Newsletter for week ending 19 September 2014

There is a lot of important administrative information in this week’s newsletter as well as other, more newsy items. Please keep reading!

Starting School in Reception in September 2015
Parents of children born between 01.09.2010 and 31.08.2011 must make an application for their child to start in Reception in September 2015. The majority of parents are expected to complete this process on-line at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/primaryadmissions
Please contact Mrs Hopkins if you need assistance with this process or if you have any difficulties or queries. The closing date for on-time applications is 15 January 2015.

Transfer from Primary to Secondary School in September 2015
Parents of pupils in Year 6 should already have been sent a letter to explain the application process by the Local Authority. Please apply on-line at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/secondaryadmissions
If you have not received a letter please let Mrs Hopkins know. The closing date for on-time secondary school applications is 31st October 2014. Parents will receive their offer of a school place on 2nd March 2015.

Application for Free School Meals
We would like to make you aware of the ‘Free School Meals’ scheme which operates in our school.

Pupils whose parents/carers receive the following support payments are entitled to free school meals (assuming parent does not receive Working Tax Credit):

 Income Support (IS) – proof of entitlement is in the form of a DWP Award Notice or FF260 form
 Income Based Jobseekers Allowance (IBJSA) – proof of entitlement is in the form of a DWP Award Notice
 Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 – proof of entitlement is in the form of a Home Office letter, which includes their NASS number.
 State Pension Credit – proof of entitlement is assessed by the ‘Pension Credit M1000 Award Notice’.
 Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) has been introduced to replace both Incapacity Benefit and Income Support
o ESA(IR) will be an eligible benefit for free school meals - Proof of entitlement is a letter or a statement from the Department of Work and Pensions/Job Centre Plus Awards Notice
o ESA (C) recipients are NOT eligible for free school meals
 Child Tax Credit with an annual income “as assessed by the Inland Revenue” that does not exceed £16,190 (the parents/guardians must not have Working Tax Credit). – proof of entitlement is assessed by the ‘TC602 Award Notice’ by viewing the information inside the box on the first page:-

Should you feel you might qualify, please contact Mrs Hopkins, Business Manager, in confidence, for an application form and return this with your proof of entitlement. We ask that you do this even if your child does not want to have a school meal at the present time so that the school can benefit from additional Pupil Premium funding. Thank you.

School Photographs
A final reminder that The School Photography Company will be in school on Thursday 25 September and all pupils will have their photographs taken during the morning wearing their school uniform individually and also with any siblings in school. Year 6 pupils will also have an informal group photograph taken. Families are welcome to come into the Hall before school at 8.30am to have family groups photographed together if they so wish.
Year 2 pupils who have a Forest School session that morning should come to school in school uniform please and then change into their Forest School clothes once they have had their photograph taken. Thank you.

Year 5 and 6 Assembly with Mr Hunter
Mr Hunter, Headteacher of Icknield Community College and Miss Walkley, Progress Manager for Year 6 and Year 7 pupils will lead a class assembly at Stadhampton School at 9.00am on Monday 29th September. Parents/carers of Class 3 pupils are also warmly encouraged to attend if they can. It is envisaged that the assembly will last for no longer than 30 minutes.

Nut Allergy
Some ‘new’ families to Stadhampton School received a leaflet last week entitled ‘Pack a Healthy Lunchbox’. This generic leaflet mentions that nuts are a healthy snack and peanut butter is suggested as a suitable sandwich filling. We would like to take this opportunity to remind parents/carers that we currently have a pupil in school who has a severe nut allergy and therefore we politely request that pupils do not bring peanut butter sandwiches, cereal bars containing nuts, etc into school. Thank you.

Book Sale by Clair Lansley
Clair Lansley will be holding a Book Sale in the School Hall on Wednesday 24 September from 3.15pm. There will be a selection of new and nearly new children’s books at reduced prices and a percentage of the profits will be donated to the PTA.

School Book Fair
We are holding a Children’s Book Fair in school from Monday 20 October until Thursday 23 October inclusive. The Book Fair will be open from 8.30 to 9.00am each morning (starting on Tuesday 21 October) and from 3.00 until 3.30pm each afternoon (starting on Monday 20 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.

