Newsletter for week ending 15 March 2013

Breakfast & After-School Club Provision
A reminder to parents/carers that we look forward to receiving completed after school provision questionnaires by the end of school today.Thank you to those who have responded already.

The survey can be accessed by clicking on the following link:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PMHDN2F

Thank you from the Governing Body.

Children and Cars
We are all aware that Cratlands Close is a bottleneck and can become very congested, especially at the beginning and end of the school day. To help alleviate this we currently open the school car park up to parents and carers of children at school and at Little Bears for dropping-off/picking up their children. We thank the many families who do all they can to avoid the need to park in the car park or in Cratlands Close. We have mentioned, on several occasions, that children and cars are not a good combination and, to avoid the potential of a tragic accident, once again respectfully request that parents and carers, as both pedestrians and motorists, are mindful of their own responsibilities and the needs of others, particularly the safety of children.

Waiting Area at the front of the school
Good news! The new surface area in the waiting area should make this a more user-friendly area again and we request that pupils are met in this area and do not cross the car park unattended. Thank you.

Message from Food With Thought
Beef is back on the menu at all Oxfordshire schools who use Carillion’s Food With Thought catering service. The precautionary measure was put in place temporarily to allay any concerns over horse meat contamination and because many parents didn’t want their children to eat beef.
We are delighted to inform you that all of our beef supplies that were tested for horse contamination from our local Oxfordshire butchers and national suppliers returned with zero equine DNA. Carillion will continue to monitor Food Standards Agency advice, and we assure you that the food provided through our Food With Thought catering service has the highest level of quality, nutrition and hygiene.

Woodlands Residential Visit – Report from Class 3 pupils
“Woodlands was a great experience. None of us will ever forget it. We did caving, canoeing, mountain walking, problem solving and Jungle Gym. We all learnt a number of skills and in just one week we did a number of activities that we’ll probably never have a chance to do again. We wish we could all go again”.

An Evening with Sue Palmer, Tuesday 19th March
A reminder that it is not too late to book a place at this very popular event which is being held at Icknield Community College, Watlington, at 7pm next Tuesday. Sue Palmer is an experienced professional educationalist and is the author of many books and educational publications. She is perhaps most widely known for her books ‘Toxic Childhood’ and ‘21st Century Boys’. She is also a well-known, engaging and thought-provoking speaker and will be talking about the pressures of being a child in 21st century Britain, the impact of modern Britain on childhood and how parents and professionals can support children in their care.
The event is free but please register your interest with Helen Rints on 07504958334 or e-mail Helen.Rints@oxfordshire.gov.uk.

West End School Dance Workshops and Displays
On Wednesday 13 March, as part of our planned events to celebrate World Book Day, all pupils were involved in class workshops designed to bring stories to life through dance. Greg Herst, a professional dancer who regularly dances in West End musicals in London, led the children through their interpretation of the stories through dance. His energy and animation captured the children’s imaginations and their portrayal of the stories in such a short time was amazing. All four dances were presented as a display at the end of the day and were watched by the many families who were able to join us. Thank you for coming – we hope you were as impressed as we were!
Thank you also for the many fantastic book-character costumes that you provided on that day. The children looked amazing and their character ‘mind-set’ may well have helped them to get into role for the story-telling dance. Thank you for your enthusiasm and support.

Report by Orla and Marcin – Class 3
“On Wednesday we were all lucky enough to receive some training in the art of dance by a real West End choreographer! Class 3 danced in a show of ‘Pinocchio’. We did it all through dance – there were three groups of us and each group had a different part of the story to act out, from being puppets to forming a whale! Class 2 performed a dance based on ‘The Butterfly Lion’. Class 1 gave a lively dance about ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ and Reception decided to be trolls!
We all enjoyed it and surprised ourselves with our dancing ability. It was really good fun, even if the moves were really quick and we got out of breath!”

Forest School Taster Sessions
Pupils in Reception and Year 1 this week thoroughly enjoyed their taster sessions of Forest Schools, kindly led by Poppy Elliott. Pupils looked for bugs, made mud pies in the mud kitchen, climbed trees, relaxed in the hammock, built dens and practised their balancing and co-ordination skills on the logs. And the exciting thing is they get to do it all over again next week! We are most grateful to Little Bears for facilitating this opportunity for school.

PTA News

Friday Cake Club
Congratulations to Thea Diment, the winner of Friday’s cake, kindly donated by Mrs Halliday. A reminder to Mrs Sam Green that she is on the cake rota for Friday 22 March.

We have 4 slots left on the rota to take us up to the end of the school year, so if you would like to volunteer to donate a cake, please see Rowena Dobson.

'Boogie' Bingo
What an evening! The feedback we've had is that 'Boogie' Bingo was a huge hit, and we've already had requests for another one! We raised £305, so thanks to everyone who came along and had a great time, also thanks to everyone who helped on the night. An extra special thank you to Rowena & Gareth Dobson for putting it together and hosting such an amazing evening.

Easter Chocolate Raffle - Wednesday 27 March
We would still be grateful for any donations of chocolate for this event. Thank you.


LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week we are creating houses for our superheroes. Please bring in any junk to help us create some excellent bat caves and castles.

DIARY DATES:
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 with more details are available from the school office.
Wednesday 27th March Easter Chocolate raffle
Thursday 28th March School finishes for Easter at 1.30pm
8th -12th April Holiday Course at Stadhampton School
Monday 15th April Pupils and staff return to school for the start of Term 5
Friday 19th April Junior Citizen – Class 3
Thursday 2nd May School closed to pupils for County Council Elections