Newsletter for week ending 28 June 2013

Consultation on the provision of home to school transport
We would like to bring to your attention the consultation that Oxfordshire is conducting regarding the provision of home to school transport. Families with pupils in Years 3-6 received this information earlier this week, however we feel that we should also share this important information with all parents via the newsletter. Currently if a child lives over 3 miles from Icknield Community College and is within their official catchment area, they receive free travel.

The proposal states that from September 2014 students will only get free transport to the secondary school which is nearest to their home address. They will not necessarily get free transport to Icknield Community College even though for most parents, it is their catchment school. Attached to this newsletter are three documents from Icknield Community College about this. Some of the parents from Stadhampton School will be asking parents to sign a petition at the school gate, the petition will then be sent to OCC.

Big Science Event
Yesterday Jake, Hannah, Owen, Ruby and Amy went to the Big Science Event final at Science Oxford. They had to present their investigation to four judges (as well as the other groups) and answer questions about their investigations. You can find out more about our investigation and the other schools’ experiments here:
http://www.playforce.co.uk/#the-big-science-event-the-final-presentations/

Unfortunately we didn’t win but we all feel pleased about how far we got in the competition. This year 6000 children, from over 40 different schools took part and we did extremely well to get into the final 12 groups. West Oxford School won and we all agreed that their investigation into popping bubbles with sound was fascinating. The standard of investigations was high this year and we are even more inspired about entering next year! We also got the opportunity to explore the Discovery Zone at Science Oxford and watch an exciting Science Show involving dynamite!

Bus Opening Event and Summer Fete
We understand that an article about the bus, and accompanying photos, is in the Oxford Mail today, Friday 28th June.

Mr Jason Pearce
Congratulations to Mr Pearce, an Oxford Brookes PGCE student who this week completed his final placement with us. Mr Pearce has been offered a teaching post at a primary school in Oxford and we wish him well there.

Maths Talk for Parents – 01.07.2013
A reminder that we are holding an information session for parents entitled “Playing with Numbers” from 2.15 to 3.15 next Monday. Details were sent out by letter last week. The session, which is suitable for parents/carers of pupils across the primary age-range, will be led by Mrs Linda Hull. All parents/carers are welcome but, if you haven’t already returned a reply slip, it would be helpful to let the office know your intentions so that we can provide sufficient seating.


Swimming Matters:

Class 3 Swimming Sessions at Berinsfield:
As part of the lifesaving element of their swimming sessions all pupils in Class 3 will require a pair of old pyjamas, as well as their normal swimming kit, to take with them on Monday.

Swimming Contributions:
We are most grateful to those families who have already made a contribution towards the cost of the swimming transport to the Abbey Sports Centre. Any further contributions of £14 per child for Term 6 would be appreciated. Cheques to be made payable to Stadhampton Primary School please. Thank you.

Swimming in the School Pool:
With the possibility of drier and warmer weather we hope to make use of the school pool when circumstances allow. We would like to remind parents/carers that it would be helpful if all parents have their swimming kit in school. In order to comply with OCC regulations this comprises a one-piece swimming costume for girls, close-fitting trunks for boys (these can be cycling short style), a swimming hat and a swimming towel. Goggles are not required in the school pool.

School Gardening Club Needs You!
As our girls are moving on to secondary school in September, we need a group of willing volunteers to take up the running of the school's weekly gardening club (currently one lunchtime a week). We have an extremely enthusiastic group of young gardeners who are keen to plant, weed, collect bugs and make compost! They have all the necessary tools, a super new greenhouse to start off seedlings and raised beds to plant into. The children get so much enjoyment from it and love to see their efforts rewarded with the flowers and vegetables they harvest. If you are interested in taking on this incredibly rewarding club, please speak to Mrs Tombling or Mrs Birtles who can give you further information.

PTA News

Friday Cake Club
Mrs Hopkins and Archie Dickens were joint winners of the cakes last week, kindly provided by Mrs Tombling. A reminder to Mrs Buckner that she is on the rota for 5 July.

Sports Night BBQ & Bar - Friday 12th July
As usual we will be running a BBQ and Bar at Sports Night. We will be selling good quality handmade burgers and sausages at the BBQ, as per previous years you will need to buy any food tickets in advance of Sports Night. Burger and Sausage tickets will be £2.50 each, and will go on sale next week, all orders will need to be in by Mon 8th July. Please see Diana Woodwards in the School Hall in the mornings to get yours.

End of Year Disco - Thursday 18th July, 6 - 7.30pm
Get your glad rags and dancing shoes on - it's time to celebrate the end of the School Year with a Disco! Permission slips will be in book bags next week - look out for yours and and bring it in with £3 to get your name down for the disco. Please see Diana Woodwards & Rowena Dobson in the School Hall.


LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week at Little Bears we will be making a holiday art gallery, so please send in some of your holiday snaps. Please feel free to bring in some books to support out topic of ‘Holidays.’A flyer is attached to this newsletter about the Little Bears Fair on Friday.


