for the winter.

In early spring, Bryony will return to school to work with Class 1, helping us to monitor the bat population living in our boxes. She will show us how to record and measure their vital statistics.

Many thanks to Bryony and Jeremy for the visit, we learnt lots of fascinating facts and can’t wait to learn more from future visits. Please see the class 1 page for more photos of the workshop.

Cockwood goes Celtic!

Our topic for the first term is, ‘Ireland’, where we are looking at various aspects of Irish culture and geography. Within art lessons we have been exploring Celtic design, particularly focusing on the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript containing beautiful ornate illustrations and intricate calligraphy.

On 14th October, our unit culminated with a visit from local textile artist, Ruth Oakley, who worked with our class for the day, helping each child create a fabric wall hanging of their name, written and decorated in a similar style to the Book of Kells.

Class 1 all had a fantastic day and produced some amazing artwork. Well done Class 1! For more information and photos on this and other class 1 activities, please see the class 1 page.

Interhouse science challenge

Each house team worked together to design a carrier for ping pong balls. They were given a limited quantitiy of resources and had to come up with a robust carrier. The design which carried the most ping pong balls came from Brunel House, who scored 50 housepoints. Here are some ideas from the afternoon.

The Tempest - Class 2

This week class 2 have been working really hard on their lines for The Tempest. During their drama workshop this week they worked on voice projection and breathing exercises to help them with delivering their lines. If you would like to find out more please have a look on the class 2 page.

Samba Day - October 2011

Students from West Exe School Samba band came and entertained the children to a
thrilling assembly in the village hall to demonstrate their talents as samba
musicians. The students were year 8s and had only previously played together as
a band a few times. Cockwood pupils were sat enthralled and thoroughly enjoyed
the performance. After lunch class 1 and 2 worked alongside Mr Salter from
West Exe School and he introduced them to a few basics of samba rythmns. The
children used their voices to sound out a pattern. Throughout the afternoon the
children engaged in a carousel of samba activites and got the opportunity to
try each section of instruments. To finish off this amazing workshop every
child had an instrument and we all worked together to become our very own samba
band. It was an incredibly noisey but very productive afternoon. The children
will be following this up over the coming half-term as our focus in music will
be samba and in the very near future we will be starting our very own Cockwood
Samba band using West Exe as our inspiration- watch this space!

A VERY BIG thank you to Mr Salter and West Exe students

The Tempest

Class 2 went to Westexe School in Exeter to continue rehearsing for their performance of The Tempest. This week they have been working on the opening scene of a stormy sea. Please have a look on the class 2 page for more photos and information.

Harvest Festival

The children and parents enjoyed a lovely harvest celebration in St Mary's Church. The songs, drama and readings centred around the theme of trees and each class performed wonderfully. It was an opportunity to give thanks and consider those less fortunate. The school community donated money and harvest gifts to St Petroc's homeless shelter in Exeter.

The Tempest

Class 2 are currently working really hard alongside BTEC students from West Exe School, Exeter to perform a production of The Tempest at The Northcott Theatre on Monday 28th November. The Shakespeare Festival is a collaboration of three mini-prodcutions with Bowhill and Newtown primary schools also putting on Macbeth and A Midsummer's Night Dream. The entire event is being co-ordinated by the Westexe students and is a first for the South-West. It is being supported by The Northcott Theatre and tickets will go on general sale from the in the very near future. If you would like tickets please call the box office on 01392 493493, open Mon-sat 10-6pm.

In preparation for this amazing event class 2 are meeting with West Exe every Thursday morning and engaging in drama activities to help them gain a deeper understanding of the play. If you would like to follow their Shakespeare journey please look on the class 2 page which will be updated on a weekly basis with the class progress counting down to the performance.

Class 2 - science walks at Dawlish Warren, September 2011

Class 2 spent a really informative day with one of the rangers from Dawlish Warren Nature Resreve learning about 'habitats'. The children were shown 5 different habitats and investigated what animals lived there. Phil told the children lots of amazing facts about particular creatures that can be found on the reserve. The children were able to experience first hand the wildlife you
can find on our doorstep. In particular all the children loved pond-dipping and beach-combing. Each group had to collect a range of shells and draw a grid in the sand to sort them into groups. Great thanks to the staff and helpers for making this such a useful day and the children will continue learning about habitats during science over the coming half-term.

