Newsletter for week ending 6 September 2013

A warm welcome to everyone at the start of this new academic year!
We are very pleased to welcome fifteen new pupils to Stadhampton School this term: In Reception we welcome Oliver Bourne, Arun Davies, Ollie Eaton, George Evelyn, Peter Fegyveres-Nagy, Mia Gravett, Emily Hackett, Bella Jones, Nate Moss-Black, Casey Price, Harvey Saunders, Benjamin Walker and Nathaniel Watkins; in Year 5 we welcome Innis Robertson-Pinnell and in Year 6 we welcome Alexander Igmofose. We hope that they all enjoy their time at Stadhampton School.

Happy September Birthday to: Charlie Austin, Isabella Dickens, George Evelyn, Phoebe Hindmarch, Alfie Howard, Phoebe Watkins and Lawrence Wright.

During September we are focusing on the core-value of CO-OPERATION in our school assemblies and during PSHCE lessons.

International School Award
International education is a strong element within our curriculum and this has been recognised in the past by our accreditation with the British Council International School Award (ISA) which requires renewal every three years. Last July we submitted an application to the British Council to be reaccredited with the ISA; this involved submitting evidence of our international activities and an impact evaluation of these learning activities over the last three years. We are delighted to share with you the good news that our application was successful! We have been accredited for three years from 1st September 2013 – 31st August 2016. The British Council were clearly impressed with our application and an extract of the assessors comment follows:- “This shows how your whole school community has taken to, and fully embraced, internationalism. You have delivered some exciting and innovative activies such as your Anglo-Argentine Links, Lanaguage for Learning and International Sports and Games activities. These provided your students with real opportinties to learn about relevant international themes”.

We were first accredited with the International School Award in 2003 and, through reaccredition processes, have held it continuously since then. We understand that we are one of only a small number of schools in the UK to have achieved this, which reflects some of the special attributes of Stadhampton School. Our commitment to international education continues; our established links with schools in Argentina and Poland continue and we thank them for their contribution towards our award. We are currently planning collaborative activities with these schools for this year and are also pursuing other opportunities to further develop the international dimension to our curriculum, including funded opportunities available through the British Council.

Changes to Attendance Policy
We would like to remind parents and carers of the recent changes to the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations as was mentioned in our newsletter of 5th July 2013. As from 1st September 2013 it became law across the country that no holiday in term time will be considered as authorised absence from school. Therefore, we will be unable to authorise any requests for holidays during term time; any such absence will be unauthorised. Authorisation for absence can now only be given in exceptional circumstances such as bereavement or serious family emergencies and for a very limited duration.
Holiday request forms are no longer available and any requests for absence due to exceptional circumstances during term time will now need to be made directly with Mrs Turner. An appointment will need to be made to discuss the request – parents will need to be aware that authorisation may not be granted. Requests for absence will be reviewed on a case by case basis.

Registration takes place each morning and afternoon and, as for all Local Authority schools, our data is accessable by the Local Authority at any time. Unauthorised absence is, by law, regarded as truancy which the County Attendance and Engagement Team may pursue.

We thank the many families who always make their holiday bookings during school holidays. For further information families may refer to the County Attendance and Engagement Team who can be contacted on 01865 323513. Information is also available on the intranet at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk

School Meals
School meals from 1st September will continue to be offered at a 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 9th September. They will have 7 sessions in Term 1. A letter explaining all about our swimming sessions at The Abbey Sports Centre was sent out to families in Classes 2 and 3 earlier this week. Please check book bags!
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 £2 voluntary contribution towards the transportation costs. Thank you to the parents who make regular voluntary contributions towards the costs. Cheques for swimming contributions should be made payable to Stadhampton Primary School. Thank you.

The BFG Storytelling
'On Wednesday 4th September pupils thoroughly enjoyed a special performance of Roald Dahl’s ‘The BFG’ – the perfect start to a new school year! Next Friday is Roald Dahl Day and this was therefore an excellent opportunity to share one of his most popular works.

Anthony Pedley, an actor from the original stage production of The BFG, brought the character of the BFG, Sophie, the nasty giants and even the Queen to life. He used some exciting props to bring the tale to life – we particularly liked the giant ‘snozzcumber’ and the flashing 'Frobscottle' bottle! The humour of the story came out clearly, judging by the laughter echoing around the hall, from the youngest in Reception to the children in Year 6. Anthony was an inspiring storyteller who will remain in the minds of both the children and staff for a long time!

For pupils who were familiar with the book, this was a very pleasant reminder of the tale and there was a feeling of “I’d like to re-read this!” from several children. For the children whom the story was new it was an exciting introduction to Roald Dahl which will hopefully lead to many pupils reading more of his stories.'

Class 3 report from Abby and Alex: “On 4th September, our first day back at school we were surprised to find out that an actor was coming to school to do a production of the BFG. We think we speak for all the children when we say it was hilarious and great fun to watch. Some of the props were used in the original production of the BFG in the West End. One of our personal favourites about this was when the BFG ‘whizzpopped’ all the way through the amazing production! Overall everyone (including the adults) enjoyed the experience!

PTA News
Friday Cake Club
Millie Birtles won the last cake in the Friday Cake Club before the summer holidays, which she shared with the other Year 6 leavers at their camping party. Thank you to Mrs S Green for kindly donating it. A reminder to Mrs Madry that she is on the rota for 14 September.

If your child would like to take part in Friday Cake Club please bring in 20p on Fridays and see Rowena Dobson at the school gates before school. You can also pay up front for half a term or a term at a time. Cost per child up to half term would be £1.60, and from September to Christmas would be £3.00.

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Welcome back to everyone at Little Bears. Our new Little Bears are settling very well.
Our topic for Term 1 is ‘transport’ and we will be starting with buses by making collage buses, a bus stop and enjoying lots of music sessions.


DIARY DATES:
Wednesday 4 September Pupils return to school for the start of the new academic year
Thursday 26 September School photographs taken today
Monday 30 September Governing Body meeting at 7pm

• Attachment: Flyer about Oxfordshire’s Children Read-a-Thon on Saturday 14 September 11-4pm at Milton Manor, Abingdon
• Attachment: Flyer about Icknield Community College Open Evening on 26 September
• Two attachments detailing events at the Chalgrove and Watlington Chilsdren’s Centre
• Notification of a speaker at the WI meeting in the school hall on Tuesday 10th September at 7.30pm about Autism. Anyone is welcome to attend this talk