DIARY DATES:
Monday 1st July Playing with Numbers talk 2.15-3.15pm
Tuesday 2nd July Class 2 visit to the Ashmolean Museum
Tuesday 9 July Summer Concert
Wednesday 10th, Thursday 11th & Friday 12th July Moving up days; Reception pupils starting in September join us in school; Year 6 pupils spend three days at ICC; all other pupils move up to the year group/class they will be in from September.
Friday 12th July EYFS/Reception meeting with parents in School Hall at 2.50pm
Sports Evening
Monday 15th – Friday 19th July No afterschool clubs in the final week of the school term
Tuesday 16th July Daylight Theatre performance
Thursday 18 July School disco 6 – 7.30pm
Friday 19th July Leavers assembly 09.05am
School finishes for Summer holidays at 1.30pm
Wednesday 4th September Pupils return to school for the start of the new academic year

Newsletter for week ending 21 June 2013

Big Science Event Final
Each year our Class 3 pupils enter the Big Science Event organised by Science Oxford which involves pupils in primary schools in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire planning, carrying-out, analysing and presenting their own science investigation. The investigations are conducted in teams of four to five pupils and are initially judged in school, using criteria provided by Science Oxford. One team is then selected to present their investigation in school, to a judge from Science Oxford who then selects school teams to enter the grand final held at Science Oxford. The quality of the investigations that our pupils conduct has meant that we have had a team representing Stadhampton School in the grand final every year for the last seven years. Once again we have a team in the final which will be held in Oxford on Thursday 27 June. We wish Jake Day, Hannah Tombling, Owen Cove, Ruby Dallimore and Amy Matthews every success with their investigation “Does Listening to Music Improve Your Memory?”

School Council News

• We have made an exciting purchase! We have bought a special birdbox with some of the money raised last year. It has a small camera in it which we can link up to a computer in school and watch any nest-building or other activity going on inside the bird box. Next year we might have our own ‘Springwatch!’
• We are organising a table tennis tournament to take place during National Sports Week. Pupils in Classes 1, 2 and 3 are invited to sign up. Reception pupils are, unfortunately, not quite tall enough for the tournament but we will have a table tennis challenge for them. Please look out for the ‘sign up sheets’ which will be put up on Monday.
• We are also holding an Eco-art poster competition. Entries need to be on paper sized 27cm by 38cm (available from school), so they fit into existing frames, and the deadline for entries is Thursday 4th July. The poster should include a slogan or rhyme and give an eco-friendly message (eg save water, stop littering, save electricity). Be as creative as you can; you can use pencils, crayons, tissue paper and/or ICT but please don’t make it too 3D! We ask for a £1 entry fee which will be used to help develop other projects around school. Please ask Miss Shah for an entry form. We look forward to your entries!

Class 1 and Reception Visit to Oxford Science Live
Here are some exerpts from the children’s write-ups of the visit:
“ Class 1 and Reception went on an amazing, fabulous and enjoyable trip to Science Oxford Live. There were all sorts of things there that helped us find out more about science. We saw a shadow wall and a water whirlpool and an air cannon” – Ella G; “We spent the last hour upstairs in a room called Inventing Isabel” – Thomas and Tillie; “We really liked the funny mirrors” – Juliana.

Skipping Workshops
Throughout the day on Wednesday 19th June all pupils participated in class skipping workshops and learnt a range of skipping techniques and activities including face to face partner skips, Double Dutch and continuous crossovers. There were a lot of tired looking children at the end of the day! Thank you to the families who came to watch the skipping presentation at the end of the school day and to those who participated in the after-school workshop. Some of the manoevers seemed somewhat of a challenge but practice makes perfect! Hopefully, following these workshops, a number of children, and their families, will choose to continue to skip for pleasure and fitness. We have bought some skipping ropes for use at playtimes and a small number of child-length ropes are still available from school. These are at a cost of £4 each. If you wish to buy one of these please see Mrs Manzie. Further ropes are available from Ken Barry on 01737 843111 or e-mail Kenbarry911@gmail.com but postage costs for ropes increase the cost significantly.

Pupil perspective on the skipping workshop from some Year 5 boys:
“It was a great experience and everyone loved it. Ken was from a record breaking team who are in the Guiness Book of World Records and was an inspiration showing us new tips and tricks. One Year 6 pupil said that “she would never forget the fun she had”. Some of the tricks were quite difficult such as ‘Double Dutch’ because you needed to time your jump carefully”.

