Newsletter for week ending 9th April 2012

World Book Day - 01.03.2012
A big thank you to all families who paid £1 for their child to dress up for World Book Day. We were pleased to collect £71 from our 88 pupils which will be used towards our Diamond Jubilee celebrations in school.

Mid –Year Summary Reports
Mid-year summary reports for all pupils were sent home in book bags on Tuesday.

Opening Ceremony of our Biomass Boiler
Stadhampton School is the first school in Oxfordshire to install low-carbon technology, which runs on wood pellets instead of oil or gas. Manufactured by Ökofen, the 56kW-rated boiler is fed from a storage hopper which holds up to four tonnes of pellets, saving £500 per year in fuel. The projected rise in energy prices and new Government incentives for low carbon technologies were key factors in the final choice of a biomass boiler and the school is grateful to the Governing Body and in particular, Jolyon Roe, who spent a great deal of time considering the options available to the school when the old boiler reached the end of its life.

At the opening ceremony on Wednesday, Wendy Cheeseman, Energy Officer at Mouchel said that Stadhampton Primary has a strong track-record of eco-friendly projects, with recent efforts including sustainably-sourced wooden playground equipment and a giant ‘solar stopwatch’.The school’s Gardening Club is also planning to make a greenhouse out of hundreds of recycled plastic drinks bottles.Having also achieved Silver Eco-School status the school is working hard towards achieving its Green Flag – the top environmental award for schools.

Councillor Lorraine Lindsay-Gale, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet member for Growth and Infrastructure added: “In the current environmental and financial climate it is increasingly important for schools to reduce their carbon footprints and bring down energy costs.

“I’m delighted this bold step is paying off at Stadhampton Primary and I hope other schools across the county will think about following suit.”

For families who are interested to know more about the biomass system or other energy-related environmental issues, there is a website aimed at 7-11 year-olds that you may wish to access. This is www.managenergy.net click on Kids corner (top left of screen) and then select Energy Magic from the menu, select the language you wish to access it in and then there is a choice of animations, activities and other games.

Gardening Club News
Spring is definitely in the air and the children will soon be sowing seeds for this year’s crops. We are hoping that some plants may even be raised under “glass” thanks to all of your efforts in collecting and bringing in clear, 2L plastic bottles. Although we are still some way off the 1500 bottle target, we are making really good progress. So, thank you all – and keep them coming! With all of the “green” school activity this week, we were very lucky to have a greenhouse panel constructed as part of the display. This is on show in the school hall and gives a really good idea of how the finished building will look. Please come and see for yourself. As a final request, we are running short of 6 foot bamboo canes. If you have any unused ones that you are willing to donate we would be very grateful to receive them. Thank you.

Tesco Vouchers
We are collecting Tesco Vouchers again this year, providing sports equipment for schools. Please ask your family and friends to also collect vouchers for us and put them in the collection box in the school hall. Thank you.

Change to School Dinners
Due to delivery problems, the roast dinner option for Tuesday 13th (Chicken) has swapped with Thursday 15th (Roast Beef). Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

PTA News
Quiz night

Congratulations to the ‘Muppets Rejuvenated’ who were the winning team at the quiz night on
Friday, with the 'Chizlers' coming a close second.

The fish and chips were delicious, and were washed down with plenty of drinks - I know that there were a few sore heads on the Saturday morning. Everyone had a really good night out, laughing at their (lack of) TV and film knowledge. If anyone would like a copy of the Quiz on CD for your own to do with friends or family, it can be yours for a small donation to the PTA. Please see Rowena Dobson.
Thanks to everyone who came, you helped us raise the fantastic total of £290.33!

Bingo Evening

If anyone has any new, small, items that would be suitable as children’s prizes for the bingo evening that they could donate we would be very grateful. Please put any donations in the red PTA box in the hall.


Little Bears News
Next week we will be exploring the occupation of a florist and making lots of Mothers Day “surprises”. We are also starting to plant some seeds.

DIARY DATES:
Monday 12th March Science Week begins
Work-viewing evening
Friday 23rd March Sports Relief activities
Children’s Bingo and Hot Dog Evening
Tuesday 27th March Chess Club Final
Wednesday 28th March Maths Masterclass for participating pupils at ICC
Friday 30th March End of term assembly at 9.05am. All parents/carers welcome to attend.
School finishes at 1.30pm.
Monday 16th April Pupils and staff return to school for the start of Term 5