Newsletter for week ending 20th July 2012

Farewells
We would like to say goodbye and good luck to our Year 6 leavers; Florence Amery, Rhiannon Amery, Megan Barber, Olivia Dallimore, Matthew Green, Chloe Hindmarch, Ewan Madry, Maisie Matthews, Joe Mercer, Chloe Scragg and Ella Mae White. We are proud of all of them and wish them every success in their secondary school and in the future.
We also say thank you, and goodbye and good luck to Mrs Hargrave as she begins her teaching career and to Reverend David Cleugh as he moves on in his career.

School Meals
School meals from 1st September will be offered at a slightly reduced cost of £2 per day. Cheques for school meals should be made payable to Oxfordshire County Council please with Stadhampton Primary School written on the back of the cheque. In order to reduce administration time spent on school meals we appreciate receiving orders and payments for school meals on the first morning of each school week. Thank you.

Swimming at the Abbey Sports Centre in Berinsfield
Class 2 will start their swimming sessions at the Abbey Sports Centre in Berinsfield on Monday 10th September. They will have 7 sessions between September and December.

For families new to swimming sessions at Berinsfield, pupils need to bring their own swimming trunks or costume, a swimming hat and a towel on Monday mornings.

As always, we appreciate a voluntary contribution towards the transportation costs and the costs associated with swimming at Berinsfield. Each weekly visit currently costs the school £75. For the last 5 years or so we have requested voluntary contributions of £1 towards the costs.
For the academic year which has just ended, our total expenses for taking pupils to swim at Berinsfield were 37 weeks @ £75 per week = £2775.
Our income from the £1 voluntary contributions for the year amounted to £633.

Thank you to the parents who make regular voluntary contributions towards the costs.

Due to pressures on the school budget and our strategic decision to provide additional support to all pupils through an increase in the level of teaching assistant provision we have therefore made the decision to increase the cost of the suggested voluntary contributions to £2, per child, per session from 1st September. This should increase our total income from the voluntary contributions to £1266 which is still less than half of the cost of providing swimming at Berinsfield.

We hope that parents understand that this decision was not taken lightly; we need to continue to manage our limited budget wisely in order to provide the best possible outcomes for the pupils. Swimming is a compulsory part of the national PE curriculum. The cost to parents for swimming at Berinsfield will still be significantly lower than other local schools who rely on coach transport to get there and back.
Cheques for swimming should be made payable to Stadhampton Primary School. Thank you.

Unnamed Uniform
We have some items of uniform which are unnamed on display outside Class 1. Please take away any items which you believe may be yours before they are disposed of at the end of school tomorrow.


Sports Evening
A big thank you to everyone – pupils, parents, staff, PTA, governors, Little Bears, former pupils and extended families for making this event the special occasion that it is.

PTA NEWS
Sports Night BBQ
What a relief that the rain held off for sports night. It was a good evening and we raised £586. Our thanks to Stephen Dawson, Nikki Howlett, Joy Hopkins & Alan Manzie for running the BBQ and bar.

End of Term Disco - Thursday 19th July
With almost the whole school coming the disco promises to be a great evening, and tickets are still available. In advance of the final count up - we anticipate that approximately £183 will be raised.

School Uniform
After many years of ordering and supplying the school uniform, Tracy Perring has decided it's time to hand it on - we'd like to say a heartfelt thanks to Tracy for all her time and effort doing this over the years.

Sue Bowerman is taking up the baton, and will now be dealing with the school uniform. You can order uniform items from Sue via email:stadhamptonpta@gmail.com

Thank you from all the PTA
Just to say a huge thank you from all the PTA to everyone who has helped and supported our fund raising efforts throughout the year. Our first meeting back is on Tuesday 18th September at 7.45pm in the school hall. Happy holidays to everyone.


Little Bears News
We are so proud of all our big children who enjoyed 3 days in "big school" and it sounds like they had a great time.
We are hoping for finer weather for our sports day to go ahead as planned at 11.15 on Friday followed by Forest Schools until 3pm.
We are saying a sad farewell to all our children moving on at the end of this term and wish them lots of luck.
Also a fond farewell to Tracy Perring who leaves us at the end of term, we wish her lots of luck.


DIARY DATES:
Friday 20th July 9.05am - Leavers assembly. Everyone welcome to attend.
1.30pm school ends
Monday 3rd & Tuesday 4th September Staff INSET Days
Wednesday 5th September Pupils return to school for the start of the new academic year.