National Sports Week 24th -28th June 2013
Each year we participate in National Sports Week, promoted by Lloyds Bank, and this year the event takes place next week. Our popular skipping workshops, held this week, also link with National Sports Week. Next week all pupils will be participating in a range of sporting events including skipping, a fun-run and other games. Ignite Sports will lead some athletics and team games and sports leaders will lead some international games. We hope that a representative from Lloyds Bank will join us on Friday 28 June. Some events are arranged for specific days whilst others will be weather dependent so we ask that all pupils have their PE kit (including socks and hair ties for long hair) as well as swimming kit in school every day next week. Thank you.
Sports Evening, Friday 12th July 2013
As usual, our annual Sports Evening will take place on the penultimate Friday of Term 6 which this year is Friday 12th July. For new parents this is an evening when, weather permitting, pupils participate in a number of races and events, earning points for their team. It is a highlight of the school year and the vast majority of pupils join in, cheered on by their families, and the event is supported by the PTA with a bar and a BBQ. Races will begin at 6:30pm promptly and pupils are requested to arrive back at schoolboy 6:15pm. Further details, including which team each child is in, will be circulated nearer the time.

International Week – 1st to 5th July 2013
Our annual International Week will take place during the week of 1st to 5th July and, this year, our focus will be on Australia. During the week all pupils will be involved in activities to develop their understanding of Australian history, geography, natural history, traditions and culture. Some activities will be class specific but others will involve the pupils working in teams of mixed age groups. We are also planning to have an Australian display in the Hall if any families have any items or artefacts they are willing to share for this, please talk to your child’s class teacher. No live kangaroos please!

Summer Fete and Big Bus Opening Event
An enormous thank you to the PTA for organising such a great event and to all families and other members of our school community for the huge support you gave this event. We won’t dwell on the weather! James Carter involved pupils, parents and staff in the official opening of the bus and I hope an enjoyable and entertaining afternoon was had by all. Everyone’s participation contributed to the success of the event. Thank you. One or two photographs from the event have been uploaded into the Events section of the school website. More from the PTA:

PTA News

Friday Cake Club
Lewis Payne was the lucky winner of last week’s cake, kindly donated by Mrs Gonzales. A reminder to Mrs Marianne Matthews that she is on the rota for 28 June.

Summer Fair & Bus Opening
A huge thank you to everyone who attended and helped out at our fantastic, if a little soggy, afternoon at the school. We've counted the pennies and we've managed to raise an amazing £1,000. We couldn't have done it without you, so thank you for all being so supportive.

We have some left over plants which can be bought for 50p each.

Competition winners at the Fair were:

Bus Quiz
Cove Family

Bus Competition
Category A (Reception-Yr 2) Lizzie Bowerman
Category B (Yr 3-6) Megan Green
Overall winner Lizzie Bowerman
Special mention by judges Myles Dobson

Children’s Cake Adult's Cake
Megan Green Anna Harries

Miniature Garden
Tia Khan


PTA Meeting - 2nd July, 8pm at Rowena Dobson’s house
The next PTA meeting is on Tuesday 7 May at 7.45pm at Rowena Dobson’s house (Coppers, Cat Lane). Everyone is welcome to come along and join in discussions about our upcoming End of Term Disco, Sports Night BBQ. We will also be discussing spending some of our funds on drapes and benches for the Outdoor Theatre area.

There are a number of unclaimed plastic containers, tins, etc in school so if you are missing anything, please collect them from school as soon as possible. Thank you.

Playing with Numbers talk for parents/carers on 01.07.2013
Following our recent parents’ talk on reading, we have also arranged a talk for parents/carers relating to Maths. This will be led by Mrs Linda Hull, a Maths Advisory Support teacher and will take place from 2.15-3.15pm on Monday 1st July. Further details will be circulated by letter later today.

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week at Little Bears we will be continuing to look at out theme Holidays and looking at things we like to do on holiday. We'll be making sandcastles, ice cream pictures and putting up tents in the garden.

The Little Bears Fair is on Friday 28 June from 3pm in the Little Bears garden. A fun afternoon with lots of stalls and activities for the children and a variety of refreshments (including Pimms!). We hope lots of Little Bears and children from the school and their families are able to come – please feel free to bring grandparents, aunties, uncles, friends etc. Everyone welcome!


DIARY DATES:
Thursday 27th June Big Science Event for some pupils in Class 3
Tuesday 2nd July Class 2 visit to the Ashmolean Museum
Tuesday 9 July Summer Concert
Wednesday 10th, Thursday 11th & Friday 12th July Moving up days; Reception pupils starting in September join us in school; Year 6 pupils spend three days at ICC; all other pupils move up to the year group/class they will be in from September.
Friday 12th July EYFS/Reception meeting with parents in School Hall at 2.50pm
Sports Evening
Monday 15th – Friday 19th July No afterschool clubs in the final week of the school term
Tuesday 16th July Daylight Theatre performance
Thursday 18 July School disco 6 – 7.30pm
Friday 19th July Leavers assembly 09.05am
School finishes for Summer holidays at 1.30pm
Wednesday 4th September Pupils return to school for the start of the new academic year

Newsletter for week ending 14 June 2013

PTA Summer Fair/Fete and Big Bus opening event
We have our fingers crossed for fine weather on Saturday and look forward to seeing many of you at this event. We should take this opportunity to remind everyone about the very limited parking available in the school car park and the need to be respectful of the needs of the residents of Cratlands Close. We will open up the school netball court to free up spaces in the school car park but if families, where they can, walk or park elsewhere in the village, this will help to reduce congestion generally. Thank you.

