Newsletter for week ending 3 July 2015

Happy JULY Birthday to: Jack Austin, Georgia Day, Archie Dickens, Mya Khan, Oliver Lemon, Nate Moss-Black, Harry Waters and Nathaniel Watkins.


During JULY we are focusing on the core value of FREEDOM

Congratulations to Izzy Kenny
Many congratulations to Izzy Kenny who entered a national competition, organised by Warwick Castle, to design a model castle. Izzy came an amazing 2nd and was the only primary school pupil to be a prize winner – the rest were all KS3! Her prize is free entry for the whole school to visit Warwick Castle during the next school year! What an amazing prize; we shall be planning this opportunity into our curriculum arrangements for next year. Well done and thank you Izzy!

Sports Week – Summary for Last Week
Thank you again to Mr Hopkins and Mr Piper for a fantastic day of sport last Wednesday. All children did at least 5 hours of sport during ‘Sports Week’ which involved at least 5 different sporting activities. Well done to everyone!
Congratulations to the following pupils who did very well in our school competitions:
Ping Pong Rally: Jude and Laila; Harvey and Ben; Ella and Lewis.
Skipping: Peter (55 forwards); Olivia (65 forwards); Elizabeth (65 forwards); Billy (72 forwards); Lawrence (87 forwards); Megan G. (83 forwards); Sam (50 backwards); Lawrence (54 backwards); Megan G. (39 backwards).
Well done also to Class 2 who showcased their breadth of skipping skills with pretzels, crossovers and double pairs!

Summer Sports Menu – change of menu for Thursday 9th July
Wimbledon Special – Umpire’s Special (Tuna Pasta Bake) or Murray Margherita Tart (Cheese and Tomato Pastry) with Wimbledon Potato Wedges, Mini Corn on the Cob and Champions Salad (seasonal salad with cherry tomatoes); Strawberries and Cream or Courtside Yoghurt Pots (copy of menu attached).

Ghana Week 29th June to 3rd July
This week we had a whole-school focus on Ghana, in West Africa. Our activities have included; a West African dance workshop (see below), a visit by a local couple who have spent some time living in Ghana, a Fairtrade assembly and follow-up Fairtrade awareness game for pupils in KS2 provided by Mrs Amanda Griffin from Just Trading in Wallingford, exploring and using a variety of authentic artefacts from RISC in Reading, the use of a fabulous ‘Global Kidz’ storytelling tent, also on loan from RISC (it would be wonderful to create our own!), a variety of weaving and printing activities (based on Ghanaian traditions) in each class, and a very popular chocolate tasting session – Ghanaian of course! It has been a great week and even the weather gave us an insight into the Ghanaian climate!

Report by Alex Robinson:
“Mrs Turner had planned for us a very special day of African dancing and singing with Gaspar from the Ivory Coast and Niiboy from Ghana. Niiboy had an amazing African drum and played fantastic tunes for the dances which Gaspar taught us. We all had a very enjoyable time and performed in front of some parents and our teachers at the end of the day. Finally, we finished the day with parents and teachers performing a dance for us to watch! We all enjoyed our fantastic day and thank you to Gaspar and Niiboy and to Mrs Turner for organising the day”.

Festival of Voices
Families who were involved in this inspiring event may remember that a collection was made each evening for Save the Children. On Wednesday, the evening Stadhampton attended, a total of £518.93 was collected and the collection from the whole week raised £2656.62. Thank you to all.

Head Lice
We are grateful to a parent for letting us know that they have treated their children for head lice this week. Please could everyone check their own children’s hair this weekend and treat if necessary.

PTA NEWS:
Sports night on Friday 10th July- Tickets are still available for this evening at present, priced at £2.50 for a sausage, burger or veggie, please see Anna Harries for tickets as they are limited. No more orders will be taken once the limit has been reached.

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 Jemima O'Brien, the lucky winner of last week's cake, kindly donated by Mrs Freeman. A reminder to Mrs Gravett that she is on the rota on 10th July.

DIARY DATES:
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 last 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 itself.
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 school staff only
Wednesday 2 September Pupils return to school for the start of Term 1.

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week some of our Little Bears will be going up to ‘big school’ to enjoy the transition days. We will also be welcoming some new little ones and enjoying a mini topic "All About Me".

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:
• Poster attached about the Stadhampton Youth Club Family BBQ and Games event on 15th July
• Poster attached of Summer Update from Stadhampton Youth Club