Newsletter for week ending 1 March 2013

Happy March Birthday to: Jem Burnell, Darcy Crook, Emily Drake, Daniel Ellis, Hannah Lansley, Greg Madry, Hannah Tombling and Naomi Woodwards.

During MARCH we are focusing on the core value of HOPE

Woodlands
Hopefully all parents will have been able to log on to the school website to read regular reports of Class 3’s visit to Woodlands. I went down to Woodlands on Tuesday evening and joined in the activities on Wednesday. Both groups were canoeing on the River Wye and were thrilled with having managed to safely naivigate down several small rapids! I won’t give too much away as they will want to tell you themselves. All pupils seem to be really enjoying the experience, working well with each other and integrating with the pupils from North Kidlington school when they meet up at mealtimes. They will all have benefitted from the challenging outdoor activities and residential routines that are carefully planned to develop each pupils’ self-awareness, ability to work with others, communication skills, responsibility and initiative. All pupils are given the opportunity to lead and are taught about hazard recognition and risk control. By the end of the week they will have developed a deeper understanding of themselves and the contribution they can make to group success. They will return home tired but buzzing with memories that will last and influence them into the future.
The arrangments for coming home are as conveyed in the letter sent home on 6th February. They will leave Woodlands at 5pm today and are expected to arrive at North Kidlington at approximately 7.45-8.15pm and then arrive at Stadhampton at approximately 8.30-9.00pm. Any significant change to this timing will be circulated to parents via the parent/carer contact tree.

Double–decker bus
We would like to let everyone know about our exciting project to purchase a double decker bus to have in the school grounds! With our increasing number of pupils on roll we have been exploring different affordable options to increase our accommodation. Over the last few months the staff and governing body have been investigating the possibility of using a converted double-decker bus to provide additional teaching accommodation. We believe that this would provide an affordable, exciting and flexible resource for both present and future pupils at Stadhampton School. The idea is that we would use it as our school reference library and we would then be able to free up the exisiting library space to use as an additional room for working with small groups, hold meetings, etc. We plan to house the library in the downstairs section of the bus and then upstairs to have bus seats and some tables as well as a carpet area for small group work, clarinet and recorder lessons, etc. If anyone has any useful contacts who we might be able to approach for help with respraying the outside, upholstering seats, increasing our resources with some additional books, and anything else which might be useful, Mrs Hopkins would love to hear from you. We have already looked at one bus which we decided needed too much work but have plans to see another bus very soon. We shall shortly be preparing the groundwork and putting down a suitable base for the bus to be parked on. Watch this space!

The Great Daffodil Appeal
Daffodils to support Marie Curie Cancer Care are now on sale in the school hall. Every donation made for a daffodil will help to nurse patients with terminal cancer and provide support for families. The suggested donation is £1 for each daffodil purchased.

PTA News
Adults Boogie Bingo - Friday 8th March, 7.30pm
Don't forget to get your tickets for this event.

• £7 for entry to Boogie Bingo and Fish & Chip supper - all orders must be in by after school on Monday 4th March
• £2.50 for entry to Boogie Bingo only - you can buy tickets right up until the evening itself.

We would like to hold a raffle at the Boogie Bingo evening - we would be grateful for any donations that would make suitable prizes.

Friday Cake Club
Well done to Jake Day who won the cake donated by Mrs Bradford last week. A reminder to Mrs Halliday that she is on the rota for Friday 8th March.

Childrens Bingo
Thank you to everyone who supported this evening, with help on the night, making cakes. Special thanks to Mrs Bateman for being, as usual, our excellent bingo caller, and to Mrs Birtles for donating the lovely bulbs as a thank you gift to Mrs Bateman.

Easter Chocolate Raffle -Wednesday 27th March
We will be holding an Easter Chocolate Raffle the last week of term as there will be no Friday Cake Club. Tickets will be 20p each, £1 for a strip of 5.

We need your help with donations of anything chocolate - please give any items to a member of the PTA, or leave them in the red PTA box in the school hall. Thank you.


LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week at Little Bears we will be talking about real life superheros and people who help us.
We will also be preparing something for our superhero mummy's.

DIARY DATES:
Monday 4 March Mid-Year Summary Reports sent home this week
Friday 8 March Adult Boogie Bingo at 7.30pm
Sunday 10 March Mothering Sunday Service at St John the Baptist Church at 9.30am
Monday 11 March Work Viewing Evening (all classes) 3.15-6.00pm
Wednesday 13th March World Book Day event – West End Theatre in school all day
Friday 15th March Comic Relief – watch this space for details of activities!
Saturday 16 March Brookes Science Bazaar. Free fun for all the family at the Headington Campus–11.00-4pm. No need to book, but please note that there is no parking available at this event. Leaflets are available from the school office with more details of this event.
8th -12th April Holiday Course at Stadhampton School
Friday 13th April Junior Citizen event for Class 3 pupils
Thursday 2 May School closed to pupils for County Council Elections

Attachments:
1. An Evening with Sue Palmer (author of Toxic Childhood & 21st Century Boys on Tuesday 19 March at 7pm Icknield Community College – FREE event but please register your interest with Helen.Rints@Oxfordshire.gov.uk
2. Two-day workshop promoting positive behavious in children aged 0-12 years on Saturday 9 & 16 March from 9.30-1pm at Chalgrove and Watlington Children’s Centre. Contact Jane Bellars on 07920 070304 or Denise Hooper on 07948 348632.
3. Holiday Course at Stadhampton School from 8th to 12th April led by Michael Hopkins