🌞 Summer Attendance Challenge! 🌞

We're two weeks into our summer attendance challenge, and there's only 7 days left to go! 🌞 This week, attendance has been great!

A huge well done to Rabbits, Kingfisher, Kestrels, and Birch for achieving 100% attendance today! 🎈 Let's not forget our punctuality stars either – a big shout-out for Pine, Kestrels, Eagles, Rabbits, Hedgehogs, and Honeybees classes, who were all on time today! ⏰

Keep up the great work, everyone, and let’s finish strong! 💪✨

✅ How to Enter
To enter, children simply need to be in school and maintain an attendance streak by being in school, on time, every day from 29 June to 21 July.

🍦 Top Class Treat 🍦
The class with the highest attendance at each site during the challenge will win a special treat on the last day of term... and we're thinking it might be something nice and cold to enjoy in the summer sunshine!

🎉 Individual Prize Draw 🎉
Every child who achieves 97% attendance or above during this period will be entered into a prize draw for the chance to win an exciting prize. Winners will be chosen at random on the last day of term.

Every day counts, and every day gives you another chance to keep your attendance streak going!

 

Event Dates

Year 2, Year 3 and Year 4: Monday 13th July 2026

All children will travel to and from the venue by coach. They will register at school beforehand.

Timings

The event will run from 9:45am – 12:00pm. 

Year 2 - Will be experience lunch time at the Cotham Site after Sports Day, and then return to class for the rest of the afternoon for normal collection.

 

What Children Will Need

Please ensure your child:

• Wears suitable sportswear and trainers.
• Brings a sun hat.
• Applies sun cream before coming to school.
• Brings a refillable water bottle.
• Brings a healthy snack.

Parents and Carers

Parents and carers are warmly invited to attend and support the children. Please make your own way to the sports ground. Should there be time, a parent race will take place so trainers at the ready!

To ensure the smooth running of the event:

Parents and carers must remain behind the designated respect Line.
Children will stay with their classes throughout the event.

Weather

Should the weather not be on our side, we will contact families in advance to inform you whether the event will go ahead or need to be cancelled.

We are looking forward to a fun-filled morning of sport, teamwork and friendly competition. Fingers crossed for a cool, sunshine-filled day!

  

 

 

 

Birch Class have started reading The Final Year by Matt Goodfellow, a timely and powerful novel that explores the challenges and emotions of Year 6 as children prepare for the transition to secondary school. Told through poetry, the story follows Nate, a boy facing friendship problems, family worries and the pressures of his final year at primary school. 

As Nate begins his final year of primary school, everything seems to be changing. His best friend starts to drift away, life at home becomes more difficult and secondary school is getting closer. With the help of a caring teacher and his growing love of reading and writing, will Nate learn how to cope with change and find his own voice...?

 

 

 

ART AND HISTORY FUN

To round off a wonderful year together, Ash and Maple Class went on a school trip to Bristol Museum. We had two fun activities to entertain and educate us. The first was a session on Ancient Greece in which an expert historian, Nicky, guided us to interpret the meanings of archeological artifacts. Did you know the correct term for a piece of pottery is 'sherd' while a piece of glass is known as a 'shard'? Our second activity was a tour of the wonderful galleries. Once we had admired the artworks in each room, we settled down to do some sketching inspired by the creativity on show. It was a lovely day out! What a super bunch of children year 5 are.

 

 

 

 

Year 5 and 6 enjoyed a fantastic Sports Day at Shine's brilliant grounds, blessed with perfect weather throughout the event. The children demonstrated great enthusiasm, determination and sportsmanship as they competed in a range of activities, including sprints, hurdles, javelin, egg and spoon races, and the football throw. Some brave champions even took too the mic to report back on the event!

Following the heats, finalists battled it out in the track event finals, producing some exciting and closely contested races. It was wonderful to see all pupils (and lots of parents) giving their best effort and cheering on their teammates.

A huge congratulations to Oak and Maple, who were crowned the winning classes for their respective year groups. Well done to all the children for making the day such a success and for representing their classes with pride.

Finally, a huge thank you to the PTAF for making it all possible by supporting this event.

 

Maple    90            Oak        94

Ash      88            Birch        90

                         Pine        88

 

 

 

Our incredible year 6, Monty, competed in the Caldicot triathlon last Saturday. With perseverance and grit, he took 1st in the 12-15 year old category. If you had the pleasure of watching him on Sports Day- you would know the engine he has. A hearty well done form all at Cotham Gardens!

Had your own sporting success? We would love to hear about it and feature you in our newsletter. 

 
From September 2026, new government changes mean many more families will be eligible for free school meals. Previously, eligibility was limited to households earning under £7,400, but this income threshold has now been removed. This means that all children in families receiving Universal Credit will qualify for free school meals, regardless of household income.

Important Action - You must apply or re-check eligibility, even if your child already gets free meals:

• All families must be rechecked for 2026/27. This ensures meals continue without interruption.
• Once approved, you’re guaranteed for the full school year

To apply - please visit https://parent.bristol.gov.uk/web/portal/pages/parents/travel-and-free-school-meals

 

 

 
This is a friendly reminder that all reading books must be returned to Mrs George by Monday, 13th July. Additionally, all library books should be returned to the library by the same date.

Books are valuable resources, and we kindly ask that you ensure they are returned in time, ready for September.

Thank you for your cooperation!

