Newsletter for week ending 28 March 2014

Mr Montgomery
We are pleased to welcome Mr Montgomery, who joined our staff this week as a part-time Teaching Assistant.

Forest School
We are delighted that we will be providing Forest School sessions, for all pupils, during the summer term. A letter will be in book bags today with further details. Thank you to everyone who has helped make this happen.

Sports Relief
Thank you to everyone who paid a £1 for dressing up as a sports personality and walking or running a mile (or more!) for Sports Relief last week. We raised a total of £92. Thank you all.

Clothes Recycling
Thank you to everyone who donated bags for the last Bag2School clothes recycling collection. We are pleased to let you know that we collected 344kg and received a cheque for £172.00 this week.

Archery Club
This very popular club is, unfortunately, already full. We hope to offer it again in September. In the meantime, parents may like to know that Mr Chrisp runs an archery session on alternate Saturdays at the Abbey Sports Centre in Berinsfield.

Food with Thought – Easter Feast Lunch
We have been notified that on Wednesday 2nd April there will be a slight change to the regular school menu. This ‘Eggciting’ lunch will be Roast Chicken followed by Chocolate Easter Cake.

PTA News
Thank you to everyone who attended the PTA meeting at The Crown on Tuesday evening; we have lots of great events planned for the rest of the school year!

Quiz night - thank you to everyone who attended the quiz night last Friday. Whilst there was not a huge attendance, everyone had a great night with a healthy sum of just over £300 being raised.
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Easter Cake Competition - Wednesday 2nd April- we are very excited to be holding a cake competition and cake sale just before the Easter holidays. All the details will be in book bags on Friday, so please keep a look out for the details and happy baking!

Save The Date - Boogie Bingo is back! Scheduled for Friday 16th May. More details to follow.
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Thank you to all parents for your continued support of the PTA. Our next meeting is on Tuesday 29th April, The Crown, 8pm. Everyone welcome.


Cake Club
Congratulations to Owen Cove, the lucky winner of last week’s cake, kindly donated by Mrs Hindmarch. A reminder to Mrs Fulker that she is on the rota for 4 April.

Please see the Noticeboard outside Class 1 for the remainder of the year’s rota. We have just one space left – the last day of term – Friday 19th July. Please see Rowena Dobson if you can supply a cake that day. Thank you.

DIARY DATES:
Friday 4 April End of term assembly at 9.00am. All welcome. School finishes at 1.30pm when we break up for the Easter Holiday.
Monday 14 – Thursday 17 April Sports course at Stadhampton School led by Mr Hopkins. See posters in each cloakroom entrance or book via Mrs Hopkins.
Tuesday 22 April Pupils and staff return to school for the start of Term 5

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week we will be finishing our ‘growth and garden’ topic by looking at the life cycle of a butterfly. We will be watching our live caterpillars go through their cycle.
Little Bears will be completing a sponsored obstacle course followed by a Easter bonnet parade on Friday 4th April. All Little Bear parents are welcome from 10am for tea and coffee followed by the obstacle course at 10.30am. Our Easter bonnet parade will then take place at 11.15 with judging at 11.30am. We hope many Little Bears and parents will all come to watch, support and cheer on Friday.
Little Bears finishes at 3pm on Friday and we return on Tuesday 22nd April to the topic of ‘Weather’.
We hope everyone has a lovely Easter break.

Ladies Supper Night – Friday 25th April from 7.30pm – 11.30pm in the Village Hall at St John’s (Church)
A chance to meet, have dinner and socialise. Nibbles on arrival, hot buffet with a choice of desserts. Please bring your own drinks. Everyone welcome, tickets £10 each.
For tickets or further details, please contact Debbie Bradford: 07854508417 or Melanie Gravett: 07905921540.

Community News
Flyers attached to this newsletter from the Chalgrove and Watlington Children’s Centre:
• Newsletter; April/May timetable; HENRY flyer; Easter Activities

Newsletter for week ending 21 March 2014

Goodbye and Good Luck!
We say ‘thank you’ and ‘goodbye’ to Miss Chivers and Miss Evans, the two student teachers who have been working in Class 1 for the last eight weeks. We wish them both the best of luck in their future teaching careers.

Reporting Absence by E-Mail
We have set up a new e-mail account for parents/carers to use if they prefer to send an e-mail to report a child’s absence from school rather than telephoning. The new e-mail address for reporting absence is absence@stadhampton.oxon.sch.uk and this can be accessed by all members of staff. On the home page of the school website we have added a “Report an absence” link which parents/carers can use to let us know that their child will be absent and the reason for the absence.
Please endeavour to report an absence from school by e-mail or by telephone by 8.30am.