Summer Concert and NSPCC
On Tuesday 9th July we shall be holding a concert to celebrate the musical progress of the Year 5 & 6 clarinet players and the Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 guitar players. All parents/carers are welcome to attend and further details of this event have been circulated in a separate Summer Concert letter. If you have not received a copy of this letter please ask for one from the school office. At the end of the concert, at the children’s request, a retiring collection will be made for the NSPCC and Mr Ian Stevens, their schools organiser for Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, will be present at the event.

The week before, on Tuesday 2nd July, Mr Stevens will take separate age-appropriate assemblies with Reception and Class 1 together and Class 2 and 3 together on the theme of recognising hazardous situations and keeping safe. The NSPCC campaigns for the right that every child has to a safe and supportive childhood, free from harm, and works with authorities, children, families and schools in their endeavour to achieve this. Childline is also a service of NSPCC. We do hope you will be able to help us support the invaluable work of the NSPCC – there can be nothing more important than securing the safety and wellbeing of children.

Music Lessons at Stadhampton School
All pupils at Stadhampton School receive music lessons, led by their class teacher, as part of the school curriculum. All pupils in Years 3-6 also learn to play the recorder. In addition, there are opportunities for pupils in Years 3-6 to access instrument lessons, on site, from outside providers, subject to availability. These lessons are: clarinet (pupils in Years 5 & 6 only) through the County Music Service, details of which are available from the school office); piano through Mrs Drake who can be contacted at home on 01865 400117, mobile 07918188519 or at the school gate, and guitar through Mr Russell Payne who can be contacted by email on goguitar@yahoo.co.uk.

PTA News
Summer Fair & Big Bus Opening - This Saturday! Start 2pm, Bus Officially Opened at 2.45pm.
We look forward to seeing you all there. Please have a look at the attached file for a programme of all the exciting things happening on the day. Please also see list attached of raffle prizes. Please remember to return your raffle tickets to school on FRIDAY so that they may be included in the draw.

Friday Cake Club
This week’s lucky winner of the cake was Bronte Buckner, kindly donated by Mrs Walker. A reminder to Mrs Tombling that she is on the rota for 21 June.

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week Little Bears will be looking at places we might visit looking at different countries using maps and a globe. We will also be looking at different currencies and turning our home-corner in to a travel agent.

Two dates for your diary -
1. 14th and 15th June- first Kerri and Claire will be hosting a Pre-loved sale on Friday evening 7.30-9.30 and Saturday from 10-12
2. Little Bears Fair on Friday 28 June from 3pm in the Little Bears garden. A fun afternoon with lots of stalls and activities for the children and a variety of refreshments (including Pimms!). We hope lots of Little Bears and children from the school and their families are able to come – please feel free to bring grandparents, aunties, uncles, friends etc. Everyone welcome!



DIARY DATES:
Saturday 15 June Pre-loved sale continues at 10am.
Summer Fair & Bus Extravaganza 2 - 4.30pm
Tuesday 18th June Year 5’s visit to ICC for a PE lesson. Please remember to take trainers/plimsolls and PE kit.
Wednesday 19th June Skipping Workshop
Friday 21st June KS1 Healthy Day at ICC
Thursday 27th June Big Science Event for some pupils in Class 3
Tuesday 2nd July Class 2 visit to the Ashmolean Museum
Wednesday 10th, Thursday 11th & Friday 12th July Moving up days; Reception pupils starting in September join us in school; Year 6 pupils spend three days at ICC; all other pupils move up to the year group/class they will be in from September.
Friday 12th July EYFS/Reception meeting with parents in School Hall at 2.50pm
Sports Evening
Monday 15th – Friday 19th July No afterschool clubs in the final week of the school term
Tuesday 16th July Daylight Theatre performance
Thursday 18 July School disco 6 – 7.30pm
Friday 19th July Leavers assembly 09.05am
School finishes for Summer holidays at 1.30pm
Wednesday 4th September Pupils return to school for the start of the new academic year

Newsletter for week ending 7th June 2013

Happy JUNE Birthday to: Freya Clapton, Will Eaton, Betsy Elliott, Ella Gravett, Zara Hopkins, James Lowman, Josh Matthews, Georgia Valentine and Ellie Wiggins

During JUNE we are focusing on the core value of HONESTY

We would like to welcome Margarida (Maggie) Almeida into Class 2 and hope that she is very happy at Stadhampton School.

Skipping Workshop – 19.06.2013
I am very pleased to inform you that we are planning to hold a Skipping Workshop for all pupils to learn different skipping skills on Wednesday 19 June.

