Thursday, October 21, 2010

Newsletter No 8 / 21st October 2010

School Photographs
Thank you to the many familes who have already returned their orders for school photographs. They will be collected at 8am on Thursday 4th November so please return any further orders to school by Wednesday 3rd November.

Children in Need, Friday 19th November
Just to give some advance notice that we will be participating in the BBC Children in Need Appeal. This year’s Children in Need appeal has the motto – “Show your spots, let’s raise lots!” To support this we will have a non-uniform day on Friday 19th November which is the official Children in Need day. To take part children are expected to wear “something spotty” as part of their attire rather than normal school uniform and bring in £1 to school. We will then collect contributions at class registration time and send the proceeds to Children in Need. We are also planning other activities to take place during the day.

Christmas Productions 2010
With the number of pupils in our school having grown so significantly, providing us with so many budding actors, the traditional whole-school Christmas play has sadly become logistically impossible. As almost 50% of our pupils are in Reception or Key Stage 1, after much consideration, we have decided to put on two separate productions; one for KS2 pupils and another for KS1 and Reception Pupils. There will be two performances of the KS2 production on Wednesday 8th December, one in the afternoon and one in the evening, however, only one performance of the KS1 / Reception production during the afternoon of Friday 10th December. Further details about these productions will follow after the October Holiday.

Ancient Egypt Workshop, with Mrs Whitten – Written by Millie Birtles & Jake Day
“On Tuesday Class 2 travelled back in time to Ancient Egypt. We were looking at what life style they led. We were involved in making a mummy and the burial ceremony. We found out lots of things about their first life and the after life. All pupils were involved in giving the mummy special gifts which he would carry into the after life. Some pupils dressed up as Egypian boys, girls, men and women. All pupils enjoyed the Egypitian visit and thanked Mrs Whitten.”

Menus for Winter & Spring
You should find a copy of the new Winter & Spring Menus from Food with Thought, in bookbags, which begins on 1st November and finishes the week beginning 4th April as we break up for the Easter holidays. There is a three- week cycle of menus and the dates for the menu are at the top of each of the weeks, so that parents can easily see which week we are currently on. As soon as this new menu is available electronically from Food with Thought, we will upload it onto the Learning Platform.


Free School Meals for Reception Pupils during National School Meals Week
Thank you to those families who have returned the slip at the bottom of the letter from Food with Thought confirming that they would like to take up the offer for one week of free school meals for Reception pupils from 8th – 12th November. Only those families who return the completed slip will be eligible to have the free school meals.

P.T.A. Message
After what has been a very busy beginning to the school year, we can now all enjoy the holidays. Some of us will be getting out in the garden to plant those bulbs and flowers we ordered! Please give us any feed back you may have about the baskets, plants and bulbs you received. You may contact us and leave any comments, regarding this or other issues, using the P.T.A. email address www.stadhamptonpta@gmail.com. If everyone is happy, we will be handing out plant order forms again in the spring, as it was such a popular fund raiser. Thank you again to all who placed an order.

The Quiz Night last Friday proved to be really good fun and we have had wonderful feed back form all who attended. Ian Lansley did a sterling job as our compare for the evening - Thank you and well done. (Glad the voice just about held out!) The members of the Pudding Club have set a very high standard for future events! Nine wonderful entrants donated superb desserts, free of charge. May we say a really big “Thank You” to Sarah Green, Lucy Ellis, Elaine Burnell, Shirley Bateman, Sam Odell, Lucy Khan, Nikki Howlett, Peter Madry and Poppy Elliot’s friend! You all helped to make the evening very special and raise some extra funds for the children in the process. We are very grateful.

If the colder weather has encouraged you to have a sort out of your wardrobes, then please consider donating any clean, good quality clothes, shoes, bags etc. to the school. You should have received a recycling bag in your child’s book bag last week. Extra black bin bags are always welcome and you can include curtains, towels, soft toys and bedding. For more details about the company and what you can give, you can see their website www.bag2school.com. Both the school and Little Bears Pre-School will benefit from this fund raiser so please pass on your old flares and winkle pickers! The bags will be collected from school on Monday 1st November, which is the first day back after the holidays!

A gentle reminder, that Tracy Perring will continue to sell uniforms in Little Bears, after school every Wednesday. If you need any new items then please try and visit her before 3.30pm. We will be producing a product and price list to hand out to parents/carers, after the autumn holidays.