Outdoor Play Equipment
We have recently noticed a number of young children playing on the outdoor equipment and at times this appears to be unsupervised. The outdoor equipment is understandably attractive to small children but, at the expense of appearing to be killjoys, parents should be aware that our insurance policy only covers pupils of Stadhampton School during school hours. Use of the equipment by non- school children during school hours or any children outside of school hours is not covered by our insurance and therefore we would politely request that it is not used.

Commonwealth Games Event
Carl McNight from Kidzfit came to school yesterday to help us learn more about being active and healthy. The children (and some adults!) danced, jumped, jigged and exercised to music and competed with each other by hoola hooping, skipping and doing speed bounces. We also learnt about the Queen’s Baton and some of the different countries of the Commonwealth. Pupils really enjoyed the day and when asked what they thought of it said “I loved it”, “it was awesome”, “epic”, “brilliant” and “the most fun ever!”

Sports Relief
Today pupils generously brought in £1 to take part in running or walking a mile around the school grounds. Some pupils dressed up as a famous sports personality and many did more than a mile!
So far, we have collected £87 and would be pleased to receive any final contributions before we send the money raised to Sports Relief early next week. Thank you for your support.

Mrs Turner and her husband are planning to cycle from John O'Groats in northern Scotland as far south as they can towards Lands End in Cornwall during the Easter holidays. This will definitely be a challenge and they would like their ride to help raise money for Sport Relief. They have set up a Sport Relief Giving Page http://my.sportrelief.com/sponsor/johnandkathryncycleJohnOGroatstoBristol if anyone would like to sponsor them and raise funds for this worthwhile cause.

Headlice
We are grateful to a parent for letting us know that headlice have been detected and treated in their child’s hair. Please could all parents check their children’s hair this weekend and treat if necessary. Thank you.

PTA News

Quiz night- there are still tickets available for tomorrow’s quiz night, priced at £5 each including nibbles. If you would like to buy tickets, please see Georgina Wiggins or speak to any member of the PTA.

Cake Competition - we will be having an Easter cake decorating competition in the run up to Easter. More details to follow very soon.

A reminder that our next PTA meeting is on Tuesday 25th March at 8pm in The Crown. New members are very welcome. If you are unable to make the meeting but have suggestions for fundraising events, please speak to any member of the PTA. A list of PTA members is on the notice board by the Class 1 outdoor area.


Cake Club
Congratulations to Katende Amery, the lucky winner of the cake kindly donated by Mrs Eaton. A reminder to Mrs Watkins that she is on the rota for 28th March.


DIARY DATES:
Monday 24 March Work viewing evening – teachers available for informal chat if required whilst you look at your child’s work - no appointments necessary - 3.15 to 6pm.
Friday 4 April Break up for Easter Holiday. End of term assembly at 9.00am. All welcome. School finishes at 1.30pm
Monday 14 – Thursday 17 April Sports course at Stadhampton School led by Mr Hopkins. See posters in each cloakroom entrance or book via Mrs Hopkins.
Tuesday 22 April Pupils and staff return to school for the start of Term 5

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week we will be continuing with our ‘growth and garden theme’ and learning about garden birds and birds that migrate and who will be making their way to Britain soon. We shall also be making bird feeders.
We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone for supporting our cake sale. Donations are still coming in.

COMMUNITY NEWS:

Mothering Sunday Service
Everyone is welcome to attend the special Family Service for Mothering Sunday on 30th March at 9.30am at St John the Baptist Church (flyers in book bags tomorrow).


We are delighted to let you know that the Ffennell Skills and Culture Festival is confirmed again for 2014! After a fantastic inaugural event last year we are planning to run the event, which is free for all Oxfordshire Primary Schools, on Friday 13th June 2014.

The event will run similar to last year:
• Friday is Free for all Oxfordshire Schools
• Saturday 14th is open to the public and includes the Ffennell Soap Box Derby
• Hands on activities throughout
• Specialist STEM Zone (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths)
Activities are being added all the time and are offered on a first come first served basis. We will send an email confirmation when booking opens.
In the meantime if you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us:
rob@engineeringyourfuture.com or visit the website for latest information: http://ffennellfestival.org/

FUN CHILD ATTENTION AND MEMORY STUDY – LEARN ABOUT YOUR BRAIN!
Researchers from Oxford’s Experimental Psychology Department are carrying out a study on the development of attention and memory during childhood. Parents can bring their child (aged 6-7 or 10-11) to play fun Pokemon-themed memory games on a computer while we record brain activity. In addition to afternoons after school during school term, we can also book times during the Easter break and school half term. During the visit, we tell the children more about how our brain works and at the end of the visit children can take a picture of their brain waves! The whole activity will last approximately 1 hour. To express your interest in participating with your child, please email us at andria.shimi@psy.ox.ac.uk with your name, your child’s name, age, and birth date, and a phone number to contact you to arrange a visit. Alternatively you can fill in this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Dj4NA2mOsmcLcbuG-AuRVMKlpOWfRiX7TaqVDsRQ3LM/viewform
By expressing an interest now you are not bound to participate in the study. Attached you can find more information about the study and the researchers involved.
For more information please email (andria.shimi@psy.ox.ac.uk) or call (01865 271375).

