Week Ending 25 January 2019

Governors Meeting with Parents and Carers

The Governors would like to invite all parents and carers to an open meeting on Wednesday 13^th February at 7.45pm in the School Hall  

Many of you will have attended these in the past, but for those who have not had the opportunity – the purpose of the meeting is to provide a relatively informal forum for you to receive an update from members of the Governing body as to how the Governors support the school and for you to raise any questions you may have.  Mrs Turner and other members of staff will not be present at the meeting. 

The main areas we expect to discuss in this meeting are:

1)   Staffing Matters and an update on the actions being undertaken

2)   Joining the Acer Trust on 1 Feb 2019

3)   Assessing the need for before and after school care provision

4)   Other school priorities and associated financial considerations

If anyone has any other topics that they would like to include then please do let us know via the school office

 

Kind regards

Paul & Viki

 

Emergency School Closures

As we are now officially in ‘Winter’ we remind you of our emergency closure procedures. If the weather is particularly bad or there are power cuts in the village and the decision is made to close the school closures are announced during the breakfast shows on BBC Radio Oxford (95.2 FM), Heart FM (102.6/97.4/102.9/103.4 FM), and Jack FM (106.8). Parents are advised to tune into these local radio stations and also check their e-mails if there is a possibility that the school could be closed. We will also do our best to put a message onto the school website if there is power!

Icy Driving Conditions in School Car Park and Cratlands Close

Thank you to the many families who appreciated the icy conditions in the approaches to school on Wednesday this week. Following the snowfall on Tuesday evening and overnight, although the main roads were clear, the car-park became very icy and a potential hazard. The combination of moving cars and children is a hazard in itself and by adding ice, the potential increases significantly. Information was broadcast on Radio Oxford that we were opening at 10:00am, so that staff could treat the paths and carpark for the safety of all prior to the start of the school day. Many families, however, were unaware of this information or had thought the registers were open until 10:00am and turned up at the usual time. As most staff were in school before the start of the school day we were ultimately able to treat the paths and carpark as well as open our doors at the normal time, albeit with some restricted access. Thank you to those families who did respond to the Radio Oxford broadcast. We would normally also include updates via other media – such as the school website and the OCC school closures website – but due to a combination of events on Wednesday this did not happen and we apologise for any confusion caused. We have identified process improvements which we will implement in future.

Closing a school, or delaying the start time, is not a decision taken lightly but there are procedures for all schools in Oxfordshire to follow and the Health and Safety of pupils, staff and volunteers is paramount. Sometimes decisions may not be popular but have to be made for the safety of all.

Attendance Matters  

DID YOU KNOW…Roughly just 15% of a child’s waking hours from 0-16 years old is spent in school!

There is lots of research that shows there is a close link between school attendance and a child’s achievement. So we know that missed school = loss of learning.

Just one week of absence means that a child would miss out on:  

5 hours of maths

5 hours of literacy 
10 hours of science, geography, history, art, computing, RE and PE.

 Holidays during term time, extra long weekends, sickness and unforeseeable events can all impact greatly on a child’s education. We want to remind everyone that EVERY MINUTE COUNTS - would your child be able to keep up with other children if they missed out on several hours of education a year? 

Please give careful consideration to unauthorised absences. 

Meerkat Champion of the Week

Class 1 Harvey

Class 2 Zac
Class 3 Freya

Congratulations to you all!

PTA News:

Our next events will be a cake decorating competition in February, followed by a Film Night in March. Watch this space for further details.

Thank you to everyone who has registered for Easyfundraising.  For those who haven’t yet registered, you can use easyfundraising.org to shop with over 3,300 big name retailers including Amazon, Argos, John Lewis, ASOS, and Booking.com and raise a free donation for PTA funds every time. It’s that easy! 

Help support us: https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/stadhamptonpspta/

It will cost you nothing and will make a big difference to our fundraising - please speak to any member of the PTA committee for more information or if you need any help registering on the Easyfundraising site.

 Our next committee meeting will be on Wednesday 27th February, venue TBC. All welcome!

Cake Club

Well done Erika for winning the cakes made by Karen B, thank you Karen. This week’s prize is being provided by Rosie T. Good luck everyone!

Diary Dates:

January/ February 2019

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
28 Swimming for Class 2 Pupils	29 Year 5 Forest School – morning   Reception Forest School  - afternoon   Afterschool Karate Club	30	31 Year 1 Forest School  - morning   Afterschool Multisports Club	1
4 Swimming for Class 2 Pupils	5 Year 5 Forest School – morning   Reception Forest School  - afternoon   Afterschool Karate Club	6 Health Nurse Visit Year 6 only	7 Year 1 Forest School  - morning   Afterschool Multisports Club	8

 

Advance Warning of Key Dates
Monday 25 – 29 Tuesday March 2019	Woodlands Residential – Class 3 only

 

Community News:

Advance Notice of February Sports Course at Stadhampton School 
Michael Hopkins will be leading a sports course at Stadhampton School on Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th February 2019. The cost is from 9am to 3pm and costs £15 per day and is open to pupils aged 4 to 11. This course is run regularly at Stadhampton School and is always very popular. Please book early to confirm your place by e-mailing m.hopkins07@hotmail.com or text Michael directly on 07846 012858. Poster attached. 

Yoga Classes

Penny White's yoga classes will be running on Mondays from 7.15pm to 8.30 pm at the Stadhampton Village Hall. 

wellbeingforeverybody@outlook.com / 07592988948

Charity Race Night 

As some of you may know, Nigel Wright, the village fitness expert, is running the London Marathon this year for SHELTER. He is organising a CHARITY RACE NIGHT on Saturday 2nd February in the village hall to raise funds for this worthy cause. Please join him for what we're sure will be a great night. Thank you.