Friday, March 27, 2009

Newsletter No 5 / 27th March 2009

SATs Week
Year 6 pupils will have their statutory end of key stage 2 tests during week beginning 11th May and parents are respectfully requested not to book holidays, dental appointments, etc at this time. Pupils in Years 2-5 will also have tests at this time.

Pupils Work-Viewing Evening
It was good to see so many families take up this opportunity and we hope you found it a beneficial development.

Learning Platform
As we prepare to introduce the Learning Platform, we feel it is important to keep you updated regarding how it will affect home/school communication and your involvement with your child’s education. Once it is fully operational you, as parents, will be able to access school information at any time and see computer based home/class work that your child is working on. By accessing your unique “parent space” you will be able to read news that is posted, relevant to the class your child is in, and you will receive the weekly newsletter by this means. In time the paper format of the newsletter will be phased out. In preparation for these changes it is important that we receive e-mail addresses from parents as soon as possible. Please e-mail the school office at office.2455@stadhampton.oxon.sch.uk and put “Newsletter” in the subject line and your e-mail address in the body so that we can enter as many parents as possible onto the school information system. Please also see the Learning Platform posters in school for more information. Thank you.

“Notes of Harmony” Comenius Project Visit 27.03.09-01.04.09
Ten teachers from our Comenius partner schools in Poland, Germany and Turkey, including all three headteachers, will be arriving this weekend to participate in the project meeting hosted by Stadhampton School. Their visit includes project meetings, trips to Oxford, Cheltenham (Gustav Holst’s birthplace) and, of course, Stadhampton. On Monday 30th March our guests will spend the day in school, be entertained by our pupils in a concert and have opportunities to talk to the pupils about their schools as well as finding out what it is like to be a pupil at Stadhampton School! The concert will include a variety of singing, dancing, recorder playing, piano-playing and drama. Please would all pupils in Years 3-6 remember to bring in their recorder and school PE kit. Thank you.

Energy Mosaic
During the warm weather at the end of last week Mrs Pattisson painted the sun detail in the centre of our energy mosaic recently established in the school grounds. Although further painting is required (and warmer weather!) before the mosaic can be used as a circular stage by our pupil, it is an exciting development which we look forward to using. Please do go and look at it, if you have the opportunity, after school. Many thanks to Mrs Pattisson for her artistic talents, time and dedication in supporting this project.

Notes about next week:
After school clubs for hockey, netball and multi-sports all finished this week. Football club will continue on Thursday 2nd April.
• No Booster Maths class on Tuesday. School Council Cake Sale at 3.15pm.
• Parents/carers are invited to join us for the end of term assembly on Friday 3rd April at 9.05am.
• School finishes at 1.30pm on Friday 3rd April.

Work Experience Students
We say a sad goodbye this week to Helen Buckley and Sarah Hunston, two students who have completed work experience programmes with us. We shall miss them both and wish them well as they continue with their studies.

News from the School Council
There will be a cake sale on Tuesday 31st March from 3.15pm to 4pm. There will also be a “Guess the name of the Bunny” competition and “Where is the Easter Egg?” All cakes to be brought into school on Tuesday morning, please. Thank you to everyone who bought an Easter Puzzle Page – we will let you know next week how much we made. Prizes will be given out on Friday 3rd April.

PTA News
PTA Message – please remember to bring in chocolate for the Easter Chocolate Raffle by Thursday next week. All
kinds of chocolate accepted including Easter eggs, slabs of chocolate, cakes or even brownies. Please give to any PTA member or Mrs Hopkins in the school office.
Also please bring in your raffle tickets by THURSDAY to be included in the raffle to be drawn on Friday 3rd April at 1.30pm. More tickets are available if required.

Little Bears News
This week we have made pasta salad. We have also been looking at “Spring” words i.e. grow, chick, bud, blossom, lamb etc and have made a lovely display of the words and created some lovely pictures of baby lambs etc to go with the words. Please call in and have a go on our Easter Egg Treasure Map – 50p per square. The draw is on Wednesday 1st April and the prize is a large Easter egg. This week’s shape is a Star.

