Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Newsletter No 7 / 17th July 2009

Sports Day
It was wonderful to see so many people at our sports evening last Friday. Thank you to all the athletes, supporters, helpers and the PTA for making this event such a success. Even the weather was on our side this year! Here is a report from the joint captains (Cameron and Mair) of the winning team:
“At 6.30pm on the 10th July all pupils from Stadhampton School walked onto their running track ready to race to victory. After an hour of racing all the teams were exhausted and ready for an early night. But everyone managed to stay awake for the final score of a victory for the Green Team!”

Message from the PTA Committee
The Sports evening PTA BBQ & Bar was a huge success last week as we managed to raise a net amount of £422. Thank you to everyone who bought food and drink; the Pimms was very popular and will be a permanent fixture at future events.

The total amount of money raised this academic year is a healthy £3400 which although not as much as previous years (£5000) is a tremendous amount in the current economic climate. Thank you to everyone for your support during the year; you may be an active PTA member, a Chiltern Chase runner, a cake maker, or someone who buys tickets, donates sponsorship or gets involved in other ways. It is through our combined efforts that we are able to raise funds for the school to enable our children to have special treats such as a Daylight Theatre performance, use the school swimming pool, have computers, learn French and a whole host of other events. So THANK YOU!

Date for your calendar – Music Quiz with optional Fish & Chip supper Friday 16th October.

Message from the School Council
Thank you to everyone who took part in the Cartoon Competition. Ella from Class 1 came 1st, Oliver from Class 3 came 2nd and Ella-Mae from Class 2 came 3rd.
The Fun Run was a great success. There were some crazy costumes ranging from Superman to Santa. Despite the rain we made £61.50, Thank You!
Thank you to all members of the school council this year and to Mrs Sutton for giving up her time to help us.
We start the new school year with an opening fund of £216 which we can build on and then spend on new projects.

Daylight Theatre Performance
Many thanks to the PTA for financially supporting this event. Here is a report by Maisie and Annabel from Class 2:
“Today we had a play about King Arthur. It was very entertaining. The funniest and naughtiest character was Mordred – he fell into the well! There was also a bird and a goblin called Pebble. At the end everyone clapped for ages because it was so good! We got to ask the actors some questions and have a look at the set. The well wasn’t that deep after all! We hope they come back next year.”

“Design a Lunchbox” Competition

Thank you to all who took the time to enter our competition with some fantastic ideas for a healthy lunch. We are pleased to announce that the winners were: Jessica – Class 3, Ella-Mae – Class 2 and Cora – Class 1.

Learning Platform Update
We have loaded some photographs from Sports Evening and from the School Council Fun Run onto the Learning Platform which you may like to see.

Great Haseley and District Horticultural Society

You may like to know that this year the Great Haseley & District Horticultural Society are holding their Annual Show at Chislehampton House on Saturday 29th August. There is a children’s schedule and families should receive a programme of events, through school, this week. During this event our ‘stained glass’ window will be on display at St Katherine’s church, Chiselhampton. The images in our window are based on pupils’ interpretations of lines taken from John Betjeman’s poem “Verses Tuned”. Betjeman wrote the poem in support of St Katherine’s Church in 1952 and it has provided inspiration for our support of this local event.

Hello’s and Goodbye’s
We say a very sad farewell to Mrs Sutton, Mrs Wells and Mrs Thorpe who all leave Stadhampton School today along with our Year 6 pupils. We have enjoyed getting to know each and every one of you and send you all our very best wishes for the future.

We welcome Mrs Tracy Leiper as a Teaching Assistant on our team starting in September.

Have a happy and safe summer!

Little Bears News
We held our AGM on Monday evening and would like to thank everyone who came out to support this.
We have enjoyed making pizza’s this week and our Teddy Bear’s picnic. We have said goodbye and good-luck to Alex, Lottie, Olivia, Phoebe and Sebastian who are all going to “Big School” in September.

DIARY DATES: 1st & 2nd September Staff INSET Days
Thursday 3rd September Pupils return to school
Price of a school meal increases to £2 per day
Thursday 10th September First after-school football club for participating pupils led by Premier Sports
Monday 7th September Swimming will begin for Class 2 pupils (Years 3 & 4) on Monday 7th September. They will have 6 sessions and we hope that parents will be willing to continue to contribute towards the cost of the transport at £1 per swimming session.
Tuesday 22nd September Advanced Warning – School Photographs!

Friday, July 10, 2009

Newsletter No 6 / 10th July 2009

Cycling Training
Congratulations to Mair Amery, Nicole Clarke, Joshua Drake, Kezia Lawson, Aimee Parkes and Jessica Tombling who all successfully passed their Cycling Proficiency Test on Tuesday. We are extremely grateful to Elaine Leighfield, Lisa Scragg and Emma Vale for giving up their time to provide the training for us.

Congratulations to Daniel Green and Ella –Mae White
Many congratulations to Daniel who is a cadet with the St John Ambulance Service. He was the youngest member in his team of four who took part in the National Final of their annual quiz competition and came third overall!
Also congratulations to Ella Mae who reached the British Land Chess Gigafinal tournament recently and won four out of six matches.