Newsletter for week ending 14 March 2014

Gardening Club – Friday Lunchtimes
There are still spaces available for pupils in Classes 2 and 3 to join the Gardening Club. Please let Mrs Hopkins know if you would like to be involved.

Storytelling Fortnight
Many, many thanks to all the adults (parents, carers and governors) who came in and read stories in each of the classes over the last two weeks. We have been entertained by a wide range of stories and poems, including Rudyard Kipling’s ‘The Jungle Book’, Shirley Hughes ‘Dogger’, Roald Dahl’s ‘Revolting Rhymes’ and ‘Dirty Beasts’, Julia Donaldson’s ‘Room on the Broom’ and ‘What the Ladybird Heard’ John Burningham’s ‘Would You Rather’and George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ as well as several stories by Dr Seuss, traditional tales such as ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’, ‘The Dragon of Krakow’, ‘Le Petit Chaperon Rouge’ and poetry by Kit Wright. We were treated to stories read to us not only in English but also French, Spanish, German, Hungarian, Swedish, Bulgarian and Yorkshire! These stories have all contributed to enabling our pupils to experience the rich variety of stories and the culture of storytelling in English and other languages. Thank you all for your involvement and support (and bravery!), it is greatly appreciated.

Youth Club in Stadhampton – Message from Debbie Bradford
“We have recently had discussions with an organisation called OAYP, (Oxfordshire Association for Young People) regarding the possibility of joining their community link up project, which will assist us in setting up a Youth Club in Stadhampton. This would be a great opportunity for the young people in the village to experience and get involved in. However, before we are able to move the project forward we need to gauge the level of interest and available support.

We have invited Adam French, a project worker from OAYP, to come and talk about his organisation and what services they can offer us.

This meeting will take place on Thursday 27th March at 7.45pm in the church hall. Please come along to show your support, and share your views on the subject.”

Cycle Safety Training
We are very grateful to Mrs Cove, Mrs Green, Mrs Ellis, Miss Moss-Black (Helen) and Mr Matthews (Dave) for offering to provide cycle safety training in the summer term for any Year 6 pupils who have not already passed the test and would like to have a go. Please could those pupils confirm with Mrs Hopkins whether they would like to do this, by Monday next week. In order for pupils to put their names forward it is essential that they have an appropriately sized roadworthy cycle and a cycle helmet which conforms to British Standards and fits correctly. We hope to be able to extend this opportunity to the present Year 5 pupils during the next academic year.

PTA News
Thank you to everyone who supported the Bingo night last Friday. It was a great success and all the children seemed to have a good time. Thank you to all the PTA members and parents who stayed to help and to all those who stayed to clear up at the end of the evening. Thanks also to Miss Mould for coming and to Guy Holmes for being our bingo caller.

Tickets are still available for the quiz night on Friday 21st March, priced at £5 each or £40 for a team of up to 8 people. Georgina Wiggins will be selling tickets outside Class 1 each morning, so please see her if you would like to buy any. It promises to be a great evening so please support this event if you can.

The next PTA meeting will be on Tuesday 25th March in The Crown at 8pm.
All welcome!


Cake Club
Congratulations to Daniel Ellis, the lucky winner of the cake kindly donated by Mrs Jones. A reminder to Mrs Hindmarch that she is on the rota for 21 March.

DIARY DATES:
Wednesday 19 March Sports Activities Day – please bring PE kit!
Monday 24 March Work viewing evening – teachers available for informal chat if required whilst you look at your child’s work - no appointments necessary - 3.15 to 6pm.
Friday 4 April Break up for Easter Holiday. School finishes at 1.30pm
Monday 14 – Thursday 17 April Sports course at Stadhampton School led by Mr Hopkins. See posters in each cloakroom entrance or book via Mrs Hopkins.
Tuesday 22 April Pupils and staff return to school for the start of Term 5


LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week Little Bears will be talking about growing food and where our food comes from. We will be looking at healthy foods and what's good for us.
A huge thank you to Anna Harris and Carol Holmes for their toy donations.

Community News:
Attachments to this newsletter:
• Brookes Science Bazaar – Free fun for the family on Saturday 22nd March from 11am to 4pm at Headington Campus, Gipsy Lane. No booking required but please note that no parking is available for this event.
• Two flyers about RAF Benson Holiday course from 7th -11th April and Making Connections Day on 15th April.
• Lambing Weekends at Earth Trust, Little Wittenham
• Food technician job vacancy at Icknield Community College

Newsletter for week ending 7 March 2014

Happy MARCH Birthday to: Maggie Almeida, Jem Burnell, Darcy Crook, Emily Drake, Daniel Ellis, Hannah Lansley, Greg Madry, Benjamin Walker and Naomi Woodwards.

