Friday, November 25, 2011

Newsletter No 4 - 25th November 2011

Message from Jason Hector, Chair of Governors
Dear all,

Earlier this week families should have received our annual parents questionnaire. The governors and staff of Stadhampton Primary School are proud of the school’s achievements and in order to ensure that we continue to provide the high standards of teaching and support to pupils we would be grateful if you could provide feedback to us by completing the annual parents questionnaire. We are keen to hear all views whether you are a new parent or carer to the school or not, we want to know how well the school is meeting your expectations. The questionnaire is of course confidential. We would be grateful if you could return completed forms to the school office by Friday 9th December. Thank you.

Parking in Cratlands Close for the Winter Fair at 6pm this evening
We would respectfully remind parents to be mindful of the residents of Cratlands Close and not block access to their driveways when they park for the Winter Fair on Friday evening. We are hopeful that we shall be able to have the netball court also open for additional parking and will ask staff and the PTA to park there in order to free up spaces for parents and other visitors in the car park.

School Open as usual
We are now able to confirm that we will be open as usual on Wednesday 30th November.

Sally Evans – Oxford Brookes University Student
We say “farewell” to Miss Evans this week as she reaches the end of her 4-week placement with us. However, we look forward to welcoming her back to work with us again in February and March next year.

Children in Need
Thank you to everyone who contributed to our school collection for Children in Need by wearing “something spotty,” purchasing a Pudsey key ring and/or participating in the School Council competition. We are delighted to let you know that we raised £148.40.

PTA News
A huge thank you for the items which have been brought into school for the Winter Fair this evening and for the return of sold raffle tickets. We look forward to seeing you all there!

Clothes Recycling: Thanks to everyone who brought in items for the clothes recycling collection. We will let you know the amount raised towards PTA funds when we have received the cheque from Bag2School. The next clothes collection will be in the spring next year - perfect for the annual
Spring clean!

Waitrose Tokens: From Thursday next week (1st December) you will able to support our school by dropping your green tokens into our collection box in Waitrose at Thame. The more tokens we can get, the bigger our share of the money from Waitrose will be to spend on some new outdoor equipment for Class 1. (This also means we have more money from our own fundraising activities to spend on other things). So please tell everyone you know who shops in Waitrose to support our school. If you shop in a Waitrose other than Thame (eg. Wallingford), please bring the tokens into school to put into the collection box on the piano. Thank you.

Wreath-Making Evening: It is not too late to book your place at the Wreath-making Evening on 12th December in the school hall. Forms are available from the school office, if you would like to either come along on the evening, or order a wreath to be made for you. Alternatively, speak to Fiona Stewart outside school.

School Play Bar: Just to remind you that we will once again be running a bar, selling mulled wine, wine and beer, after the evening performance of the play on 6 December. Please do stay and join us for a drink.

Little Bears News
Next week we will be going on a nature walk around our grounds looking for a stick man.
We will also be making a nature table and collecting lots of natural materials for our table. Please do bring anything in from home to put on our nature table too.

DIARY DATES:


Monday 5th December KS2 children and Little Bears will form the audience of the Class R/KS1 dress rehearsal
Tuesday 6th December Class R/KS1 children and Little Bears will form the audience of the KS2 dress rehearsal

Tuesday 6th December
Class R & Class 1 Performance 2.30pm, in the Hall All welcome, but tickets will be required
Class 2 & Class 3 Performance 6.30pm, in the Hall (Ticket only – no babies or young children please at this performance)

Wednesday 7th December Class 2 & Class 3 Performance 1.45pm, in the Hall All welcome, but tickets will be required

Monday 12th December PTA wreath making evening
Tuesday 13th December Whole School Party - 1.45pm in the Hall. Children may bring party clothes to change into after lunch if they wish.
Wednesday 14th December Whole school Nativity Service at 2.15pm at St John’s Church
Friday 16th December End of Term Assembly at 9.05am, in the Hall
School finishes at 1.30pm

Tuesday 3rd January INSET Day – teachers only in school
Wednesday 4th January Pupils return to school

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Newsletter No 3 - 18th November 2011

Children in Need
Thank you to everyone who contributed to our school collection for Children in Need by wearing “something spotty” and/or purchasing a Pudsey key ring. We shall let you know how much was collected once all donations have been received.

Industrial Action on 30th November 2011
As you will be aware from the media, the combined Teacher and School Leadership Trade Unions will be taking Industrial Action on 30th November 2011. The action ( a one day strike) will result in class or whole school closures across the country. Although staff are not legally required to give more than two days notice of their intention to strike, having talked to the staff about this issue, I believe that there will be sufficient staff in school on 30th November to keep the school open. If this situation changes I will, of course, let you know.

