Newsletter for week ending 22 November 2013

Children In Need
Thank you to everyone for your fantastic support for Children in Need last Friday. Through pupils and staff paying £1 to wear their pyjamas to school and by raffling a Pudsey and a Blush bear we raised a total of £129. We also sold 36 wristbands at a cost of £1 each so the total for Children in Need was an amazing £165!

Coats and Wellies
Please could all pupils have coats and wellies in school every day now that the weather has turned colder and wetter.

Parents’ Evenings
Thank you to parents and carers for the usual very high turn out to our recent parents’ evenings. These occasions offer important opportunities for us to work closely together in the best interests of each pupil.

Class 2 trip to Chedworth Roman Villa
Last week, as part of their History topic on Romans, Class 2 visited Chedworth Roman Villa in Gloucestershire. Chedworth is a National Trust property and they offer an excellent education programme. Our guide, who was inspiring, was also very impressed with both the behaviour and knowledge of everyone in Class 2. Thank you to Mrs Garrard for identifying a new trip venue and well done Class 2! Here are some extracts from pupils’ reports:
“Class 2 went on a trip to Chedworth Roman Villa – we had a great time. We saw loads of real Roman objects and dressed up as slaves and put on tunics and special neck tags. We found out many new things and words – lots of them in Latin! We loved it and wish we could go every fortnight!”
“First we dressed up as Roman slaves then we made some Roman medicine using mustard, lavender, bay leaves and a hint of coriander. Then we visited the baths which were very deep. In Roman times people used olive oil instead of soap and would JUMP into the bath!”
“We saw some incredible mosaics but the toilets were disgusting!”
“It was fun because we used Roman equipment to make the medicines. We visited the spring where the water for the villa came from (it’s still in good condition.)”

Did you know…caldarium = hot room, tepidarium =warm room and frigidarium = cold room!

“P.S. Please go there if you haven’t been already, Roman’s Rule!”

Extracts from reports by Darcy, Phoebe, Georgia, Zara, Ella G., Lawrence, Edison, Isabella, Max and Alex.

School Council Photography Competition
The photographs for our recent School Council Autumn Photography competition were judged on Tuesday 19th November by our TAs - a difficult task! Finally four class winners were chosen. Congratulations to Oliver Bourne (Class R), Isabel Holmes (Class 1), Juliana Browning (Class 2) and Naomi Woodwards (Class 3) who were judged to be the class winners, and thank you to all pupils who contributed. If you haven’t already seen them, the photos will be on display in the Hall between 3.00 and 3.15pm tomorrow and are well worth a look.

Maths Competition- Report from Max and Owen:
“On Wednesday 13th November, Max Lansley, Owen Cove, Thea Diment and Ella Perring went to the Young Mathematician maths competition (organised by Explore Learning in conjunction with the University of Cambridge). When we first arrived all the different school teams had a chance to relax in the Explore Learning Centre, which was good. When we finished relaxing we got on with lots of hard maths which was lots of fun. We had a maths problem called ’Dice trains’ to work on together which challenged us to the limit. It was quite hard but we think we did well and we worked particularly well as a team. Earlier this week we found out the results… good news - we made it to round TWO!

Keep your fingers crossed for us next Wednesday when we take part in the regional finals!”

Netball Competition – Report by Amy and Thea
“On Tuesday 12th November, seven Year 6 children formed a netball team and took part in the Partnership High Five netball tournament. The atmosphere was buzzing with nerves and excitement - everyone in our team was almost too nervous to do anything, but as the matches went on the scores got much better! We were doing quite well until the last match where we were very nervous (but excited!) But fortunately the goals kept on coming and in the end we won 5-0! We were so happy!
After that they started to announce the winners starting at 6th place! It was a great surprise when they said we were in joint 3rd place with Lewknor. But then they looked at goal difference and explained that Stadhampton had beaten Lewknor to become 3rd place winners!
We were all very proud of ourselves and our team work and our positive attitude really helped us.”

PTA Message to Parents

Winter Fair – Friday 29th November
The Winter Fair is just over a week away now, so we are in the final stages of preparation. Please see below:
Raffle - With prizes totalling over £500 this year, it is definitely worth buying some tickets if you haven't already. Please return your tickets - sold or unsold - to the office before Wednesday 27th November.

Cakes - The cake stall is crucial at the Winter Fair so all donations of cakes and biscuits etc would be most welcome. Please bring items for the cake stall to the hall before school or just after school on the day of the Winter Fair - the more the merrier and the more creative the better!

Donations - the donations for all the stalls so far have been fantastic! This is the final weekend to have a last minute sort out, so please bring any further donations in by Tuesday 26th at the latest.

Volunteers - we are still seeking volunteers for the Winter Fair to man stalls on the evening itself, so if you can help, please let a member of the PTA know.

Next PTA Meeting - the PTA is meeting on Tuesday 26th November at 8pm in the school community hall to sort through and wrap all the donations. If you would like to come along and help you will be more than welcome - please come armed with Sellotape and wrapping paper!

We would like to thank parents for the amazing support for this year’s Winter Fair and look forward to a successful and enjoyable evening next Friday.

Wreath Evening – Tuesday 17th December
The wreath making evening is returning this year and will be on Tuesday 17th December. Posters will be going up next week so if you are interested, please contact Georgina Wiggins as soon as possible, as places are limited.

