Newsletter for week ending 19 July 2013

We say ‘good bye and good luck’ to our Year 6 pupils who leave us at the end of this school year. We are proud of all of them and wish them every success at Icknield Community College when they begin their secondary school journey in September.

SATs Explained
We have uploaded a letter entitled ‘SATs Explained’ onto the Curriculum section of the school website to assist parents’ understanding of SATs grades.

Maths Activity Homework Booklet
Following on from the successful visit from Linda Hull, Maths Advisory teacher, earlier this term, each family has been given an Active Maths ‘out and about’ homework booklet. We hope that all children (apart from Year 6 leavers!) will be able to complete some of the tasks during the summer holidays. If you do not have a booklet please ask your child’s teacher for one.

Cycling Safety Training
Congratulations to the following children who successfully passed their cycle safety training this term: Owen Cove, Jake Day, Ollie Jones, Lola Odell, Annabel Roe, Naomi Woodwards and Abby Wright. We are very grateful to Mrs Scragg, Mrs Green, Mrs Ellis, Mrs Birtles and to Mrs Leighfield, who no longer has a child at Stadhampton School, for organising this for us. Congratulations and thanks also to Mrs Cove, who has completed her qualification and is now a fully-fledged cycle safety instructor!

School Meals
School meals from 1st September will continue to be offered at a cost of £2 per day. Cheques for school meals should be made payable to Oxfordshire County Council please with Stadhampton Primary School written on the back of the cheque. In order to reduce administration time spent on school meals we appreciate receiving orders and payments for school meals on the first morning of each school week. Thank you.

Swimming at the Abbey Sports Centre in Berinsfield
Class 2 will start their swimming sessions at the Abbey Sports Centre in Berinsfield on Monday 9th September. They will have 7 sessions in Term 1.

For families new to swimming sessions at Berinsfield, pupils need to bring their own swimming trunks or costume, a swimming hat and a towel on Monday mornings.

As always, we appreciate a £2 voluntary contribution towards the transportation costs. Thank you to the parents who make regular voluntary contributions towards the costs. Cheques for swimming contributions should be made payable to Stadhampton Primary School. Thank you.

Bottle Tops for the Thames Valley Air Ambulance
Thank you to everyone for collecting bottle tops for us. Mrs Leiper has let us know that she will be passing on 23kg of them during the holidays from our school collection! She has also asked us to remind parents to please wash the tops before bringing them in and that fizzy drink bottle tops unfortunately cannot be recycled. Thank you.


Sports Evening
A big thank you to everyone – pupils, parents, staff, PTA, governors, Little Bears, former pupils and extended families for making this event the special occasion that it is.

PTA News

Friday Cake Club
Daniel Ellis was the lucky winner of the cake last week, kindly donated by Anna Harries. A long way off, but a reminder to Mrs Day that she is on the rota for Friday 6th September.

Sports Night BBQ
Wow, what a great sports night. Our thanks to Kerry's Dad, Mrs Leiper, Joy Hopkins & Alan Manzie for running the BBQ and bar.

Thank you from all the PTA
Just to say a huge thank you from all the PTA to everyone who has helped and supported our fund raising efforts throughout the year. Our first meeting back is on Tuesday 17th September at 7.45pm in the school hall. Happy holidays to everyone.

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
All the Little Bears team would like to wish everyone an enjoyable summer. We return on Wednesday 4th September to the theme ‘Buildings and Transport.’


DIARY DATES:
Wednesday 4 September Pupils return to school for the start of the new academic year
Thursday 26 September School photographs taken today

Finally, we would like to convey our thanks as we come to the end of another school year. We are always very grateful for the support of all parents. Special thanks are due to Mrs Duke for auditing the Special Purposes and Hall Accounts, to the parents who help regularly with hearing readers, help with school trips and bake cakes for a variety of purposes, to the parents and Mrs Scragg who help with cycle safety training, to those who run lunchtime and after-school clubs, to those who have helped with jobs around the school and, of course, to the PTA committee who work tirelessly to fundraise so that pupils can enjoy excellent facilities, learn French and provide us with many additional resources and opportunities. Thank you to Miss Peet who has helped in Class 1 and to Mrs Drake for playing the piano in school assemblies. Thank you also to Mrs Hawley and Mrs Wells who still regularly return to school to help us. Finally, thank you to the Governing Body who give their time freely to both support the school and challenge the staff!

We wish you all a very happy and safe summer break and look forward to welcoming those who are coming back to school on Wednesday 4th September.