Netball & Rugby Tournament Reports

Rugby Report by Marcin and Ella:
“On Friday 11th November, eight Year 4’s played at the Partnership Rugby Tournament. Our first match was against RAF Benson 1 and we won 25-0; our second was against Ewelme and we won 15-10; our third was against Lewknor and we won 15-10; our fourth was against Chalgrove and we lost 15-20; our fifth was against RAF Benson 2 and we won 45-0; our sixth was against Watlington and we lost 10-20; our last match was against Watlington in the final but unfortunately we lost 20-15. We came second and we enjoyed taking part”.

Netball Report by Rhiannon and Megan:
“All the Years 6’s participated in the Partnership Netball Tournament on Friday 11th November. Unfortunately we didn’t win but we tried our hardest and we came 3rd out of five teams. The tournament was at Icknield Community College and was a fun experience!”

Outdoor Clothing
We have been fortunate to have had the benefit of unusually warm weather this autumn however, with the forecast of colder weather we would like to remind families that all children should now bring a coat into school each day to keep warm during outdoor playtimes and class activities.
We have also had the benefit of a relatively mud free playing field this autumn, but with the approach of the ‘muddy season’ we would like to remind families that wellies should be brought in for playing on the grass (trainers are still required for the climbing equipment). We also suggest that pupils who like to play football at lunchtime bring in an old pair of tracksuit/jogging – style trousers to play in so that school trousers remain clean!

University of Oxford Research Study
Thank you to all Year 5 pupils who were involved in the children’s writing research study carried out by researchers from the University of Oxford Department of Education over the last few weeks. The researchers have finished working with our pupils for the moment and now need to analyse their findings. We expect to hear from them again early in the New Year regarding working with Year 4 pupils and any other follow-up work.

School Productions
Parents are respectfully reminded that they may take photographs or record videos of school productions as long as it is on the understanding that it is for personal use only. Mrs Turner will ask before each performance begins if any parents object to photographs or videos being taken and if there are objections then, unfortunately, it will not be possible to allow them to be taken.

Whilst we welcome younger than school-age siblings to the matinee performances we would like to remind parents with young children that sometimes it is difficult to hear what our pupils are saying over the background noises coming from the audience. This can affect the experiences of others in the audience so we therefore suggest that, if necessary, parents retreat into Class 2’s classroom. We thank parents in advance for their co-operation in this matter.

Sun Dome
On Friday 25th November Class 3 will receive a visit from the Sun Dome courtesy of the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE). The Sun Dome is a portable, inflatable dome (which will take up much of the hall space) and will be used to introduce the science occurring in the sun and also how scientists are using these processes to create fusion electricity for the future.

Class 3 will learn through interactive role play as well as watching movies inside the dome. This links with Class 3’s current science topic “The Earth and Beyond.”

School Closures
If the weather is particularly bad and there is a possibility that the school might be closed, parents are advised to listen to the following local radio stations for announcements;-

BBC Radio Oxford - VHF/FM 95.2
Heart FM (Thames Valley) – VHF/FM 102.6
Jack FM – VHF/FM 106.8

We will also try out best to post a message onto the school website www.stadhampton.oxon.sch.uk

PTA News
"Phil the Bag" - We are still gratefully accepting any good quality items for our Winter Fair - how about you "Phil a bag" over the weekend with any of the following: chocolates, sweets, biscuits, cakes, mince pies, books, CDs & DVDs, beauty products, toys or bottles, unwanted gifts or any other items that may be suitable for the raffle - and put it in our red box in the hall on Monday.

Winter Fair : Don't forget to return your raffle tickets and payment to the school office by next Thursday. Can anyone spare half an hour to run a stall on the night? We're looking for a few more volunteers to help us - please speak to Diana, Rowena or Charlotte if you can help.

Wreath-making Evening: If you fancy making your own wreath for Christmas, or having one made for you - then book your space early to avoid disappointment. Booking forms have been sent home in book bags - if you have not received one please see Fiona Stewart.

Summer Fete June 2012: We are still looking for a volunteer who would be able to join the Summer Fete organising committee on behalf of the school. You would need to be able to attend 6 meetings prior to the fete, and would act as the link between the Fete committee and the PTA. Please speak to Diana to find out more.

Little Bears News
Next week the tiger is coming to tea!!
We will be making tiger masks and having a tea party, we will also be making a big tin of tiger food.

