Newsletter for week ending 10 July 2015

End of School Year Reports
All parents and carers should have received their child’s end of year school reports this week. Please let us know if you have not received the report or accompanying documentation.
We would appreciate parents/carers completing the Acknowledgement/Returns sheet and returning it to school so that we have feedback from parents on this annual report. Thank you.

Sports Evening – tomorrow weather permitting!
Our Sports Evening is an annual school highlight. The date has been in the diary dates section of the newsletter for some time, the pupils have been practising, the PTA have all the refreshments organised, the governors are ready to adjudicate and we’re keeping our fingers crossed for a dry evening. Here are a few final reminders to ensure that we all have an enjoyable and safe evening:

Pupils should arrive at school around 6pm and no later than 6.15pm so that the races may begin promptly at 6.30pm. Please remember to send them with a drink of water or squash!

Parking – if you are able to walk to sports evening it would be much appreciated and really help the congestion in Cratlands Close. The netball court will be available for a limited amount of parking. Please be mindful of the residents of Cratlands Close and avoid obstructing access in and out of driveways.

Spectator line: a line has been marked for parents/carers/visitors to position themselves behind so that pupils are able to run safely in the outside lanes. Please bring a folding deckchair or rug if you would like to sit down.

Finishing line: is where the judges will be waiting to award stickers, update the scoreboard, etc.
It is important that everyone else keep this area clear, please.

Bar: the bar will be open from 6pm. Please support the PTA by buying your drinks from the bar.

BBQ: bbq food will be available during the races for spectators wishing to exchange their food tickets at this time and avoid the big queue after the races.

Play equipment: for insurance purposes this area is not available for use during sports evening.

Young children: please keep younger siblings away from the racetrack whilst the races are on to avoid potential collisions!

Football/ball games: we politely request that no ball games are played whilst the races are taking place.

Should there be any need to postpone we will send an e-mail tomorrow and post a message on the home page of the school website.

THANK YOU!



Meeting with Parents of new Reception pupils
A reminder that we are holding an informal meeting with parents/carers of the new Reception pupils to provide information they need to know about the school and how things work, answer questions, etc at 2.45pm tomorrow afternoon in the School Hall. Miss Mould, (the class teacher,) Mrs Turner (Headteacher), Mrs Hopkins (Business Manager) and Helen Moss-Black (representing the PTA) will be present and should, hopefully, be able to answer all questions between them!

Free School Meals
Pupils whose parents/guardians are in receipt of particular support payments and meet certain criteria may be eligible to receive free school meals. The relevant support payments include:

• Income Support (IS) or Employment Support Allowance (IR) (ESA(IR)) – proof of entitlement is in the form of a Job Centre plus letter or FF260 form or letter from the Department of Work & Pensions. ESA (C) is not eligible
• Income Based Jobseekers Allowance (IBJSA) – proof of entitlement is in the form of a Job Centre plus letter.
• Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 – proof of entitlement is in the form of a Home Office letter.
• Child Tax Credit, provided that Working Tax Credit is not included, and that your ‘annual income for Tax Credit purposes’ does not exceed a threshold figure. – proof of entitlement is assessed by the ‘TC602 Award Notice’
• The Guarantee element of State Pension Credit will be an additional qualifying ‘benefit’ – proof of entitlement is assessed by the ‘Pension Credit M1000 Award Notice’.
Should you feel you might qualify, please contact Mrs Hopkins, the School Business Manager (in confidence) for an application form and return this with your proof of entitlement (original up to date copies must be produced). We are unable to authorise for free school meals without the necessary paperwork.
Pupil Premium
The Pupil Premium is additional funding provided to schools for supporting disadvantaged pupils to ensure they benefit from the same opportunities as all other children.
There are three categories of children who qualify for pupil premium:
• Children who are eligible for free school meals (FSM) see support list above,
• Looked-after children (LAC)
• Armed forces children (Service premium for children with parents in the Armed Forces)

If your family is eligible for the pupil premium, through one or more of the categories above, please could you let Mrs Hopkins, the School Business Manager, know, in confidence, so that we can check whether the school is able to receive this additional funding. Thank you.

Goodbye
We said goodbye and good luck at the end of last week to Miss Sophie Peet, a PGCE student from Oxford Brookes University, who has now completed her final teaching placement with Class 3. Miss Peet had several spells at Stadhampton School during her teacher training and we wish her every success in her new teaching position starting in September.

Henley Riverboat and Rowing Museum
Class 1 and Reception pupils visited the Henley Riverboat and Rowing Museum earlier this week. Focusing on the ‘Wind in the Willows’ story, the children enjoyed songs and dances, making bags and ducks and walking through the ‘caves’ which showed models of the characters. After enjoying a picnic lunch the children looked at boats from around the world. Everyone had a fantastic time and enjoyed all of the experiences.
Quotes from some pupils in Class 1:
“There were a lot of boats. They were very interesting and fun” (Mia); “The story trail was very exciting” (Arun); “It was fun and there were lots of exciting things to see” (Emily); “It was fun when we went in the tunnel” (Laila); “I liked it when we found a place for Teddy to sleep” (Honor).

Cycle Safety Training
Congratulations to Alfie Howard, Emily Drake, Greg Madry, Cora White, Betsy Elliott, Hannah Bradford, Sophie Hector, Amy Freeman and Oliver Lowman who all passed their cycle safety training test on Friday. It is most unusual to have 100% of pupils pass first time, so many congratulations to everyone.
A huge thank you to Mrs Cove, Mrs Green, Miss Moss-Black, Mrs Madry, Mrs White and Mrs Bowerman for organising and leading these sessions for pupils. A special thank you also to the adults who provided an additional session recently on a Saturday morning!

Year 6 Leavers
If any of the Year 6 leavers (those without younger siblings in school) would like to donate their school PE T-shirts to us, they would be useful to have as spares for pupils who have forgotten their PE kit. 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:
Sports night BBQ and PTA bar- a selected number of BBQ tickets may still be available tomorrow evening. Please support the PTA bar which is fully stocked with beer, cider, ale, Pimms, wine and soft drinks. All money raised goes to the PTA.

End of Term Disco, Thursday 16th July 6pm-7.30pm- if you haven't already please return the consent form along with £3 to Anna Harries by Wednesday 15th. We will be holding a small raffle for the children so please bring £1 for a ticket if your child wishes to take part.

Thank you for your continued support of the PTA

Friday Cake Club
Congratulations to Tia Khan, the lucky winner of last week's cake, kindly donated by Mrs O'Brien. A reminder to Mrs Kenny that she is on the rota for 17 July.
You can now pay for the whole of the next year if you wish. It's £7 per child if paid up front, which gives you 4 weeks free! See Rowena Dobson. Volunteers for cake donations also welcome.

DIARY DATES:
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 for pupils
Tuesday 1 September INSET Day for school staff only
Wednesday 2 September Pupils return to school for the start of Term 1.

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
It’s hard to believe that we are nearing the end of our academic year and that many of our children will be moving on to primary school. It has been a busy term with some of the Little Bears having some taster sessions with Miss Mould and practising for sports day.

Sports Day
The children have been practicing in sessions and it promises to be great fun on the day!. All parent/carers, grandparents and siblings are invited to watch our Sports Day on Friday 17th July from 11.30. Please see the Pre-school notice board for the children's teams. Children who do not attend pre-school on a Friday are invited to join in with our sports session which will also be followed by a picnic.

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:
• Cover Supervisor vacancy at Icknield Community College