Finally, thank you to everyone as we come to the end of this school year. We are always very grateful for the support of all parents. Special thanks are due to Mrs Duke for auditing the Special Purposes and Hall Accounts, to the parents who help regularly with hearing readers, help on school trips and bake cakes for a variety of purposes, to the parents who helped with cycle safety training, to those who run lunchtime and after-school clubs, to those who have helped with jobs around the school and, of course, to the PTA committee who work tirelessly to fundraise so that pupils can enjoy excellent facilities, learn French and provide additional resources and opportunities. Thank you to Mrs Hawley and Mrs Wells who still regularly return to school to help us. Finally, thank you also to the Governing Body who give their time freely to both support the school and challenge the staff!

We wish you all a very happy summer break and look forward to welcoming those who are coming back to school on Wednesday 5th September.

Newsletter for week ending 13th July 2012

School Reports
School annual reports were distributed to Year 6 pupils on Wednesday and to all other pupils (via book bags) today.

Staffing Changes for September 2012
We have already announced that Mrs Hargrave will be leaving Stadhampton School on 20th July to take up a teaching post in September. Following the interviews held last week, we are delighted to be able to confirm the appointment of two new Teaching Assistants for September. Classes for September will be as follows:
• Reception pupils in Foundation Stage class with Miss Mould supported by Mr Short and Mrs Wilkin
• Year 1 and Year 2 pupils in Class 1 with Mrs Manzie supported by Mrs Davies-Peckham
• Year 3 and Year 4 pupils in Class 2 with Mrs Garrard and Mrs Turner supported by Mrs Leiper and Mrs Shortman (who will also be doing some SEND support across the school)
• Year 5 and Year 6 pupils in Class 3 with Miss Shah supported by Mr Short and Mrs Wilkin (who will also be doing some SEND support across the school as well as covering PPA time for teachers in the Reception Class and in Class 1).

Sports Night – Friday 13th July
Thank you so much to all families who have purchased food tickets in advance of sports night. If the rain can hold off until at least 8.00pm then it should promise to be a great, fun filled evening! The P.T.A. would like to remind everyone to bring their food tickets with them to claim their burgers or hotdogs please. You will need them for proof of purchase and it will help us to give you the correct orders. Thank you! We look forward to seeing you on the school field from 6.00pm, when the bar should be open and the food ready to serve shortly afterwards for spectators who wish to avoid the big queues once the races are finished. We are delighted that Julia Hayes, a local lady who set up a village running club and inspired many people to get fitter and healthier, and who carried the Olympic Torch through Kidlington, will be coming to school with her Torch at 6.15pm and leading the children in a procession down the race track behind the Torch. Races will start promptly at 6.30pm. Spectators are respectfully requested to remain behind the painted line and although the picnic bences will be available for some people to sit on, you may prefer to bring rugs or folding chairs to sit on in case the picnic benches are all in use.

Parking is an issue; please be considerate to the residents of Cratlands Close and not limit access to their driveways. If at all possible, please walk or share cars. Our netball court will be open for parking but parking will be limited. If the weather is particularly wet, the decision will be made at lunchtime to cancel and families who are registered with ParentMail will receive a text to let them know.

Class 3 Swimming at Berinsfield on Monday
Please remember to bring in pyjamas again on Monday for swimming.

Lost Property
Georgia Day has lost a named cardigan- please check that you haven’t got one that is not yours. Thank you.

Cycling Safety Training
Congratulations to the following children who have successfully passed their cycle safety training: Florence and Rhiannon Amery, Olivia Dallimore, Matt Green, Ayisha Hall, Ewan Madry, Maisie Matthews and Ella Mae White. We are very grateful to Mrs Scragg, Mrs Green, Mrs Ellis, Mrs Birtles and particularly to Mrs Leighfield, who no longer has a child at Stadhampton School, for organising this for us in some very challenging weather conditions!

PTA NEWS
End of Term Disco - Thursday 19th July, 6pm - 7.30pm
The music is ready, the lights are ready, tickets are selling - get your dancing shoes out, the end of

term disco is nearly here!
• When arriving and leaving, please ensure that you sign your child/children in and out of the disco.
• Children can buy two glowsticks for 50p on the door when they arrive.
• A small snack and drink will be available (water will also be available throughout the evening)
Cake Sale
Thanks to everyone who donated cakes or bought cakes - we raised £28.05.

Pampered Chef Orders
There has been a slight delay to the orders, some of the orders were damaged in transit, so needed resending. Hopefully orders will be ready for collection shortly as Sharon is expecting delivery this week.

and.... just in case

Sports night cancellation
We would have a number of finger and burger rolls available - Waitrose quality - 50p for a pack of 6. We will sell them after school on Friday.