DIARY DATES:
Friday 25th November Sun Dome – Class 3
Winter Fair – 6pm start

Monday 5th December KS2 children and Little Bears will form the audience of the Class R/KS1 dress rehearsal
Tuesday 6th December Class R/KS1 children and Little Bears will form the audience of the KS2 dress rehearsal

Tuesday 6th December
Class R & Class 1 Performance 2.30pm, in the Hall All welcome, but tickets will be required
Class 2 & Class 3 Performance 6.30pm, in the Hall (Ticket only – no babies or young children please at this performance)

Wednesday 7th December Class 2 & Class 3 Performance 1.45pm, in the Hall All welcome, but tickets will be required

Monday 12th December PTA wreath making evening
Tuesday 13th December Whole School Party - 1.45pm in the Hall. Children may bring party clothes to change into after lunch if they wish.
Wednesday 14th December Whole school Nativity Service at 2.15pm at St John’s Church
Friday 16th December End of Term Assembly at 9.05am, in the Hall
School finishes at 1.30pm

Tuesday 3rd January INSET Day – teachers only in school
Wednesday 4th January Pupils return to school

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Newsletter No 2 - 11th November 2011

Holiday Course at Stadhampton School
Booking forms are now available from the school office for the Holiday Course at Stadhampton School for school-aged pupils (from any school) from Monday 19th to Friday 23rd December inclusive. The course will run each day from 9-3pm.

Book Fair
Thank you to everyone who purchased books and stationery items from the school Book Fair last week. Sales at the Book Fair totalled £470, which meant that we were able to take books to the value of £222 for the class libraries. Thank you to everyone who made a purchase.

Music For Youth Schools Prom, Royal Albert Hall, 09.11.11
On Wednesday 9th, Miss Mould and I accompanied eleven very excited, if not just a little anxious, Year 6 pupils to the Royal Albert Hall in London. We formed part of the choir for the Oxfordshire Massed Ensemble singing a specially commissioned work called ‘Oxonia’ written and conducted by Dr John Traill, the current composer in residence at the University of Oxford. This followed a number of rehearsals in Oxford and the performance at the Royal Albert Hall was, quite simply, stunning. We also watched and listened to a range of performances by other youth groups from across the country. It was an incredible and inspirational experience in an awe-inspiring location and all our Year 6 pupils – Maisie, Olivia, Ayisha, Matt, Ewan, Chloe H, Chloe S, Megan, Ella Mae, Rhiannon and Florence - were a pleasure to take and a tribute to our school and community.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the families of all Year 6 pupils for their support at the Royal Albert Hall itself and throughout the lead-up to it. I have no doubt that for all of us who went it is an experience that we will never forget, but I shall leave the final comment to two of the Year 6 pupils themselves!

The Royal Albert Hall – Chloe H & Olivia
“The Royal Albert Hall was an amazing experience! At first we were all very nervous but in the end we sang our best and loudest! Lots and lots of people were there and they cheered their loudest. The whole Royal Albert Hall was so fantastic and everyone loved the balloons and the fireworks at the end! “

Saturday Science Clubs at Science Oxford
You may like to know that Science Oxford is holding a series of Saturday Science Clubs aimed at primary age children. These include;

‘Who Dunnit?!’ 12th November (8-11 year olds)
‘Light & Shadows’ 19th November (5-7 year olds)
‘Catapult Crazy’ 26th November (8-11 year olds)
‘K-nex Rides’ 3rd December (8-11 year olds)
‘Christmas Special’ 10th December (8-11 year olds)

For further details please check their website www.scienceoxford.com or telephone 01865 728953.

Tickets for the Christmas Performances
Tickets are now available for the three Christmas performances from the school office priced at £1 each:
• Reception and Class 1’s production will be held on Tuesday 6th December at 2.30pm. Everyone is welcome to attend this performance and a maximum of 3 tickets per family are available. Tickets are not required for younger siblings.
• Class 2 and Class 3’s production will be held on Tuesday 6th December at 6.30pm. A maximum of 3 tickets per family are available for this performance. We respectfully request that parents do not bring children who are under school age to this performance please.
• Class 2 and Class 3’s final performance will be held on Wednesday 7th December at 1.45pm. Everyone is welcome to attend this performance and a maximum of 3 tickets per family are available. Tickets are not required for younger siblings.
The money raised through selling tickets for the school Christmas productions, this year, will be donated to the Stadhampton Community Building Project. Refreshments will be served by the PTA after the evening performance on Tuesday 6th December, with any profits they make going to PTA funds!

