Newsletter No 7 / 18th December 2008

School Meals
The price of a school meal remains at £1.95. As always, it is most helpful if orders for school meals are sent into the school office on the Monday morning of each week, in an envelope clearly marked with your requirements. We return to school on “Week 2” of the Autumn/Winter menu.

Swimming at Berinsfield
Swimming will begin for Class 2 pupils on Monday 12th January. They will have 5 sessions up to the February Holiday. As always, we are very grateful to receive a “voluntary contribution” of £1 per pupil, per session towards the transport costs.

Maths Evenings
We have now arranged for Jane Liddle, an LEA Maths Consultant, to lead two parents’ evenings on Maths. The first is on Tuesday 20th January and will focus on addition and subtraction – an overview of school methods and ideas to help support pupils at home. The second is on Tuesday 17th March and will focus on multiplication and division. Both meetings will be held in school from 6.30-8pm.

PTA News
Thank you to everyone who has purchased recipe books. The profits made so far amount to £319.92 and more copies are available from Sarah Madry. The wreath-making evening, plus other orders, raised £360 so thank you also to everyone who came or bought decorations separately.

Kleenex Tissues
“Caught a cold? Feeling low? Use a tissue when you cough, sneeze or blow”. Every child has been given a packet
of tissues, courtesy of Kleenex as part of their “Sneezesafe” campaign which is in line with NHS health hygiene guidelines. The message is a timely seasonal reminder that good hygiene and tissue use can help prevent cold germs from spreading. Further information can be found on www.sneezesafe.co.uk

Little Bears News
This week Little Bears have been busy creating Christmas pictures and making angels. We say goodbye and good luck to Greg Madry, Emily Drake, Jamie Lavene, Rosalind Mannering, Hannah Bradford, Betsy Elliott and Cora White as they leave us to go to “big school”. Thank you to school for inviting us to the Nativity Service which we all enjoyed. We finished this term with a lovely Christmas party. Happy Christmas to everyone from all at Little Bears!


Parent Governor Vacancy
The governing body consists of parent governors, staff governors, community governors, and LA appointed governors. Our school has two parent governors and now has a vacancy for a new parent governor with effect from January 2009. Parent governors have the same powers and duties as other governors. The Governing Body meets once a term, (i.e.6 times a year) usually on a Monday evening. We also invite governors to come into school occasionally and encourage each member of the Governing Body to get involved in a particular area, such as finance, premises, staffing or the curriculum. Governors are elected for a term of four years.

To be eligible to stand for election as a parent governor you must have parental responsibility for a pupil at the school. Having "parental responsibility" is not limited to biological parents, but also applies if you are a step-parent, foster parent, grandparent bringing up the child, or permanent partner of the child's biological parent. A few people cannot be school governors; those who have been made bankrupt or who have been in prison for certain offences may not serve for at least three years afterwards. If you have any doubts as to your eligibility on any of these grounds, please contact the school office. The child must be on the school roll at the time the election is held. However, parent governors do not have to resign if their children leave the school before their term of office has expired.

Although you don't need any educational experience or expertise, you should attend the free training course provided by Governor Services for newly appointed governors so that you are fully aware of your role.

All nominations should be sent in to the school office by Friday 9th January 2009. You can nominate yourself. Every nomination must be signed by the candidate stating that they are willing to stand. We also need a few words from each candidate outlining why he/she would like to be a governor and this will be distributed with ballot papers if there is more than one nomination. Candidates cannot withdraw from the election once ballot papers have been issued.

Please think about taking on this role, or consider suggesting someone else who you think would do it well. We need and appreciate committed parent governors.

DIARY DATES:

Friday 19th December End of Year Assembly at 9.05pm.
School finishes at 1.30pm
Monday 5th January 2009 INSET TRAINING FOR TEACHERS. School closed for pupils.
Tuesday 6th January Pupils return to school
Thursday 8th January After school football begins for participating pupils
Monday 12th January Swimming begins for Class 2 pupils.

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and a fulfilling New Year.

Newsletter No 6 / 12th December 2008

Christmas Bazaar
Thank you to all those parents who donated gifts and prizes, baked cakes and spent money at the Christmas Bazaar last week and particular thanks to Mrs White who co-ordinated everything. We made an amazing profit of £760 excluding sales of the cookery book. If anyone missed the opportunity to buy a cookery book please contact Sarah Madry outside school or leave a message with any PTA member. Also don’t forget to check your raffle tickets for the winning numbers – a list of prizes and winners is available in the School Hall. A yellow ticket, number 35, remains unclaimed.

Babushka
Congratulations to all pupils on a wonderful performance. Many parents commented that it was the best school production that they had seen! Thank you to everyone for their generosity in the “bucket collection” and ticket sales. We are very pleased to announce that £225 was raised, which has been sent to Helen and Douglas House.