Refunds for burger and sausage tickets bought for the BBQ will be given. Please return your tickets to Diana Woodwards, who will be available every morning in the School Hall for a refund.


Little Bears News
All our Little Bears who are moving up to school in September were so excited about going to 'big school' and we are really looking forward to hearing all about everything they did. Our Sports Day will be on the last day of term, 20th July at 11.15, followed by a picnic until 1.30, then Forest School from 1.30 till 3.00 for the Little Bears who attend this session. We politely ask that NO younger or older siblings attend this session due to health and safety reasons; however parents are more than welcome to join in the fun.

DIARY DATES:
Friday 20th July 9.05am - Leavers assembly. Everyone welcome to attend.
1.30pm school ends
Wednesday 5th September Pupils return to school for the start of the new academic year.

• Flyer attached about ‘Promoting Positive Behaviour Course’ at Chalgrove Children’s Centre

Newsletter for week ending 6th July 2012

During JULY the school is focusing on the core value of COURAGE

Happy JULY Birthday to: Georgia Day, Ayisha Hall and Amy Matthews.

New Foundation Stage Pupils
This newsletter is being sent for the first time to the families of pupils who will be entering the Foundation Stage in September and who are joining us for the three induction days next week. We look forward to welcoming you all to Stadhampton School. We are holding an informal meeting with new parents at 2.45pm on Friday 13th July. We hope that as many new parents as possible will be able to join us for this meeting so that we can answer any questions you may have!

Big Science Event – by Florence & Bryce
“When we went to the Big Science Event we were thrilled at the sight of the actual place even before we fully got in. We were in heat 2, so we had some time to play on the science activities. Our favourite was the shadow wall; to use it you pressed a button and counted to 5 before it caught an image of your shadow. There were lots of amazing presentions which were laid out on a table. Many of them consisted of food and liquid, we think ours entitled “Do girls hear better than boys – and does age make a difference?” was the only one that was comparing boys to girls. Afterwards when everyone had done their presentations we went to lunch. Our group went for a picnic in the park. After lunch we watched “The Fire Show! It was MAGNIFICENT! The man doing this presentation was showing us all these tricks and told us that even though custard powder taste’s nice it is a product with surprising properties!
All in all, even though we came joint third place – 1st place was taken by St Aloysius’– we had a great day and would like to go back again.”
Playforce made a live blog of the event which may be accessed through this link:
http://www.playforce.co.uk/group-b-finish-off-the-big-science-event-presentations-with-impressive-skill/
Congratulations to Florence, Bryce, Matthew and Maisie. Our team of young scientists made a great job of their investigation and presentation. Each year the standard gets higher and we have managed to be in the top three schools every year over the last four years.

Right Royal Quiz
We are pleased to announce that Owen & Thomas Cove (with help from Dad!) were the only 100% correct entry. Congratulations to them! The prize was awarded in assembly on Friday. Thank you to those who entered. £7 will go to Lunch4Learning.

PTA NEWS
End of Term Disco - Thursday 19th July
You should all have had a letter about the disco in bookbags this week, if anyone has not received this please speak to Diana Woodwards. Tickets are available in the mornings from the school office or from a PTA committee member.


Pampered Chef evening
Thanks to everyone who supported either by attending or donating - we have raised a fantastic total of £179.14. Our thanks also to Sharon Dyson for a great evening of cooking and kitchen gadgets, the food was delicious.

Clothes recycling
Thanks to everyone for their donations - school raised £140.80 and Little Bears raised £35.20.


Little Bears News
The children have enjoyed learning all about animals from the circus; we have looked at photos of horses which are in the circus on The Green at the moment.
Next week we will be getting ready for sports day with lots of practice outside -weather permitting ! Our older children will also be having their transition days in “big school” next week; we wish them luck and feel sure they are going to have lots of fun!
We will be having some new Little Bears with us next week and are planing to start a new mini topic with them – “Ourselves”

DIARY DATES:
Monday 9th July Olympic Torch in Oxon
Tuesday 10th July Olympic Torch in Oxon
Cycling Re-test for some candidates
Wednesday 11th,Thursday 12th, Friday 13th July Year 6 transition days at Icknield Community College
New Reception pupils for September join us for three taster days. “Moving up” days for all Reception –Year 5 pupils
Friday 13th July Sports Evening (weather permitting)
Friday 20th July 9.05am - Leavers assembly. Everyone welcome to attend.
1.30pm school ends
Wednesday 5th September Pupils return to school for the start of the new academic year.