Newsletter for week ending 22nd May 2015

Congratulations
Congratulations to our former pupils at Icknield Community College; Benedict Diment for being elected as Deputy-Head Boy for 2015/16 and to Ben Drake, Andrew Oakley and Chloe Brown as prefects for the year. That’s 50% of the Year 6 pupils from Stadhampton School being elected to a responsible post! We wish them all well throughout the year.

Swimming at the Abbey Sports Centre
Class 2 pupils will have ONE swimming session at the Abbey Sports Centre on Monday 8th June as Class 3 pupils are at Woodlands. Swimming sessions for Class 3 pupils will begin on Monday 15th June. They will have a further 4 sessions on 22nd & 29th June, and 6th & 13th July. As always, we are most grateful to receive a ‘voluntary contribution’ towards the cost of the swimming transport of £2 per swimming session. Cheques for swimming contributions should be made payable to Stadhampton Primary School, please. Thank you.

Important information about swimming in the school pool – please get ready!
After the May Holiday, Mrs Shortman and Mrs Singleton will be preparing our school pool for use. We will be following OCC regulations which includes having our pool inspected and water samples taken by an external company which are then sent off for analysis. A clear result must be obtained before pupils are allowed in to the pool. The school pool, once ready, will be used by all pupils throughout the school (including Reception pupils). Please could all parents now start to prepare a ‘swimming bag’ so that it is ready for use. All pupils will need a towel, swimming hat (boys and girls), boys need tight fitting (not baggy) swimming trunks and girls need a one-piece swimming costume (no bikinis or tankinis please). It is much easier if each child has their own swimming hat rather than families try to share one between them. Once the pool comes into use, (we will let you know in the newsletter or by e-mail when this happens) the onus will be on families to ensure that swimming kit is in school each day, otherwise pupils will miss out on opportunities to swim. Pupils who do not have their swimming kit in school will sit in the pool area and read when their class has their turn in the school pool. Thank you.

School Council ‘Danceathon’
A reminder that the School Council are holding a ‘Danceathon’ to help raise money for the Nepal Earthquake appeal on Wednesday 3rd June. All children participating in the half an hour ‘Danceathon’ are asked to bring in a donation or alternatively seek sponsorship to raise money. Sponsorship forms are available from Miss Mould, if anyone would like one. All monies raised will be sent to the UNICEF Nepal appeal.
We collected £46 from the ‘UNICEF Bring a Pound Day.’ Thank you to everyone who contributed to this collection.


School Meals Menu
A reminder that we switch to the new Bronze Summer Menu on our return to school after the May Holiday (please find it attached to this Newsletter). It has already been uploaded to the School Website.

Class Trips this week:
On Wednesday the 20th May, Class 3 went on a fantastic school trip to Ewelme Park Estate – report by James, Alex and Leo
We had lots of fun and had a brilliant day. In the morning, we were taken round the farm by Philip. We were taken into the fields and we learnt lots about the different crops and what they were used for. We then went down to the stables and we learnt about horses, we took part in a quiz and it became competitive as the prize for the winning team was a horse shoe!! Everyone loved stroking Max the horse who was rather cuddly!
After that the estate owner Michael took us on a history trail and we learnt about Henry VIII’s connection with Ewelme Park.
Cathy taught us about Red Kites - how they build nests, hunt for prey and protect their babies all at once (now we know how parents feel!)
We spent the afternoon on a tractor with Ian the gamekeeper and his dog! He taught us about trees and we were shown a newly dug pond with tadpoles swimming around. We had a lovely time at Ewelme Park Estate and we are grateful we had the opportunity to go.

On Tuesday 19th May, Class 2 visited Sulgrave Manor - Report by Ellie W & Ella G
When we got there we got straight in to our Tudor costumes for the day. We acted out Henry VIII and his six wives. We then learnt about Tudor instruments. The English bagpipe was very interesting.
After lunch, we went outside and saw the blacksmith’s (where he works and sleeps and his family sleeps). We saw the front of the house belonging to Lawrence Washington. In the Dining Room, we found out that locked in the salt cupboard were spices, salt and sugar. In the kitchen the bottom of the bread was covered in ashes so the poor people got the nickname “upper crust”! The bed chamber was amazing because it had curtains for privacy and heat.

PLANT SALE – TOMORROW at 3.15pm
The Gardening Club will have a stall outside school at 3.15pm tomorrow for the sale of their surplus plants. Donations would be welcomed in order to help with the cost of buying potting compost, seeds, etc. Thank you.