DIARY DATES:

Monday 30th March Comenius visitors in school
Tuesday 31st March School Council Cake Sale 3.15pm
No Booster Maths Class today
Friday 3rd April End of Term Assembly at 9.05am. All welcome. PTA Easter Raffle Draw.
School finishes at 1.30pm.
Monday 20th April Term 5 starts.
Swimming begins for pupils in Class 2.
Friday 24th April Black bags clothes collection
Thursday 4th June School closed for Parliamentary and County Council Elections

Friday, March 20, 2009

Newsletter No 4 / 20th March 2009

Thank you to Mr and Mrs Birtles who have very generously provided each family with a bunch of daffodils for Mothering Sunday, again this year.

Maths Evening held on Tuesday 17th March
We were pleased to welcome 10 parents/grandparents to our second Maths Information Evening for Parents on Tuesday evening. The session was, once again, led by Jane Liddle, an LEA advisor, who presented an animated insight into the progression of multiplication and division strategies currently taught in primary schools and gave parents ideas on how to best support their children at home. Copies of a useful booklet entitled “Helping your child with Maths” were distributed at this meeting and further copies are available in school for anyone who was unable to attend. They will be accessible via class teachers, by request, or at the Work Viewing Evening on Monday 23rd March.

Mid Year Summary Reports
This year we have introduced an additional means of updating parents on pupil progress halfway through the academic year. All pupils should have brought home a Mid-Year Summary Report sheet on Wednesday. This is a single sheet indicating each pupil’s progress towards key targets for their year group in English, maths and science. We hope this information is helpful to you.

Work Viewing Evening – Monday 23rd March
A reminder that parents are invited to view their own child/ren’s work and class displays with, or without, their child/ren any time between 3.30 and 6pm on Monday 23rd March. Teaching staff will be available for brief consultations, if required, in the classrooms during this time, but on this occasion there is no appointment system. Access will be available via classroom external doors or through the front door.

Learning Platform
We are in the process of developing the Oxfordshire Learning Platform for use in our school. This is a county wide, web-based application which is being rolled out to every Oxfordshire school in phases. We are in Phase 3; this is one of the early phases. The fact that we are part of an early phase demonstrates our forward thinking about the role of computers in school. When it is fully “up and running”, the Learning Platform will be an efficient form of communication between school and home as well as a fun and exciting teaching and learning vehicle. We will be introducing the Learning Platform to the school in stages, because of its complex nature. To start the introduction, Class 3 will be using the Learning Platform for classwork and homework activities after the Easter Holidays. We will keep you updated about developments in the weekly newsletter.
We would like to be able to send school newsletters by e-mail to as many parents as possible so that we can communicate more efficiently, reduce costs and also have consideration for the environment. It would be very helpful if parents could e-mail the school office at office.2455@stadhampton.oxon.sch.uk with “Newsletter” in the subject line and your e-mail address in the body so that this could be implemented as soon as possible. Parents who already receive their newsletter electronically do not need to resend this information. Thank you.

After –School Football Tournament report by Joshua Drake and Robbie Scragg
On Wednesday 18th March 7 keen footballers walked on to the pitch. Their manager was Mrs Manzie and supporters were Mr Pattisson, Mrs Roe and Mrs Perring. We thank them for taking and encouraging us. We won 2 matches, drew 2 matches and lost 1. We beat Watlington B 2-0, RAF Benson 1-0, then drew to Watlington A 1-1 and Chalgrove B 1-1, then lost to the overall winners, Chalgrove A 2-0. We came 3rd out of 6 and we were the smallest school there.

Comic Relief

Thank you for your support of Comic Relief. All 50 red noses were sold, there was a huge take up of school dinners that day (with several lucky prize winners!) enabling Food with Thought to donate a further £8.50 and the school collection raised an additional £45.55. “Writing Something Funny for Money” in school inspired some very amusing stories, jokes and poems and wearing red noses throughout the day was an interesting experience – especially during registration! This year, for the first time, it was possible for schools to choose how the money we raised will be spent by Comic Relief. In a whole-school assembly pupils voted overwhelmingly to support children in Africa who don’t live at home. Thank you.