Skipping Workshops have presented demonstrations in over 10,000 schools, represented Great Britain in international skipping events and appeared on many TV shows including Blue Peter, Record Breakers and MTV Live. Skipping Workshops currently hold a world record in the Guinness Book of Records which we participated in. Their aim is to encourage children and adults to skip for health, fun and fitness, whilst introducing modern and traditional skipping games including individual rope tricks, speed skills, long rope and ‘Double Dutch’, back into the playground. The school supports these aims. Skipping Workshops are also trying to promote skipping as a new Olympic sport.

Parents are invited to see a demonstration of skipping at 2.40pm and there will be an opportunity for pupils to take part in an after school workshop from 3.15 until 4.15pm at a cost of £3 per child. Forms for participation in this workshop will be distributed early next week.

Skipping Workshops will have high quality ‘speed ropes’, as used by the international team, on sale at school at a reduced cost of £4.00 each. In addition they will have ‘solar’ ropes (which change colour) for sale at £6 each and a range of adult and family sized ropes. Further details will be on the workshop information sheet. Purchase of the skipping ropes is optional.

We are aware that the Skipping Workshop coincides with both the Year 6 ICC Buddying session and the Singing Club. The Singing Club will still take place and Year 6 pupils will need to attend the Buddying Session.

Cycle Safety Training
We would like to be able to offer cycle safety training to eight Year 5 pupils starting on 14th June. There will be further training sessions on 21st/28th June and 5th/12th July with the test booked for 17th July. We are grateful to Mrs Scragg, Mrs Green, Mrs Birtles and Mrs Ellis for their support in providing this opportunity but would welcome further offers of parental help so that we have a larger range of support to call upon for future sessions. Pupils need to have a roadworthy cycle and a cycle helmet and be able to commit to training on each day otherwise they will not be eligible to take the test. Numbers are limited to eight Year 5 pupils. Please ask your child to let Mrs Hopkins know if they would like to participate.


Vouchers
Thank you for collecting Sainsbury vouchers for us. We would be grateful to receive any further vouchers now so that we can make our choices from the catalogue. Thank you.
Summer Fair and Bus opening Event -15th June
The PTA have put in a huge amount of time and energy to organise this event so please support it in whatever way you can – please read on…

PTA News

Summer Fair & the Big Bus Opening - Saturday 15 June, 2 til 4.30pm
It's nearly here - and we have so many exciting things happening - from the Bus being officially opened by a local poet, a drum band, have a go at Zumba, James & the Giant Peach Punch Tent, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory game, Ride on the Magic Roundabout, Guess How Much I Love You card making and much more!!!

We still need lots of the following for our stalls:
• Items that we could use as raffle prizes
• China for 'Winnie the Witch Gets Cracking'
• Good quality items for the 'Brown Gruffalo' Stall
• Bottles/Jars/Cans for the 'Lord of the Rings' Game
• Filled jars (small toys, recipes, sweets, hair clips/bands, stationary items) for the 'BFG's jar of...' stall
• Sweets/Chocolate for the 'Charlie & the Chocolate Factory' game
We also need Gazebos (just in case it rains, although I'm sure it won't!) - have you got one that you could lend us for the day? We'll be around all week so please bring in and give us any donations you have. Don't forget to return raffle tickets, competition entry forms, bus quizzes and payment to Rowena Dobson at School. Thank you.

Friday Cake Club
Megan Green was the lucky winner of the last cake before half term, kindly donated by Mrs Payne. A reminder to Mrs Gonzales that she is on the rota for Friday 14 June.


DIARY DATES:
Tuesday 11th June Reception and Class 1 visit to Science Oxford Live
Wednesday 12th June Mobile Library
Friday 14 June Pre-loved sale at Little Bears 7.30-9.30pm
Saturday 15 June Pre-loved sale continues at 10am.
Summer Fair & Bus Extravaganza 2 - 4.30pm
Tuesday 18th June Year 5’s visit to ICC for a PE lesson. Please remember to take trainers/plimsolls and PE kit.
Wednesday 10th, Thursday 11th & Friday 12th July Moving up days; Reception pupils starting in September join us in school; Year 6 pupils spend three days at ICC; all other pupils move up to the year group/class they will be in from September.
Friday 12th July EYFS/Reception meeting with parents in School Hall at 2.50pm
Sports Evening
Monday 15th – Friday 19th July No afterschool clubs in the final week of the school term
Tuesday 16th July Daylight Theatre performance
Thursday 18 July School disco 6 – 7.30pm
Friday 19th July Leavers assembly 09.05am
School finishes for Summer holidays at 1.30pm
Wednesday 4th September Pupils return to school for the start of the new academic year

Newsletter for week ending 24 May 2013

Congratulations
We would like to share the great news from Icknield Community College that Daniel Green and Jessica Tombling, both former pupils of Stadhampton Primary School, have been selected as Head Boy and Head Girl for the next academic year. Kezia Lawson and Joshua Drake have also been appointed as senior prefects. We are very proud of our ex-pupils and congratulate them all.


