Newsletter for week ending 26 June 2015

Guests from Hazlach, Poland
We welcomed a party of 12 guests from Hazlach, our partner school in Poland, to Stadhampton School for five days from Friday 19th to Tuesday 23rd June. You may have seen them in school during their visit. They experienced school life, family life, a tour of the village, a day in Brighton, a trip to Oxford and different groups went to explore Henley, London, Warwick Castle and even the Dorset coast! They said they had had an amazing time which they wouldn’t forget. The weather helped but the friendliness of our community, the warmth of the hospitality they received, the atmosphere and learning environment in school, along with the courteous behaviour of our pupils, impressed them and will have left a lasting impression. A huge ‘Thank You’ to all parents, pupils and staff involved in hosting and transporting and helping to organise the visit and to the PTA for providing a tasty buffet supper for all on their last evening. I believe such events are important on many different levels and they would not be possible without all your support and involvement.

Hazlach Visitors – Report by Greg, Lawrence, Thomas C and Oliver L
“A group of parents, teachers and children from Hazlach in Poland came to visit us from Friday to Tuesday. In total 12 visitors came and on Monday and Friday they came to school. On Saturday we all went to Brighton which was exciting and on Sunday we all split up and went to different places. Having guests from Poland stay in our homes was lots of fun! We had nice meals together at home and a meal with everybody together on Monday evening. Our Polish guests were very kind and gave us little presents. The experience of it all was amazing and it was sad to say goodbye.”

Cycle Safety Training – Message from the volunteers leading the training
We have one more session this Friday 26th June before the examiner visits us on Friday 3rd July. With that in mind, we are extending the session this week to start at 12.45 (those who have guitar can join us as soon as they are able), in order to prepare as best we can.

Parents/carers can also assist in preparation by taking their children out to practise and revising the theory between now and Friday 3rd July. The Highway Code book the children have been given explains each of the turns they have to do and some revision would be helpful!

‘Robotscool’
On Monday 22nd June, pupils throughout the school, as well as our Polish guest pupils, thoroughly enjoyed their class ‘Robotscool’ workshop. Each class participated in an age-differentiated workshop using and developing basic computer programming skills to enable the movement of a simple ‘robot’. The children worked in groups or teams and once the robots were ready for action they were entered into a tournament. Here is what some of the pupils in Class 3 thought about it:

Report by Tia, Sophy and Darcy
“We had a fantastic time on Monday building Sumo Robots! We had to build and programme robots in teams. There were four different roles which were manager, reporter, engineer and programmer. The programmer selected the different movements on the laptops while the engineer put together the robot. The reporter filmed and took pictures of the process while the manager made sure things ran smoothly and supported the rest of the team. We learnt lots of programming, coding and teamwork skills. We ended the day with an exciting Sumo Robot fight”!

Whole School Day of Sport on Wednesday
As part of Sports Week, Michael Hopkins, who is well known to the school and a qualified PE teacher, assisted by Jordan Piper and school support staff, led a whole school day of sport. Pupils experienced throwing the javelin, running and relay races, long jump, cricket and ball accuracy throwing skills.
Max, Oliver and James reported:
“It was great fun. We did a Mini Olympics at the end which was amazing. We really enjoyed it and didn’t even mind if we were not on the winning team!”

Citizenship Course - Report by Class 3 pupils
“On Tuesday Class 3 attended the Citizenship course at the Fire Station in Oxford. We had to learn how to behave responsibly when faced with a variety of scenarios which we may encounter in the future. These were sometimes a bit scary, sometimes exciting and always informative. We definitely learnt a lot that we will be able to put to good use to help to keep us safe throughout our lives.”

Ghana Week 29th June to 3rd July
A reminder that we have a whole-school focus on Ghana next week and this includes a number of visitors coming into school as well as a range of artefacts and resources to explore. Parents and carers are invited to the African Dance workshop demonstration and the Fair Trade stall. Further details are in the Diary Dates below.

Cancelled Guitar Lesson on Wednesday
Mr Evans had to cancel Wednesday’s guitar lesson at short notice due to a mix up with his car keys which left him without transport. He will make up for the missed lesson by teaching till the 8th of July rather than finishing on the 1st as originally planned. He apologises for any inconvenience caused.

PTA NEWS:
Sports night on Friday 10th July- Tickets are still available for this evening. priced at £2.50 for a sausage, burger or veggie, please see Anna Harries for tickets as they are limited.

End of term disco on Thursday 16th July 6-7.30pm- Tickets are priced at £3.00 each, please see Anna Harries who is outside Class 1 every morning and afternoon pickup/drop off. If any parents can help on the evening please let a committee member know.

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

Friday Cake Club
Congratulations to Lorenzo Elliott, the lucky winner of last week's cake, kindly donated by Mrs Payne. A reminder to Rachel O'Brien that she is on the rota for Friday 3 July.
We will be continuing to run Cake Club next school year, so if anyone would like to put their name down early for donating a cake please see Rowena Dobson. We will also be offering the opportunity to pay for the whole year's entry in one go - by doing so you get 4 week's free!

DIARY DATES:
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!
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 were sent home this week.
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 outside Class 1 each morning and afternoon.
Friday 17 July End of school year assembly and say goodbye to Year 6 pupils. Everyone 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:
The Little Bears team would like to say huge thank you to everyone who supported our Strawberry Fair last Friday. The weather was very kind to us and fun was had by all! We will be continuing with our ‘Seaside’ and ‘Holiday’ theme this week and looking at all the fun things we like to do on holiday. We will also be making sandcastles, ice cream pictures and putting up tents in the garden!

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:
Sarah Madry & Rowena Dobson still have a few tickets remaining for Boogie Bingo on Saturday 4th July at 7pm in the Village Hall at St Johns. All money raised in aid of Sue Ryder Hospice, where Gareth spent his last few days. Price £12.50 per person (over 18s only) to include welcome drink, 4 games of Boogie Bingo and Ploughman's Supper. A reminder - please bring your own drinks and bottle openers, and reading glasses if you need them. See Row and Sarah outside school gates on Friday morning/afternoon and Monday morning/afternoon. Unfortunately no tickets can be sold on the evening of the event due to the nature of the games.