Competition to design a logo on Teignbridge refuse lorries.

Well done to one of our Year 2 pupils for winning a competition to design a logo on Teignbridge refuse lorries. A great achievement as so many schools entered. Keep your eyes open for the design!!

Cockwood School Majorettes

The majorette troop at Cockwood Primary School wowed parents, pupils, staff and the local community with their final performance, dancing to a medley of songs in the village hall. Some of the girls received trophies for outstanding effort and improvement over the year with a great time being had by all. The girls have practised every week for the past year, working with Ms Julia Elston, the troop leader and member of the Cockwood staff team.

Grease - Summer 2011

A BIG thank you to all the parents and friends of Cockwood School that supported the staff and year 6 production of GREASE. It was a fabulous night and a great evenings entertainment. The year 6's did an amazing job learning their lines, songs and dance routines. Mr Millard was a perfect Danny Zuko alongside Mrs Mewse in the role of Sandy. The T-Birds and Pink Ladies all embraced the challenge and pulled out all the stops on the evening to give their best performance ever. The props and costumes looked super and it was a tremendous team effort to pull the whole event together. A fabulous way to end a very busy year. WELL DONE to everyone who was involved.

Click on the photos below to see larger versions:

Cockwood Sports Day 2011

We had a super afternoon where the house teams battled to win the sports day trophy. The children were incredibly competitive and thoroughly enjoyed the event, as did the staff and parents who came to support the children. Well done to Exe House, who won by a very narrow margin.

Class 1 residential to Wembworthy

Children from Class 1 had a superb time at the Wembworthy Centre last week, taking part in a wide range of outdoor activities! The children enjoyed an action packed week, where they took part in: orienteering, geo-caching,  traversing, nature work, archery, shelter building and even a midnight walk through the middle of Flashdown woods! Despite having limited sleep and being at the end of the week, everyone managed to find enough energy to take part in a water fight using 'small' water pistols. Our appreciation to Mr Broom, who brought up extra water, was recognised by children and staff in the best way possible...a good, old fashioned drenching! Many thanks to all of the staff and volunteers who made it a special week for the children. Mr Millard

Class 2 Evacuation Day – June 2011

Class 2 have been finding out about World War 2, as part of their topic they were evacuated for the day. The children had made their own gas mask, box, ration book and tin helmet to take with them. The children had no idea where they were going and were just told to arrive at Dawlish Warren train station in costume. First, we got on the train to Exeter St Davids and then changed
onto the Barnstaple train. We got off at Eggesford Station and then got onto a coach which took us to Lapdford School. On arrival the children had a drink of water and a plain biscuit. They were welcomed by Mrs Mannah the Headteacher and sent in groups to different classrooms.

After a lunch of rations, corned beef sandwiches and madiera cake, they were able to play outside with the children from the school.After lunch we had a talk from a retired Haedteacher, Mr Parry who told us what life was like as a child during the war and we also spoke to Mrs Parish who had actually been an evacuee to Lapford, 71 years previously. She really brought the experience alive by telling the children stories about her time as an evacuee in the
village. On the journey home the children were able to exchange their ration coupons for an apple and a 1/4 of sweets. A BRILLIANT day and all the children went home tired and hungry!! For more photos please have a look on the class 2 page.

Sainsburys Visit

Pupils from Class 3 enjoyed a fabulous experience when they visited the new Sainburys store being built in Dawlish. Each child listened to a safety talk and then were given a variety of equipment such as hard hat and gloves They were then shown around the location by the Site Manager and a number of Sainsburys staff. The children were able to ask questions about the types of work being carried out, what the machines did and what items were used for. The children and staff had a wonderful time and to see their artwork on boards at the site entrance was a real treat. Every child talked about how much they enjoyed the experience and loved bringing the hard hats, gloves and orange vests back to school. Thank you to Sainsburys for giving the children this opportunity and we look forward to seeing the finished store in the summer!

Sponsored Workout

To support the valuable work that is carried out by the NSPCC, the pupils of Cockwood Primary School took part in a sponsored workout session. This involved being part of a round robin of physical activities which included tennis, skipping and bench ball. The children raised a sum of £1049 which is incredible for a school of 81 pupils. Well done to everyone at Cockwood for supporting such a worthy cause.