P.T.A. News
Cake Sale
Many thanks to everyone who donated cakes for the cake sale last Friday - we had some amazing spooky Halloween cakes and sparkly firework cakes! We raised £86 to add to our
funds, and I'm sure everyone enjoyed eating the cakes!

Winter Fair
Santa's grotto - has anyone got a gazebo that we can borrow for the evening of the Winter Fair, it needs to be less than 3m tall to fit under the canopy by Class 1. If you can help please speak to Diana, Rowena or Charlotte. We did borrow one from someone at school last year, but can’t remember who – we’d be very grateful if we could borrow it again!

We've got some great prizes for the raffle, including a family portrait session, Cotswold Wildlife Park tickets, I-Kids voucher. To be in with a chance of winning get your raffle tickets in by Thursday 23rd November. You can either take them to the school office, or give them to Rowena.

If you have any donations for the Winter Fair such as CDs, DVDs, books, toys, sweets, chocolate, bottles, toiletries etc, please put them in the PTA ‘Donations Box’ in the school hall, or give them to Rowena.

Clothes Recycling
Don’t forget to bring in your black sacks on Wednesday 16 November by 9am.

Wreath Evening
Look out for information about the Wreath Evening on 12th December in book bags this Friday. You don’t have to attend – you can just order a wreath if you prefer. Cost for either is £20 and a minimum of £13 will go to the PTA funds.

Little Bears News

Next week we are exploring colour, mixing and investigating what happens when you mix certain colours. Please bring anything from home that is topic related.
We have started collecting for our Christmas raffle so all donations would be gratefully received.


DIARY DATES:
Monday 14th November Foundation Class & Class 1 visit the Oxford Museum of Natural History
Parents’ Evening
Wednesday 16th November PTA Clothes Recycling Collection at 9am
Parents’ Evening
Friday 25th November Winter Fair – 6pm start

Monday 5th December KS2 children and Little Bears will form the audience of the Class R/KS1 dress rehearsal
Tuesday 6th December Class R/KS1 children and Little Bears will form the audience of the KS2 dress rehearsal

Tuesday 6th December
Class R & Class 1 Performance 2.30pm, in the Hall All welcome, but tickets will be required
Class 2 & Class 3 Performance 6.30pm, in the Hall (Ticket only – no babies or young children please at this performance)

Wednesday 7th December Class 2 & Class 3 Performance 1.45pm, in the Hall All welcome, but tickets will be required

Monday 12th December PTA wreath making
Tuesday 13th December Whole School Party - 1.45pm in the Hall. Children may bring party clothes to change into after lunch if they wish.
Wednesday 14th December Whole school Nativity Service at 2.15pm at St John’s Church
Friday 16th December End of Term Assembly at 9.05am, in the Hall
School finishes at 1.30pm

Tuesday 3rd January INSET Day – teachers only in school
Wednesday 4th January Pupils return to school

Friday, November 4, 2011

Newsletter No 1 - 4th November 2011

During NOVEMBER we are focusing on the core value of UNITY


Happy NOVEMBER Birthday to: Juliana Browning, Beau Burnell, Jacob Day, Amy Freeman, Max Jones, Max Lansley, Lola Odell and Ella Perring.

We are pleased to welcome Tiffany Bullock to Stadhampton School. Tiffany has joined Class 2 as a new Year 4 pupil. We are also pleased to welcome Miss Sally Evans, a PGCE student from Oxford Brookes University, who joins us for a 4-week placement mainly based in Class 1.

Holiday Course at Stadhampton School
Booking forms are now available from the school office for the Holiday Course at Stadhampton School for school-aged pupils (from any school) from Monday 19th to Friday 23rd December inclusive. The course will run each day from 9-3pm.

Free Booktime Book Packs
Pupils in the Reception class have been given a free Booktime book pack this week, courtesy of Booktrust and Pearson, to encourage a lifelong love of reading.

Book Fair
Thank you to everyone who has purchased books and stationery items from the school Book Fair this week. We shall let you know in next week’s newsletter the value of the books that the school was able to choose for class libraries by way of commission.

New School Meals Menu
A copy of the Winter/Spring School Meals Menu has been uploaded onto the Learning Platform and the school website.

Parents’ Consultation Evenings
Slips giving details of the date and time of consultations have been put in book bags today.

Woodstock Museum Trip – Report by Ella, Lola and Abby
“On Wednesday 2nd November Class 2 went on a school trip to the Woodstock Museum to find out about the Romans. First we had a presentation in which we dressed up as rich and poor Roman people. We split up into two groups and went off to do different activities. We were able to touch real old Roman artefacts. We also visited the Roman gallery to do rubbings and drawings of some of the artefacts. It was a really great day.”