Work Experience Students
We welcomed Nadia Howden and Imogen Collins into school this week. Nadia and Imogen are both Year 10 pupils at Icknield Community College and joined us for a week’s work experience.

Nit Alert!
A case of nits has been reported this week. Please be vigilant! It has been some time since we last had an outbreak but if everyone checks and treats (if necessary) their children’s hair (and their own!) this weekend, we should be able to deal with this problem very quickly. Nits and headlice can be very difficult to see. The most effective recommended treatment is to wash and condition the hair and comb through with a nit comb whilst the hair is still wet before the conditioner is rinsed out. Repeat at least 4 times over a 2-week period. Further details can be found at www.nhs.uk/Livewell/childhealth6-15/Pages/Nits.aspx

Message from the PTA Committee

A huge thank you to all those who raised sponsorship and donated for the Chiltern Chase Runners. £537 was the total raised for Stadhampton Primary School and £143 for Little Bears with Sarah Lowman winning the prize from ‘Up & Running’ for the most sponsorship money raised.

School Council

The School Council are holding a Fun Run on Tuesday 14th July (weather permitting). Children may run in fancy dress if they wish; clothes should be brought to school in a bag specifically for the run. There will be a minimum entry cost of £1. Money raised will help the School Council start next year with a healthy bank balance which will fund new resources that will benefit all pupils.

School End of Year Reports
End of Year reports for all pupils have been sent home this week. If you have not received a report please contact the School Office. If any parent feels that they would like an opportunity to discuss the report in more detail, please complete the reply slip at the end of the report and return it to your child’s class teacher.


Basketball Fundraising Event
Following the recent basketball fundraising event led by Premier Sports, we are pleased to report that the school raised £240 from this event which will be spent on improving outdoor play equipment.

Sainsburys and Tesco Vouchers
Thank you again to everyone collecting these vouchers for us. The Tesco order has now been dispatched and the Sainsbury order will be finalised shortly, so please send in any further vouchers for the Sainsbury scheme on Monday.

After-school Sports Clubs
All After-school Sports Clubs finished this week apart from Premier Sports football which is taking place on Thursday 16th July.

Visit to Harris Manchester College
Thank you to those of you who were able to join us for this wonderful event. It was a truly inspirational venue and the acoustics were magnificent. We were treated to a selection of musical pieces linked to the Comenius Project played by Myles Hartley, Director of Music for the College, and piano pieces played by a number of our pupils. Recorder groups played beautifully and our singing almost raised the roof! Many thanks to Mrs Drake and Mrs Lawson for their support in arrangements for this event. One of our young pianists has written their own report:

Report by Lucy Banting: “On Tuesday 7th July, Classes 2 and 3 went to Harris Manchester College in Oxford. We sang, played the recorder and some played the piano. Mr Hartley, Director of Music, played some Holst on the organ and the Head Steward, David Woodfine, showed us the refectory/dinner hall. Mrs Lawson showed us the library. We had to spot a skeleton called Bob! Being there was a brilliant experience for us and I wish I could go there again!”

Sports Evening Parking
To ease pressure on limited parking please walk to school this evening if you can. The netball court area will be available to park in as well as the school car park. Please be considerate to residents of Cratlands Close if you do park in the road. Thank you.

Little Bears News
We have been making books about the seaside and also making mermaids and starfish. We have also all enjoyed icing cakes. We will be pleased to welcome you to our Strawberry Fayre on Thursday 16th July 3pm. We hope that you will be able to come along to our AGM on Monday 13th July – 8pm at Pre-school.

DIARY DATES:

Friday 10th July Sports day – Children to arrive 6.15pm for a 6.30pm prompt start
Tuesday 14th July Daylight Theatre performance
Parents’ Evening for Year 6 parents at ICC from 7-9pm. Further details may be obtained from ICC on 01491 612691 or Helen.Rints@Oxfordshire.gov.uk
Thursday 16th Last Premier Sports after-school football club
Friday 17th July End of school year assembly at 9.00am
School finishes at 1.30pm for the summer break
1st & 2nd September Staff INSET Days
Thursday 3rd September Pupils return to school
Price of a school meal increases to £2 per day
Thursday 10th September First after-school football club for participating pupils led by Premier Sports
Tuesday 22nd September Advanced Warning – School Photographs!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Newsletter No 5 / 3rd July 2009

Happy JULY Birthday to: Mair Amery, Alex Birtles, Ben Drake, Ayisha Hall, Andrew Oakley, Aimee Parkes and Peter Roe

During July we are focusing on the core value of FREEDOM

School Term and Holiday Dates for 2009-10
Please find attached to this newsletter a copy of our school term and holiday dates for the academic year beginning on Thursday 3rd September 2009.

School Uniform for September
Mrs Howlett would appreciate orders for new school uniform for September being placed during next week, so that she can see if there is a need to place an additional order with our suppliers.

The Thames Valley Policing Pledge
Each family should have received a copy of the above pledge via school earlier this week.