The Giving Machine – Free Money for the PTA
If you are in Christmas shopping mode at the moment there is a way to raise money for the PTA at the same time, with no extra cost to you!

thegivingmachine.co.uk is a website set up to allow you to generate a sales commission to the PTA with each purchase made. It's free and easy to use and there are hundreds of participating retailers including Amazon, Next and John Lewis. So when shopping online if you access your chosen website through the giving machine site, each purchase you make will help to raise money for the school, costing you nothing extra. Please have a look online and register- there is a free app for download as well.
Cake Club
Congratulations to Joshua Hursey, who was the lucky winner of last week’s cake, kindly donated by Mr & Mrs Holmes. A reminder to Mrs Gravett that she is on the rota for Friday 29 November.

Christmas Card Fair
Pupils have been making wrapping paper, gift tags and decorative boxes which will be on sale at the Charity Christmas Card Sale at The Village Hall at St John’s Stadhampton on Saturday 23rd November from 10am to 1pm.


DIARY DATES:
Saturday 23 November Music Evening at The Village Hall at St John’s Church 7pm. Tickets £20 each. It is possible to pay on the door.
Friday 29 November PTA Winter Fair 6pm start
Monday 2 December Meeting at ICC about school transport consultation 7pm
Thursday 5 December Meeting of the Governing Body at 7pm
Friday 6 December Singing Club performing at the Christmas Market at The Village Hall at St John’s Stadhampton at 4pm.
Tuesday 10 December KS2 (Classes 2 & 3) - both matinee and evening performances (times to be confirmed)
Wednesday 11 December FS/KS1 (Reception & Class 1) - matinee performance only (time to be confirmed).
Wednesday 18 December Nativity Service – The Village Hall at St John’s Church 2.15pm
Monday 23 December One-day Sports Course at Stadhampton School for participating pupils. See notices in each classroom entrance area for more information and details of how to book.

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week at Little Bears our chosen book will be Handa’s Surprise. We will also be enjoying some exotic fruit tasting and talking about African animals. On Thursday 28th November, Zoolab will be visiting us and bringing lots of animals for us to look at and touch if we are feeling brave!

• Please find attached to this newsletter important information for parents/carers from OCC about the Home to School Transport new proposals.

Newsletter for week ending 15 November 2013

Act of Remembrance
We held our school Act of Remembrance at 11am on Monday 11th November. Prayers and poems were read by pupils in Class 3 during our assembly.

Message from the Governing Body: Home To School Transport Consultation
Oxfordshire County Council is running a new consultation on proposals to change its Home to School Transport policy following a decision in July to look again at the plans. Following extensive feedback during the summer, when the Council deferred its decision on potential changes to the Home to School Transport policy, revised proposals to reduce the range of schools to which children would qualify for free transport are now being put forward for consultation. These proposals would bring the Council's policy into line with the national statutory level, as well as with similar policies adopted by neighbouring councils. One of the proposals regarding free travel is to provide only the statutory minimum (transport to the nearest available school if it is over the age determined “statutory walking distance”). A series of Public Meetings are being held about this consultation.
The proposed changes would have significant implications for families at Stadhampton School:
- It is our understanding that the Oxford Academy is currently regarded as the closest school to Stadhampton.
- Only pupils attending the Oxford Academy who live in Stadhampton will receive free transport in spite of Icknield Community College being our catchment and partner school.

Members of our Governing Body will be attending the meeting at Icknield Community College on Monday the 2nd of December at 7pm and we actively encourage parents/carers to attend this meeting in order to have a greater understanding of the proposed changes.

Forest Schools Music Evening
Tickets are now available from the school office for the Music Evening on Saturday 23rd November at the Village Hall at St John’s Church, Stadhampton. This evening is being held to raise funds so that we may have a trained Forest Schools leader within school and all children will benefit from regular Forest Schools sessions. Tickets cost £20 each and include performances by two professional musicians, Eleanor Tinlin (piano) and Otis (saxophone) as well as refreshments and a welcome drink on arrival. Please see the attached Programme for further details about these exciting performers.
We are aware that many parents are supportive of the Forest Schools project but are unable to attend the concert due to the difficulties involved in getting babysitters on a Saturday evening or prior engagements. We would therefore be pleased to accept donations towards this project from any families who are supportive of the Forest Schools initiative but who are unable to attend the concert. Mrs Hopkins or Poppy Elliott would be pleased to accept these and add them to the funds raised at the Music Evening.

Thank you
Thank you to the parents who have kindly given up their time this week to assist with the transportation of pupils to various events during school hours. We are very grateful for your support.


Appointment times for Parents’ Evenings
Slips showing the appointment times for the two Parents’ Evenings were put into book bags earlier this week.

School Council Photography Competition
We have had an excellent turnout for the School Council 'Autumn photography' competition. We have been pleased to see entries from all four classes and they have each shown artisitic skill and a thoughtful eye! The 4 class winners will be announced in assembly on Tuesday 19th November, after the school TAs have had the difficult task of judging them...

There will be a further formal opportunity for parents and children to come and see all the fantastic entries displayed in our own photography exhibition on Friday 22nd November from 3pm until 3.30pm. Please do come to see them all; they really are stunning!

The photography competition has raised £15.50 which will go towards wet break toys/games as decided by the School Council. Hopefully this competition is one we will repeat throughout the year, with a different theme. Thank you to all who entered!

PTA News

Winter Fair
Thank you for your donations so far for the Winter Fair. We have had a great response but still need more! Pease bring your donations in and put them into the PTA box in the hall.