School Council and Children in Need “Show your spots, let’s raise lots!”
Friday 18th November is “Children in Need” day and this year the School Council are planning the findraising for this charity. Pupils can pay £1 to wear non-uniform but should wear “something spotty” eg. spotty socks! The School Council have also organised a competition which is open to all pupils; it is “Design a form of transport for Pudsey Bear.” Children need to design a form of transport for Pudsey Bear to travel in to help children everywhere. This can simply be a picture (eg. drawing, painting, diagram, collage) or could be an actual working model! Entrants are responsible for supplying their own Pudsey – this could be an existing miniature Pudsey, a dressed-up teddy, a model or a pcture. There will be a prize for one entry in each of the four classes. Entries will be judged by the School Council, on their originality and attractiveness. The competition will cost 50p to enter and all entries should be brought in on Friday 18th November. Good luck!


P.T.A. News
Winter Fair: It's full steam ahead for the Winter Fair on Friday 25 November. Every family should have received raffle tickets in the book bags this week, please speak to Diana Woodwards or Rowena Dobson if you have not received yours, or would like more to sell on to family and friends.

We would also be grateful for any donations of the following:
• Anything to do with chocolates & sweets for the ever popular chocolate tombola!
• Bottles & jars for the Bottle Tombola
• Books, DVD's and CD's
• Good condition/new toys for School Council Toy Tombola
• Suitable items for the Craft stall
• Small items like pencils, erasers, stickers etc for a lucky dip
• Good quality gifts/items for the raffle
• Cakes & biscuits to compliment our bar and drinks
• Your time - we will need help with running the stalls on the night, please let us know if you can spare half an hour to run a stall.
You can put any donations in our red PTA box in the school hall, or give them to a PTA committee member.

Clothes Recycling: All bags need to be in school by 9am on 16 November.

The Giving Machine: Here's a really easy way to help raise funds for the School whilst you are doing your online Christmas shopping, and it won't cost you anything.
6 easy steps that take less than 5 minutes:-
1. www.thegivingmachine.co.uk
2. enter Stadhampton (where it says search for school)
3. choose our school & save.
4. enter your details & create your account
5. bookmark this website as a favourite
6. now go shopping as you normally do by clicking on the logo for your shop.
Shops include, Amazon, ebay, Boots, Next, John Lewis, Argos, play.com, Boden... and there's another 346 shops on the list! It even tells you how much they will donate, based on your spend.
How does it work - shops on the list pay The Giving Machine for directing shoppers to them, they then send this to the school as a cash donation.

So far we have received £71 from the Giving Machine, and that is with just 6 people using it - just think how much more we could get to spend on the children if more of us used it when buying our Christmas presents, and you can even get the rest of your family and friends to use it as well!
The Stadhampton Village Summer Fete is coming back next year, and the PTA have a fantastic opportunity to be involved in the Fete and raise funds for our school. Is there anybody out there who would like to get involved with this? For a no obligation chat please speak to Diana Woodwards.

Little Bears News
Next week Little Bears are reading “One Winter’s Day” and “The Old Man’s Mitten”. They will also be looking at animal footprints and their own footprints.


DIARY DATES:
Sunday 6th November Final Year 6 rehearsal for Youth Proms 2-4.30pm
Wednesday 9th November Year 6 pupils performing at the Royal Albert Hall!
Mobile Library
Monday 14th November Foundation Class & Class 1 visit the Oxford Museum of Natural History
Parents’ Evening
Wednesday 16th November PTA Clothes Recycling Collection
Parents’ Evening
Friday 25th November Winter Fair

Monday 5th December KS2 children and Little Bears will form the audience of the Class R/KS1 dress rehearsal
Tuesday 6th December Class R/KS1 children and Little Bears will form the audience of the KS2 dress rehearsal

Tuesday 6th December
Class R & Class 1 Performance 2.30pm, in the Hall All welcome,but tickets will be required
Class 2 & Class 3 Performance 6.30pm, in the Hall (Ticket only – no babies or young children please at this performance)

Wednesday 7th December Class 2 & Class 3 Performance 1.45pm, in the Hall All welcome,but tickets will be required

Monday 12th December PTA wreath making
Tuesday 13th December Whole School Party
1.45pm in the Hall
Wednesday 14th December Whole school Nativity Service
2.15pm at St John’s Church
Friday 16th December End of Term Assembly
9.05am, in the Hall
School finishes at 1.30pm

Tuesday 3rd January INSET Day – teachers only in school
Wednesday 4th January Pupils return to school