Newsletter for week ending 7th September 2012
Welcome back!
Welcome back to everyone returning to school after the summer holidays. We hope everyone is refreshed and renewed and has been excited and inspired by all the Olympic events.

An especially warm welcome to our new pupils: Jack Austin, Jem Burnell, Freya Clapton, Archie Dickens, Ella Fulker, Joshua Hursey, Olivia Kenny, Mya Khan, Elizabeth Marshall, Lewis Payne, Daniel Robinson, Phoebe Watkins, Thomas West and Ellie Wiggins in our Foundation Class and Edison (Y2) and Bronte (Y1) Buckner in Class 1. We also welcome Mr Simon Short and Mrs Justine Gonzalez, both new TA’s on our staff team. We hope everyone enjoys being part of the Stadhampton School community. Mrs Gonzalez joins us in place of Mrs Davis Peckham who was unable to take up her post as previously arranged.

Happy Belated Birthdays in August to: Millie Birtles, Rhys Brown, Cora White and Abigail Wright.

Happy SEPTEMBER Birthday to: Charles Austin, Isabella Dickens, Bryce Dobson, Phoebe Hindmarch, Alfie Howard, Annabel Roe, Pheobe Watkins and Lawrence Wright.

During SEPTEMBER we are focusing on the core value of RESPECT

Cars, Pedestrians and the School Car Park
The use of the school car park by parents regularly raises significant issues and concerns relating to both the safety of our pupils and the respect of local residents and the beginning of a new school year is a timely opportunity to re-visit this matter. The school car park is primarily for the use of school staff, Little Bears staff and visitors to the site, as well, of course, by users of the Community Hall after school hours. We currently open up the school park as a drop-off and pick-up point for parents in an attempt to help alleviate congestion in Cratlands Close. The number of parking spaces available is very limited but the pressure on these spaces has noticeably increased.
We encourage parents to walk with their children to/from school whenever possible but realise that this is not an option for some families. Increased use of the school car park has led to an increase in potential hazards and frequent congestion, and we ask all parents to show consideration to others, as well as be mindful of safety when using the car park and parking in Cratlands Close. We also thank the many families who regularly walk to school.

Cars and children are not a good combination and both the school car park and the approach along Cratlands Close are potentially hazardous areas. We have received recent reports of several ‘near-misses’ between cars and children and we respectfully request that both car drivers and parents/carers accompanying children are vigilant and mindful of their responsibilities – both as drivers and pedestrians. The thought of an accident involving any of our pupils, or their younger siblings, is particularly horrifying. The reality would be devastating.
Please could parents only use the designated parking bays and NOT PARK in front of the large gate which leads onto the netball court. Not only is this the access point for grounds maintenance and emergency vehicles but it also causes a significant problem for pedestrians with pushchairs entering and exiting Little Bears. It would be acceptable for one car to park briefly on the left hand side nearest to the school but the main problem arises when two cars park in that area as parents with pushchairs are being forced onto the muddy grassed area rather than being able to use the path or dropped-kerb access point.

Please do not park alongside the kerb directly outside school at the end of the school day as this is the area where taxis wait to collect children. We must ensure that the right children go into the right taxis and that children being transported are wearing their seatbelts; this is very difficult to monitor if the taxi drivers are not able to park right outside school and are forced to wait further up in Cratlands Close.


Families may be able to alleviate this congestion by parking elsewhere in the village and walking the rest of the way to school and we thank those families who already do this.

October is International Walk to School Month and, as a school, we shall be participating in this event. Further details will be circulated nearer the time.


We would be grateful for all parents’ assistance in this matter and thank you, in advance, for your co-operation.

Rev. Caroline King
Some of you may already know that Rev. Caroline King, our newly appointed vicar, has unfortunately had an accident which resulted in her being unable to take up her post until late October. In the meantime Rev. David Cleugh will continue to fulfil the role. We wish Rev Caroline a speedy recovery and look forward to working with her later in the term.

School Meals
A reminder that school meals from 1st September are offered at the 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.

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. 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 charge who also rely on coach transport to get there and back.
Cheques for swimming should be made payable to Stadhampton Primary School. Thank you to the families who have already contributed in advance towards this term’s swimming costs.

School Website
As you may remember from last term, we are in the process of creating a new school website: www.stadhamptonschool.org The old website will soon cease to be active. Do go and have a look at the new one! We already have the new school prospectus on it which includes term and holiday dates, the school meals menu and lots of other information. We shall continue to add to it, particularly updating the school calendar over the next few weeks. Each class teacher will also shortly upload information specific to their class such as the projects they are covering.

Piano Tuition
Mrs Trudy Drake will be offering piano lessons during the school day on Wednesday afternoons for any child in Class 2 or 3. (You may be aware that Mrs Drake already provides piano tuition in the local area). If you are interested in your children learning to play the piano in school, please contact Mrs Drake directly (mob. 07918188519) for more details. There are only a few places available at this time.


PTA
Welcome back everyone, and a warm welcome to all new families from the PTA. We have lots of exciting things planned for this year, and as usual we will keep you informed via the newsletter, so please keep a look out for dates and information on how you can support us.

Meeting - Tuesday 18th September, 7.45pm, School Hall
An invitiation to come along to our first meeting of the year and help us plan our year of fundraising activities. We would love to welcome any new people to our small and friendly team, so please come and join us.


Little Bears News
Next week as we continue with our topic and learn all about ourselves we will be looking at our names and designing our own name labels. We will also be enjoying some circle games as we continue to all learn each others names.


DIARY DATES:
Monday 10th September Class 2 swimming starts at Berinsfield. “Voluntary donation” requested please towards the transport costs of £2 per week.
Wednesday 12th September First cycle safety training for participating Year 6 pupils at 1pm

Year 5 assembly with Mr Hunter, Headteacher of ICC at 2.45pm. Parents are encouraged to attend this assembly where they will also have an opportunity to ask questions directly to Mr Hunter and accompanying prefects.

Multi-sports clubs begin for participating pupils in Years 1-6.

Thursday 13th September After-school football club for participating pupils
Friday 14th September Year 5 visit to ICC for an English lesson
Friday 21st September Guitar lessons begin for participating pupils
Thursday 27th September All pupils have their photographs taken in school uniform. Each child is photographed individually and also with any siblings in school. Families are welcome to come into the Hall before school at 8.30am to have family groups photographed together.