Newsletter for week ending 21 June 2013

Big Science Event Final
Each year our Class 3 pupils enter the Big Science Event organised by Science Oxford which involves pupils in primary schools in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire planning, carrying-out, analysing and presenting their own science investigation. The investigations are conducted in teams of four to five pupils and are initially judged in school, using criteria provided by Science Oxford. One team is then selected to present their investigation in school, to a judge from Science Oxford who then selects school teams to enter the grand final held at Science Oxford. The quality of the investigations that our pupils conduct has meant that we have had a team representing Stadhampton School in the grand final every year for the last seven years. Once again we have a team in the final which will be held in Oxford on Thursday 27 June. We wish Jake Day, Hannah Tombling, Owen Cove, Ruby Dallimore and Amy Matthews every success with their investigation “Does Listening to Music Improve Your Memory?”

School Council News

• We have made an exciting purchase! We have bought a special birdbox with some of the money raised last year. It has a small camera in it which we can link up to a computer in school and watch any nest-building or other activity going on inside the bird box. Next year we might have our own ‘Springwatch!’
• We are organising a table tennis tournament to take place during National Sports Week. Pupils in Classes 1, 2 and 3 are invited to sign up. Reception pupils are, unfortunately, not quite tall enough for the tournament but we will have a table tennis challenge for them. Please look out for the ‘sign up sheets’ which will be put up on Monday.
• We are also holding an Eco-art poster competition. Entries need to be on paper sized 27cm by 38cm (available from school), so they fit into existing frames, and the deadline for entries is Thursday 4th July. The poster should include a slogan or rhyme and give an eco-friendly message (eg save water, stop littering, save electricity). Be as creative as you can; you can use pencils, crayons, tissue paper and/or ICT but please don’t make it too 3D! We ask for a £1 entry fee which will be used to help develop other projects around school. Please ask Miss Shah for an entry form. We look forward to your entries!

Class 1 and Reception Visit to Oxford Science Live
Here are some exerpts from the children’s write-ups of the visit:
“ Class 1 and Reception went on an amazing, fabulous and enjoyable trip to Science Oxford Live. There were all sorts of things there that helped us find out more about science. We saw a shadow wall and a water whirlpool and an air cannon” – Ella G; “We spent the last hour upstairs in a room called Inventing Isabel” – Thomas and Tillie; “We really liked the funny mirrors” – Juliana.

Skipping Workshops
Throughout the day on Wednesday 19th June all pupils participated in class skipping workshops and learnt a range of skipping techniques and activities including face to face partner skips, Double Dutch and continuous crossovers. There were a lot of tired looking children at the end of the day! Thank you to the families who came to watch the skipping presentation at the end of the school day and to those who participated in the after-school workshop. Some of the manoevers seemed somewhat of a challenge but practice makes perfect! Hopefully, following these workshops, a number of children, and their families, will choose to continue to skip for pleasure and fitness. We have bought some skipping ropes for use at playtimes and a small number of child-length ropes are still available from school. These are at a cost of £4 each. If you wish to buy one of these please see Mrs Manzie. Further ropes are available from Ken Barry on 01737 843111 or e-mail Kenbarry911@gmail.com but postage costs for ropes increase the cost significantly.

Pupil perspective on the skipping workshop from some Year 5 boys:
“It was a great experience and everyone loved it. Ken was from a record breaking team who are in the Guiness Book of World Records and was an inspiration showing us new tips and tricks. One Year 6 pupil said that “she would never forget the fun she had”. Some of the tricks were quite difficult such as ‘Double Dutch’ because you needed to time your jump carefully”.

National Sports Week 24th -28th June 2013
Each year we participate in National Sports Week, promoted by Lloyds Bank, and this year the event takes place next week. Our popular skipping workshops, held this week, also link with National Sports Week. Next week all pupils will be participating in a range of sporting events including skipping, a fun-run and other games. Ignite Sports will lead some athletics and team games and sports leaders will lead some international games. We hope that a representative from Lloyds Bank will join us on Friday 28 June. Some events are arranged for specific days whilst others will be weather dependent so we ask that all pupils have their PE kit (including socks and hair ties for long hair) as well as swimming kit in school every day next week. Thank you.
Sports Evening, Friday 12th July 2013
As usual, our annual Sports Evening will take place on the penultimate Friday of Term 6 which this year is Friday 12th July. For new parents this is an evening when, weather permitting, pupils participate in a number of races and events, earning points for their team. It is a highlight of the school year and the vast majority of pupils join in, cheered on by their families, and the event is supported by the PTA with a bar and a BBQ. Races will begin at 6:30pm promptly and pupils are requested to arrive back at schoolboy 6:15pm. Further details, including which team each child is in, will be circulated nearer the time.