Secondary School Transition Information
Year 6 pupils have been given some information this week about their transition to secondary school and also a letter from the Public Health Directorate about protection against measles. If you have not been given this information, please ask your child for it!


Recorders
Recorder lessons will continue for all pupils in Years 2-6 on Mondays during Term 6. All pupils require their own recorder for hygiene reasons and ideally their own recorder book. Recorders are on sale from the school office for £6.50 and books for £4.80 each (the price we pay for them).

‘Musical Showcase’ – 09.07.2013
We would like to give you advance notice of a special event on Tuesday 9th July where our clarinet players, guitar players and Year 6 will be showcasing their musical and singing talents. All families are welcome to join the audience. The event will start at 2.15pm and finish by the end of the normal school day. Further details to follow.


Swimming at Berinsfield and in the School Pool
Swimming sessions begin for Class 3 pupils at the Abbey Sports Centre from Monday 3rd June through to Monday 15th July (7 sessions). As always, we are most grateful to the parents who make a contribution towards the cost of the transport which is currently £60 per visit. The recommended contribution is £2 per child per week, (£14 in total) and cheques for swimming should be made payable to Stadhampton Primary School please.

We are grateful to Mrs Shortman and Mr Short for preparing our own school pool for use and to teaching staff who have gained the appropriate lifesaving qualifications. A water sample has been taken away for analysis and providing we get the ‘all-clear’ on that the pool will be ready for use as soon as the weather improves. Please could all pupils (Reception included) have swimming kit available in school each day for the start of Term 6. Girls should have a one-piece swimming costume, boys tight-fitting rather than baggy trunks (as these impede their swimming) and all pupils need a swimming hat and a towel. Thank you.


Multisports After School Club
We are most grateful to Michael Hopkins for leading PE lessons and after school clubs at Stadhampton School for several years. Michael has now finished university and is about to spend a couple of months travelling so is unavailable to provide after school clubs. However, he will continue to lead Holiday courses in the future at Stadhampton School. The next one is 12-16 August. There will be no multisports on Wednesday afternoons in Term 6 but Miss Mould is leading a singing club. We are aiming to offer either an art or a dance club on Wednesdays from September and we are also following up other leads with a view to providing some new clubs.

Missing sweatshirt and cardigan
Tille Moss Black in Class 1 has mislaid a school sweatshirt and a cardigan, both unfortunately unnamed, but size 28. Please could everyone check their children’s PE bags in case they are in the wrong bag?

Oxfordshire Ffennell Festival
The Oxfordshire Ffennell Festival takes place on 7/8 June at Hill End, Eynsham Road, Farmoor, Oxford, OX2 9NJ. Entry is free. Activities include science zone, eco-zone, tasty zone, art zone, history zone, cake decorating, bee keeping, lollipop factory, slimbing wall, candle making, playbus and much more. Saturday 8th June 10-5pm.

Event at Barefoot Books
There is an opportunity to join author David Calcutt and be his Merry Men on a wonderful journey through Sherwood Forest …. £6 per child or £12 per family, Sunday 26 May 2.30-3.30pm, 294 Banbury Road, Summertown, OX2 7ED.


PTA News
Friday Cake Club
Freya Clapton was the lucky winner of last week's cake, kindly donated by Miss Gardner. A reminder to Mrs Walker that she is on the rota for 7th June, the first Friday after half term.


Big Bus Opening & Summer Fair, Saturday 15th June
Bus Quizzes will be on sale this Friday for £2. Have fun testing your knowledge on all things 'buses' and enter your completed quiz to win a prize at the Fair.

Keep any eye out for details of all the competitions you could enter at the Fair and tickets for the Raffle in bookbags this week.


Preparations for our fun filled fair are well under way and we looking for your help. Are you able to provide, or help, with any of the following:
• Gazebo's or large party tents & being able to put up and take down on the day
• A half hour or hour to help run a stall on the day
• Any spare plants that we could sell on our plant stall
• Any old (clean) lego that we could use for a stall
• Any old crockery that we could put on our 'smashing' China shy!
• FILL-A-JAR with anything.... here are a few ideas - buttons, Lego, recipes, stickers, sweets, cotton wool, hair bands/clips (new), rubbers, sharpeners.....the list is endless.

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Little Bears are returning to the topic of ‘Holidays’ on the 3rd June. We have our fingers crossed for some sunny days so that we can really enjoy this theme and practice our sports day. The actual date will be announced at the start of Term 6.
Have a great half-term break and we will look forward to seeing you all in a week’s time.


