Newsletter for week ending 5 December 2014

Happy DECEMBER Birthday to: Ruby Clark, Arun Davies, Thomas Dover, Emily Hackett
and Elizabeth Marshall.

During DECEMBER we are focusing on the core value of CARING

Annual Questionnaire for Parents/Carers from the Governing Body
Thank you to everyone who has completed and returned the recent questionnaire from the Governing Body. The responses will be summarised by the Governing Body, who will provide an evaluation of the findings for parents in a school newsletter, after the Christmas Holiday.

Registering your child for Free School Meals
Did you know that registering your child for Free School Meals, even if they would receive them anyway or don’t take them up, means that our school gets extra money from the Government? You can register your child if you get any of these benefits: Income Support, Income-based Job Seekers Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Child Tax Credit (provided you are not entitled to Working Tax Credit), Working Tax Credit ‘run-on’, the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit , Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 and Universal Credit. Please talk to Mrs Hopkins in confidence if you are not sure. For every child registered, the school receives £1300 of extra funding which will benefit all pupils.

E-Safety Information
We recently distributed e-safety information to parents and carers. If you have not received a copy of this, please contact your child’s class teacher. Thank you.

Pupils from 1974
Last week we had the pleasure of welcoming two former pupils of Stadhampton Primary School ‘back to school’ after 40 years! They were given a guided tour of the school, were entertained by the children singing a selection of songs from the Christmas productions and were treated to tea and cakes. Pupils were given an opportunity to ask our guests about the school 40 years ago and our guests asked current pupils about the school now. It was fascinating to discover which things had changed and which were largely similar – some items of furniture were recognised as being ‘original’! We were able to build up a good picture of school life in 1974 and are grateful to our guests, Mr Stuart Green and Mrs Rachel Mannering (nee Walker), for finding the time to join us.

School Vision Screening for Foundation Stage Pupils
We are still waiting to be advised of the new date for the vision testing and will let you know as soon as we receive notification of it.


Christmas Productions
KS2 pupils should arrive at 6pm to be ready for the evening performance on Tuesday 9th December to start promptly at 6.30pm. A reminder that tickets for all performances of the school plays are on sale from the school office. Profits from ticket sales are being donated to MacMillan Cancer Support this year. The netball court will be opened up to provide additional parking for the evening performance and the PTA will be serving refreshments afterwards.

Christmas Forest School Disco
Ooops! We have realised that there is also a Zumba class scheduled for the evening of Thursday 18th December. The school disco can still go ahead, but we must finish at 7.15pm (instead of 7.30pm). Please could parents note the new finishing time and ensure that pupils are collected promptly so that Zumba can start as normal at 7.30pm. Thank you.

Class Postboxes
As usual, class postboxes for Christmas cards to school pupils/staff will be set up in the Hall and these will be available from Monday 15 December.

PTA NEWS:
A huge thank you to everyone who supported the Winter Fair last Friday – whether you came along, donated items, helped on one of the stalls or stayed to clear up, it was very much appreciated. A big thank you to all PTA committee members who did a great job organising everything and in particular to Sue Bowerman, Melanie Gravett and Anna Harries for overseeing things.

Watch this space for details of how much we raised!

Wreath Evening – Tuesday 16th December – 7.30pm – if you would like to come along to the Wreath Evening please see a PTA committee member as soon as possible. Tickets are £15 each.

Our next PTA meeting will be Tuesday 13th January, 8pm, The Crown.

Friday Cake Club
Congratulations to Mrs Hopkins, the lucky winner of last week’s cake, kindly donated by Harriet Fletcher. A reminder to Melanie Saunders that she is on the rota for Friday 12 December.


DIARY DATES:
Sunday 7 December Christingle Service at 9.30am at St John the Baptist Church, Stadhampton
Tuesday 9 December KS2 Christmas Play performances at 1.45pm & 6.30pm – tickets now on sale.
Wednesday 10 December KS1 & FS Christmas Play performance at 2.15pm – tickets on sale.
Mobile Library
Tuesday 16 December Nativity Performance at St John’s Church from 2pm (2.15pm start). Everyone is welcome to join us for this special service.
PTA Wreath Making Evening. Tickets are £15 each.
Wednesday 17 December School Christmas Party at 1.30pm. School/packed lunch required as normal. School & PTA will supply party food, drink & prizes. Children may bring party clothes to change into after lunch if they wish.
Thursday 18 December Whole-school Christmas Lunch. £2.10 and free for pupils in Reception, Class 1 and for those who are able to claim a Free School Meal. We hope all pupils will join in this very special lunch.
Forest School disco – 6.00-7.15pm. Tickets on sale now as well as raffle tickets @50p each
Friday 19 December End of term assembly. Everyone is welcome to join us for this event.
School finishes at 1.30pm.
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.
Monday 5 January INSET Day – teaching staff and Mrs Hopkins only
Tuesday 6 January Pupils return to school for the start of Term 3


LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
The Little Bears are busy practising their preschool play which will take place in the Church on Saturday 13th December. With the children’ current interest in maps, we will be looking where Santa lives and how different countries celebrate Christmas.

Community News:
• Flyer attached about the Opening Party of the new Youth Club