 

YEAR 6 PRODUCTION

Due to the hot-weather closures and the visit of Ofsted, we have missed out on quite a lot of Production preparation time. With this in mind, we are making a change to the performance schedule. There are now three options for you to choose from:

1. An afternoon matinee on Tuesday 14th July 2.00pm, which will now be a Super Dress Rehearsal which parents can attend
2. A full afternoon matinee performance on Thursday 16th July at 2.00pm
3. A full evening performance on Thursday 16th July at 6.30pm

Ticket Information
To make sure all parents and carers can attend, to start with, there will be a limit of two tickets per family, at one or other of these performances. There will hopefully be a second raft of tickets available once we have the numbers for each performance.

Please complete this short form to order your tickets: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/i6hfbJL1b

If you require one ticket for one date and one ticket for another date, please complete two separate forms. There is no charge for these tickets but due to safety restrictions, only ticket holders will be able to attend. 

 

LEAVERS' DISCO

🎉 We are excited to inform you that the YR6 Leavers' Disco will take place right after the YR6 evening performance on Thursday 16th July, from 20:00 to 21:30! 

It's a wonderful opportunity for our Year 6 students to celebrate their time at school and enjoy a fun evening with friends.

To ensure your child can attend this special event, we kindly ask you to complete the following online consent and food order form: https://forms.office.com/e/Caez1s9Qf

We can't wait to see everyone there! ✨
Year 6 Team

 

MEDICINE COLLECTIONS 

Please can we remind parents of Y6 children who have medication in school to collect it from the school office on the last day of term.  Please note, we are unable to allow your child to take the medication home themselves. All medication must be signed out by an adult. Any Y6 medication left after the 22^nd July will be disposed off.

 

OUTSTANDING DEBTS

Please ensure you have checked not only that your child’s balance is cleared for any camps or lunch payments but also that its not in credit. Accounts in credit can be refunded via Arbor, transferred to a sibling account or donated to the school. Please contact the school office if you need any assistance.

 

Don't forget, there is an INSET day on Wednesday 22nd July. 

School will be closed to all pupils. 

✨ Cotham Gardens PTAF Summer Raffle Winners ✨
Thank you to everyone who supported the PTAF Summer Raffle!

https://raffall.com/423745/enter-raffle-to-win-cotham-gardens-ptaf-summer-raffle-prizes-hosted-by-cothamgardensptaf

Prizes are ready to collect from the school office at Cotham Grove. Please collect before the end of term. If you have won an Amazon or Smyths Toys voucher – your prize has been sent to the email address you used to buy your raffle ticket.

A huge thank you for your support and to everyone who donated prizes this year, including: WOMAD, ELEPHANT ESTATE AGENTS, KIRKEE LTD, MILL ON THE BRUE, ROAM WILD, TOM’S RUBBISH CLEARANCE, NL SERVICES, SOFTEGG GRAPE & GRIND, SELECT SECURITY SOLUTIONS, and BRALEY BUSINESS SYSTEMS.

 

🎲🎲🎲🎲🎲🎲🎲🎲🎲🎲🎲🎲🎲

PTAF GAMES NIGHT AT CHANCE & COUNTERS

We had such a fun evening last year so have decided to organise another trip to the great board game cafe on Gloucester Road.

This year we are going for a family event so the kids can join in the fun too.

Friday 10th July

4pm-6pm

£20 a ticket to include games, a meal and a drink.

This even is open to all so please do invite friends and family along

https://app.classlist.com/events/#/events/view/1464080799

 

💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰

YOUR SCHOOL LOTTERY

One very easy way you can help raise money is to buy a lottery ticket through our school lottery system. 

One winner from our school is guaranteed every week!

Click on the link below to buy tickets!

https://www.yourschoollottery.co.uk/lottery/school/cotham-gardens-primary-school?utm_campaign=you-went-live&utm_source=cause-admin&utm_medium=social&utm_content=Hyperlink

 

 

  

Shine September to December Club bookings open next week!

 

Launch Date: All Shine After School Clubs will be open for booking on Wednesday 15^th July at 10:00am.

 

Link to book: Shine | Cotham Gardens Primary School

 

After School Club Cancellation: If your plans or requirements change after booking any clubs, you can cancel any booking with 6 days notice for a credit or refund.  This can be done via your Shine account.

 

Childcare Vouchers: Shine accept Childcare Vouchers and the Government Tax Free Voucher Scheme.  You can choose your method of payment via your Shine account.

 

Contact: Shine can be contacted by 01174 033 033 or info@MyShine.co.uk.

 

Places are limited and can sell out, so book early to avoid disappointment.

 

See you at Shine!

 

PS – Don’t forget to book your Summer Holiday Clubs by Sunday 19^th July to save 20% using our Early Booker offer! Shine Holiday Clubs | Sports and creative activities

 

 

 

 

Sept Info: Chandos Ateliers Creativity Club

Chandos Atelier’s Creativity Club is bookable for September now! Tuesdays at Cotham Grove for years 3-6. Devised and delivered by professional makers with years of experience, these are an hour of creative exploration using art materials. Enriching and imaginative, they develop skills and resilience, teaching techniques and methods rather than giving follow-along instructions -  perfect for creative kids and art adventurers!

https://www.chandosatelier.co.uk/bookings

“His creativity at home and his attitude to materials and projects has exploded, which includes scientific endeavours, inspired by your materials and attitude to creativity.”

 

 

 

  

 

  

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