Newsletter for week ending 12 July 2013

End of Year School Reports
Year 6 pupils received their annual reports and end of Key Stage 2 SATs results on Tuesday this week. All other pupils received their reports on Thursday. Please let us know if you have not received your child’s report.
We would appreciate parents/carers completing the Acknowledgement/Returns sheet and returning it to school so that we have feedback from parents on this annual report.

SATs Results – Message from the Governing Body
The KS2 SATs results are in and make pleasing reading. We have sustained our very high attainment in Literacy and improved our Mathematics attainment over last year’s results. The full results will be published in our Prospectus next year and on the Ofsted Data Dashboard.
The Staff and Governing Body would like to take this opportunity to thank our Year 6 pupils for their hard work this year, and wish them well as they take their next step.

Partnership Sports Hall Athletics Event – 05.07.2013
Class 3 competed in the annual Year 3 and 4 indoor athletics event, enjoyoying a wide range of team and individual track and field athletics. This year we came second with 131 points, Watlington being the winners with 160 points. Everyone tried their best, there was a great team spirit and several individuals really stood out as able athletes.

Guitar and Clarinet Concert – 09.07.2013
Thank you to all who attended our guitar and clarinet concert on Tuesday. Our musicians gave a fine performance which was enjoyed by all and provided inspiration to a number of our younger pupils. A collection was made at the end of the concert to support the good work of the NSPCC and we are very pleased to let you know that we raised £64.96. Thank you for your generous donations.
If you are interested in your child receiving piano or guitar lessons next school year, please ask in the office for a contact form for Mr Payne (guitars) or see Mrs Drake for piano. Clarinet lessons are only available to Years 5 and 6 through an arrangement with the County Music Service.

Consultation on the provision of home to school transport
A petition for parents to sign, if they would like to, will be available at Sports Evening on Friday.

Books for Sale at Sports Evening
We have a number of new books which were donated to the school but are not quite suitable for class libraries. However, families may wish to purchase some for children to read at home. They will be on sale at Sports Evening (next to the bar!) and may be purchased for 25p each. Mrs Hopkins, who is helping on the bar, will have a separate container to collect money in from the sale of these books.

MMR Vaccinations
Letters were sent home to each family earlier this week from Oxfordshire County Council Public Health Directorate about current outbreaks of measles.

Oxford Festival of Nature
Oxford Festival of Nature is taking place in Botley Park on 12-13 July 2013. There is an exciting range of wildlife activities taking place, including falconry, bug hunting, worm charming, wildlife talks and much more! From 1pm-5pm on the Saturday we’ll be running alongside the West Oxford Fun Day,where lots of local natural history organisations will be holding stalls and running even more wildlife activities, including giant insects with Oxford University Museum of Natural History, bird, bat and bug box building with Low Carbon West Oxford, and pond dipping with Berks Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust.
It’s completely free of charge, so for more details visit www.oxfordfestivalofnature.org.

Nits
Thank you to a parent for letting the school know that they had found nits in their child’s hair this week. The outbreak has been treated and we politely request that all parents/carers should check their children’s hair this weekend and treat if necessary.

PTA News

Friday Cake Club
Charlie Ball was the lucky winner of the cake last week, kindly donated by Mrs Buckner. A reminder to Mrs Sarah Green that she is on the rota for 19 July, the last day of term.

As the Cake Club has proved so popular - we will be running it again next school year, starting on Friday 6th September. The cost per child is 20p per week. The cost up to October half term will be: £1.60 per child. The cost for the whole term up to Christmas will be £3.00 per child.

We are also signing up volunteers for cake donations after the summer, please see Rowena if interested.

End of Year Disco - Thursday 18th July, 6 - 7.30pm
We need a permission slip for all children coming to the Disco. If you have not already returned your child's permission slip, please could you hand them in to Diana or Rowena before next Thursday. Spare copies are available from the office.

To keep children safe, they will need to be signed in and out of the disco by parents, via Class 1. Mini torch rings will be on sale for 50p each, you can buy them before coming into the disco outside Class 1.

AGM - Tuesday 8th October 2013
Our annual AGM is an opportunity to find out more about the PTA. At the AGM we will review the years fundraising efforts and what the money has been spent on. We also elect people to the following positions - Chair, Secretary & Treasurer.

Both Rowena Dobson (as Secretary) and Diana Woodwards (as Chair) have decided that they will not be putting themselves forward for re-election at the AGM. Therefore we are looking for people who would be interested in taking on these roles, if you would be interested in them please feel free to have a (no obligation) chat with Rowena or Diana.