During MARCH we are focusing on the core value of TRUST

World Book Day
Thursday 6th March was World Book Day and we decided to do something a bit different this year! Instead of dressing up as a book character, all classes made their own hats or masks to represent their chosen book character. Some children also made masks and hats at home. We used a variety of materials and they all looked fantastic! Characters ranged from Willy Wonka to the Lorax to the tiger (from ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’). The classes also enjoyed sharing books with children in different year groups and lots of interesting ‘book talk’ was overheard by the staff.
Well done to all the children for making such a good effort today and making it a very enjoyable morning of book celebration!

Gardening Club – Friday lunchtimes
We are grateful to Mr and Mrs Burnell for offering to resurrect the gardening club on Friday lunchtimes. Please could any pupils from Classes 2 and 3 who would like to attend the club put their names down with Mrs Hopkins. The club will start on Friday 14th March. If any other parents would like to also offer their help at this club, please let us know.

School Council Flag and Language Competition!
The School Council is running a competition, with an international theme, as a part of our continuing focus on maintaining international links as a school. All pupils at school are invited to take part and families at home too! The task is to identify twelve different flags on the competition sheet. Having done that you will also have a greeting, written in one of the main languages spoken in each country - however some of the letters will be missing! You will need to try and work out what the greeting should be in that language.
Once the competition sheet is completed, you will need to write your name and class on the back of the sheets. Finished entries can then be put in a labelled box outside Class 1. There is no charge for taking part in this competition. The competition sheets will be given to classes on Friday 7th March and need to be in by Friday 21st March. Entries with all the answers correct will be then entered into a prize draw and then one winner will be picked out at random and will receive an international-themed prize!

Advance Warning of Sporting Events
To link in with Commonwealth Day (on Monday 10th March), we have planned an exciting sports day on Wednesday 19th March when we look forward to welcoming a sports leader from Kidz Fit into school. Pupils will take part in interactive sessions to help them to learn the importance of a healthy lifestyle, physical fitness and personal wellbeing. Please ensure that ALL pupils have their PE kit in school!

We will also be taking part in activities for Sports Relief around 21st March. Further details to follow nearer the time.

Cycle Safety Training
We are hoping to be able to run cycle training sessions before the end of the summer term for Year 6 pupils who have not as yet, taken a cycle safety training test and would like to do so. Mrs Cove, Mrs Ellis and Mrs Green were involved in this last year and in order for this training to be available to pupils we really need additional volunteers to help with this activity. We all know how busy the road is through Stadhampton and therefore need a good number of adults to ensure that pupils are closely supervised in this activity. Please let Mrs Hopkins know if you would be willing to help.

Out-grown school shoes
Helen Moss-Black has asked us to circulate to parents details of the UK based charity, Osiligi (www.osiligi.org) which helps to relieve poverty in the Maasai area of Kenya. Helen collects out grown school shoes (particularly sizes 10-3 in both boys and girls) and passes them on to the charity who take them out to Kenya every three months or so. Next time you buy new school shoes, please think about whether the old ones might be suitable for a second life in Africa. Thank you.

PTA News
Tomorrow is Bingo Night! Please could parents be prompt in dropping/collecting their children. If any parent can stay and help clear up at the end of the evening, it would be greatly appreciated. Please let a PTA member know if you can help. It should be a great night for the children!


Individual and table tickets for the Quiz Night on Friday 21st March are available priced at £5 each or £40 for a table of up to 8. It promises to be a great evening, so please get involved and buy your tickets from Georgina Wiggins as soon as possible. This will allow us to make sure there is plenty of wine stocked up at the bar!


Once again, thank you for your continued support of the PTA.


Cake Club
Congratulations to Ella Perring, the lucky winner of the cake kindly donated by Mrs Lansley. A reminder to Mrs Eaton that she is on the rota for 14 March.

DIARY DATES:
3rd-14th March Story telling fortnight – please come in and read a story!
Monday 10 March Governing Body meeting at 7pm
Monday 24 March Work viewing evening – teachers available for informal chat if required whilst you look at your child’s work no appointments necessary - 3.15 to 6pm.
Friday 4 April Break up for Easter Holiday. School finishes at 1.30pm
Monday 14 – Thursday 17 April Sports course at Stadhampton School led by Mr Hopkins. See posters in each cloakroom entrance or book via Mrs Hopkins.
Tuesday 22 April Pupils and staff return to school for the start of Term 5


LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week at Little Bears we will continue to explore the topic of ‘mini beasts’ and ‘the life cycle of a frog’. The Little Bears have worked hard making frog spawn, tadpoles and frogs and learning songs about frogs.

If anyone would like donate some paper plates to Little Bears, this would be very much appreciated.