International Week – 1st to 5th July 2013
Our annual International Week will take place during the week of 1st to 5th July and, this year, our focus will be on Australia. During the week all pupils will be involved in activities to develop their understanding of Australian history, geography, natural history, traditions and culture. Some activities will be class specific but others will involve the pupils working in teams of mixed age groups. We are also planning to have an Australian display in the Hall if any families have any items or artefacts they are willing to share for this, please talk to your child’s class teacher. No live kangaroos please!

Summer Fete and Big Bus Opening Event
An enormous thank you to the PTA for organising such a great event and to all families and other members of our school community for the huge support you gave this event. We won’t dwell on the weather! James Carter involved pupils, parents and staff in the official opening of the bus and I hope an enjoyable and entertaining afternoon was had by all. Everyone’s participation contributed to the success of the event. Thank you. One or two photographs from the event have been uploaded into the Events section of the school website. More from the PTA:

PTA News

Friday Cake Club
Lewis Payne was the lucky winner of last week’s cake, kindly donated by Mrs Gonzales. A reminder to Mrs Marianne Matthews that she is on the rota for 28 June.

Summer Fair & Bus Opening
A huge thank you to everyone who attended and helped out at our fantastic, if a little soggy, afternoon at the school. We've counted the pennies and we've managed to raise an amazing £1,000. We couldn't have done it without you, so thank you for all being so supportive.

We have some left over plants which can be bought for 50p each.

Competition winners at the Fair were:

Bus Quiz
Cove Family

Bus Competition
Category A (Reception-Yr 2) Lizzie Bowerman
Category B (Yr 3-6) Megan Green
Overall winner Lizzie Bowerman
Special mention by judges Myles Dobson

Children’s Cake Adult's Cake
Megan Green Anna Harries

Miniature Garden
Tia Khan


PTA Meeting - 2nd July, 8pm at Rowena Dobson’s house
The next PTA meeting is on Tuesday 7 May at 7.45pm at Rowena Dobson’s house (Coppers, Cat Lane). Everyone is welcome to come along and join in discussions about our upcoming End of Term Disco, Sports Night BBQ. We will also be discussing spending some of our funds on drapes and benches for the Outdoor Theatre area.

There are a number of unclaimed plastic containers, tins, etc in school so if you are missing anything, please collect them from school as soon as possible. Thank you.

Playing with Numbers talk for parents/carers on 01.07.2013
Following our recent parents’ talk on reading, we have also arranged a talk for parents/carers relating to Maths. This will be led by Mrs Linda Hull, a Maths Advisory Support teacher and will take place from 2.15-3.15pm on Monday 1st July. Further details will be circulated by letter later today.

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week at Little Bears we will be continuing to look at out theme Holidays and looking at things we like to do on holiday. We'll be making sandcastles, ice cream pictures and putting up tents in the garden.

The Little Bears Fair is on Friday 28 June from 3pm in the Little Bears garden. A fun afternoon with lots of stalls and activities for the children and a variety of refreshments (including Pimms!). We hope lots of Little Bears and children from the school and their families are able to come – please feel free to bring grandparents, aunties, uncles, friends etc. Everyone welcome!


DIARY DATES:
Thursday 27th June Big Science Event for some pupils in Class 3
Tuesday 2nd July Class 2 visit to the Ashmolean Museum
Tuesday 9 July Summer Concert
Wednesday 10th, Thursday 11th & Friday 12th July Moving up days; Reception pupils starting in September join us in school; Year 6 pupils spend three days at ICC; all other pupils move up to the year group/class they will be in from September.
Friday 12th July EYFS/Reception meeting with parents in School Hall at 2.50pm
Sports Evening
Monday 15th – Friday 19th July No afterschool clubs in the final week of the school term
Tuesday 16th July Daylight Theatre performance
Thursday 18 July School disco 6 – 7.30pm
Friday 19th July Leavers assembly 09.05am
School finishes for Summer holidays at 1.30pm
Wednesday 4th September Pupils return to school for the start of the new academic year