 

Cockwood meets Bollywood

The entire school enjoyed a wonderful creative experience and took part in drama, dance, music, art and RE workshops which culminated in a Hindu wedding. The children played in a procession which led the groom, resplendent on a pony to his wedding. The children recreated the ceremony and danced for the parents and local community. It was a valuable experience where the children considered the beliefs of other faiths and embraced our multi-cultural society. It was a super event and thoroughly enjoyable!

Class 1 Medieval Assembly

The children in Class 1 entertained parents, staff and pupils with their very modern production depicting the Battle of Hastings. The children wrote the script, organised the scenes and practised independently. A super performance!

Wedding in Class 3 of Charlotte and Toby - Thursday March 31st 2011

This is Charlotte and Toby. It is their wedding day. We are all very excited in Class 3!

The service was held in Class 1 and Father David kindly came and took the service

Father David led the blessing of the marriage

The special register was signed

The service was finished. Charlotte and Toby are now married. We all clapped and offered our best wishes to the happy couple.

Time for the photos. Say cheese!

Don't forget to throw the confetti!

Next we went to Class 3 for the Reception

Then it was time for the speeches

Later the wedding cake was cut

And the bride and groom opened the dancing

It was a lovely occasion and one that we will all remember for many years to come

Remote Controlled Cars

Class 1 were fortunate to have Mr. Smith (Parent) come into school and talk about his hobby of racing remote controlled cars. He was able to bring in three different types of car, with top speeds ranging from 40mph to 60mph! The children had the opportunity of looking at the engines and different components that add to the performance, as well as asking questions about the racing championship that he competes in. As a group we discussed the importance of
having hobbies and the enjoyment that they bring to everyday lives. The hobbies in Class 1 range from: sports; playing instruments; drama and artwork.

As a Class, we would like to say a big thank you to Mr. Smith for taking the time to talk to us.

Class 1 trip to Exeter

The Synagogue

Class 1 visited the Exeter Synagogue in early March. Our guides were Robin and Emma, two members of the congregation. They showed us some important features and practices in the synagogue.

Emma sang a portion of the Torah, which was beautiful. We even took part in a Jewish wedding!
Can you work out who is getting married today?

We are now busy working on power points about the synagogue.

The Underground Passages

After lunch and exploring the grounds of Northernhay Gardens Class 1 explored the Underground Passages of Exeter.

These were constructed in Medieval times to bring fresh water into the city. Mind your heads children!!

 

Inter-house Scavenger Hunt

The whole school enjoyed a wonderful afternoon competing in their houses to find missing objects in the local community. The event encouraged positive team-working skills and a
big well done goes to Brunel House who won on the day.

Medieval Day

The whole school enjoyed an amazing Medieval Day, which included listening to
medieval tales, eating a banquet and watching fantastic archery on the village
green. Kevin Hicks, actor and historian, transformed the period for the children, showing them artefacts and entertaining them throughout the event. A brilliant day for everyone!!

Melodicas

Classes 1 and 2 have been learning to play the melodica. This is part of the wider opportunities funding to enhance the provision of music in schools.

Children are introduced and encouraged to play a range of different instruments as part of their music lessons in class.

We wrote some short compositions to perform to the class.

 

Class 2- 'Back-packing

We have had a busy start to the year in class 2. Our topic for this term is 'Back-packing' and all the children have had the opportunity to design, plan and make their own back-pack. Thanks to lots of 'willing volunteers' we were able to hold a complete day of sewing, using electric sewing machines. The children sewed three sides using a maching and then hand stitched a channel around the top of their bags, through which they thread coloured cord. They were able to use their imagination to decorate and complete their designs. A valuable part of this process will be evaluating their work and assessing the usefulness of their designs.

A very big thank you to everyone who helped throughout the day.

Spikey's Birthday

Class 3 were thrilled to be invited to Spikey the dinosaur's, 6th birthday party. We helped to plan the party for him and we all had a great time celebrating his birthday the following week in Class 3. This was part of our work on Celebrations this term!

Tag Rugby

Having won our learning community tag rugby finals for Years 3/4 and 5/6 respectively, Cockwood children took on other Primary Schools in the South Dartmoor School Sport Partnership Finals with both teams finishing a respectable 5th out of 14 in their age competitions. The children showed great sportsmanship, competitiveness and support for each other on a day that provided the children with so much enjoyment. All children who attended the competition represented the school superbly, earning plaudits from the event organisers and other schools. Well done Cockwood Tag Rugby Teams! Mr Millard

 

Countdown to Christmas

This year Cockwood Primary School staged a Christmas musical called Countdown To Christmas. It is based on a 21st century family's Christmas preparations... and how at this busy time they are reminded of the special gift of love at Christmas.