Raffle ticket stubs and any unsold tickets need to be handed back to the office or Georgina Wiggins by 27th November so unwanted tickets can be sold on the night. Please try to sell as many as you can – look out for a list of the fantastic prizes in book bags next week.

The PTA would like to set up a group on Facebook. It would be a ‘closed’ group which only members will be able to see, no photos or teachers names will appear, so it is totally protected. We would post upcoming events, PTA meetings, lists of items needed, anything to do with the PTA. Lots of schools already use Facebook to help advertise PTA events. As we appreciate that everyone is not on Facebook, we would still continue to send communications via book bags. Mrs Turner has given her consent to this group, in principle, providing that parents are happy with it, so please let us know if you have any concerns. Mrs Manzie and Sue Bowerman will be making lovely wrapping paper, tags and Christmas gift boxes with Class 1 for the charity Christmas Card Morning on 23rd November 10am-1pm at the Village Hall, St John’s Church. The children are designing a Christmas picture on the bottom of each box and parents may purchase them on the day, but they will be sold on a ‘first come first served’ basis. This is a great village event so please go along if you can. Thank you for your continued support of the PTA.

Cake Club
Congratulations to Sophie Hector, who was the lucky winner of last week’s cake, kindly donated by Mrs Walker. A reminder to Mrs Buckner that she is on the rota for Friday 22 November.

DIARY DATES:
Monday 18 November Parents Evening 4.00-7.00pm
Wednesday 20 November Parents Evening 4.00-6.00pm
Saturday 23 November Music Concert at the Church to raise funds for Forest Schools
Tuesday 10 December KS2 (Classes 2 & 3) - both matinee and evening performances (times to be confirmed)
Wednesday 11 December FS/KS1 (Reception & Class 1) - matinee performance only (time to be confirmed).
Wednesday 18 December Nativity Service - village church 2.15pm
Monday 23 December One-day Sports Course at Stadhampton School for participating pupils. See notices in each classroom entrance area for more information and details of how to book.

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week our book is ‘There was an old lady who swallowed a fly’. We will also be talking about variations in size and shape.

Newsletter for week ending 8 November 2013

During NOVEMBER we are focusing on the core value of UNITY

Happy NOVEMBER Birthday to: Juliana Browning, Beau Burnell, Amy Freeman, Alex Igmofose, Bella Jones, Max Jones, Max Lansley, Lola Odell, Ella Perring and Innis Robertson-Pinnell.

Book Fair
Thank you to everyone who supported our recent School Book Fair. Sales totalled £471.79, which enabled us to receive books to the value of £223 by way of commission for our class and reference libraries.

Free Books for Foundation Stage Pupils
Each Reception pupil should have received a free Booktime pack this week provided jointly by Booktrust and Pearson. Booktime is a national programme for reception aged children providing them with a free book pack to share and enjoy with their family and friends.

Children in Need – Friday 15th November
Friday 15th November is ‘Children in Need’ day and pupils are encouraged to pay £1 to be able to wear their pyjamas to school instead of school uniform. We shall also be holding a raffle (50p a ticket) to win a Pudsey cuddly toy and will have Children in Need wristbands on sale priced at £1.

Parents’ Consultation Evenings – Monday 18th & Wednesday 20th November
Letters giving the dates and times of consultations were put into book bags earlier this week. Appointments are offered on a ‘first-come first-served’ basis.

Forest Schools Music Evening
Tickets are now available from the school office for the Music Evening on Saturday 23rd November at the Village Hall at St John’s Church, Stadhampton. This evening is being held to raise funds so that we may have a trained Forest Schools leader within school. Tickets cost £20 each and include performances by Eleanor Tinlin (piano) and Otis (saxophone) as well as refreshments and a welcome drink on arrival.

Swimming
Thank you to the families of pupils in Class 3 who have already made contributions towards the cost of the swimming transport this term.

Thank you to the PTA
Thank you to all parents and carers for raising funds to provide additional seating in our outdoor drama area. This was installed at the beginning of the week and is already being used by pupils. It is a valuable resource which we know pupils will be able to enjoy for many years.

PTA News
Raffle tickets for this year’s Winter Fair will be in book bags this week.We have many great raffle prizes including a Champagne Tea for Two at the Crazy Bear, 2 tickets to an Oxford United home game and a golden ticket to the Roald Dahl museum.

We have received one or two donations for our white polar bear stall but still need lots more so can all parents please have a good look at home this weekend for anything which might be suitable.

Chocolate is also wanted so please go through cupboards at home and give anything you can.

Also on our wanted list are; jars filled with sweets, chocolate or anything interesting for our jingle jars stall.

Your donations make the Winter Fair the success it is and we really want to pull out all the stops to make this one the best yet! Thank you for your help and donations.

Friday Cake Club
Jack Austin was the lucky winner of the cake before half term, kindly donated by Mrs Manzie. A reminder to Mr & Mrs Holmes that they are on the rota for Friday 15th November.

If you have not already done so, and would like to pay for Cake Club up to Christmas, it is £1.40 per child. Please see Rowena. We are also still looking for families to be included on the cake donation rota. It doesn’t need to be home-baked – bought cakes are just as well received by the winners!