Advance Notice
The Booster Maths Class will not take place on Tuesday 31st March because of the School Council Cake Sale.

School Council Cake Sale
A reminder that the School Council Cake Sale will take place in the hall immediately after school on Tuesday 31st March. Cakes of all shapes and sizes will be welcome - please bring them in on the morning of Tuesday 31st.

Fun Activity Easter Pages
Don’t forget next week is the last chance to take part in the School Council Easter Activity. Easter Activity pages are available from Mrs Sutton in Class 3 from Monday to Friday of next week and cost 80p. Please note that the competition closing date is Friday 27th March.

PTA News
Thank you for the raffle tickets which have been sold and returned to school this week.

Little Bears News
This week Little Bears have enjoyed playing outside in the sunshine. They have also been making more things for their treasure hunt and would appreciate a couple more shoe boxes, if possible. Children enjoyed making “spring” pictures on the computer and painting pictures of daffodils. They have also had fun making pasta necklaces and trying to find rectangle shapes in the Little Bears classroom.

DIARY DATES:

Monday 23rd March After-school work viewing opportunity for parents 3.30-6pm
Monday 30th March Comenius visitors in school
Tuesday 31st March School Council Cake Sale 3.15pm
No Booster Maths Class today
Friday 3rd April End of Term Assembly at 9.05am. All welcome. PTA Easter Raffle Draw.
School finishes at 1.30pm.
Friday 24th April Black bags clothes collection
Thursday 4th June School closed for Parliamentary and County Council Elections

Friday, March 13, 2009

Newsletter No 3 / 13th March 2009

Driving within the school car park
We have, this week, received several complaints from parents about the speed at which a very small minority of parents are driving both into and out of the car park. This matter was only recently mentioned in the school newsletter dated 6th February 2009 when parents were reminded of the need to observe the 5mph speed limit within the car park and the approaches to/from it. The safety of children is of paramount importance and ALL PARENTS are requested to please take care and be extra vigilant about their speed in these areas.

Second Maths Evening for Parents on 17th March
Our second Maths Evening for parents led by LEA Maths Advisor Jane Liddle, takes place in school from 6.30-8pm on Tuesday 17th March. This meeting will focus on progression in the teaching and learning of multiplication and division throughout the primary age range. The previous meeting was well-attended and parents reported that they had found it informative. We hope that as many parents/carers as possible will take advantage of this opportunity to gain a better understanding of current teaching methods in schools and ideas on how to best support pupils at home.

Swimming Goggles
A reminder that swimming goggles may be worn by pupils participating in swimming lessons at the Abbey Pool, Berinsfield, if the chlorine is found to be an eye irritant. However, in line with Health and Safety guidance recommendations, the wearing of goggles must be at the written request of parents/carers, goggles must conform to BS 5883 and pupils need to be able to secure and remove their own goggles safely.

School Council
From Monday 16th to Friday 20th March, the School Council will be selling Easter Activity Pages (each class will have their own version). They will cost 80p each and will include puzzles, word-searches, colouring-in, dot to dot etc. The completed activity sheets are to be handed in by Friday 27th March when judging will take place. A prize will be given for 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize in each class for the best entries.

PTA News
The PTA have had their attention drawn to a company called the School Holiday Club which has had favourable review in the national press. The School Holiday Club is an organisation that “works with the major tour operators, low-cost airlines and accommodation suppliers and subsequently have a huge selection of great value holiday offers.” They pledge to donate at least 2% of the cost of each booking to PTA funds.
Whilst the PTA cannot endorse any particular holiday club/tour operator, if any family is planning a holiday it might be worth investigating what this organisation has to offer. All you need to do is go to www.schoolholidayclub.co.uk, select Oxfordshire, Oxford and Stadhampton Primary School from the drop down list. Holidays can be booked via the website or by phoning one of their travel advisors. You could end up with a great holiday deal while helping boost PTA funds.