Finally, please make a note in your diaries that the P.T.A. will be holding a Winter Fair in the School (community) Hall on Friday 26th November at 6.00pm. This will be one of the last fundraisers of the year and we have lots of fun, new stalls planned. Please start saving bits and bobs to donate. We would be grateful for DVD’s, CDs, books, bottles and chocolates for the tombolas, good quality toys and prizes for the raffle. More information will follow after the holidays.

As always, thank you for your ongoing support. Without your donations and contributions we wouldn’t be able to offer the children those special extras!

Little Bears News

Here we are at the end of the first half term. I think I can speak for all at Little Bears new and old, that we are tired but very well settled into life at Little Bears. We have welcomed many new children over the last seven weeks and are yet to welcome a few more on our return in November. Our topic for the next seven weeks will begin with “fireworks” leading onto “shapes” followed by “Christmas” . The bulk order of glitter is on its way!

DIARY DATES:
Thursday 21st October
Term 1 finishes at 3.15pm
Monday 1st November
Term 2 starts for all pupils
PTA Clothes Collection
Swimming starts for Class 3 pupils
Wednesday 3rd November
Foundation Stage pupils and Class 1 pupils visit Blenheim Palace. Letters distributed in book bags on 14th October.
Year 5 pupils visit ICC for a “Wider World” lesson
Wednesday 10th November
Maths Masterclass at ICC for participating pupils
Mon 15th November
Parents’ Evenings – 4.30-7pm
Wednesday 17th November
Parents’ Evenings – 3.30-6pm
Friday 19th November
Children in Need Day – non-uniform, pay £1 and wear something spotty
Monday 22nd November
Governing Body meeting at 7pm
Friday 26th November
PTA Winter Fair

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Newsletter No 7 /15th October 2010

Open Morning
Thank you to everyone who came along to our very successful Open Morning this week.

Book Fair
We are holding a Book Fair in the school hall from the afternoon of Monday 1st November until Friday 5th November before and after school each day. We shall have for sale, the latest range of top quality reading books which pupils will hopefully enjoy. Once takings have exceeded £100, the school receives commission on any other books sold and this is “spent” on buying new books for each classroom library.

P.T.A. News
The plant orders should be arriving at school on Monday 18th Oct – just in time for planting out in the garden over the holidays! If parents/carers would like to collect their plants after school on that day, they will be placed on the pavement, near the big gate in the car park. Would parents please allow a few extra minutes for P.T.A. members to sort out the orders and check they have given you the right plants. (Please don’t help yourselves - the orders must be checked first!) The P.T.A. also request that parents adhere to the rules regarding cars in the car park. If your order is quite large and you will be using your car to transport plants, please allow parents who are just picking up children to leave first. If you are unable to pick up on that Monday, the plants will be kept on the school grounds and you can ask a P.T.A. member to arrange a suitable collection time before the holidays. Thank you.

A huge THANK YOU to all children, teachers and parents who made /co-ordinated/ ordered Christmas cards. We know it was a bit chaotic for all involved, but the results should be brilliant. Next year, we will try to organise this event earlier in the term to ease the pressure! The P.T.A. will let parents know as soon as the cards arrive at school. Watch this space!

This week you will have found in your child’s book bag, a white plastic bag with printed information about clothes recycling on it. For those parents who are new to the school, please collect the items listed, fill the blue bag and return it to the school on Monday 1st Nov. The items are weighed and the school and Little Bears Pre-school get a percentage of the funds raised on the total amount collected. Please note: 1st Nov is the first day back after the October holiday!

P.T.A. Quiz and Pudding Club – Tonight’s the night for the tastiest, fun filled event in October! Come along to the School hall at 7.00pm and enjoy some delicious desserts and test the grey cells with a general knowledge quiz. Don’t feel shy about coming alone or in pairs – there will be others who you will be able to form a team with. (Max. of 8 per team please!)

Next P.T.A. Meeting will be Wednesday 20th Oct at 8.00pm. We will be meeting at Sarah Madry’s – Brompton House, School Lane. New members are always welcome. Please feel free to come along for an evening discussing and organising fund raising events that you’d like to see happen over the school year.

Investors in People
We were pleased to receive notification this week that we have successfully been reaccredited with “Investors in Peple” status for a further three years.