DIARY DATES:
Wednesday 13 November Mobile Library visit pm
Monday 18 November Parents Evening 4.00-7.00pm
Wednesday 20 November Parents Evening 4.00-6.00pm
Saturday 23 November Music Concert at the Church to raise funds for Forest Schools
Tuesday 10 December KS2 (Classes 2 & 3) - both matinee and evening performances (times to be confirmed)
Wednesday 11 December FS/KS1 (Reception & Class 1) - matinee performance only (time to be confirmed).
Wednesday 18 December Nativity Service - village church 2.15pm
Monday 23 December One-day Sports Course at Stadhampton School for participating pupils. See notices in each classroom entrance area for more information and details of how to book.

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Welcome back to everyone at the start of Term 2. Our topic this term is ‘Books’ and we will be looking at the book "The Tiger who came to Tea"
We are also having photos taken on Thursday 14th November from 8am in the school hall - Please see your key person if you would like to come along with siblings in the morning.
Advance warning that Little Bears nativity will be on 14th December - more details to follow.


Poppies and wristbands on sale in school. Suggested minimum donation for a wristband is £1.


Community Notice
WANTED! SOMEONE LIKE YOU!!
Do you like to make a difference? Are you a decision maker? Have you got the odd day to
spare? Yes? I need people like you to sit on school appeal panels! So, if you are
interested in taking an active part in schools admissions and exclusions we would love to
hear from you. To find out more please contact 01865 810180 or
email: schoolappeals@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Newsletter for week ending 25 October 2013

Additions to the School Website
This week we have added After School Clubs for Term 2 and the new Winter/Spring 2013-2014 School Meals menu onto our school website.

Secondary School Applications
A reminder that parents of children born between 1 September 2002 and 31 August 2003 (inclusive) need to apply for a secondary school place for their children. The closing date for on time applications is 31 October 2013. The LA has informed us that two families had not applied by the beginning of this week.

Children’s Centres – Message from Helen Rints, Children’s Centre Manager
You may have heard in the press about the proposed closures of 37 of the 44 Children’s Centre across Oxfordshire. As OCC has less money to spend it is proposed that in the future Chalgrove & Watlington Children’s Centre will be closed. In the initial proposals there are currently no plans for any Children’s Centre in the South & West of the county, with any remaining children’s centre being based in Oxford & one in Banbury. This is of course a huge blow to us as a staff team & the professional partners who we work with to support local families. If you have any strong thoughts on these proposals there will be an opportunity for you to share them through Talk Oxfordshire. Please refer to OCC website http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/talking-oxfordshire where dates of public meetings are advertised, plus there will also be an opportunity to respond to future public consultations. In the meantime I do want to reassure you that the staff team remain committed to continuing to run current activities & support for as long as possible.

School Meals
Thank you to the majority of parents who, as requested, pay money for school meals on the first day of the school week. In order to keep administration for school meals to a minimum, we would really appreciate it if all parents ordering school meals could remember to pay for them on the first morning of the school week. Thank you.
This week, each family should have received, via book bags, a copy of the new menu, which has also been uploaded onto the school website.

Forest Schools Music Evening
We are delighted to announce that tickets are now available from the school office for the Music Evening on Saturday 23rd November at the Village Hall at St John’s Church, Stadhampton. This evening is being organised to raise funds so that we may have a trained Forest Schools leader within school (Mr Simon Short) and all pupils will benefit from being able to participate in Forest School sessions on a regular basis. Tickets cost £20 each and include performances by Eleanor Tinlin (piano) and Otis (saxophone) as well as refreshments and a welcome drink on arrival. Many thanks to all involved in organising this exciting event.

Recorders
Recorder lessons will begin on Monday 4th November for all pupils in Years 3-6. For health reasons we ask that all pupils have their own recorder. Recorders are available from school priced at £6.50 and Book 1 and Book 2 are available at £4.95 each. School sells these items at the price they pay for them.

Swimming
Swimming lessons at the Abbey Sports Centre will begin for pupils in Class 3 on Monday 4th November. They will have 7 sessions and pupils must have their swimming kit in school each Monday. All pupils need a swimming hat. We ask that all parents contribute, if they can, towards the cost of the swimming transport and we are grateful to receive a ‘voluntary contribution’ of £2 per pupil, per week towards this cost. Cheques for swimming contributions should be made payable to Stadhampton Primary School please (£14) or £2 in cash each week is also very welcome. Thank you.

Art Day
Last Friday, we were very fortunate to have Gerri from Little Masters in school to lead an Art Day. All classes focused on Picasso and produced some lovely work. Reception and Class 1 made a Picasso face from clay. Classes 2 and 3 looked at some Picasso pictures and used paint or colouring pencils to create their own ‘Picasso style’ picture. Pupils enjoyed showing their work in a whole school assembly at the end of the day.

PTA News
Thank you to everyone who attended the PTA meeting on Tuesday night, everyone came up with some great ideas and this year’s Winter Fair is looking to be the best yet! It is that time of year, though, when we start to ask parents for donations for our many stalls, so it's time to have a sort out for some of things we are looking for:
• Bottles - any size with anything in, doesn't necessarily have to be drink could be toiletries, oils, washing up liquid, wine. It really doesn't matter.
• Toys, CDs, DVDs, cuddly toys, board games, jigsaw puzzles. Anything for our white polar bear stall!
• Our famous chocolate stall is back and we want to make it bigger then ever so any chocolate you have sitting in your cupboards, get it out ready! We also need lollipops for our lolly game if you have any to spare
Please have a good look around the house during half term and remember us when shopping!
Volunteers are crucial at all our events to help run stalls etc so if you're willing to help out this year please see a member of the PTA committee.

