Newsletter No 2 / 13th November 2009

Book Fair from 17th - 20th November 2009
A reminder that there will be a Book Fair from Tuesday 17th November to Friday 20th November. On Tuesday, from 3.30pm Parent’s Evening appointments will be held in the school hall, so for that afternoon only the Book Fair will be open in the school end of the portacabin from 3.15pm to 4.30pm. Please come along and see it over there.

Swine Flu
We currently have two pupils absent from school who are being treated for suspected swine flu. We feel that it is important to keep parents up to date with this information so that if your child is feeling very unwell and is showing symptoms that could be swine flu, you can let your GP know that there are other suspected cases in the school.

Payment for School Meals
We would like to remind parents that payment for school meals is due on Monday morning for any meal requirements in that week. Many Class 1 pupils (and a few older pupils!) seem not to be aware that they have payment for their school meals in their book bag and we are finding it quite disruptive to lessons to have to ask several pupils to go and check their book bags for any dinner money. If you think your child will not remember that there is payment in a book bag, please could you either remind them just as they are coming to school or give it directly to the class teacher yourself or to Mrs Hopkins in the school office. We would be very grateful for your help in this matter, thank you.

Children in Need – Friday 20th November
We will be helping to raise funds for Children in Need on Friday 20th November. Children are invited to wear ‘non-uniform’ clothes that day but are asked to wear ‘something spotty’ (it can be an official Pudsey bandana, but it doesn’t have to be) for a donation of £1. There will also be a sale of “bear biscuits” at 3pm in the Hall. This sale is also open to families from Little Bears. Shirley Bateman has kindly made a number of Pudsey biscuits which will be available for 50p each. In addition school pupils will have made and decorated their own Pudsey biscuits during the week and they will be given an opportunity at 3pm to buy the biscuit that they have made for 50p. Any surplus Pudsey biscuits will also be available for purchase. All proceeds from Non-Uniform Day and the sale of biscuits will go to Children in Need.

PTA Attachment “The Christmas Bazaar is nearly upon us!”

‘Notes of Harmony’ Comenius Project Developments (Turkey focus)
Turkish Day of Dance:
On Tuesday 10th November we welcomed Katrina Sapno, a professional dancer and dance instructor with West End experience, into school. Katrina led Turkish dance workshops with each class and the session culminated in a presentation to (and with!) parents at the end of the day. This enjoyable event was made possible through careful management of our Comenius Project budget.

Project Meeting in Izmir, Turkey, 4th-8th November 2009:
As mentioned last week Mrs Garrard and I recently attended the project meeting hosted by our partner school in Izmir, Turkey. This meeting was also attended by teachers from our other partner schools in Poland and Germany, enabling us to share the same experiences. During the meeting we received a tour of our partner school, attended lessons, watched a concert given by the pupils and participated in a joint meeting exchanging information and materials relating to project developments so far in each country and planning future developments. We also visited another, even bigger, school to see a contrasting range of facilities – particularly musical opportunities for pupils. We attended meetings with local dignitaries, particularly the Director of Education in Izmir and the District Governor. In addition we visited a number of places of local and national importance, including Ataturk’s summer home, the site of the House of The Virgin Mary, the ancient city of Ephesus, several museums and a mosque. We experienced a number of traditional customs including tea-drinking the Turkish way and street entertainment in the local bazaar, as well as more contemporary customs such as attending a Mozart and Tchaikovsky concert played by the Turkish symphony orchestra and swimming in the Aegean Sea! Our hosts were extremely thoughtful and welcoming and this meeting was a truly enriching experience for all involved, strengthening the links between our school communities.

Partnership Netball Tournament 2009
Congratulations to our netball team (all Y6 pupils) who won this tournament for the second year running. Thank you to Mrs Scragg, Mrs Perring, Mr Pattisson, Mrs Birtles and Mrs Roe for transporting the team. Here is a report by Peter Roe:
“We are pleased to report that the Year 6’s at Stadhampton School won the Hi-Five Netball Tournament. We won by 2 clear points by beating RAF Benson Team 1 and Team 2, Lewknor School and drawing with Watlington Primary. Thank you to Mrs Scragg and Mrs Manzie for organising this for us and to the parents who helped with the transport”.

Little Bears News
This week Little Bears have been talking about “Space” and have particularly enjoyed reading the book “Aliens love Underpants”. They have been painting pictures of aliens, painting patterns onto pictures of underpants, and made moon rock cakes. Pupils also spent time this week making “poppy rings”.

DIARY DATES:
Tuesday 17th November
Parents’ Evening (from 3.30pm). More details to follow next week.
Wednesday 18th November
Last After School Netball and Multi-skills Clubs
Friday 20th November
Children in Need – non-uniform day – pupils pay £1 to wear something spotty- more details to follow in next week’s newsletter.
PTA clothes bags collection.
Wednesday 25th November
Family Poetry Workshop 3.15-4.15pm. No after school SPORTS Clubs, - After School Fun Club in the portacabin will run as normal with Mrs Howlett and Mrs Hopkins bringing pupils over to/from school for the poetry workshop.
Monday 30th November
Last After School Hockey Club
Thursday 17th December
Last After School Football Club
Friday 18th December
Break up at 1.30pm.
Monday 4th January
Staff INSET Day
Tuesday 5th January
Pupils return to school for the start of Term 3.