Newsletter for week ending 11 October 2013

Possible Strike Action on Thursday 17 October
As you may be aware members of the NASUWT and NUT are in dispute with the Government and have voted to take strike action. The strike action in this region will be for one day and will take place on Thursday 17 October 2013. Teachers are only required to give 48 hours notice of their intention to strike and therefore all that we can do at the present time is notify parents that there is a possibility that the school may have to close. We will provide a further update when more information is known.

Open Morning
Our annual Open Morning will take place on Wednesday 16 October between 9.00 and 11.45am. Please feel free to pop in during the morning if you would like to see the school at work. We hope to have lots of visitors to the school and particularly welcome parents/carers who are currently deciding which school they will choose for their child starting school in September 2014.

Volunteers to hear readers required!
We are very grateful to a number of parents who regularly give of their time to come into school to hear pupils read. We would welcome more volunteers and if you are able to help please speak to your child’s teacher. We also welcome Mr Finbar McGaughey, a resident of the village, who volunteers to help in school on a regular basis.

Forest Schools
For some time now we have been looking into the possibility of setting up a Forest School having experienced some taster sessions led by Poppy Elliott, a fully qualified Forest Schools leader, kindly loaned to us by Little Bears. Forest Schools is “a unique way of building independence, self-esteem and a positive attitude towards learning in children and young people as they explore and experience the natural world for themselves”. It is widely recognised that Forest Schools also helps children to develop self-awareness, calculate risks, communicate better and learn the importance of working as part of a team. We are most fortunate to have been offered the use of Stadhampton River Meadows private land owned by Bob and Frances Campbell, for this purpose and that Mr Short, a member of our support staff, is willing to undertake the training to be able to deliver the Forest School educational programme. It is hoped that this will, in time, be rolled out to all year groups. We are also very grateful for the support of Mr Stephen Dawson, a School Governor who, along with the PTA, is helping to bring this plan to fruition. In order to fundraise for this project, a Musical Evening is being planned in the Church for Saturday 23rd November. We already know that Eleanor Tinlin will be playing the piano and Otis will be playing the saxophone. Further details of this event and details of how to buy tickets will be published in next week’s newsletter. Please watch this space!

Book Fair
We are holding a Children’s Book Fair in school from Monday 21st October until Friday 25 October inclusive. The Book Fair will be open from 8.30 to 9.00am each morning (starting on Tuesday 22 October) and from 3.00 until 3.30pm each afternoon (starting on Monday 21 October). Parents are welcome to come in during these times to browse for books with or without their children! The commission from sales at the fair enables us to buy books to update our individual class libraries and our non-fiction library. There are hundreds of exciting books to choose from with prices from just £1. A leaflet showing some examples of the books available and an order form was put into book bags earlier this week.

We are most grateful to Mrs Woodwards and to Mrs Dobson for their hard work and commitment to the school leading and organising many fundraising events over several years as key members of the PTA committee. I am sure that you will all join me in thanking them and will offer your support to the new PTA Chair (when elected) and to the remaining members of the PTA committee who are working very hard to make sure that fundraising and social events continue. As you can see from the ‘PTA News’ below, money raised by the PTA makes a huge difference to what we can offer in school.
With the news this week that Oxfordshire County Council has to make £90m of savings between now and 2017/18, in addition to £127m already achieved since 2010/11 and £43m planned for 2013/14, such sources of additional funding are, and will continue to be, vitaly important to a small school such as ours and we are very fortunate to have such a supportive and pro-active PTA.

PTA News

AGM
Thank you to everyone who came along to our AGM, it was lovely to see so many people there. There have been some changes as Rowena and Diana stepped down from their positions. Charlotte Hector was re-elected as Treasurer and Mel Gravett was elected as Secretary. The position of Chair has not been filled. In the short term the PTA committee will continue to run the events planned for this term, including the Winter Fair. However in the long term if we want to continue to offer our children the extras they have become used to, we will need a Chair.

Over the past year we have held some fantastic fundraising events and overall raised £5646.07 - an amazing total. The money we have raised has gone towards; part funding of £1800 for the French Teacher, leavers gifts, Christmas Party food, Daylight Theatre performance, and helping fund Class 2's trip to Sulgrave Manor. New items this year have been £500 towards the Table Tennis table - much enjoyed by the children and funds of £1689 for additional seating for the outdoor theatre area.

A huge thank you to the PTA team for all their hard work, the parents who help out at events, members of the community for their support and to everyone who willingly spends their time and money supporting the above events.

The full report from the AGM can be found on the noticeboard outside school and on the website.

Christmas Cards
Please ensure that all artwork, order forms and payment are in to the school office by 9am Monday 14th Oct for your Christmas card orders.

Friday Cake Club
Ellie Walker was the lucky winner of the cake last week, kindly donated by Mrs Ellis. A reminder to Mrs Woodwards that she is on the rota for Friday 18th October.

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week we are looking at the topic ‘emergency vehicles’, making collage fire engines and turning our home corner into a fire station .
Little Bears are having a cake sale on Friday the 18th October at 12 pm and 3 pm and any donations of cakes would be very gratefully received.
Also on Tuesday the 29th October Little Bears will be holding a Halloween-themed ‘stay and play’. Please see Debbie Bradford for more details.

One-day Sports Course at Stadhampton School
Michael Hopkins, who is well known at Stadhampton School having been our Sports Coach for a number of years, will be running a one-day holiday course here at Stadhampton School on Monday 23rd December between 9 and 3pm. All pupils of primary school age are welcome to attend. The cost will be £10 for the day. The emphasis is on having fun and will include playing a variety of sports, games and mini-tournaments. There will be Christmas-themed prizes! Bookings may be made directly with Mr Hopkins (see flyer attached) or via Mrs Hopkins in the school office.

Orders for School Photographs
Please return orders for school photographs back to school in time for their collection from school on Friday 18th October at 8am. Thank you.

Reminder -Invitation to look around our new Village Hall at St John’s this Saturday
Cake, tea, games and art from 2-6pm. This is a chance for you to come and look at this beautifully rejuvenated space that is now ours, ready to do things with. Families with children are particularly welcome as there will be a big art activity, as well as a Ji-anza competition and a “Where on earth?”, in Stadhampton, photo quiz for all of us locals. Please come and have a look. Any queries, please contact Catherine Roe on 07432 126514.


DIARY DATES:
Wednesday 16 October Open Morning 9.00-11.45am. Visitors welcome to pop in during this time to see the school at work.
Monday 21 October Book Fair arrives
Friday 25 October School breaks up at 3.15pm for October Holiday
Monday 4 November School resumes for the start of Term 2
Thursday 7 November Year 5 pupils visit ICC for Science, Maths & English lessons
Wednesday 13 November Mobile Library visit pm
Monday 18 November Parents Evening 4.00-7.00pm
Wednesday 20 November Parents Evening 4.00-6.00pm
Monday 23rd December One-day Sports Course at Stadhampton School for participating pupils. See notices in each classroom entrance area for more information and details of how to book.

• Flyer attached about the ‘Great Pink Bake Off’ at St John’s Church Hall on Thursday 24 October