If any parent would like to donate a prize please see Georgina Wiggins.

Without parents support the Winter Fair wouldn't go ahead so we really need your help with donations.

Raffle tickets and reminders will be in book bags when school starts again and we want to thank all parents for their continued support.

Cake Club
Darcy Crook was the lucky winner of the cake last week, made and donated by Naomi Woodwards. A reminder to Mrs Walker that she is on the rota for Friday 8th November.

DIARY DATES:
Monday 4 November School resumes for the start of Term 2
Thursday 7 November Year 5 pupils visit ICC for Science, Maths & English lessons
Wednesday 13 November Mobile Library visit pm
Monday 18 November Parents Evening 4.00-7.00pm
Wednesday 20 November Parents Evening 4.00-6.00pm
Tuesday 10th December KS2 (Classes 2 & 3) - both matinee and evening performances (times to be confirmed)
Wednesday 11th December FS/KS1 (Reception & Class 1) - matinee performance only (time to be confirmed).
Wednesday 18th December Nativity Service - village church 2.15pm
Monday 23rd December One-day Sports Course at Stadhampton School for participating pupils. See notices in each classroom entrance area for more information and details of how to book.

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
We wish everyone a great week half term holiday. Little Bears returns on Monday 4th November to the topic of "Books". Our first book is going to be ‘Meg and Mog’ and we will be having a visit from Zoo Lab who will be showing our Little Bears lots of creepy crawlies.

A huge thank you to all who supported our cake sale last Friday. The total raised will be displayed on our fundraising snake in Little Bears.

We wish everyone an enjoyable holiday break and look forward to seeing everyone back on Monday 4th November. Please be aware of local road closures scheduled for 4th/5th November especially between Stadhampton and Drayton St Leonard.

Newsletter for week ending 18 October 2013

We are very pleased to welcome Mr Andrew Ansell to Stadhampton School. Mr Ansell is a student from Oxford Brookes University,and will be working alongside Miss Shah in Class 3 for period of eight weeks.

Teachers’ Strike 17.10.2013
As you will already be aware, a number of schools locally were either fully or partially closed on Thursday 17 October due to combined union strike action by teachers. This strike action was over disputes relating to changes to pay, pensions and working conditions. These changes are significant and the concerns are that the consequences will make teaching, which is already a very challenging job, an increasingly unattractive profession – both for existing, experienced teachers and for the recruitment of high calibre new teachers.
Teaching staff at Stadhampton School all reserve the right to strike. No teacher takes strike action lightly; the prospect was given very careful consideration however, on this occasion, teaching staff elected not to go on strike. Staff will be closely following any further developments.

National School Meals Week – 4th – 8th November 2013
We are delighted to announce that Food With Thought are offering all our Reception children a free school meal during the whole of National School Meals week. Your child may order a free school meal every day or on any day(s) of their choice during that week by returning the tick sheet on the letter sent home in book bags earlier this week. Thank you.

After School Clubs
We will be sending home details of After-school clubs for next term early next week. Archery, dance, art and multiskills will continue in Term 2. The Archery after school club on Mondays was very popular this term resulting in 9 pupils being unable to have a place. Therefore a place has been reserved for the following pupils for the new club which will begin on Monday 4 November: Ollie and Max Jones, Oliver and James Lowman, Alex Igmofose, Rees Brown, Josh Matthews, Alfie Howard and Charlie Ball. Please could you let us know as soon as possible if your child does not wish to take up this place. If everyone on the ‘waiting list’ does wish to take up a place we shall only have one more space left. If anyone (aged 8 or over) would be interested in this place please let Mrs Hopkins know.


Advance Notice of Key Events and Dates
Parents’ Consultation Evenings Monday 18th November & Wednesday 20th November

Our annual Christmas productions (yet to revealed!) will take place as follows:

KS2 (Classes 2 & 3) Tuesday 10th December, both matinee and evening performances (times to be confirmed)

FS/KS1 (Reception & Class 1) Wednesday 11th December, one matinee performance only (time to be confirmed).

Tickets will be on sale shortly from the school office for all performances of the Christmas Productions. They will be priced at £2 each with all profits this year going towards the purchase of i-pads for use in the classrooms. As we have to comply with fire regulations concerning the number of people in the hall, tickets will be limited to 3 per family for the KS1/FS performance and 2 per family for each of the KS2 performances. We respectfully request that parents do not bring children who are under school age to the KS2 evening performance please.

Our annual Nativity Service is expected to take place in the village church on Wednesday 18th December at 2.15pm. Everyone is welcome to join us for this event.

Class 3 Visit to Wittenham Clumps – Report by Marcin and Naomi
“On Friday 11th October Class 3 had a trip to Wittenham Clumps. We decided to be ‘outlaws’ for the day like Robin Hood and his merry men (and women!) so had to learn to survive in the wild woods. We went off in different groups and made dens from logs and tree branches. When we finished making our den we were able to see all the others and all of them were FANTASTIC. After we had lunch we went outside and made a fire. It was really challenging because we couldn’t use matches and had to use fire strikers but it was even more challenging because it was raining! All groups managed to make a fire and were able to roast delicious marshmallows! We all thought this trip was really exciting because we were trusted to do lots of fun activities that we wouldn’t usually be able to do!”

