Newsletter for week ending 18 July 2014

Farewells
We say a fond ‘good bye and good luck’ to our Year 6 pupils who leave us at the end of this school year. We are proud of all of them and wish them every success at Icknield Community College and St Birinus School when they begin their secondary school journey in September.

We also say goodbye to Ella and Jamie Lavene and Bronte and Edison Buckner as they move out of the area and start new schools in September.

Finally we say a huge thank you to Miss Shah for her contribution to the school and wish her good luck in her new school in September. They are very fortunate to have her!

School Meal Price Increase
A reminder that the cost of a school meal will rise on 1st September 2014 to £2.10 a day or £10.50 per week. Cheques for school meals should be made payable to OCC, with Stadhampton School written on the back of the cheque please and sent into school on the first morning of the school week.

Swimming at Berinsfield
Swimming will begin for Class 2 pupils on Monday 8th September. They will have a total of 7 sessions. The cost of the swimming transport to Berinsfield has increased to £65 per visit, so we are particularly grateful to receive contributions of £2 per swimming session from parents towards this cost. Cheques for swimming contributions should be made payable to Stadhampton Primary School please. Thank you.

After School Clubs for September
We have uploaded the dates and times of the after school clubs beginning in September to the school website. There are still spaces available for Multisports (Years 1-6) and Animation/Cinematography workshops (Years 2-6) but after school Archery club is now full. As there are still places available for the Animation/Cinematography workshops, we are now opening up this opportunity to any Year 2 pupils who would like to do it.

Sports Evening
A big thank you to everyone – pupils, parents, staff, PTA, governors, Little Bears, former pupils and extended families for making this event the special occasion that it is.

Report from Reverend Caroline King: “Stadhampton School Sports Day took place on a lovely sunny Friday evening. The fine weather providing a perfect backdrop for a lovely sports centred family friendly evening. There was a great Barbecue, and bar (thanks to all who provided and prepared the food and drink). The highlight of the evening was of course the children, who all took part in a wide variety of races. I have been to many sports days; this one though was very special, it was simply wonderful to see the children giving their all and supporting each other at the same time.

I’m sure having a sports evening adds to the relaxed atmosphere and makes it a real village event. Many thanks to staff, children and governors for your hard work, and special thanks to the children for their hard work and sporting achievement. It was a lovely evening.”

Thank You
As always, there are many people that we need to thank as we come to the end of another school year. We are always very grateful for the support of all parents; we are extremely fortunate to have so many supportive families. Special thanks are also due to Mrs Duke for auditing the Special Purposes and Hall Accounts again this year, to Mrs Bowerman, Mrs Dobson and Mrs Madry for their admin support, to the parents who help regularly with hearing readers, with school trips and bake cakes for a variety of purposes. Thank you also to the parents who helped with cycle safety training this year (and managed to get everyone through their test!), to Mrs Elliott and Mrs Gravett for helping Mr Short to run Forest School sessions and to Mr and Mrs Burnell for setting up and running a very successful lunchtime Gardening Club. A huge thanks also to the PTA committee who work tirelessly to manage the sales of school uniform and fundraise so that pupils can enjoy excellent facilities and have many additional resources and opportunities. The PTA also support the cost of pupils learning French and the upkeep of the swimming pool and have done much this year to keep the school building and grounds in good condition by tidying, cleaning, repairing and painting. Thank you to Mrs Drake for playing the piano in school assemblies and to Mrs Hawley and Mrs Wells who still regularly return to school to help us. Finally, thank you to the Governing Body who give their time freely to both support the school and challenge the staff!

PTA NEWS:
We have been busy in the last week painting the outdoor classroom and the waiting area, we hope you all approve and what a massive difference it makes; thank you to Sue Bowerman, Claire Walker and Emma Fulker for all your hard work.

The PTA would like to thank all parents for their help, participation and donations throughout the school year and we look forward to new events and old favourites from September. We will be sending out a breakdown of everything we have raised and what we have contributed to the school this year, at the beginning of the next school term.

We hope everyone has a fantastic summer holiday and I personally would like to thank parents and the brilliant PTA committee who have been very supportive in my first year as chair; here's hoping for many more great years!

Our next PTA meeting is Tuesday 16th September 8pm at The Crown, we hope to see many new and old faces there.

Cake Club
Congratulations to Tillie Moss-Black, the lucky winner of last week’s cake, kindly donated by Mrs Wiggins.

DIARY DATES:
Monday 11 – Friday 15 August Summer Sports Course at Stadhampton School. Please see posters on each classroom door and in the entrance foyer.
1st, 2nd September Staff INSET Days
Wednesday 3 September Start of Term 1 for all new and returning pupils

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
The transition days ran very smoothly with all of our Little Bears very excited about going in to the Reception class wearing their new school uniforms. Over the three days we welcomed our new Little Bears who all had great fun. We are looking forward to our 10th Anniversary BBQ on Friday, so please come along and join in the celebrations with us. We wish everyone a happy and restful summer break.



Finally, we wish you all a very happy and safe summer break and look forward to welcoming back those who are returning to school on Wednesday 3rd September.