Newsletter No 3 - 24th June 2011

Playground Developments
As you may be aware, for several years it has been our intention to replace our well-used but tired old climbing frame and, finally, it has happened! The children have been very excited watching the new equipment being installed and it looks fantastic! They have also been very patient waiting for the concrete “footings” to set but we have had the “all-clear” for Friday 24th June and each class will have their opportunity to explore the new equipment then. The children can’t wait and I notice a little look of envy from the adults.... I would like to say a big “thank you” to the PTA for their interest in, and generous financial support of, this development.

Spring Concert – Report by Amber and Pola
“The Spring Concert was very enjoyable for both children and adults. Everyone had lots of fun listening to children playing clarinets, recorders, piano and guitar, as well as singing “Mr Miller!” We raised £200.14 for the “Smiles and Dreams:Tohoku Children’s Project” in Japan and £46.85 for Save the Children Emergency Fund.

Premier Sports Holiday Course at Stadhampton School
Booking forms have been distributed this week for the sports course being held at Stadhampton School from 25th – 29th July. More forms are available from the school office. Please note that the cost of the course is now £6 a day for 9-3pm which equates to £1 an hour!

Coat left at the Concert
A rather nice coat was left at school by someone who watched the concert.

School Car Park
Thank you to those families who have relieved the congestion in the car park by walking or parking further away and walking down to school this week. It has made a noticeable difference and it is appreciated.

P.T.A. News
Just to remind you that The Great Stadhampton Bake Off is being held this Saturday 25th June in the school hall – our specially selected panel of judges will be judging in secret at 1.45 and the doors will open at 2.30pm when there will be refreshments for all including tea, coffee, homemade lemonade, your chance to place your vote for the People’s Choice and of course, most importantly CAKES!!!!!
We have been donated some wonderful prizes by Gatineau in Summertown, Steamer Trading in Thame, Little Cooks, Bonne Maman and Gu so do please enter a cake for your chance to win one of them.
If you have any questions or if you want to enter a cake to the competition but are unable to attend, please contact Diana and Eimer to arrange this (numbers below).Thank you and we look forward to seeing you!

The P.T.A. is gearing up for the last few weeks of the school year and we are hoping for the weather to improve (drastically!) in time for the school sports evening on Friday 15th July from 6.00pm. This event is a great chance for families to come together and watch the children compete in both running and fun filled obstacle races.
The P.T.A. will be providing a bar, generously run by Mrs Hopkins and Mr Manzie, with beer, wine, cider, Pimms, coke and squash for the children.
This year we have managed to source some locally made sausages and beef burgers courtesy of Mr Gerring who lives in the village and Mrs Shortman, Nikki Howlett and Shirley Bateman have very kindly offered to come along and cook the B.B.Q. for us. So that we have an indication of how many sausages and burgers we will need to order, we are selling tickets in advance and would like to request that families pay for hot dogs and burgers before the night. Food tickets are available from the school office via Joy Hopkins and are on sale from Monday 27th June till Friday 8th July. Please note: We will not be able to offer any tickets for sale after Friday the 8th July. You can purchase a Hot dog or a burger for the very reasonable price of £2.00 each and there is no limit as to how many you may wish to buy. This is the perfect way to end the school year – so order your food now and don’t miss out!

The P.T.A. is hoping that you will be able to support our last fundraising venture of the school year by donating any unwanted CDs and DVDs you may have. We have signed up with a company called ”musicMagpie” who will pay the P.T.A. 50p per item. They in turn, recondition each disc and resell them to other countries around the world. You can find out more about them by visiting their website on www.musicMagpie.co.uk. There is also an added bonus for us - If we can manage to collect a minimum of 250 discs, we can claim a free five-a-side football kit for the school! The P.T.A. has worked out if each family donates just five CDs or DVDs we will reach our goal easily and also raise £150.00 towards P.T.A. funds. If we exceed this amount the P.T.A. will obviously receive more money – plus the free kit!
To receive payment we need to collect CDs and DVDs that have their original notes and sleeves as well as a bar code on the reverse. Unfortunately we can’t send CDs or DVDs that have been given free in newspapers or magazines as these do not have a barcode. Also musicMagpie will only take CD albums, not singles. The company are happy to accept computer games discs but they can only be donated if they are compatible with Playstation3, Xbox and Xbox360 consoles.
This is such a wonderfully easy way to raise extra funds for the children and to get a brand new football kit for the school too! Please look through your CD and DVD collection, ask relatives, neighbours and friends as well and bring any unwanted films or music into school and place in the red P.T.A. box in the hall. Many thanks for your support and let’s see if we can get the free football kit!

Little Bears News
Little Bears Pre-school will be holding their hugely popular Strawberry Fair once again on THURSDAY 7 JULY from 3pm onwards. There will be lots to do - tombola, lucky dip, craft stalls and more, plus lots to eat and drink as well as goodies to win.
Please join us and support Little Bears in the process - we're fundraising towards improvements for our garden area too!

DIARY DATES:
Tuesday 28th June Cycling Safety Test – Year 6 pupils
Thursday 30th June Reception and Class 1 pupil visit to Outdoor Discovery Post
Wednesday 6th July, Thursday 7th July, Friday 8th July Transition days for all pupils. Reception Class mini-topic will be “All About Me”, Class 1 mini-topic will be “The Seaside”, Class 2 mini-topic will be “Cats” and Class 3 mini-topic will be “Pinocchio.”
Wednesday 13th June Class 3 visit to Banbury Museum
Friday 15th July Sports evening (weather permitting)
Wednesday 20th July Mobile Library
Friday 22nd July End of school year assembly at 9.05am in hall. All welcome.
Term 6 ends at 1.30pm
25th – 29th July Holiday course run by Premier Sports Group

Monday 5th & Tuesday 6th September Teacher INSET Days
Wednesday 7th September Pupils return to school
Wednesday 21st September School photographs