Newsletter for week ending 19th June 2015

Woodlands Residential Visit
All Class 3 pupils had the most incredible experience at Woodlands, an Oxfordshire Outdoor Education Centre near Brecon, last week. I was so impressed with them, the centre staff and the weather (!) when I visited last week. Many thanks to Miss Raval, Miss Peet, Mrs Shortman and Mrs Scragg for dedicating their time and energy to make this such a successful experience for all, and of course to all the parents and carers for entrusting us with your children all week. I could write much more about the benefits and values of this residential visit but the opinions of the children are the ones that most matter.
The children were asked to summarise their visit to Woodlands in one sentence. Here is what they said:

Oliver: It was an excellent experience and will be in my memory forever.
Leo: Woodlands is an opportunity that would be an enormous shame to miss.
Megan G: Woodlands was an unforgettable opportunity.
Alex: An unbelievable, amazing, once in a lifetime opportunity.
Zara: There are so many fantastic things to do there, you will never get bored.
Charlie B : Woodlands was great and you will definitely enjoy it.
Casey: Woodlands is a great place packed with fun like canoeing, Jungle Gym and caving.
Charlie A.: Woodlands is a place to get you off your feet!
Phoebe: Woodlands was so much fun, I had such a great time and I would definitely go again.
Darcy: Woodlands was an unforgettable, amazing experience which everybody enjoyed.
Tia: I had the most amazing experiences I have ever had.
Meg H: I loved Woodlands because the activities were terrific.
Sophy M: I had the best time of my life and nothing could top it.
Alfie: Woodlands is a once in a lifetime opportunity and it was the best week of my life.
Maggie: Woodlands is epic!
Amy: Woodlands was the best experience of my life.
Greg: The best experience EVER!
James: It was the best experience.
Hannah: Woodlands was fandabidozie!
Betsy: Woodlands was the best time of my life.
Cora: Woodlands was such a memorable experience!
Max: It was an unbelievable experience!
Emily: It was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Sophie: It was amazing!
Georgia: Woodlands was an extravaganza and I loved it all especially when I fell off the canoe!

Class 3 are preparing a display to show some of their experiences for all to see. Some pictures have been uploaded this week onto Class 3’s section of the school website.


Swimming Gala
Congratulations to our Year 4 pupils who won the Partnership Schools Swimming Gala at Thame Leisure Centre on Tuesday 9th June, beating Chalgrove, Ewelme, Lewknor and RAF Benson schools. Pupils took part in 4 events – Front Crawl Relay for Girls, Front Crawl Relay for Boys, ‘Pizza Delivery’, ‘Sea Horse Relay’ and a ‘Treasure Hunt’.
Ben and Will reported that “It was a bit crowded by the pool side, but we enjoyed the treasure hunt and the pizza delivery particularly! We came first out of 5 which was really good. We came back singing and enjoyed telling everyone that we came first!”

Festival of Voices 2015
Thank you to all parents who supported Stadhampton School at the Festival of Voices performance at Dorchester Abbey on Wednesday evening. It was a quite magical and spectacular event where schools from across Oxfordshire joined together to perform as a large choir. The singing was fantastic and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the wonderful experience. Well done to all our singers! Pictures of this event have been uploaded to the school website. (Thank you, Mrs Gravett).

PE Kit
Please could all pupils have their PE kit in school everyday of the week until the end of term. Next week is Sports Week and, along wth preparations for our annual Sports Evening in July, we would like to be able to be more flexible with our timetable in order to take advantage of good weather when it happens! Thank you.

Whole-School Day of Sporting Activities – Wednesday 24th June
Michael Hopkins, a qualified PE teacher, assisted by Jordan Piper, will be leading a whole-school day of sport next Wednesday. Please could ALL pupils make sure that they have their PE kit in school as well as suitable footwear for outdoor PE. Thank you.

Science Club
Apologies for the error on the Science Club letter about the date of the 2nd Science session. The date should have read Tuesday 30th June (not 28th June which is a Sunday!).

The School Pool is now ready for use!
Please could ALL pupils have their swimming kit in school from Monday 22 June as the pool is now ready for use! The onus will be on families to ensure that swimming kit is in school each day, otherwise pupils may miss out on opportunities to swim. Pupils who do not have their swimming kit in school will sit in the pool area and read when their class has their turn in the school pool. Thank you.

Final Forest School Session for Year 6 Pupils
Thank you to the Year 6 pupils who have already sent in £1.50 towards the cost of lunch and mini party for their last Forest School session on Thursday 25th June. Further contributions would be most welcome. Thank you.

Forest School Reminder for Reception Pupils
A reminder that Reception pupils will have Forest School sessions on the afternoons of Thursday 25th June and Thursday 2nd July. Please could parents ensure that pupils have suitable old clothing in school for those two dates. Thank you.

