Community celebrate the remarkable new Cottingley Primary

Over 500 members of the local community explored the extended Cottingley Primary Academy yesterday afternoon on the eve of its official opening this morning (19 September 2019).

Cottingley Primary has expanded from 1½ to 2 form entry and also has places for 2 year olds in its nursery. As South Leeds Life reported, the school achieved its first ever ‘Good’ rating from Ofsted in March this year.

The school held the open day with visitors following a treasure hunt to show off its new facilities and celebrate the opening with inflatables, a petting zoo, face painting and more. Amongst the activities visitors were invited to try out ‘green screen’ filming and effects in the IT room, read with their children in the new library and try out freshly cooked school dinners in the dining room.

All photos by Jeremy Morton

The afternoon was a huge success with a host of comments including:

“Brilliant. Love the improvements.”

“I was happy with the library and sensory room. The nursery is changing, I love it.”

“I enjoy the school. A very nice classroom and playground and very friendly teachers.”

“Enjoyed crafts room; cake was nice; flag making was fun!”

Then this morning, representatives from organisations that helped with the school building project including architects, contractors, Leeds City Council Children’s Services and ward Councillor Gohar Almass were present for the official opening.

Julian Drinkall, Group CEO of the Academies Enterprise Trust, which runs Cottingley Primary Academy, spoke about the hard work put in by Headteacher Kelly Bentley, her staff as well as pupils and parents on improving the performance of the school.

 “Kelly’s led a fantastic resurgence here at Cottingley and for the first time, in February, the school got its Ofsted ‘Good’ rating which is fantastic.”

The ribbon was cut by David Bradley, Technical Engineering Manager at the White Rose Shopping Centre, in his role as Chair of the school’s Parent & Community Advisory Board. David said:

“It’s a great honour to be at Cottingley Primary Academy this morning. I’ve been involved with the school for 4 years now. It’s a great school, remarkable and we’ve got these fantastic new facilities as well now. These are really exciting times moving ahead.”

Pupils in Pear Class (Year 6) performed this poem which the composed as a class group:

What is remarkable?
Creating new and special ideas
Facing up to all your fears
Travelling to a faraway land
Playing in a musical band
That is remarkable

Developing our imagination
Learning the rules of the nation
Standing in spotlight on the stage
Finding joy in every page
That is remarkable

Expanding all our hopes and dreams
Finding our place in a team
Caring for animals and for birds
Discovering the power of our words
That is remarkable

That is Cottingley

 

3 Replies to “Community celebrate the remarkable new Cottingley Primary”

  1. What an exciting report and such a great piece about this lovely school. The poem is brilliant. Well done to everyone !

  2. I’m so lucky to be working with this wonderful school. The children are absolutely amazing. The headteacher, ably assisted by her dedicated team, has worked absolutely tirelessly to bring about these fantastic improvements. So heartwarming!

  3. Well done to everyone at the school for all your progress over the last few years – a real triumph of hard work and dedication, led by a truly remarkable Headteacher! Just fantastic!

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