Primary School Cross Country Races
The school does not enter a team for Primary School Cross Country Races but parents are most welcome to take their children to enter these events if they wish as individuals. The cost is £2 per event payable on the day. Please note that dogs are not permitted at these events. The dates and details of the events are listed below:

Saturday 27th September Greys Court 9.00am start for Yr1
9.15am start for Yr2
9.30am start for Yr3
9.45am start for Yr4
10.00am start for Yr5
10.15am start for Yr6

Please do not arrive before 8.30am, and arrange to share lifts if possible. Arrival should be staggered to coincide with start times for each year group. There will be separate races for boys and girls.

Saturday 11th October Chiltern Edge 10.00am start
Saturday 08th November Chiltern Edge 10.00am start
Saturday 13th December Chiltern Edge 10.00am start

PTA NEWS:
Thank you to everyone who came to our first meeting of the year on Tuesday. We are planning some great events for the forthcoming year so please watch this space! Please find below details of a couple of events planned before half term, in particular the AGM.

Official notice of the PTA's Annual General Meeting (AGM) - Tuesday 21st October, 8pm in the School Hall.
The PTA plays a vital part in the school community and all parents, as members of the PTA, are invited to support the AGM. This is your chance to hear and see how the funds you helped to raise last year have been used for the benefit of the children at our school.
The AGM is also an opportunity for you to elect the PTA Committee (Chair, Treasurer, Secretary), to represent the association throughout the forthcoming academic year. If you are interested in taking on one of these roles or joining the committee, please speak to Georgina Wiggins or Melanie Gravett. If you just want to come to the meeting to find out a bit more, everyone is most welcome.

We look forward to seeing you on 21st October.

School Spruce Up Day - Saturday 11th October from 10am – as you may know, the PTA held a Spring Cleaning Day earlier this year, where friends and family of children at the school spent a few hours doing some jobs around the grounds. The school looks great after its mini facelift but there are still a few things which need doing before the Winter months arrive.

Please start asking family and friends if they would be willing to spare a few hours for painting, weeding, planting and doing general maintenance of the school grounds on Saturday 11th October from 10am. Tea, coffee and bacon butties will be provided!
Clothes Recycling - Tuesday 14th October – Bag2School recycling bags will be put into book bags as soon as we receive them so get sorting through your wardrobes for your unwanted adult and/or children’s clothes, paired shoes, cuddly toys, bags, scarves, hats.
Bag2School is a free fundraising scheme that works in partnership with schools and businesses to help us raise money from your donations. It specialises in collecting unwanted textiles in good condition which are then sold to export markets worldwide. The PTA receives funds for every kilo of clothes collected, so please have a good clear out ready for collection day!

Finally, if you know of anyone who could run an 80s night disco for us in November (for the adults!) and has all the equipment, please speak to Georgina Wiggins or Melanie Gravett.

Friday Cake Club
Congratulations to Cianna Browning, the lucky winner of this year’s first cake, kindly donated by Mrs Bowerman. A reminder to Mrs Fulker that she is on the rota for 26 September.

Attached is a copy of the rota so far for this year. If you have kindly volunteered, please see attached to see which date you have been allocated, and let Rowena Dobson know if you would prefer another date. The rota is also displayed in the noticeboard in the ‘waiting area.’

DIARY DATES:
Monday 22 September Governing Body meeting at 7pm
Tuesday 23 September 40th Birthday Celebration of the school being on this site with pupils, staff, members of the PTA committee and governors.
Thursday 25 September School Photographs
3 October 2014 Harvest Festival in school at 9.05am
8 October2014 Mobile Library
15 October 2015 Open Morning from 9.00 to 11.30am. Please come and see the school at work
20 October 2014 Book Fair arrives in school
12 November 2014 Mobile Library
17 November 2014 & 19 November Parents’ Consultation Evening from 4-7pm on 17 November and 4-6pm on 19 November (more details to follow nearer the time, but advance warning of the dates available for meeting with teachers)
Tuesday 9 December KS2 Christmas Play performances at 1.45pm & 6.30pm (times to be confirmed)
Wednesday 10 December KS1 & FS Christmas Play performance at 2.15pm (times to be confirmed)
Mobile Library
Monday 22 December & Tuesday 23 December Two day Christmas Sports Course at Stadhampton School led by Michael Hopkins and supported by Jordan Piper. Please see attached flyer for details.

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week at Little Bears we will be looking at families and homes around the world. We will also be looking at maps of the world, different types of houses, and talking about our own families and houses.


• Rota attached for Cake Club