Reports from pupils following class visits to Beale Park and the Reading Museum
Report by Ella:
“It was great at Beale Park. When we got off the coach we had our fruit break. Next we went to see the animals. The first animal was a kookaburra. I liked the kookaburra. Next we saw a lima and everyone laughed. Then we went to find a spot to eat lunch. Later on we saw the rabbits in the Pet’s Corner, and then we saw the deer and the goats and even fed them! We then went to the park for a long time and then went back to school.”

Report by Ella Mae and Rhiannon: “On Tuesday 30th June Class 2 went to the Reading Museum complete with gas mask boxes and labels. Before our lesson we saw a real gas mask, a real gas mask box, a maths textbook, and World War II coins. In our lesson we used a slate to write numbers one to ten. When we were about to use the ink pens the air raid siren went, so we had to go under the desks. Then we got out and started to write a letter to our mum’s in an ink pen. We also found out the value of the money at that time. The last thing we found out was that the teachers were strict (unlike teachers today!)”

Class 3 swimming session on 6th July
Class 3 pupils in Mrs Selwood’s swimming group are reminded to take pyjamas (or old long sleeve T-shirt and tracksuit trousers) as well as their normal swimming kit for this session.


The Oxfordshire Big Science Event Final
On Wednesday our four young finalists, Mair, Daniel, Peter and Oliver, presented their investigation “Do girls have better memories than boys?” to other finalists and their teachers, judges from Science Oxford and Local Authority Science Advisors. Over 4000 pupils in the county entered and we were thrilled to be selected to be one of the twelve schools to reach the final. This is an achievement in itself but I will let the finalists themselves give their own report of the final result.

Report from Mair, Daniel, Peter and Oliver: “On Wednesday 1st July, Mair, Daniel, Peter and Oliver went to Science Oxford for the final of the “Big Science Event”. We were the first team in our group to pitch our idea to the judges. It was a great day, with a visit to the Discovery Zone and a brilliant science show. We came second out of all the hundreds of entries in Oxfordshire! Thank you to Mrs Turner and Mrs Wilkin for transporting us”.

Daylight Theatre Performance
A reminder that parents are invited to come along to watch the performance by the Daylight Theatre group and some of our pupils on Tuesday 14th July at 2pm in the school hall. There will be an admission charge of £1 for this performance which will help offset the costs of the day. Unfortunately pre-school children cannot be included in the audience on this occasion.

Message from the PTA Committee
Sports Night BBQ – Next Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday will be your LAST chance to buy tickets. Reminder that there will be a BBQ & bar run by PTA at the Sports Evening. The bar will sell Pimms, beer, wine, crisps and soft drinks. Sausages & burgers can be pre-ordered for the BBQ at £2 each. Tickets are available from PTA members or Mrs Hopkins at school until Wednesday 8th July. Tickets must be purchased in advance as there will be no cash sales of food on the night.

Sports Evening on Friday 10th July
Sports Evening is scheduled (weather permitting!) for Friday 10th July. We hope that this will be a fun evening with races for the pupils and with refreshments and a BBQ for parents, pupils, friends, etc.

• We will need to know if any pupils cannot attend so that the races, especially the final relay, can be organised.
• The bar will be open from 6.15pm. Please remember to buy BBQ food tickets early next week.
• The races start promptly at 6.30pm and we expect the final relay race to be completed by 7.30pm.
• We ask that pupils arrive at school at 6.15pm and that they bring a bottle of water/squash to keep with them.
• Pupils are put into one of three colour teams and if possible they should wear a T-shirt of the appropriate colour. There is no need to buy a T-shirt if you don’t have the right colour, as we can provide sports bibs and bands.
• Parents are welcome to bring their own folding chairs or picnic rug to sit on.
• The end of the track will be roped off for safety reasons.
• The climbing frame is out of bounds for safety reasons.
• Please ask older siblings to be respectful of the races and not play ball games whilst the races are on.



Recorders and PE Kit Reminders!

Please could all pupils in Years 3-6 have their recorders in school on both Monday and Tuesday next week; we will have our regular recorder lesson on Monday 6th and then be playing in our concert at HMC on Tuesday 7th. In the interests of personal hygiene all pupils should provide their own recorder.

Please could all pupils have their PE kit in school every day next week so that we can take full advantage of suitable weather opportunities to practice for Sports Day – these may not necessarily be when pupils are normally timetabled to do PE.

Little Bears News
This week Little Bears enjoyed making scones and have continued with their focus on the seaside. Pupils have also been trying to keep cool in the very hot weather. Unfortunately both “Race Night” and “Race Afternoon” had to be cancelled last weekend.

DIARY DATES:

Tuesday 7th July Concert for Classes 2 & 3 at Harris Manchester College, Oxford
Friday 10th July Sports Evening – weather permitting!
Tuesday 14th July Daylight Theatre performance
Friday 17th July End of school year assembly at 9.00am
School finishes at 1.30pm for the summer break
1st & 2nd September Staff INSET Days
Thursday 3rd September Pupils return to school
Price of a school meal increases to £2 per day