Newsletter for week ending 31 January 2014

40th Anniversary of the School
Stadhampton Primary School was built on the present site in 1974 and this year will celebrate its 40th Birthday! We will mark the occasion later in the year.

School Transport Policy Proposals – Message from Sue Moon
“The crucial vote on the controversial Home to School Transport Policy proposals takes place at County Hall on Tuesday. We have all worked our socks off to see that the Cabinet vote 'NO' and this work will continue right up the Cabinet meet at 1pm.

The Oxon School Bus Action Group would like to take this opportunity to thank all schools for the ways in which you have supported our campaign, whether that was by forwarding our messages to parents, signing the petition or responding to the consultation. Opposition to these plans has overwhelmed the Council in a way that is unprecedented for this type of consultation. That's something we should all be proud of, regardless of the outcome.

There is one more thing you can do. I have enclosed a leaflet advertising our protest at County Hall at midday on Tuesday. Please could you forward this to your parents, staff and governors. We need to have as many people as possible along to this to show OCC how strongly we all feel.

Thanks again for your support”

Sue Moon
Co-ordinator, Oxon School Bus Action Group
07787177546

Chinese New Year – Friday 31st January
We have been celebrating Chinese New Year, which this year is the Year of the Horse, in school with Chinese stories, music and decoration-making. On Friday we will hold our annual ‘Jian-zi’ tournament, which is a form of ‘keepy-uppy’ with a Chinese shuttlecock–style toy, and the overall winner will be revealed next week!

Sainsbury’s Active Kids Scheme
We are pleased to take part again in the Sainsbury’s Active Kids scheme again this year. Please collect vouchers for us and post them into the collecting box on top of the piano in the school hall.
The scheme coincides with changes to the National Curriculum, which from September will see all pupils between the ages of 5 and 14 taught cookery in school, and has been extended to include new cookery and toolkits. Active Kids will continue to invest in sports equipment.

Day for Change – Friday 7th February
A reminder that we will be taking part in the UNICEF Day for Change on Friday 7th February. It would be nice if all pupils were able to bring in some change so that they can participate in some of the activities taking place during the school day.
In 2014, Day for Change is all about education. Going to school gives children the chance of a brighter future, but about 68 million children around the world still don't have access to education.

Story-telling Fortnight – Monday 3rd - Friday 14th March 2014
Story-telling is an important element in spoken and written language, linking closely with Talk for Writing initiatives. As a way of furthering events for World Book Day on 6th March, we plan to have a Story-telling fortnight between Monday 3rd and Friday 14th March. During this fortnight we would like to invite any parents who would be willing to tell a suitable children’s short story, poem or rhyme in their child’s class. We would like to extend this to include stories, poems or rhymes in languages other than English and several parents who have fluency in other languages have already agreed to do this. Please don’t be shy! If you would be willing to take up our invitation, please contact your child’s class teacher. It is anticipated that first thing in the morning or at the end of the afternoon would be convenient times. Thank you in anticipation!

Optional Visit to Hazlach, Poland in May 2014
Details relating to this visit have been sent this week via bookbags, to families of pupils in Class 3. If you didn’t receive this information and would like to, please contact Mrs Turner.

Head Lice
A parent has kindly let us know that she has treated her child for head lice this week. Please could all parents check and treat their child’s/children’s hair this weekend if necessary.

PTA News
Kids Bingo night - Friday 7th March
Tickets will be on sale from Monday and will be priced the same as last year at £3. Please purchase your tickets from the school office but be quick as there are only a limited number available! Please also include the permission slips which were put into book bags today. This is always a fun event which the children really enjoy.
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Quiz evening- Friday 21st March
The PTA is very excited about this adult only event - watch out for posters and letters in book bags next week.
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Saturday fun club
We have decided to postpone this until after half term. This is something we wish to run once every 4-5 weeks, so if any parent has a craft, hobby etc they would be willing to share at the club please see a PTA member. We hope it will be popular with the children and adults alike so watch this space!

Thank you for your continued support.