PTA News
Following the recent AGM, the PTA has several new parent members and we would love anybody thinking of joining to come along to our next meeting. This will be on Tuesday 22nd October at 8pm in the school hall. The main aim of this meeting is to discuss any new ideas for the Winter Fair, as well as decide which old favourites we are going to include. The Winter Fair is planned for Friday 29th November from 6pm until 8pm, so please keep this date free – further details to follow after the meeting!

As ever, the PTA is a chance for parents to have their say and to help make important decisions about fundraising and how the money raised is spent. Everyone is welcome at any PTA meeting, so please do come along. Or if you would prefer to support the PTA in other ways, for example by helping at an event, then please speak to any member of the PTA. A list of PTA members is on the notice board outside Class 1.

Cake Club
Congratulations to Lorenzo Elliott who was the lucky winner of the cake last week, kindly donated by Mrs Hector. A reminder to Mrs Manzie that she is on the rota for Friday 25 October.

Plant Orders
Plant orders are scheduled to be delivered to school on Tuesday 22 October.

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week at Little Bears we will be finishing our transport topic by looking at farms and farm machinery. Little Bears last day of term is Friday 25th October returning on Monday 4th November to the topic books.

DIARY DATES:
Monday 21 October Book Fair arrives
Friday 25 October School breaks up at 3.15pm for October Holiday
Monday 4 November School resumes for the start of Term 2
Thursday 7 November Year 5 pupils visit ICC for Science, Maths & English lessons
Wednesday 13 November Mobile Library visit pm
Monday 18 November Parents Evening 4.00-7.00pm
Wednesday 20 November Parents Evening 4.00-6.00pm
Tuesday 10th December KS2 (Classes 2 & 3) - both matinee and evening performances (times to be confirmed)
Wednesday 11th December FS/KS1 (Reception & Class 1) - matinee performance only (time to be confirmed).
Wednesday 18th December Nativity Service - village church 2.15pm
Monday 23rd December One-day Sports Course at Stadhampton School for participating pupils. See notices in each classroom entrance area for more information and details of how to book.

Community Notices

Nativity scene staying overnight during December
A regular village tradition is for a nativity scene to go round the village during the month of December, ending up in the Church on Christmas Eve for the service. A village family invites the nativity scene in overnight, lays it out in a special place in the house, says a prayer and then passes the characters onto a different family the next day. Each family takes responsibility to ensure the characters are well looked after during their visit and for taking it to the next family on the list. This year the characters have been knitted by Abby & Lawrence Wright's Grandma and are carried around in a basket. Reverend Caroline has provided the prayer you can choose to say as you settle the characters into your home.

If you would like to be part of this tradition please email Sara Wright on sarawright300@btinternet.com direct and she will put your family name down on the list. She will need to know the dates you cannot do plus your name, home address and telephone number. Sara will confirm the complete list before the end of November so you know when to expect it.

Autumn Festival, Saturday 19th October, 11am to 4pm, Earth Trust, Little Wittenham
Join the Earth Trust for a celebration of autumn and harvest! There will be plenty of outdoor and indoor activities on offer for the whole family, including storytelling, planting acorns, apple pressing, grain grinding, bug hunts, craft activities, crumpet toasting, muesli making, and milk a cow (not a real one!). Delicious hot food on offer from our hog roast, soup from the Cultivate veg van, and the Poem Tree café. For further information see www.earthtrust.org.uk or call 01865 407792.

Vacancies at Watlington Primary School:

PART-TIME MIDDAY SUPERVISOR
We are looking for a reliable person to join our lunchtime team on a Thursday and Friday from 11.30am – 1.00pm. (Total 3 hours per week). The rate of pay is £6.90 per hour. Additional hours may become available at a later date.

CLEANER
We are looking for a cleaner to join our caretaking team with immediate effect. The position is for 6 hours per work worked on Monday and Friday only from 3.15pm -6.15pm each day. The rate of pay is £6.67 per hour.

If you are interested in either of the above positions please contact Jane Fowler, School Business Manager at WATLINGTON PRIMARY SCHOOL, LOVE LANE, WATLINGTON, OXFORD. OX49 5RB.
Telephone: 01491 612474, or email office.2459@watlington.oxon.sch.uk
Employment is dependent upon a clear enhanced DRB check and satisfactory references.

Newsletter for week ending 11 October 2013

Possible Strike Action on Thursday 17 October
As you may be aware members of the NASUWT and NUT are in dispute with the Government and have voted to take strike action. The strike action in this region will be for one day and will take place on Thursday 17 October 2013. Teachers are only required to give 48 hours notice of their intention to strike and therefore all that we can do at the present time is notify parents that there is a possibility that the school may have to close. We will provide a further update when more information is known.

Open Morning
Our annual Open Morning will take place on Wednesday 16 October between 9.00 and 11.45am. Please feel free to pop in during the morning if you would like to see the school at work. We hope to have lots of visitors to the school and particularly welcome parents/carers who are currently deciding which school they will choose for their child starting school in September 2014.

Volunteers to hear readers required!
We are very grateful to a number of parents who regularly give of their time to come into school to hear pupils read. We would welcome more volunteers and if you are able to help please speak to your child’s teacher. We also welcome Mr Finbar McGaughey, a resident of the village, who volunteers to help in school on a regular basis.