Little Bears News
This week we welcome Ella Fulker to Little Bears, we hope she quickly makes lots of new friends and has a happy time with us. We are all a little Quackers this week, our rhyme is 5 Little Ducks, however we can see many more than 5 in the room!
As you will be aware the school is closed for an Inset day next Friday 22nd October. Little Bears will open as a normal Friday session 9am-12pm.

DIARY DATES:
Thursday 21st October
Term 1 finishes at 3.15pm
Monday 1st November
Term 2 starts for all pupils
PTA Clothes Collection
Swimming starts for Class 3 pupils
Wednesday 3rd November
Foundation Stage pupils and Class 1 pupils visit Blenheim Palace. Letters distributed in book bags on 14th October.
Year 5 pupils visit ICC for a “Wider World” lesson
Wednesday 10th November
Maths Masterclass at ICC for participating pupils
Mon 15th November
Parents’ Evenings – 4.30-7pm
Wednesday 17th November
Parents’ Evenings – 3.30-6pm
Monday 22nd November
Governing Body meeting at 7pm
Friday 26th November
PTA Winter Fair

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Newsletter No 6 / 8th October 2010

We are pleased to welcome Miss Chelsea Stratton, a BA student teacher at Oxford Brookes University, to Stadhampton School. Miss Stratton will be us for eight weeks, mainly working in Class 2 under the guidance of Mrs Garrard and Mrs Turner.

Extra INSET Day
We have recently been advised that the new coalition Government has allocated all primary schools an additional INSET Day (In-Service Training Day where teachers are available for work but the school is closed to pupils) this school year. Please note that we will be taking this additional day on Wednesday 5th January 2011 (and will use it to review our assessment procedures) and that Term 3 will now begin on Thursday 6th January.

Internet Safety
Safeguarding pupils is of paramount importance to us and parents are reminded that our school Internet access is filtered, thus protecting pupils from inappropriate and potentially harmful material. We also teach pupils about safe use of the Internet. Each family will have made their own domestic arrangements for their child/ren’s access to the Internet but I would like to draw your attention to an Internet Safeguarding website recommended by Local Authority Safeguarding Officers. The site is www.thinkuknow.co.uk which has useful pages for both pupils and parents. Unfortunately Internet and mobile phone abuse are both on the increase and pupil access to mobile phones with an Internet facility can make them vunerable.

Collecting children at the end of the school day
We have noticed that the car park is becoming increasingly congested at the end of the school day. Congestion would be eased and child safety improved if parents found alternatives to using the car park. The congestion is partly due to two taxis on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays collecting children from school and one taxi on Thursdays and Fridays. As it is our duty to make sure that the right pupils go into the right taxi at the end of the day, it is important that the taxis are able to collect pupils from immediately outside the main school entrance/exit.
We therefore politely request that all parents please park in designated car park spaces only within the car park and not alongside the kerb outside the main entrance/exit. If the car park is already full, then please park safely in Cratlands Close, being of course, mindful not to block the driveways of residents of Cratlands Close. In the interest of the safety of all pupils the access to the car park will be monitored and reviewed by the Governing Body.
Teaching staff have also been reminded that the end of the school day is 3.15pm and that pupils should leave promptly at that time.

Learning Platform
We have posted some pictures of the Harvest Service onto the Learning Platform this week.

Potholes in Cratlands Close
We are grateful to Richard Freeth, (a school governor who lives in Cratlands Close) for addressing the potholes situation in Cratlands Close with the Highways Department at Oxfordshire County Council. Richard sent them pictures of the potholes and they have given the school assurance that the problems will be dealt with in the near future. The reference number for this query should anyone else need it is 359422.

Free Booktime Book Packs
We were pleased to be able to pass onto each child in the Foundation Class earlier this week, a pack of books, posters and bookmark provided by the Book Trust.

Watlington Partnership Family Learning Workshop
We are pleased to be able to let families know about an opportunity to attend a family learning workshop on Friday 22nd October at Watlington School between 10am and 12 noon. (Stadhampton School is closed to pupils on that day as it is an INSET Day for teaching staff). The cost is £2 per family and children are able to create a Halloween costume. Childrem must be accompanied by an adult. Please collect a booking form from the school office to take part in this session or e-mail Elly.Baskerville@Oxfordshire.gov.uk

Little Bears News
We welcome two new children this week, Harvey Saunders and Angus Stewart. We hope they settle well and enjoy their time at Little Bears. Many of the children have made Flapjacks this week, they looked yummy with the choice of chocolate chips & raisins if desired.The rhyme of the week is 1,2,3,4 5. The room is definitely looking ‘Fishy’!

