Easter Newsletter 2025

A message from Mrs Day.

I can’t believe that we are nearly at the end of the Spring Term. Time has just flown by but it’s nice to end the term with lots of lovely sunshine!

We have had another amazing term at Clarice Cliff. It has been so good to see the children really thriving and enjoying all subjects across the curriculum. They have been putting 100% into the presentation of their work and really enjoyed themselves at the same time! I’m sure you all enjoyed looking at their lovely books at parents evening and seeing the progress that they are all making.

There have been a lot of trips and events that have taken place. At every event, the children have demonstrated Coop Values and been excellent ambassadors for the academy. The Year 5s had an excellent trip to London - the first time that this has taken place - and they learnt so much about the Houses of Parliament. What an experience! Reception also went to the Monkey Forest and had just the best day!

We have had workshops on the Anglo-Saxons and Ancient Egypt which the children learnt so much from. Many children have taken part in a range of sporting events too such as basketball and gymnastics - what great skills they have! The football team have also made super progress over the last few weeks as well as having a beautiful new football kit which was sponsored by Equans. They look so smart and have made us very proud with their excellent teamwork!

Our Year 6s represented the academy so well in the Go IT international final. This was the first time the academy has taken part and we were so proud of the children for their mature attitude and dedication. We also had children taking part in the Dance 25 event at the Victoria Hall where children got to share their routine in front of a large audience - another first for the academy!

We have had many visitors this term who have really enjoyed being at Clarice Cliff. Our Community Council members (governors) have come and visited and taken part in some of the events. Our Chair, Tony Stephens, recently attended our parents evening and really enjoyed chatting to parents and staff. He was really impressed during his visit.

It has been lovely to have some different family learning sessions this term and it’s been lovely to see so many of you coming into school. Coop Academy Clarice Cliff is all about family and community. The Mother’s Day afternoon tea event was a new event suggested by one of our lovely parents and I’m sure you’ll agree it was a fabulous afternoon! We have been so impressed with the Times Tables Rockstars breakfasts in Year 4 and the number of parents attending has just got more and more! This will really help the children with their Multiplication Times Tables Check. The SEND parents' coffee mornings have also really been a hit and these will continue. There have also been some great community events that have taken place such as the Pig Walk and the local area litter picks. Mrs Eyden has done a great job of organising these events. Look out for more exciting events next term!

We have really loved seeing the improvements in lunchtimes over the last term. There are so many amazing activities and the children are just loving being out there! We even have vegetables growing in the polytunnel thanks to our “Nurturing Blossoms”. This term, some of our Year 4 and 5 children have been trained as Playleaders by Bee Active so will be leading games and activities as well as Bee Active and the lunchtime supervisors. We are very proud of their enthusiasm for this role.

It has been an unusually long Spring Term but there have been so many successes. We are so pleased with all the feedback that we are getting from many visitors and Coop Academy Clarice Cliff is a happy place to be for all. We look forward to continuing to build on this success in the Summer Term.

We hope you all have a lovely Easter break. Relax, enjoy the sunshine and enjoy lots of precious family moments. We will see you all on Monday 28th April.

Mrs Day

Staffing Update.

We have had a few changes staffing wise. Miss Jones has gone on maternity leave so Miss Manley has been teaching in Reception Chestnuts. She has settled in so well and we are loving having her as part of the team.

Miss Smith will start her maternity leave at the end of this term. We wish her lots of luck and can’t wait to meet her new baby! Miss Lynch will be teaching in Year 5 Dali. She has been in for a few days so far and is so excited to start with us properly after Easter. Miss Lynch is very musical so we can’t wait to hear the piano being played more!

Mr Bullock (Mark) our site supervisor retired earlier in the term. We wish him every happiness in his retirement. Mrs Amison, our lunchtime supervisor in Early Years, is also leaving us at the end of this term for another role. They will both be missed.

Mrs Brough has been poorly recently and sadly will be retiring at the end of this term. Mrs Brough has worked at Clarice Cliff since it first opened and before that worked at Grafton Infants. She has worked with so many children and staff and has been a big part of the academy for a very long time! She will be much missed. We wish her every happiness for a long and happy retirement and thank her for all her years of dedication and hard work.