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week Little Bears will be practising for our sports afternoon to start at 11am on Friday 12th July. Please could parents arrive at 10.45 for a 11am start and also bring a picnic for after the races. Little Bears finish on 19th July at 3pm and return on Wednesday 4th September when our topic will be ‘Buildings and Transport’.

DIARY DATES:
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



LAST MINUTE REMINDERS TO ENSURE WE HAVE AN ENJOYABLE AND SAFE SPORTS EVENING:

PARKING – IF YOU ARE ABLE TO WALK TO SPORTS EVENING IT WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED AND REALLY HELP THE CONGESTION IN CRATLANDS CLOSE. THE NETBALL COURT WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PARKING. PLEASE BE MINDFUL OF THE RESIDENTS IN CRATLANDS CLOSE AND DO NOT OBSTRUCT ACCESS IN AND OUT OF DRIVEWAYS.

SPECTATOR LINE: A LINE HAS BEEN MARKED FOR PARENTS/CARERS/VISITORS TO POSITION THEMSELVES BEHIND SO THAT PUPILS ARE ABLE TO RUN SAFELY IN THE OUTSIDE LANES.

FINISHING LINE: IS WHERE THE JUDGES WILL BE WAITING TO AWARD STICKERS, UPDATE THE SCOREBOARD, ETC. PLEASE COULD EVERYONE ELSE KEEP THIS AREA CLEAR

BAR: THE BAR WILL BE OPEN FROM 6PM

BBQ: BBQ FOOD WILL BE AVAILABLE DURING THE RACES FOR SPECTATORS WISHING TO EXCHANGE THEIR FOOD TICKETS AT THIS TIME AND AVOID THE BIG QUEUE AFTER THE RACES

PLAY EQUIPMENT: THIS AREA IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR USE DURING SPORTS EVENING

YOUNG CHILDREN: PLEASE TRY TO KEEP YOUNGER SIBLINGS AWAY FROM THE RACETRACK WHILST THE RACES ARE ON TO AVOID POTENTIAL COLLISIONS!

FOOTBALL/BALL GAMES: WE POLITELY REQUEST THAT NO BALL GAMES ARE PLAYED WHILST THE RACES ARE TAKING PLACE.

THANK YOU

Newsletter for week ending 5 July 2013

Consultation on the provision of home to school transport
An e-mail was sent on Tuesday of this week to all parents in order to provide them with an update of the action that the Governing Body of Stadhampton School have taken to respond to the Consultation Documents. Several members of our Governing Body have also been in contact directly with John Howell MP, to express our concern at the proposed changes. A copy of the letter submitted to OCC was also attached to the e-mail for further information. We understand that the closing date for responses to the consultation has been extended until 15th July 2013, so please do respond if possible.

Changes to Attendance Policy
As a result of recent changes to the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006, Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances (eg family bereavement and events of a similar importance). It will be impossible, therefore, to support any requests for holidays during term time. Please support us and your child(ren) by making all holiday bookings during school holidays. Thank you.

Maths Talk for Parents – 01.07.2013
A very successful talk from Mrs Linda Hull, Maths Advisory Teacher, was held in school this week for parents. Pupils explained how they tackle maths problems and investigations and there were discussions about how to get started, as well as suggestions of different ideas and strategies to use for more complicated maths questions! For those of you who were unable to attend the meeting here are a few pointers to help your child with their “Active Maths” homework:
How can you help at home?
 Help your child read and understand what is needed – where might they start?
 Asking questions to probe and secure learning – “What if...?” is a good starter.
 Encouraging your child to see links with other learning – what calculation might you use? Can you use a number line?
 Help them to learn and use mathematical language
 Encourage to explain their methods and check their answers
 Talk about the task to find out what they have learned
Further information:
 www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks1bitesize/numeracy/ (also KS2 site and many others)
 http://primarygames.co.uk
 http://nrich.maths.org/public/
 http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/
 http://www.northwood.org.uk/numeracy.htm
 How to do maths so your children can too – the essential parents guide by Naomi Sani
 Maths for Mums and Dads by Rob Eastaway
 Parents Survival Guide to Maths Homework – Make sense of your kid’s maths by Andrew Brodie
 Maths booklets which are distributed annually and are uploaded on the school website

National Sports Week
Some snippets from Class 1 reports about last week’s National Sports Week:
Thomas: “On Tuesday we did skipping. I’m not that good at skipping but you can’t be good at everything you know”; Lawrence: “On Monday, Reception and Class 1 did table tennis. Thomas and I got 40 points but Lorenzo and Will E got 43. It was astonishing!”; Tillie: “On Wednesday the class was excited because Mrs Manzie told us that the older children in Class 3 were doing some games from Africa. The games were great and I cannot wait to play them again”; Edision: “ The next day we did international games with Class 3. We played three games and they were fun”; Ella: “The very next day which was Wednesday, we did a mile fun run and most of the Little Bears were supporting us when we ran past the Little Bears garden that was under the plastic cover. We had to run round our field and Little Bears garden three times. Finally we finished but Mrs Manzie said “Would you like to do another lap?” I shouted “Yes” even though I was very tired. I finally finished that and I was even more tired!”.

