Newsletter for week ending 25th September 2015

Harvest Festival – Friday 2nd October
A final reminder that our annual Harvest Festival will take place in the Hall at 9.05am on Friday 2nd October and families are most welcome to join us. Once again we will be supporting Stepping Stones, an organisation for homeless people in Oxford, with our Harvest Gifts. We hope that each child will be able to bring a small contribution into school before our service. All Harvest gifts bought into school will be taken to the village church and put on display for the Harvest Service there on Sunday 4th October, before being taken on to Stepping Stones. Stepping Stones prefer to receive non-perishable items such as packets of pasta, tins of beans, bars of chocolate, packets of biscuits, tins of tomatoes, tins of spaghetti, etc rather than fresh produce. Thank you.

Pupil Premium Funding – Preparation for School Census on 1st October 2015
A final reminder that if you think your child may be eligible for free school meals please check with Mrs Hopkins, School Business Manager. It is a simple and confidential process to check your entitlement with Oxfordshire County Council. Under the current criteria, children who receive, or whose parents receive, one or more of the following support payments may be entitled to free school meals:
• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
• Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
• Universal Credit
We ask that you do this even if your child does not want to have a school meal at the present time so that the school can benefit from additional Pupil Premium funding. Thank you.

Schools are also able to claim Pupil Premium Funding for Looked After Children, Service Children and children who have been looked after for one day or more, including children who have been adopted from care or leave care under a special guardianship or residence order – now referred to as “Pupil Premium Plus”

Please let Mrs Hopkins know (in confidence) by the end of September if you think the school may be able to claim Pupil Premium Funding for your child. This will provide valuable funding which will be used to help support your child.

PTA News
Save the Children Cake sale- tomorrow (Friday) 3.15pm in the hall. Donations welcome, please come along and help us raise money for the Syrian refugee children. Thank you.

Quiz night with fish & chip supper on Saturday 10th October at 7.30pm in the School Hall. We are very excited to be holding another adult quiz night with a fully stocked bar and lots of great rounds to test everyone's knowledge. Tickets priced at £10 each for fish & chips or £5 without food. Tickets now on sale from Emma Fulker outside Class 1.

Dates for Diaries:
Quiz night- Saturday 10th October
AGM- Tuesday 13th October
Clothes recycling- Monday 19th October
Kids disco- Friday 23rd October

Official Notice of the PTA's Annual General Meeting (AGM) - Tuesday 13th October, 8pm in the School Hall
The PTA plays a vital part in the school community and all parents, as members of the PTA, are invited to support the AGM. This is your chance to hear and see how the funds you have helped to raise last year have been used for the benefit of the children at our school.
The AGM is also an opportunity for you to elect the PTA Officers (Chair, Treasurer, Secretary), to represent the association throughout the forthcoming academic year. Our current Secretary, Melanie Gravett, and current Treasurer, Charlotte Hector, will not be standing for re-election, so if you are interested in taking on one of these roles or the role of chair, please confirm your interest by email to the school office prior to the AGM meeting (formal nominations will take place at the meeting itself). If you would like any further information about any of theses roles or are just interested in joining the committee, please speak to Melanie or Charlotte or our current Chair, Georgina Wiggins. Or if you just want to come to the meeting to find out a bit more, everyone is most welcome.

Friday Cake Club
Congratulations to Billy Bowerman, the lucky winner of last week’s cake, kindly donated by Mrs Hackett. A reminder to Mrs Jones that she is on the rota for 2 October. Please find attached the rota so far this year. We have volunteers until just after Christmas, but more are welcome. Please see Rowena.

DIARY DATES:
Monday 28 September GB Meeting at 7pm
Tuesday 29 September Forest School – Reception pupils
Thursday 1 October Forest School – Year 2 pupils
Friday 2 October Harvest Festival in school; parents/carers welcome at 9.00am; please send your child in with a small ‘Harvest gift’. Thank you.
Tuesday 6 October Forest School – Reception pupils
Thursday 8 October Forest School – Year 3 pupils
Tuesday 13 October School Photographs
Thursday 15 October Open Morning 9.00-11.45am
Forest School – Year 3 pupils
Monday 19 October-Thursday 22 October Book Fair in school


Community News:
• Flyer attached – Protecting your child against flu – Information for Parents

• Flyer attached – A Mile for Migrants fundraising initiative at Dorchester Abbey