Year 6 SATs.

Year 6 students are working hard as they prepare for their SATs, determined to show everything they’ve learned throughout their time at primary school. We have been so impressed with the focused energy as pupils tackle practice papers, revise key topics in maths, reading, and grammar, and refine their test-taking strategies.

For the first time, an Easter school will be run for the Year 6 pupils for some extra practise ready for the SATs. We have over 30 children who want to attend which is just incredible! It’s not too late to sign your child up if you haven’t already. Just let Mr Plant know.

We are very proud of everything they have each achieved so far and are confident they are going to do brilliantly for the actual tests in May.

Attendance Update.

Did you know that our school attendance target is 96%?

Our overall attendance, so far this year, is 95%.

It is really important that we continue to work together to do all we can to prioritise the children’s attendance at school. At Clarice Cliff, we know that 'Every Day Matters'. Good attendance is essential if your child is to fulfil their potential and achieve their goals.

If you need any support or advice, please speak to your child's class teacher or contact a member of the attendance team. (Mrs Day, Miss Hudson and Miss McDonald). WE'RE ALWAYS HERE TO HELP!

Attendance Awards

218 pupils have achieved 96% attendance or above during the Spring Term. We are hopeful that this will go up during the Autumn Term.

Since September, Year 5 Kapoor and Miss Roper have remained at the top of the KS2 attendance leaderboard with a fabulous 97.07%. Can anyone knock them from the top spot in the Summer Term?

In KS1, Year 2 Da Vinci and Miss Adams are back in the top spot with a super 96.2%. Can they remain in the lead and be the overall winners by the end of the academic year? Watch this space.

In EYFS, Mrs Hazledine and her SUPERSTAR SQUIRRELS are not letting go of their lead. It has been wonderful to watch them grow and become confident and resilient learners.

Attendance Superstars

Well done to the following pupils who have wowed their teachers and the Attendance Team with their attendance so far this academic year.

Taylor Year 5

Tina Year 2

Jathin Reception

Ollie Nursery

Esther Year 4

Setayesh Year 1

Important Attendance Reminders!

Holidays must not be taken during term time. Government legislation prevents schools from granting leave of absence and fines may be issued.

Children need to be in school at 8.50am.

Please try to book appointments outside of school time.

If appointments need to be attended during the school day, pupils should attend school before/after to get their mark.

Please do not hesitate to contact the Attendance Team for support on attendance - we are happy to help.

Miss Hudson is our School Attendance Officer. She is available Mondays to Fridays. Please contact the school if you would like to have a meeting with Miss Hudson about your child’s attendance, or speak to her at the gate in the mornings.

Attendance Quotes

"Every day in school is a step towards your dreams!"

"Your future is built one day in school at a time. Don't miss out on the fun and learning!"

Parent Communication Update

Before we break up for the summer, we will be moving away from parentpay and using Arbor for all payments and communications.

Please ensure that you have downloaded and logged into the Arbor app, you will no longer receive text messages, but will instead have in-app messages, this means that you must be logged into Arbor to receive them.

From September, all communication will be in the form of Dojo posts and in-app messages.

If you need help with logging in, please speak to a member of the office team who will be happy to help.

Easter Bonnet Parades.

The children in Nursery and Reception took part in a wonderful Easter Bonnet Parade and sang some lovely Easter songs for parents and carers on Tuesday and Thursday. The Easter Bonnets were absolutely fantastic and they wore them so proudly. Thank you for taking the time to make such stunning Easter Bonnets and for coming to see the parade in such large numbers. We hope that you enjoyed the celebrations.

Longton Carnival and Pig Walk

On Sunday 6th April 30 pupils and 8 staff members took part in the annual Pig walk through Longton town centre. Our children were dressed as squirrels, butterflies and parrots which were costumes they made themselves last year and they looked absolutely incredible.

If you managed to come along and cheer us on, you will have spotted that our staff members also wore some interesting costumes, including 2 giant squirrels worn by Mr Plant and Mrs Harris.

A big thank you to Urban Wilderness for inviting us to take part again. We can't wait to do it all again next year!