DIARY DATES:
Wednesday 13th October
Open Morning at school and at Little Bears
Friday 15th October
PTA Quiz Night
Thursday 21st October
Term 1 finishes at 3.15pm
Monday 1st November
Term 2 starts for all pupils
Mon 15th Nov & Weds 17th November
Parents’ Evenings

Friday, October 1, 2010

Newsletter No 5 / 1st October 2010

Happy OCTOBER Birthday to: Benjamin Duke, Sophie Hector, Oliver Lowman, Rishon Marshall, Marcin Skwarek and Ellie Walker.

During OCTOBER we are focusing on the core value of APPRECIATION

Harvest Gifts
Thank you to everyone who brought Harvest Gifts for our Harvest Service on Friday 1st October. After the village Harvest Service on Sunday, they will be taken to The Porch, a centre in Oxford for homeless people.

PTA Message
A reminder that orders for plants and bulbs need to be given to a PTA committee member or returned to the school office by Friday 8th October. If you haven’t had an opportunity yet to read about what is on offer, it is well worth taking a look!

Polish Visit
During the last week we have welcomed a group of 13 visitors from our partner primary school in Hazlach, Poland. The group consisted of 7 pupils, accompanied by Pani Agnieszka Pilch the headteacher, along with other members of staff and parents. They participated in a number of activities with our pupils, including lessons and playtimes in school, pizza making with Year 6 at Pizza Express, kite making in school and kite flying at Wittenham Clumps. They also had a day trip to Oxford and visited other local places of interest with host families.
I would like to express my enormous thanks to all pupils, staff, host families, parents, governors and other members of the local community who supported this visit so generously. Our guests had a wonderful time and were genuinely sad to leave. For most of them it was their first experience of England and they came away with a very positive impression of Stadhampton School, the village community and England. Your children, our pupils, were fine ambassadors and a tribute to our school. Although our current Comenius Project has come to an end, I hope the valuable links between the schools will continue. Here are some pupil reports of the shared experiences:

Pizza Express Visit – Report written by Ben and Chloe B:
“Year 6’s and the Polish children went to Pizza Express on Tuesday 28th September. The Year 5’s went on Thursday 30th September. At Pizza Express we made pizzas with lots of yummy toppings. First they gave us some dough and we pressed the dough into a circle. Secondly we put it in a pan and then we spread some tomato puree all over the pizza dough. Then we put the toppings on and then they cooked it in the oven at 371○C for 2 to 3 minutes. We are our pizzas when we got back to school – they were scrumptious!”

Kite Flying – Report written by Florence and Rhiannon:
“On Saturday we made some kites with the Polish children, using some coloured markers and plastic triangles. We had over an hour to do this and we all had good designs and found it great fun. We all went to Wittenham Clumps and flew our kites,(luckily it was a nice windy day). Some kites got stuck or snapped but we all brought our kites home in one piece. The kites flew really high and very well. The whole day was fun and exciting. We enjoyed it very much and so did the others.”

Hosting Polish Visitors – Report written by Alice Madry
“It was a great experience to have the Polish people stay. They were fun to play with but tricky to communicate with! We had a fun experience going to London. It was good to see what they thought of the City. We had lunch in a traditional English pub, most of us had roast dinner. They really liked it!”

Little Bears News
We have welcomed most of our new children to Little Bears over the last 3 weeks, no new starters this week.
We do however welcome a new addition to the staff this week. Louisa, a 17 year old student, began work placement on Wednesday, she will be with us every Wednesday and Thursday from 9am-3pm until February 2011.
Sheep are the focus this week, there are ‘Baa Baa multi coloured sheep’ everywhere!

DIARY DATES:

Wednesday 6th October
Mobile Library
Thursday 7th October
Open Evening at Icknield Community College 6-8pm
Wednesday 13th October
Open Morning at school and at Little Bears
Friday 15th October
PTA Quiz Night
Thursday 21st October
Term 1 finishes at 3.15pm
Monday 1st November
Term 2 starts for all pupils
Mon 15th Nov & Weds 17th November
Parents’ Evenings