DIARY DATES:
Monday 3rd June Return to school for the start of Term 6
Thursday 6th June Year 5’s visit to ICC for Science lesson
Tuesday 11th June Reception and Class 1 visit to Science Oxford Live
Wednesday 12th June Mobile Library
Friday 14 June Pre-loved sale at Little Bears 7.30-9.30pm
Saturday 15 June Pre-loved sale continues at 10am.
Summer Fair & Bus Extravaganza 2 - 4.30pm
Tuesday 18th June Year 5’s visit to ICC for a PE lesson. Please remember to take trainers/plimsolls and PE kit.
Wednesday 10th, Thursday 11th & Friday 12th July Moving up days; Reception pupils starting in September join us in school; Year 6 pupils spend three days at ICC; all other pupils move up to the year group/class they will be in from September.
Friday 12th July EYFS/Reception meeting with parents in School Hall at 2.50pm
Sports Evening
Monday 15th – Thursday 18th July No afterschool clubs in the final week of the school term
Tuesday 16th July Daylight Theatre performance
Friday 19th July Leavers assembly 09.05am
School finishes for Summer holidays 1.30pm
Wednesday 4th September Pupils return to school for the start of the new academic year

Newsletter for week ending 17 May 2013

Swimming at the Abbey Sports Centre
As next week will be the final swimming session for Class 2 this term, we would like to thank those parents who have already made voluntary contribution towards the cost of the transport to the Abbey Sports Centre. Any further contributions would be gratefully received. Cheques for swimming should be made payable to Stadhampton Primary School please. Thank you for your continued support.
Unfortunately the pool was unavailable for use last Monday, due to a problem with the heating. We were made aware of this at short notice but were able to make use of the Sports Hall facilities enabling Class 2 pupils to access sporting experiences that are more limited in our own Hall.

School SATs
Year 6 pupils have now completed their end of KS2 SATs papers and the relief is obvious! Pupils in other year groups, from Years 2 to 5, have largely completed their tasks and tests too although some will continue to take place early next week.
Thank you to all families for ensuring that all dentist and doctors appointments etc have been avoided during this time.

Missing School Uniform
Eliza Gardner in Reception cannot find two of her named blue school cardigans. Please could everyone check to see if they have inadvertently got into the wrong bag?

PTA News
Friday Cake Club
Sophie Hector was the lucky winner of last week’s cake, kindly donated by Mrs Lowman. A reminder to Mrs Payne that she is on the rota for Friday 24 May.
As the Cake Club has been very popular, we will continue it next year, if anyone would like to volunteer to make a cake next school year(!) please see Rowena.

Bags2School
Many thank to everyone for all their contributions (over 60 bags were collected) and to those who oversaw the collection and loading. We will let you know how much was raised once we have the details from Bags2School.

Summer Fair & Bus Extravaganza - Saturday 15th June, 2 - 4.30pm
We would be grateful for the following items for some of our stalls - sweets, toys, games, books, unwanted crockery, plants, plant pots, bottles, tins, cans etc. Also, if anyone has a small paddling pool that we could borrow for the day, please see either Rowena Dobson or Tracey Valentine.

There are lots of exciting competitions to enter which will be judged at the Bus Extravaganza and Fair. Entry forms and Quiz forms can be purchased from Rowena Dobson or Tracey Valentine. Details below:

1. Bus Quiz - 25 bus-related questions that involve both general and local knowledge. Prize for the entry with the most correct entries. Price £2.50.

2. Bus Picture or Model competition - create a picture or model of a bus. It can be made with anything; paint, pencils etc, junk, Lego, K'nex... Let your imagination go wild! Entry price 50p, and the winner gets their photo on the cover of the Village Voice!

3. Cake Competitions - Two competitions - one for children and one for adults. Elaine Burnell is to be the judge! Cakes need to be at School by 2pm on Saturday 15th June. After judging the cakes will be sold on the Cake stall. Entry price 50p with a prize for each winner.

4. Miniature Garden Competition - design your own miniature garden. Get really creative. Entry price 50p.

Pond Dipping Event on 31st May
The River Thame Conservation Trust invite you to a "Pond Dipping" event on Friday 31st May 2013, between 10am and 1pm at Chiselhampton House.

Features of the morning will include Pond Dipping in the parkland with experts from The Million Ponds Project and fishing demonstrations by the River Thame.

The event is aimed at children between 8 and 11 years old and they must be accompanied by a responsible adult on the day. Please bring along a drink and snack as we will break during the morning, and wear appropriate clothing and footwear for the weather. Parking will be available using the field gate by The Coach & Horses which will be signposted.

A suggested donation of £5 per child to the River Thame Conservation Trust would be gratefully received.

For enquiries and to book your child's place, please contact Stephen Dawson on 07729 902427 or email s.dawson78@yahoo.co.uk

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Little Bears will be enjoying the song '10 in a bed' next week - children can come dressed in PJs on Friday if they like as we end the week on a song! Don't forget a teddy bear!
Friday 24 May, 3pm, is also the last day of term. Little Bears return Monday 3 June when our topic will be 'Holidays'.
Thank you to all our parents who donated clothes to the Bags2Schools - we collected 21 bags, a terrific contribution to the school initiative.

For your diary - a Preloved Clothing sale will be taking place at Little Bears on Friday 14 June 7.30-9.30pm and Saturday 15 June 10am (the morning of the Library Bus Launch at the school). All items in good, clean condition, some never worn. All items under £20. Please see the attached poster for more information.