Class 3 Pond Dipping
This week Class 3 walked to Chiselhampton House where they took part in pond dipping activities led by staff from Pond Conservation: The Water Habitats Trust. Many thanks to Mr Stephen Dawson, one of our school governors, who arranged the visit, and to Mr and Mrs Rowlands who allowed us to access their ponds.
Report by Joshua and Ollie: “On Wednesday Class 3 went to Chiselhampton House to go pond dipping. Some of us held frogs and they were slimey, but we washed our hands afterwards. It was amazing how far they jump. We put water in a sieve with very small holes and then into a tray so that we could look at the mini beasts we had captured. It was very interesting and one of the best trips we have had this year.”

Sports Evening – 12 July 2013
In the last two newsletters parents/carers have received information about Sports Evening explaining the format of the evening and suggested arrival time of between 6 and 6.15pm in readiness for the races to begin promptly at 6.30pm. Tickets are now on sale for the BBQ as detailed in last week’s newsletter. A reminder that the closing date for food orders is Monday 8th July. Pupils will have been told this week which colour team they will be in so that they can wear the appropriate colour T-shirt. Bibs will be available to borrow from Mrs Manzie if pupils have not got the particular colour T-shirt required for their team. If you are not sure which team your child is in please ask Mrs Manzie. All pupils need to bring a drink. Parents need to bring folding seats/rugs to sit on. If any child will not be participating in Sports Evening please could parents let us know on Monday 8 July so that we can ensure that the teams remain evenly balanced. All we need to do now is pray for good weather! Thank you.

NSPCC Talks
On Tuesday 2nd July pupils may have come home wearing NSPCC stickers. They had all attended talks given by Mr Ian Stevens, NSPCC schools organiser for Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, on the subject of ‘Keeping Safe’. Mr Stevens was accompanied by his ‘assistant’ Buddy Bubble and told pupils in Key Stage 2 about the work and availablility of Childline.

Summer Concert
A reminder that 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 details of this event were circulated in a separate Summer Concert letter as well as in the newsletter dated 14 June. Thank you to the parents who have already returned the reply slip to confirm details of how many seats they require. At the end of the concert, at the children’s request, a retiring collection will be made for the NSPCC and Mr Stevens and Buddy Bubble will be present at the event. We hope you will be able to be generous with your support. It is not too late to still request seats.

Mobile Library Visit on Wednesday 10th July
The last visit of the mobile library to school will be on Wednesday 10th July. Would all pupils please ensure that they have their books in school to return to the library. Thank you.


PTA News

Friday Cake club
Tillie Moss-Black was the eventual lucky winner of the cake last week, after a number of previous winners came out of the bag, and who were happy to dip again. Thank you all for being so generous. A reminder to Anna Harries that she is on the rota for 12 July.

Sports Night BBQ - Friday 12th July
HELP - has anyone got a gas BBQ that they would be willing to lend us for Sports Night to cook approx 200 sausages/burgers? Also does anyone know of a willing volunteer from the wider community that could cook said sausages/burgers (ideally not a parent, as we try to ensure that all parents are free to watch their children race.

Don't forget to get your BBQ tickets - last orders is Monday 8th July.

End of Year Disco - Thursday 18th July
Tickets are still available at £3.50 per child. Please see Diana or Rowena with your completed permission slip.

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week with our new Little Bears visiting we will be enjoying a mini topic of “All About Me”. We will be talking about ourselves and our families and making self portraits.


DIARY DATES:
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 – races begin at 6.30pm. Pupils to arrive between 6 and 6.15pm. Bar open from 6pm until the end of the event.
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

• Flyer attached “Incredible Years” Programme promoting positive behaviours, starts on Tuesday 24 September
• Flyer attached “Become a Young Rock Detective” – Friday 26th July from 10 to 12.30 at the Earth Trust, Little Wittenham. £3 per child. Booking required.

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