Forest Schools
For some time now we have been looking into the possibility of setting up a Forest School having experienced some taster sessions led by Poppy Elliott, a fully qualified Forest Schools leader, kindly loaned to us by Little Bears. Forest Schools is “a unique way of building independence, self-esteem and a positive attitude towards learning in children and young people as they explore and experience the natural world for themselves”. It is widely recognised that Forest Schools also helps children to develop self-awareness, calculate risks, communicate better and learn the importance of working as part of a team. We are most fortunate to have been offered the use of Stadhampton River Meadows private land owned by Bob and Frances Campbell, for this purpose and that Mr Short, a member of our support staff, is willing to undertake the training to be able to deliver the Forest School educational programme. It is hoped that this will, in time, be rolled out to all year groups. We are also very grateful for the support of Mr Stephen Dawson, a School Governor who, along with the PTA, is helping to bring this plan to fruition. In order to fundraise for this project, a Musical Evening is being planned in the Church for Saturday 23rd November. We already know that Eleanor Tinlin will be playing the piano and Otis will be playing the saxophone. Further details of this event and details of how to buy tickets will be published in next week’s newsletter. Please watch this space!

Book Fair
We are holding a Children’s Book Fair in school from Monday 21st October until Friday 25 October inclusive. The Book Fair will be open from 8.30 to 9.00am each morning (starting on Tuesday 22 October) and from 3.00 until 3.30pm each afternoon (starting on Monday 21 October). Parents are welcome to come in during these times to browse for books with or without their children! The commission from sales at the fair enables us to buy books to update our individual class libraries and our non-fiction library. There are hundreds of exciting books to choose from with prices from just £1. A leaflet showing some examples of the books available and an order form was put into book bags earlier this week.

We are most grateful to Mrs Woodwards and to Mrs Dobson for their hard work and commitment to the school leading and organising many fundraising events over several years as key members of the PTA committee. I am sure that you will all join me in thanking them and will offer your support to the new PTA Chair (when elected) and to the remaining members of the PTA committee who are working very hard to make sure that fundraising and social events continue. As you can see from the ‘PTA News’ below, money raised by the PTA makes a huge difference to what we can offer in school.
With the news this week that Oxfordshire County Council has to make £90m of savings between now and 2017/18, in addition to £127m already achieved since 2010/11 and £43m planned for 2013/14, such sources of additional funding are, and will continue to be, vitaly important to a small school such as ours and we are very fortunate to have such a supportive and pro-active PTA.

PTA News

AGM
Thank you to everyone who came along to our AGM, it was lovely to see so many people there. There have been some changes as Rowena and Diana stepped down from their positions. Charlotte Hector was re-elected as Treasurer and Mel Gravett was elected as Secretary. The position of Chair has not been filled. In the short term the PTA committee will continue to run the events planned for this term, including the Winter Fair. However in the long term if we want to continue to offer our children the extras they have become used to, we will need a Chair.

Over the past year we have held some fantastic fundraising events and overall raised £5646.07 - an amazing total. The money we have raised has gone towards; part funding of £1800 for the French Teacher, leavers gifts, Christmas Party food, Daylight Theatre performance, and helping fund Class 2's trip to Sulgrave Manor. New items this year have been £500 towards the Table Tennis table - much enjoyed by the children and funds of £1689 for additional seating for the outdoor theatre area.

A huge thank you to the PTA team for all their hard work, the parents who help out at events, members of the community for their support and to everyone who willingly spends their time and money supporting the above events.

The full report from the AGM can be found on the noticeboard outside school and on the website.

Christmas Cards
Please ensure that all artwork, order forms and payment are in to the school office by 9am Monday 14th Oct for your Christmas card orders.

Friday Cake Club
Ellie Walker was the lucky winner of the cake last week, kindly donated by Mrs Ellis. A reminder to Mrs Woodwards that she is on the rota for Friday 18th October.

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week we are looking at the topic ‘emergency vehicles’, making collage fire engines and turning our home corner into a fire station .
Little Bears are having a cake sale on Friday the 18th October at 12 pm and 3 pm and any donations of cakes would be very gratefully received.
Also on Tuesday the 29th October Little Bears will be holding a Halloween-themed ‘stay and play’. Please see Debbie Bradford for more details.

One-day Sports Course at Stadhampton School
Michael Hopkins, who is well known at Stadhampton School having been our Sports Coach for a number of years, will be running a one-day holiday course here at Stadhampton School on Monday 23rd December between 9 and 3pm. All pupils of primary school age are welcome to attend. The cost will be £10 for the day. The emphasis is on having fun and will include playing a variety of sports, games and mini-tournaments. There will be Christmas-themed prizes! Bookings may be made directly with Mr Hopkins (see flyer attached) or via Mrs Hopkins in the school office.

Orders for School Photographs
Please return orders for school photographs back to school in time for their collection from school on Friday 18th October at 8am. Thank you.

Reminder -Invitation to look around our new Village Hall at St John’s this Saturday
Cake, tea, games and art from 2-6pm. This is a chance for you to come and look at this beautifully rejuvenated space that is now ours, ready to do things with. Families with children are particularly welcome as there will be a big art activity, as well as a Ji-anza competition and a “Where on earth?”, in Stadhampton, photo quiz for all of us locals. Please come and have a look. Any queries, please contact Catherine Roe on 07432 126514.