School Christmas Lunch – Tuesday 16th December
Thank you to everyone who has already paid for their child’s Christmas Lunch on 16th December. We hope that all children will take part in this seasonal event. Cost is £1.95.


After School Clubs
Letters detailing the after school clubs for Terms 3 and 4 were sent out yesterday. The following clubs are available:

Mondays Hockey Y3-Y6 20 places 3.15-4pm £7.50
Wednesdays Multisports Y1 & Y2 16 places 3.15-4pm £7.50
Wednesdays Netball Y3-Y6 16 places 3.15-4pm £7.50
Thursdays Football Y3-Y6 16 places 3.15-4.15pm £10

Little Bears News
This week Little Bears have been busy baking Christmas tree cakes and making more Christmas decorations for our tree. We have also been making cards and presents for our Mummies and Daddies. We had a great time at our Nativity Play last Sunday and raised just over £100. Thank you to “big school” for allowing us to come and watch the Dress Rehearsal of Babushka. We all really enjoyed it.

DIARY DATES:

Tuesday 16th December School Christmas Lunch
Wednesday 17th December Nativity performance in school at 9.15am. Parents welcome.Children’s party (pm). A reminder that pupils may bring clothes to change into after lunch. Suggested party food was detailed in last week’s newsletter and can also be found on the School Blog http://stadhamptonprimaryschool.blogspot.com/
Thursday 18th December School Council Sleigh Competition
Friday 19th December End of term assembly at 9.05am. Parents welcome.School finishes at 1.30pm
Monday 5th January 2009 INSET TRAINING FOR TEACHERS. School closed for pupils.
Tuesday 6th January Pupils return to school

Newsletter no 5 / 5th December 2008

We look forward to welcoming everyone to the Christmas Bazaar
THIS EVENING from 6pm!

Happy DECEMBER Birthday to: Ewan Madry


During December we are focusing on the core vale of CARING

Coats
Please could all pupils come to school with a suitable coat for outdoor play at breaktimes in this cold weather.

After School Sports Clubs
After school hockey, netball and multisports clubs all finished this week. After school football club will finish next week on 11th December. Letters outlining after school clubs for Terms 3 and 4 will be sent home as soon as the details have been confirmed.

Out-of School Childcare Survey
Thank you to everyone who kindly completed the second questionnaire for us. We shall let you know the outcome as soon as we know it.

School “Energy” Mosaic
Our wonderful mosaic, created by pupils, under the guidance of David Bowers, assisted by Julie Pattisson is now installed in its permanent location within the school grounds. Thank you to the PTA for financially supporting this project. Do ask your child(ren) to show you the mosaic before or after school, when you have an opportunity. We are waiting for warmer weather before painting a sun (the source of energy) in the centre of the mosaic.

Christmas Tree
We are most grateful to Mr and Mrs Tuckwell for kindly supplying us with a wonderful Christmas tree again this year.

School Christmas Lunch – Tuesday 16th December
Thank you to everyone who has already paid for their child’s Christmas Lunch on 16th December. We hope that all children will take part in this seasonal event. Cost is £1.95.

Christmas Party Food required for Wednesday 17th December
In order to make sure that we have a good range of party food available for our school Christmas Party, we suggest the following:

1. Reception (4 pupils) – 2 litre bottle of undiluted orange or blackcurrant squash
2. Year 1 (11 pupils) – small cakes eg fairy cakes, individual swiss rolls, rice crispy cakes etc
3. Year 2 (10 pupils) – savoury items eg sausage rolls, cheese and pineapple, chicken satay, etc
4. Year 3 (11 pupils) – crisps, twiglets, cheesy puffs, etc
5. Year 4 (8 pupils) – plate of sandwiches, open topped bridge rolls, etc
6. Year 5 (7 pupils) – chocolate biscuits
7. Year 6 (8 pupils) – something healthy! eg carrot sticks, fresh pineapple cubes, fruit platter, etc

Please remember to buy your play tickets for the evening performance in advance!

Little Bears News
This week we have enjoyed making mini Christmas puddings and making decorations for Little Bears and for our wonderful Christmas tree, kindly donated by Mr and Mrs Tuckwell. We have also been doing some experiments with ice to see if it melts quicker, inside or outside.

DIARY DATES:
Tuesday 9th December Dress rehearsal am Matinee performance of the Christmas Production at 2pm. No tickets required. Donation, if you would like in the “bucket”for Douglas and Helen House
Wednesday 10th December Evening performance of the Christmas Production 6.30pm. TICKET ONLY
PTA will be serving refreshments after this performance
Tuesday 16th December School Christmas Lunch
Wednesday 17th December Nativity performance in school at 9.15am. Parents welcome.Children’s party (pm)
Thursday 18th December School Council Sleigh Competition
Friday 19th December End of term assembly at 9.05am. Parents welcome.School finishes at 1.30pm
Monday 5th January 2009 INSET TRAINING FOR TEACHERS. School closed for pupils.
Tuesday 6th January Pupils return to school