Newsletter for week ending 26 September 2014

Year 5 and 6 Assembly with Mr Hunter
A reminder that 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 warmly encouraged to attend.

Additions to the School Website:

School Prospectus
We have compiled a new School Prospectus for this academic year which has now been uploaded onto the school website. We hope that families will take the time to have a look at it and find it an interesting and useful reference document. It contains a plethora of information about uniform, jewellery, medical matters, absence from school, term dates for this academic year and much, much more. We have also provided information about what pupils study in each subject and at each Key Stage, as well as lots of pictures of recent school trips and events.

Calendar of Events
We have also updated the calendar section of the school website this week as a reminder for parents.

40th Anniversary Celebration
On Tuesday pupils and staff, along with representatives from the Governing Body and PTA committee, celebrated the 40th anniversary of the school being opened on this site. We sang ‘Happy Birthday’ and everyone thoroughly enjoyed a piece of cake, beautifully made for us by Shirley Bateman, outside in the September sunshine and all pupils took home a special balloon. Our celebrations continue next week with an aerial photograph of the school being taken with all pupils and staff forming a ‘40’ shape in the school grounds. More details on this next week, but our understanding is that families will be able to purchase a copy of this if they would like to.

Harvest Gifts
Our annual Harvest Festival will take place in the Hall at 9.05am on Friday 3rd October and families are most welcome to join us. Once again we will be supporting Stepping Stones, an organisation for homeless people in Oxford, with our Harvest Gifts. We hope that each child will be able to bring a small contribution into school before our service. All Harvest gifts bought into school will be taken to the village church and put on display for the Harvest Service there on Sunday 5th October, before being taken on to Stepping Stones. Stepping Stones prefer to receive non-perishable items such as packets of pasta, tins of beans, bars of chocolate, packets of biscuits, tins of tomatoes, tins of spaghetti, etc rather than fresh produce. Thank you.


PTA NEWS:
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 have 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. Or if you just want to come to the meeting to find out a bit more, everyone is welcome.
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 have been put into book bags this week 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 where they are sorted and then sold to the general public. The PTA receives funds for every kilo of clothes collected, so please have a good clear out ready for collection day!

Old School Disco Night - Saturday 15th November - 8pm
One for the adults - more details to come.


Winter Fair - Friday 28th November
Each week we will be counting down to the Winter Fair and will be asking for different donations, so as it's not such a big rush for everyone nearer the time. Please put all donations in the PTA box in the hall.

WINTER FAIR COUNTDOWN 9 WEEKS - WANTED THIS WEEK
TINS, BOTTLES, GIFT SETS
(please make sure they are in date)

Did you know the PTA has a Facebook page?
It is a closed group in which only parents of the school can access. If you would like to join, please search Stadhampton Primary School PTA and we can add you as a member. Any problems please see Georgina Wiggins.

Friday Cake Club
Congratulations to Jude Bradley, the lucky winner of last week’s cake, kindly donated by Mrs Walker. A reminder to Mrs Wiggins that she is on the rota for 3rd October.


DIARY DATES:
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:
Little Bears will be continuing with the topic "All about me" by looking and talking about the five senses. We will be talking about all our favourite things to eat and do with our families including talking about what our favourite colours are. We will also making self portraits.

Community News:
• Flyer from Icknield Community College about a Cover Supervisor vacancy