Piano Tuition
After the summer holiday, piano lessons will continue to be available during the school day on Thursday afternoons for any child in Class 2 or 3. These will be given by Mrs Trudy Drake, who already provides piano tuition for some children in school. If you are interested in your child learning to play the piano, please contact Mrs Drake directly (mobile 07918188519).
Comments from Lawrence and Tia: “It’s an amazing skill to learn and you can just sit down and play a tune that everyone will enjoy. You learn a new piece every week and learn how to play ‘Happy Birthday’ so that you can play it to a family member on their birthday. Mrs Drake is patient, kind and a brilliant teacher who will help you go from grade to grade until you are outstanding!”

PTA NEWS:
Thank you to the following families who came along to the Sponsored Family Fun Run last weekend:

Austin Bowerman Fegyveres-Nagy Fulker Gravett
Hector Holmes Marshall Payne West Wiggins

What started off as quite a wet day ended up as a really enjoyable afternoon. Some of the children ran as many as 10 times around the course and certificates, medals and sweets were awarded to everyone who took part. We had lots of beautiful cakes to enjoy afterwards as well.

We haven't got a final amount of how much we raised yet but will let you know as soon as we have a total. Thank you to the committee and Mrs Manzie for giving up their time.

Sports Night BBQ Friday 10th July - tickets are on sale from Anna Harries every morning/afternoon pickup/dropoff. Tickets are limited - Burger £2.50, Sausage £2.50, Veggie £2.50.

End of term Disco - Thursday 16th July 6-7.30pm - tickets for the disco are also available from Anna Harries priced at £3 each. If any parents are able to help with the disco then please see a committee member.

Our next PTA meeting is Tuesday 7th July 8pm at The Crown.

Thank you for your continued support of the PTA.

Friday Cake Club
Congratulations to Greg Madry, a nice surprise for him on Class 3's return from Woodlands to find he had won last week's cake, kindly donated by Mrs Burnell. A reminder to Mrs Freeman that she is on the rota for Friday 26 June.

We know that it is a particularly busy time of the year so have added some detail into the events below as a reminder for everyone.

DIARY DATES:
Tuesday 23 June Class 3 Junior Citizen Visit – Permission slips required for all pupils if they have not already been returned
Wednesday 24 June Whole-school Day of Sporting Activities – PE kit required and outdoor footwear
Thursday 25 June Final Forest School session for Year 6 pupils – extra 30 minutes to include lunch cooked on the camp fire - £1.50 contribution required please if you have not paid already. Pupils will not need school lunch as well!
Tuesday 30 June African Dance Workshop – presentation for parents at 14.40pm.
Wednesday 1 July Fair Trade stall after school from 15.20 to 15.50pm. All welcome to shop!
Friday 3 July Cycling Test for participating Year 6 pupils
Monday 6 July Reception & Class 1 visit to Henley River and Rowing Museum. Permission slip and contribution required please if you have not sent in already
Tuesday 7 July Clarinet concert performed by Class 3 pupils at 2.45pm. All parents/carers welcome
Wednesday 8, Thursday 9 & Friday 10 July Moving Up days. New Reception pupils starting in September attend for 3 full days. Year 6 pupils go to ICC. All other pupils move up to the year group/class they will be in at the start of the new academic year in September. Topic letters will be sent home shortly
Friday 10 July Whole School Sports Evening. Pupils arrive at 6pm. Bar open from 6pm. BBQ tickets from the PTA are on sale now and must be purchased in advance. They will not be available to purchase at the event
Tuesday 14 July Daylight Theatre performance of ‘Treasure in the Sand’ for all pupils
Wednesday 15 July Mobile Library visit – book returns only
End of Term Disco. Tickets on sale now directly from the PTA
Friday 17 July End of school year assembly and say goodbye to Year 6 pupils. All welcome. 9.05am start
School finishes at 1.30pm
Tuesday 1 September INSET Day for teaching staff and Business Manager, Mrs Hopkins
Wednesday 2 September Pupils return to school for the start of Term 1.

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Little Bears are looking forward to the Strawberry Fair which will take place this Friday from 3pm until 5pm. All welcome.
Little Bears have been busy making a surprise for the daddy's and wish all daddy's a happy ‘Father's Day’.

Advance Notice of Summer Sports Courses at Stadhampton School
Michael Hopkins will be leading two sports courses here during the summer break. The courses will be on the following dates: Monday 20th July, Tuesday 21st July and Wednesday 22nd July, and also Monday 10th August, Tuesday 11th August and Wednesday 12th August. The cost is £10 per day from 9-3pm and the course is open to all pupils aged 4-11. Pupils may attend for any or all of the days. Bookings may be made directly to m.hopkins07@hotmail.com or via Mrs Hopkins in the school office. Please see attached poster.

Community News:
• Flyer attached about Summer Workshops from the Chalgrove and Watlington Children’s Centre