Friday, January 29, 2010

Newsletter No 3 / 29th January 2010

Chair of Governors – Carl Mannering
We would like to thank Carl Mannering for his commitment to the school during his term of office as Chair of Governors. Mr Mannering has decided to step down from this role, pending a potential house move, but will, for the present time, remain as a member of the Governing Body. We are grateful to Jolyon Roe for agreeing to take on this role, at present, in the short term.


Traffic and Pedestrians in the School Car Park – Safety Matters

With the additional number of staff and pupils we now have at school and Little Bears, the pressures on the car park have also increased – and so the potential for a tragic accident.
The car park is currently available to parents and carers to park in to help prevent traffic congestion in Cratlands Close but children and traffic are not an ideal mix and in compliance with Health and Safety directives we are monitoring this situation. In the interests of the safety of all children we would like to remind parents and carers that children should be collected in person from the school pedestrian gate* and closely supervised at all times. Drivers are requested to consider parking elsewhere in the village and walking along Cratlands Close to school, whenever possible. Additionally, drivers who have no alternative but to use the school car park are reminded to be extra vigilant when parking/maneuvering and to observe the 5mph speed limit both within the car park and the approaches to/from it. (* Foundation Stage pupils must be collected from their classroom).

We are aware that the current waiting arrangements for parents and carers are far from ideal and we are in the process of pursuing plans to develop a waiting area within the school grounds. In order to achieve this without compromising school security, we plan to make changes to the fencing between the pedestrian gate and Class 1 and provide an increased area of tarmac by widening the existing pathway. There will also be a fence between this waiting area and the car park, preventing children from exiting directly into the car park. We are hopeful that these improvements will be made during Spring 2010.

School Uniform
Following on from Nikki Howlett, Tracy Perring has kindly volunteered to take over the sale of school uniform. As most of you will know Nikki did this valuable job for several years and, as Nikki was frequently ‘on hand’ in Little Bears many parents were used to ‘popping’ into Pre-School to pick up items of uniform. Whilst Tracy also works in Little Bears she doesn’t work there every day and wishes to minimise disruption. With this in mind Tracy would like to trial a ‘school uniform shop’ each Wednesday from 3.15pm in Little Bears, commencing 3rd February 2010. This will enable parents to come and make purchases following collection of children from school and provide an opportunity to view what is available. This may not however suit everyone in which case Tracy can be contacted by e-mail at tracy.perring@talktalk.net. Parents should also please be aware that purchases need to be paid for upon receipt.


“Little Cooks” After- School Club

This club is now fully subscribed and has been very popular and the following pupils have a confirmed place: Lola Odell, Ben Drake, Abby Wright, Betsy Elliott, Amy Freeman, Sophie Hector, Naomi Woodwards, Oliver Perring, Jake Day, Chloe Scragg, Alex Birtles, Amber Tomkins, Emily Drake, Andrew Oakley and Matthew Ellis.

Little Bears News
We have been busy this week getting very messy exploring with shaving foam. We have been making wonderful patterns and writing our names. We have also been making animal collages. We would like to welcome Wyatt Bullock, who started at Little Bears this week.

DIARY DATES:
Tuesday 2nd February Drama Workshop for Class 1 pupils 3.15-4.15pm with Creation Theatre Company
Friday 5th February UNICEF Day for Change & School Council Cake Sale for Haiti
Sunday 7th February Christingle Service at St John the Baptist Church, Stadhampton at 4.00pm
Tuesday 9th February Drama Workshop for Class 1 pupils 3.15-4.15pm with Creation Theatre Company with parent particpation
Friday 12th February “Jian-zi” competition Break up for February Holiday at 3.15pm
Monday 22nd February Return to school after the February Holiday
Swimming sessions begin for Class 3 pupils (6 sessions in total)

Friday, January 22, 2010

Newsletter No 2 / 22nd January 2010

Visit from Emma Williams, from University of Oxford Botanic Gardens
On 3rd February we look forward to a visit from Emma Williams, education officer for the University of Oxford Botanic Gardens, who will be working with all pupils in school. Activities will include exploring and handling plants, tasting herbs, sewing seeds, finding out about plant adaptation and making, within classes, either a wildlife feeder or a nesting box. 2010 is the UN International Year of Biodiversity and during the day pupils will participate in fun, sensory sessions which will help them to understand what biodiversity is, why it is important and what can be done to protect it in the UK.


Prompt Arrivals at School
As we have many new families with pupils starting school this term, it seems an appropriate time to remind parents that pupils should arrive at school between 8.45 and 9.00am, so that they are in and settled before registration takes place at 9.00am. Also the pupils’ entrance, through the gate outside Class 1, is locked at 9.00am so that we can safeguard the pupils in our care. This means that any “latecomers” have to come in through the main school entrance and pupils enter their classrooms after registration, which can be quite disruptive to the class and unsettling for the pupil involved. There have been occasions recently, with the snow etc, when we completely understand that it takes longer to get to school and of course, we prefer everyone to take their time and get here safely, but normally we expect pupils to be in school and ready for registration at 9.00am.