Plant Pots
Julie Pattison is in need of plastic plant pots for the gardening club so the children can plant their seeds. All donations to Julie please, or leave with Mrs Hopkins (preferably in a bag) for collection.

Easter Chocolate Raffle
You should have received an envelope in the reading folders this week containing a small number of raffle tickets to sell. If you would like any more to increase your chances of winning lots of chocolate please contact Mrs Hopkins or Sara Wright/Ame White.

Little Bears News
This week Little Bears enjoyed using the computer to create some lovely pictures, use the mouse and print them out. They also made sandwiches and ate them, and made lamb puppets. A successful Parents’ Evening was held on Tuesday. Donations of old newspapers would be most welcome!

DIARY DATES:

Monday 16th March Governors’ Meeting at 7pm
Tuesday 17th March Maths Evening for Parents 6.30-8pm (multiplication and division)
Wednesday 18th March Mid-year summary report sheets issued
Partnership Football Tournament at RAF Benson for participating pupils
Monday 23rd March After-school work viewing opportunity for parents 3.30-6pm
Monday 30th March Comenius visitors in school
Tuesday 31st March School Council Cake Sale
Thursday 4th June School closed for Parliamentary and County Council Elections

Friday, March 6, 2009

Newsletter No 2 / 6th March 2009

Happy MARCH Birthday to: Nicole Clarke, Emily Drake, Greg Madry, Hannah Tombling, Charlotte Wiblin and Naomi Woodwards

During MARCH we are focusing on the core value of HOPE

School Council
Advance notice: The School Council will be holding a cake sale on Tuesday 31st March at 3.15pm. Further details to follow.

PTA News
Clothes Recycling - There will be another opportunity to clear out unwanted good quality clothing, bedding and curtains for collection on Friday 24th April. Bags are available from school or Helen Oakley.
Further information to follow.


Easter Chocolate Raffle – Following the success of the chocolate tombola at the Christmas Bazaar we are doing an Easter Chocolate Raffle this year. We are asking parents to donate chocolate of any kind – this could be chocolate bars, slabs of chocolate, Easter eggs, books on chocolate or even chocolate cakes or brownies. Take advantage of the ‘Buy One Get One Free’ deals and bring your chocolate treats into school week commencing 30 March or hand them over to an active member of PTA. We will be asking parents to sell cloakroom tickets (£1 per strip of 5 tickets - £5 per family) next week. The raffle will be drawn on Friday 3rd April at school at 13.30 before we break up for the Easter holidays.


Red Nose Day – Friday 13th March 2009

To support this event we shall have red noses available to purchase at £1 each from the school office from Monday – once they’re gone, they’ve gone! School dinner that day will also have a “Comic Relief” theme and for every meal served that day “Food with Thought” will be donating 5p to the charity appeal. This year it is not a non-uniform day for pupils and we request that all pupils wear normal school uniform (this includes no hair gel or nail varnish). Instead we are asking pupils to donate 50p and bring in “something red” which will form the focus for a humorous piece of writing in the literacy lesson that day. The most entertaining contributions will be shared in our whole-school assembly. Red noses may be worn, although some children find them uncomfortable and may only wish to wear them briefly.

Little Bears News
This week Little Bears have enjoyed making fruit salad, reading our favourite books and spending lots of time playing in our garden. They have also started making the treasure boxes for the treasure hunt and would still appreciate donations of a few more shoe boxes. Packets of seeds are on sale for £1 a packet.

DIARY DATES:

Monday 16th March Governors’ Meeting at 7pm
Tuesday 17th March Maths Evening for Parents 6.30-8pm (multiplication and division)
Wednesday 18th March Mid-year summary report sheets issued
Monday 23rd March After-school work viewing opportunity for parents 3.30-6pm
Thursday 4th June School closed for Parliamentary and County Council Elections