The whole school took part with Year 6 taking on the main characters splendidly! The costumes were lovely and the singing outstanding!

The staff and parents were very proud of the children's efforts.

Staff Christmas Panto – Cinderella

Over 170 adults and children were entertained by the staff team with their version of Cinderella. It was a thoroughly entertaining evening  and a great time was had by all. The event raised over £500 for the PFA and a huge thank you goes out to everyone who helped make the evening such an amazing success.

Christmas Craft at Cockwood

Children in Key Stage 2 enjoyed a craft day where they made christmas
decorations, cards, labels and boxes. The children had a thoroughly fantastic
day and a huge thanks go to Mary and Sarah for providing the activities and
resources.

Well done to Powderham for winning the inter-house craft competition, where
each child designed a christmas card with the children producing the best cards
scoring house points for their team.

Magic Show

The children at Cockwood were entertained with a fantastic magic show hosted
by Brian Hodge. They had a thoroughly amazing time and were mystified by the
tricks.

Christmas Fayre

Well done to the PFA for organising a super Christmas Fayre. A huge variety
of stalls and a brilliant raffle helped the school to raise over £730! Thankyou
to everyone who supported this event.

November 2010 - Tea towels for sale

Tag Rugby

On Thursday 4th November, a mixed Cockwood Yr 5/6 team participated and won the learning community Tag Rugby tournament held at the DCC astroturf. The team played exceptionally well together in both attack and defence, regularly playing at a high tempo. A special thank you has to go to the parents who helped with transport and supported the team throughout the evening! We are now through to the regional partnership finals to be held in early December!

Speed Watch

Members of the Cockwood School Council supported our local community police officers by taking part in a speed watch. Drivers who were travelling too fast through the village were stopped and questionned by the children about their actions in the hope that they didn't speed again. The local press were also on hand to film Cockwood children in action. Thankyou to all the children and the police officers for taking the time to keep our community safe.

 

Interhouse competetion

The whole school had a wonderful morning competing in their house teams to try to win the interhouse 'It's a knockout' competition. It was brilliant to see such levels of collaboration and teamwork. Well done to Exe house, the winning team on the day. They also won the overall trophy for this half term.

 

Harvest Festival 2010

Our new term started with a flourish with our annual Harvest Festival, held at Cofton Church.

Our theme this year was Food and Shelter.

Class 2 did a great job explaining the work of the St Petrocks Centre for the homeless, in Exeter; while class 1 built a Sukkah, which is used to celebrate the Jewish Harvest.

The service was rounded off with a talk from Father David and our annual Harvest Samba!

 

Majorettes

Well done to all those pupils who participated, and were fully committed to majorettes in 2009/10. The final performance was of an outstanding standard as always - and was enhanced with the teachers extra special performance with the pupils! A big thank you to Mrs Taylor for her support with uniforms and to all the parents for their valuable support.

 

Cockwood Musical Showcase 2010

This year's showcase was a musical extravaganza.  Children played drums, woodwind instruments, keyboards and guitars to a large audience.  The choir  were fantastic, demonstrating that their hard work has definitely paid off.  Well done to everyone who took part and a big thank you to Mrs Carter and Mrs Hilliard for organising the event.  

 

Sports day

Congratulations to everyone for taking part and especially Mr Millard for organising the events.

Well done to this year's winners,  the blue team, who showed tremendous team spirit and stamina.

Creatures

The 'really Wild Man came to visit us on Tuesday 8th June. He showed us some fascinating creatures. He told us alot about each animal and cleared up lots of our misunderstandings. Did you know that a spider does not have poisonous fangs? and they do not shoot hairs at their prey? We found out that cockroaches are the most resilient creatures and that giant land snails can 'shave' the hair off your face! Some of us enjoyed holding the creatures we saw and 2 children volunteered to hold the bird eating spider. Some of us found it a bit scary and Mrs Hodge did not like the spider!

 

Cockwood Football Team

The team played brilliantly at Starcross with superb team spirit. Well done to everyone, especially Mr Millard who helped the team practise.

 

Newsletters

Newsletter 13th January 2012

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Dawlish Community College newsletter - Partnerships
March 2011