Dogs on the school site
We remind everyone that in accordance with Local Authority regulations, dogs are not permitted on the school site. There is a sign which states this at the entrance to the school.


French Lessons with Madame Brookes
Unfortunately Madame Brookes has had an injury which has meant that she has been unable to drive. This has meant that pupils have missed their usual French sessions on the last two Thursday afternoons. We look forward to seeing Madame Brookes back again next week.

Little Bears News
We are delighted to welcome the following children to Little Bears: Charlie, Elizabeth, Erin and Ellie. We have been very busy with self-portraits and family mobiles. It has been wonderful to enjoy the “green garden” once again. The children also welcomed the return of “Big Club”, and especially the cake today.
Hayley McMahon

DIARY DATES:
Tuesday 26th January Drama Workshop for Class 1 pupils 3.15-4.15pm with Creation Theatre Company
Wednesday 27th January Mobile Library visit
Tuesday 2nd February Drama Workshop for Class 1 pupils 3.15-4.15pm with Creation Theatre Company
Friday 5th February UNICEF Day for Change
Sunday 7th February Christingle Service at St John the Baptist Church, Stadhampton at 4.00pm
Tuesday 9th February Drama Workshop for Class 1 pupils 3.15-4.15pm with Creation Theatre Company
Friday 12th February “Jian-zi” competition
Break up for February Holiday at 3.15pm
Monday 22nd February Return to school after the February Holiday

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Newsletter No 1 15th January 2010

A belated Happy New Year!


We are pleased to welcome the following new pupils into our new Foundation Stage class: Charles Ball, Leonard Burnell, Georgia Day, Megan Green, Buddy Halliday, Phoebe Hindmarch, Zara Hopkins, Tia Khan, Ella Lavene, James Lowman and Oliver Stewart. We are also pleased to welcome Pola Onopiuk into Class 3.

Welcome to Miss Heather Mould

We are very pleased to welcome Miss Heather Mould to our teaching staff. Miss Mould will be teaching the Foundation Stage pupils in our Reception Class.

During JANUARY we are focusing on the core value of HAPPINESS

Learning Platform

One or two families have told us recently that they are not able to access the Learning Platform and we have been working on these issues with Research Machines. Hopefully these issues have now been resolved and families who had reported access problems and also families who are new to the school this term, should have now received a letter explaining how to access the Learning Platform and providing the unique user name and password needed to access it.

Mrs Hargrave

As part of her 2nd year of teacher training, we are pleased that Mrs Hargrave will be working in school full-time between 11th January and 8th February in order to complete her school teaching experience for this year.

Class Outline Termly Plans

This week pupils should bring home an outline termly plan of the main subject areas covered in their class during Terms 3 and 4.

Recorders

Recorder lessons for pupils In Classes 2 and 3 will take place on Mondays from next Monday, 18th January. Pupils should bring their own recorder and recorder book into school. Further recorders and books are available from the school office. (Recorders are on sale at £6.50 and books £3.50).

UNICEF Day for Change

We would like to give you advance notice that, as in previous years, we will be supporting this charity event on Friday 5th February. We endeavour to collect “loose change” for this cause and usually create a giant map or poster of coins before sending the money off to UNICEF. This year’s UNICEF’s focus is on their Education and Child Survival Project in Mozambique, East Africa. We hope you will be able to set aside some loose change between now and early February and send it in with your child/children on 5th February. Thank you.



Little Bears News

I would like to take this opportunity to say hello. After an extended Christmas holiday, due to the weather, I’m thrilled to be at Little Bears getting to know your children and yourselves. We have chosen the theme “All about Me” for this half term, which should help me to learn about your children and enable me to plan for their individual needs. More information about the planning is on our Parents’ Noticeboard. I look forward to meeting you all and your children over the coming weeks.

Hayley McMahon


DIARY DATES:


Monday 11th January

Swimming starts for Class 2.

Tuesday 12th January

Drama Workshop for KS1 pupils provided by Creation Theatre Company – 3.15-4.15pm

Thursday 14th January

After school football club begins for participating pupils

Monday 18th January

After school hockey club begins for participating pupils

Tuesday 19th January

Drama Workshop for KS1 pupils provided by Creation Theatre Company – 3.15-4.15pm

Wednesday 20th January

Year 5 pupils visit ICC in the afternoon

After school clubs for netball and multi-sports begin for participating pupils

Wednesday 27th January

Mobile Library visit