DIARY DATES:
Friday 24th May Break up at 3.15pm for May Holiday
Monday 3rd June Return to school for the start of Term 6
Thursday 6th June Year 5’s visit to ICC for Science lesson
Wednesday 12th June Mobile Library
Friday 14 June Pre-loved sale at Little Bears 7.30-9.30pm
Saturday 15 June Pre-loved sale continues at 10am.
Summer Fair & Bus Extravaganza 2 - 4.30pm
Tuesday 18th June Year 5’s visit to ICC for a PE lesson. Please remember to take trainers/plimsolls and PE kit.
Wednesday 10th, Thursday 11th & Friday 12th July Moving up days; Reception pupils starting in September join us in school; Year 6 pupils spend three days at ICC; all other pupils move up to the year group/class they will be in from September.

Advert for Watlington Primary School Job Vacancy
Watlington Primary School is looking for a cleaner to join the caretaking team with immediate effect. The position is for 6 hours per week working on Monday and Friday from 3.15pm – 6.15 pm. The rate of pay is £6.61 per hour. If you are interested please contact Jane Fowler, School Business Manager on 01491 612474. Appointment will be dependent upon satisfactory references and CRB clearance.

Newsletter for week ending 10 May 2013

Helping Children with Reading
A reminder that there is a talk by Amanda King, a literacy consultant working with Oxfordshire schools, on helping children with reading at 2.15pm on Monday 13 May. All parents and carers are welcome to attend.

School Website Updates
Recent uploads to the school website include a Benchmarking Report under the Governors section. This analysis enables the Governing Body to assess how this school is performing in comparison with other similar schools by considering how effectively we deploy our resources to achieve results. Also recently added are Term Dates for 2013/14 (Parents Section). In addition we have repaired the previously problematic link on After School Clubs in Term 5 and added pictures of the ‘green’ greenhouse and Woodlands visit in the Events Section.

Year 6 Visit to Dorchester Abbey - Report by Benjamin and Hannah
“When we were at Dorchester Abbey we did a “Singing Playground” workshop. This was really good fun and now we can teach our friends singing games in the playground! The Abbey was huge and our voices echoed around it. When we started singing we were surprised at how loud we were. Our instructors were full of energy. The audience helped us during the performance as our parents had to participate in singing too! We really enjoyed doing lots of hand gestures and ‘grooving!”

Sponsored Bike Ride
Mr Short is taking part in a sponsored bike ride on 12 May. He will be riding the Thames Bridges for the Stroke Association (33 miles) and has a 'JustGiving' website which parents/carers might want to have a look at:
http://www.justgiving.com/Simon-Short1

Holiday Course at Stadhampton School
Following on from the success of the Easter Holiday Course, Michael Hopkins will be leading a holiday course at Stadhampton School for one week in the main summer holidays, between 12th and 16th August. Details of the course are attached to this newsletter.

PTA News
Friday Cake Club
Amy Freeman was the lucky winner of last week’s cake, kindly donated by Mrs Drake. A reminder to Miss Gardner that she is on the rota for Friday 17 May.

Clothes Recycling - Tues 14th May, 9am
Last chance for a clear-out of all your unwanted clothes, bags, shoes, cuddly toys, bedding (not pillows or duvets). Ideally, please bring bags on the morning of 14th, but if you have to bring them the night before, please leave them in the covered area outside Class 1.

Plant Orders
Thank you to everyone who ordered plants - we raised £102.36. Plants will be delivered on Tuesday 14th May, so please collect your orders at the end of the day.


Summer Fair & Bus Extravaganza - Sat 15th June, 2 - 4.30pm
Make a note in your diary, we're holding a bus-themed, fun-filled family fair with lots of competitions, games and stalls. The bus will also be 'officially' opened, and this is your chance to see the new bus library. Watch this space for more exciting details.

We will be collecting toys, games, books etc, for one of our stalls, and if you have any unwanted/chipped crockery we plan to have a ‘China Shy’ on the day too. See a member of the PTA for more details.


LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week we will be enjoying the song “10 currant buns”. We will be making some play buns to act out the song and making a bakers shop.
On Tuesday the 14th it's Bags2school day so time for a clear out maybe?
Huge thank you goes to the Wilkinsons who donated a bike to the Little Bears.



DIARY DATES:
Monday 13th – Friday 17th May SATs week. Please avoid making dentist appointments etc this week. This involves all pupils in Years 2-6.
Monday 13th May 2.15-3.15 “Helping Children with Reading” talk for parents led by Mandy King
Tuesday 14th May Clothes Recycling Collection
Friday 24th May Break up at 3.15 for May Holiday
Monday 3rd June Return to school for the start of Term 6.
Thursday 6th June Year 5’s visit to ICC for Science lesson
Wednesday 12th June Mobile Library
Tuesday 18th June Year 5’s visit to ICC for a PE lesson. Please remember to take trainers/plimsolls and PE kit.