Cake Club
Congratulations to Elizabeth Marshall, who won the cake last week, kindly donated by Mrs Freeman. A reminder to Mrs Ellis that she is on the rota for 7 February. We do not have anyone on the rota for donating a cake from 7 March onwards, so please see Rowena Dobson to have your name included. It would be a shame if we had to stop this very popular weekly event due to lack of cakes, particularly as so many families have paid for their entry until the end of the school year. Thank you.

DIARY DATES:
Tuesday 4 February Class 2 visit to Roald Dahl Museum
Friday 7 February UNICEF Day for Change – please bring in your loose change!
Friday 14 February Break up for the February Holiday at 3.15pm
Monday 24 February Start of Term 4

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week at Little Bears we will be continuing with the ‘Opposites’ theme and talking about happy and sad and our feelings.

Icknield Community College HMI Letter
A letter will be forwarded to parents later today from ICC following their recent follow-up visit from Ofsted.

Newsletter for week ending 24th January 2014

Mid Year Summary Reports and Work Viewing Evening
This year our annual Mid-Year Summary Reports for all pupils will be sent out during the week beginning 10th March. These will be followed by our annual Work-Viewing Evening on Monday 24th March. Classes will be open from 3.15 to 6.00pm and all parents and carers are welcome to come and look at their child’s/children’s work. Many parents and carers do this with their child/ren, which we encourage. We do not offer a timed appointment system for parent-teacher consulatations during Work Viewing Evening but class teachers will be in their classrooms between 3.30 and 6.00pm for parents to speak with. Please be aware that there may be other families present and that they too may wish to speak with the teacher.

Partnership Y5/Y6 Sports Hall Athletics – Report by Betsy and Greg
“Last Friday Class 3 went to the Partnership Sports Hall Athletics at Icknield. When we got there, there were seven schools competing. The first event was the obstacle relay. In the obstacle relay we had to do a roly-poly, then had to put our feet in some gaps really fast! After that we had to do a speed-bounce (ten times.) Then we had to jump over 2 hurdles and finally run back and tag the other person. One of our favourite races was the ‘under-over!’ Lots of fun races passed by and then came the tense moment when the results were being announced…….
We didn’t come 7th or 6th or 5th or 4th we came 3rd!!!! There were just 2 points between us and Chalgrove for second place. We thanked everyone there, said goodbye and went on the journey home. We all had a really enjoyable time and supported each other.
A special mention must go to Thea and Owen who secured a fantastic win in the 2 person relay. The speed they showed left all the other schools far behind!”

School Council
The following pupils have been elected to the School Council this term: Joshua Matthews, Ruby Dallimore, Emily Drake, Innis Robertson-Pinnell, Phoebe Hindmarch, Charlie Ball, Lizzy Bowerman, Lawrence Wright, Charlie Hackett and Bronte Buckner. Congratulations to them all.

Overtrousers for football players
Please could pupils who choose to play football during the lunch time break bring in some overtrousers to wear on top of their school trousers so that they are not sitting in the classroom in muddy trousers during the afternoon.

Swimming Contributions
Thank you to the families in Class 2 who have already paid a “voluntary contribution” of £10 for transport to the swimming sessions this term and to those who are already paying £2 each week. Any further contributions from families who have not yet made a contribution would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

School Term and Holiday dates for 2014/15
The term and holiday dates for the new academic year beginning in September 2014 are attached to this newsletter and have also been uploaded onto the school website for future reference. A reminder that as a result of changes since September 2013 to the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006, Headteachers are unable to authorise any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as bereavement. It will be impossible, therefore, to support any requests for holidays during term time. Please support us and your child by making all holiday bookings during school holidays. Thank you.

School Transport
We have been asked by Sue Moon, Co-ordinator, of the Oxon School Bus Action Group to let parents know the following information:

“The public consultation has now closed, but our campaign goes on.
Your school can still get involved by publicising our petition. This is a NEW petition, launched just before Christmas. If parents signed in the summer, they need to do it again. Here is a link to it:

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-oxon-school-buses-1

This new petition will be presented to the Council Cabinet on Tuesday 28th Jan. We therefore have just over a week to get the total as high as we can.”

