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