DIARY DATES:
Wednesday 16 October Open Morning 9.00-11.45am. Visitors welcome to pop in during this time to see the school at work.
Monday 21 October Book Fair arrives
Friday 25 October School breaks up at 3.15pm for October Holiday
Monday 4 November School resumes for the start of Term 2
Thursday 7 November Year 5 pupils visit ICC for Science, Maths & English lessons
Wednesday 13 November Mobile Library visit pm
Monday 18 November Parents Evening 4.00-7.00pm
Wednesday 20 November Parents Evening 4.00-6.00pm
Monday 23rd December One-day Sports Course at Stadhampton School for participating pupils. See notices in each classroom entrance area for more information and details of how to book.

• Flyer attached about the ‘Great Pink Bake Off’ at St John’s Church Hall on Thursday 24 October

Newsletter for week ending 5 October 2013

Happy OCTOBER Birthday to: Edison Buckner, Ella Fulker, Mia Gravett, Sophie Hector, Oliver Lowman, Lewis Payne, Harvey Saunders, Marcin Skwarek and Ellie Walker.

During OCTOBER we are focusing on the core value of RESPONSIBILITY

Internet Awareness
There are many wonderful advantages of the Internet but it can be a ‘mixed blessing’. Children can access inappropriate material. We have recently been made aware of some ‘challenges’ on ‘youtube’ that have been accessed by children and which have the potential to be harmful. Guidance is that ‘youtube’ is for children over the age of 13 years old and at school we have a block on such sites preventing access. We feel that sharing this information about Internet safety is important. Families should be aware that children who have unsupervised access to the Internet may be vunerable to accessing inappropriate material.

Swimming Contributions
Thank you to the families in Class 2 who paid swimming contributions during this week.

Bottle Tops Collection for Air Ambulance
As a school we are pleased to collect bottle tops to assist with fundraising by the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance. Mrs Leiper continues to be happy to sort through these for us but has to make a special journey to Swindon to drop them off on our behalf. The address they need to be dropped off at is Agi World, Units 1 and 2 Kembrey Park, Swindon, SN2 8UU. We understand that they may be posted into a collection box which is outside of the building. If any parent goes to Swindon occasionally and would be willing to drop them off for us, please could you let us know. Thank you.

Dolls Clothes Required!
We have recently purchased four dolls for the Foundation Stage class but sadly they don’t have any clothes. They are approximately 38cm tall – 2 boys and 2 girls. Does anyone have any unwanted dolls clothes they would be willing to donate to school or would anyone be willing to make or knit some for us? Please let us know if you can help. Thank you.

Invitation to look around our new Village Hall at St John’s Saturday 12th October 2013
Cake, tea, games and art from 2-6pm. This is a chance for you to come and look at this beautifully rejuvenated space that is now ours, ready to do things with. Families with children are particularly welcome as there will be a big art activity, as well as a Jianza competition and a “Where on earth?”, in Stadhampton, photo quiz for all of us locals. Please come and have a look - I hope to see lots of you, even if only for 5 minutes. Any queries, please contact me on 07432 126 514.

Thank you, Catherine Roe

Science Oxford Live Autumn Events
Everyone is invited to go along to the hands-on, interactive science workshops taking place on the last Saturday of each month at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Here is a link to their website if you would like more information about the various events http://www.scienceoxford.com/live/

Free Football Coaching for Girls
We have been asked to advertise these free football coaching sessions for girls which primarily focus on fun, fitness and team building. Details are as follows;
When - Thursdays 5.30pm to 7.15pm
Where - The Community Arena at Oxford City Football Club, Marsh Lane, Marston, Oxford, OX3 0NQ. Contact details for parents - email: peter.burden2@btinternet.com mobile; 07900832429

PTA News

AGM - Tuesday 8th October, School Hall, 8pm
Don't forget to come along and support the PTA.

Friday Cake Club
Alexander Ighofose was the lucky winner of last week’s cake, kindly donated by Mrs Burnell.
A reminder to Mrs Hector that she is on the rota for Friday 11 October.

Clothes Recycling - Friday 11th October, 9am
Last chance for a clear out over the weekend of all those unwanted old clothes, shoes, belts, bedding (no pillows or duvets), towels and cuddly toys.

Christmas Cards!!
I know it's early (maybe not quite as early as Notcutts!) but we are organising our annual Christmas cards designed by your child. You should see some lovely designs coming home with your child/children this week. If you wish you can add to this design (or even create another one!) but please refer to the guidance notes.

The first pack of 12 cards is £5.50, each additional pack of 12 cards is £4.50. You can order as many packs as you like. A pack of 12 gift tags is £2.50 (and has to be with a card order).

All completed artwork, orders and payment, need to be in by the 14th October. Any queries please see Claire Walker or Anna Harries.


LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week we will be looking at travelling by sea and talking about other ways we could travel. We will also be making a big pirate ship on our climbing frame outside.
We are hopefully having a visit from a Fireman on Thursday in preparation for our emergency services topic next week.


DIARY DATES:
Wednesday 16 October Open Morning 9.00-11.45am. Visitors welcome to pop in during this time to see the school at work.
Mobile Library visit pm
Friday 11th October Bag2School collection
Monday 21 October Book Fair arrives
Friday 25 October School breaks up at 3.15pm for October Holiday
Monday 4 November School resumes for the start of Term 2
Thursday 7 November Year 5 pupils visit ICC for Science, Maths & English lessons
Wednesday 13 November Mobile Library visit pm
Monday 18 November Parents Evening 4.00-7.00pm
Wednesday 20 November Parents Evening 4.00-6.00pm