Many thanks
Sue Moon, Co-ordinator, Oxon School Bus Action Group, 07787177546

PTA News
We have some new events lined up to put into your diaries:

Saturday Morning Fun Club- Saturday 8th February
Kids bingo evening- Friday 7th March
Quiz night- Friday 21st March

Tickets for these events will be available soon and keep an eye out for posters; your support for these events is crucial. Some great nights are planned, please support where you can.

Cake Club
Congratulations to Nate Moss-Black, the lucky winner of last week’s cake, kindly donated by Mrs Wiggins. A reminder to Mrs Khan that she is on the rota for 31 January.


DIARY DATES:
Monday 27 January Full GB meeting at 7pm
Wednesday 29 January Mobile Library visit
Tuesday 4 February Class 2 visit to Roald Dahl Museum
Friday 7 February UNICEF Day for Change – please start saving your loose change!
Friday 14 February Break up for the February Holiday at 3.15pm
Monday 24 February Start of Term 4

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week at Little Bears we will be continuing with our ‘Opposites’ termly topic combined with the topic of ‘Fast and Slow’. The Little Bears will be looking at the story of the Tortoise and the Hare and acting out the story in the garden. They will also be making an obstacle course.
We will also be celebrating Chinese New Year - Year of the Horse.

Community News:

Please see attachment with information regarding:

• A Night of Bark – A night of music and theatre to raise money for the Oxfordshire Animal Sanctuary at Stadhampton Church Hall on Saturday 1st February at 7.30pm. There will be songs from ‘Oliver’, ‘Les Miserables’ as well as performances from individuals and groups from the Sands Theatre Arts School (based at Wheatley). Ticket details are on the attached poster.

Newsletter for week ending 17th January 2014

School Term and Holiday dates for 2014/15
The term and holiday dates for the new academic year beginning in September 2014 are currently being finalised and will be attached to next week’s newsletter. Parents are reminded that as a result of changes since September 2013 to the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006, Headteachers are unable to authorise any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as bereavement. It will be impossible, therefore, to support any requests for holidays during term time. Please support us and your child by making all holiday bookings during school holidays. Thank you.

New Faces for this term
From 20th January, we look forward to welcoming Ms Cicely Evans and Ms Lucy Chivers, two PGCE students from Oxford Brookes University, who will be working with pupils in Class 1 for an 8-week school experience placement. We will also be welcoming Mr Jordan Piper, a PE student from The Henley College for a two-week work experience. Mr Piper will be based in Class 2 but will have opportunities to work with all pupils during his time at Stadhampton Primary School. Some pupils will recognise Mr Piper from working as an assistant at the Holiday Sports Courses run by Michael Hopkins at Stadhampton School.

UNICEF Day for Change, Friday 7th February 2014
Once again, we will be supporting UNICEF Day for Change and this year their annual campaign is all about education. About 68 million children around the world still don’t have access to education, something we all take for granted. UNICEF is working hard to change this – every child should have the opportunity to go to school. UNICEF Day for Change enables us to use our ‘small change’ to help make a bigger change for children elsewhere in the world. On the day we will use UNICEF’s specially designed education material to help develop our pupils’ awareness of the issues some children in other parts of the world face and each class will be involved. Please help us support this cause by bringing in any loose change you can spare on Friday 7th February. Thank you.

PTA News
Thank you to everyone who attended the PTA meeting on Tuesday night. The PTA committee are really excited about the year ahead and have some new, and not so new, events planned for both the children and parents to get involved in. We believe that it is important to share how much money we raise from every PTA event as it is parents’ support and donations which help us raise funds for the school : Here are the confirmed amounts from recent events:

Winter Fair- £1121.62
Christmas Cards- £89
Stall at Church Xmas fair- £76.50
Wreath making evening £220

This adds up to a fantastic total raised over the Christmas period which will be used to support the school and the children in many ways.
We are pleased to announce that Georgina Wiggins was elected as the new Chair at the meeting on Tuesday evening.

Thank you all for your continued support of the PTA.

Cake Club
Congratulations to Charlie Ball, who was the lucky winner of last week’s cake, kindly donated by Mrs Bourne. A reminder to Mrs Freeman that she is on the rota for 24 January. More cake donators needed please! You can now pay for your child to enter Cake Club up to the end of the school year. The remaining cost would be 20p per week, or £1.00 until February Half Term, £2.20 until Easter, £3.40 until May Half Term or £4.60 until the end of the year. Please see Rowena Dobson.


DIARY DATES:
Friday 17 January Sports Hall Athletics for Class 3 at Icknield Community College
Monday 27 January Full GB meeting at 7pm
Wednesday 29 January Mobile Library visit
Tuesday 4 February Class 2 visit to Roald Dahl Museum – letter to follow shortly
Friday 7 February UNICEF Day for Change – please start saving your loose change!
Friday 14 February Break up for the February Holiday at 3.15pm
Monday 24 February Start of Term 4


LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week at Little Bears we will be continuing with our ‘Opposites’ theme and talking about ‘big and small’ variations in size. We will also be reading the story ‘Jack and the Beanstalk.’

Community News:

Children's Centre
We have recently learned that the threatened closure of the Chalgrove and Watlngton Children's Centre is not going to happen, at least for the short term, and, thankfully, the centre seems to be secure until at least 2017. The centre provides a range of services to support families and we attach several flyers for upcoming events and further information which we hope you will find helpful.

• Speech and Language Drop –In
• Webster Stratton Two Day Workshop
• Relationships and Caring for a disabled child
• First Aid Workshop
• Additional support available

Newsletter for week ending 10th January 2014

On behalf of all members of staff I would like to thank you for your many festive expressions of gratitude. We were very appreciative and moved by the thoughtful generosity of families. Such expressions of generosity and sharing are a reflection of the ‘extended family’ which many visitors commend the school for. Thank you again. We all wish you a Happy New Year!

During JANUARY we are focusing on the core value of HAPPINESS

Happy JANUARY Birthday to: Elizabeth Bowerman, Bronte Buckner, Owen Cove, Thomas Cove, Myles Dobson, Oliver Eaton, Peter Fegyveres-Nagy, Megan Green, Isabella Kenny, Tia Khan, Benjamin West and Thomas West.

Swimming at Berinsfield
Swimming will begin for Class 2 pupils on Monday 13th January. They will have a total of 5 sessions. As always, we hope that parents will be willing to help with the transport costs to Berinsfield with a contribution of £2 per swimming session. Cheques for swimming contributions should be made payable to Stadhampton Primary School, please. Thank you to the parents who have already paid for this term!

Termly Outline Plans
Termly Outline Plans giving parents and carers an overview of the key areas of teaching and learning in each class have been uploaded onto the school website. If anyone would like a paper copy please ask in the school office for one.

Forest Schools Fundraising
We are delighted to announce that from the Christmas Disco, school party and a donation we raised £341 towards our target for Forest Schools.

PTA News
We hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. Just a reminder the next PTA meeting is on Tuesday 14th January 8pm at The Crown, new members are very welcome.

Cake Club
Congratulations to Isabel Holmes, the lucky winner of the Gingerbread House, kindly donated by Mrs Bowerman. A reminder to Mrs Wiggins that she is on the rota for Friday 17 January.

A fantastic £173 was raised on Friday Cake Club between September and Christmas, so thank you to everyone who entered the draw or donated a cake. Volunteers for cakes are always welcome. There are 6 weeks in the next half term, so if you would like to pay for Cake Club, the full amount will be £1.20, or if you would like to take it up to Easter £2.40 per child. Please see Rowena Dobson.

DIARY DATES:
Monday 13 January Swimming sessions start for Class 2 pupils
Tuesday 14 January First After School – Cheer Leading/Street Dance Club
Wednesday 15 January First After School – Photography Club
Thursday 16 January First After School – Multisports Club
Friday 17 January SHA at ICC for C3 pupils – see letter sent home 08.01.2014
Monday 27 January Full GB meeting at 7pm
Wednesday 29 January Mobile Library visit


LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
The Little Bears have settled well back into preschool and will be enjoying the topic ‘Opposites’ this term, starting with ‘day and night’ the first week and ‘dark and light’ next week. We will also be looking at ‘shades’ and ‘tones of colours’ and making a shadow puppet theatre.

Community Notice:
• Flyer attached about a two day workshop for parents/carers on Saturday 8th and Saturday 15th March on ‘Promoting Positive Behaviours’.