PTA NEWS:
The sponsored Family Fun Run is on Saturday 13th June from 2-4pm and sponsorship forms have been put into book-bags. If you are taking part please return the slip at the bottom of the letter to the office by Friday 5th June. Please speak to a committee member if you have any questions.

A PTA coffee morning will be held on Thursday 9th July between 9-10am in the school hall. We are delighted to be holding another coffee morning and all parents/carers are invited to come along. If you are interested in joining the PTA committee, members will be on hand to answer any questions you may have. New reception class and other new parents are also invited so it will be a good chance for them to get to know a few faces before September. We hope to see you there.


The Giving Machine
This is a great opportunity to raise extra money for the school without costing you anymore, please read the link below or visitthegivingmachine.co.uk to sign up, our cause is stadhampton primary school, an easy way to raise extra money without costing you a penny
https://www.thegivingmachine.co.uk/cms/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Acrobat-Document2.pdf

Dates for your diaries:
Sports Night is on Friday 10th July and the End of Term Disco is on Thursday 16th July.

Thank you for your continued support of the PTA.

Friday Cake Club
Congratulations to Jemima O'Brien, the lucky winner of last week's cake, kindly donated by Mrs Hackett. A reminder to Mrs Drake that she is on the rota for 5 June, the first Friday after half term.

DIARY DATES:
Monday 1 June INSET DAY – Teachers and Mrs Hopkins only in school
Tuesday 2 June Pupils return to school for the start of Term 6
Wednesday 3 June First ‘Buddying’ session for Y6 pupils after school
W/C 8th June Class 3 at Woodlands
Monday 15 June Mobile Library visit
Tuesday 30 June African Dance Workshop
Friday 10th July Whole School Sports Evening

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
The Little Bears have enjoyed exploring the topic of ‘Space’ and creating lots of wonderful spaceships. Our favourite was definitely the life-size craft which we enjoyed decorating.
Little Bears hope everyone enjoys the half term break. We return on Monday 1 June to the topic of ‘Seasides and Holidays’.

Newsletter for week ending 15th May 2015

We are pleased to welcome Mrs Baker who joined the staff team at Stadhampton School this week.

SATs Tests
Congratulations to our Year 6 pupils who seem to have coped with their SATs very well during this week. A reminder that tests continue into next week for many other year groups.

URGENT Request for help with Cycle Safety Training
Unfortunately there were no offers of help from our Newsletter request on 24th April about help with cycle safety training for our Year 6 pupils, so we are repeating the request in the hope that one or two parents will now offer help. The current band of volunteers can manage the first session on Friday as this session will only take place in the school grounds and in Cratlands Close, but there is now an URGENT need for more help when pupils go out onto the main road next week:

Cycle Safety Training will be taking place for nine Year 6 pupils on the following dates: 15th, 22nd May, 5th, 19th, 26th June and 3rd July. We already have in place a small group of experienced leaders of this activity but we urgently need to recruit one or two more volunteers to help when pupils go out on the busy main road to practise. Please let Mrs Hopkins know if you could help with this training or would like more information about what is required. Thank you.

Host Families for Polish guests 19th -23rd June
Thank you to the families who have generously offered to be host families for our Polish guests next month. We now have enough hosts. We are now planning the itinerary which will include opportunities for non-host families to be involved if they wish. Further details to follow.

Change to School Meals Menu for Tuesday 19th May
Food with Thought have decided to change the school meals menu for Tuesday 19th May to a ‘May Madness’ menu. The choices for that day only will be Chicken Sausages and Chips or Veggie Sausages and Chips, with baked beans or sweetcorn and tomato ketchup. The pudding will be either Strawberry Ice Cream or Seasonal Fruit Platter. The flyer from Food with Thought is on display outside the serving hatch as a reminder.

School Council ‘Danceathon’
The School Council are holding a ‘Danceathon’ to help raise money for the Nepal Earthquake appeal. This will be held on Wednesday 3rd June during assembly. All children participating in the half an hour ‘Danceathon’ are asked to bring in a donation or alternatively seek sponsorship to raise money. Sponsorship forms are available from Miss Mould, if anyone would like one. All monies raised will be sent to UNICEF so that they can use it to help support the people and communities who have been affected by the earthquake. Thank you.


Clarinet Lessons for Term 6
Pupils in Class 3 will not have their usual clarinet lesson on the 2nd June or the 23rd June as the clarinet teacher will not be available on those dates. Class 3 will also be away at Woodlands on 9th June. However pupils will still receive at least the 30 lessons they signed up for as all of the missed lessons will be added back on later in the term.
Parents are invited to a clarinet performance by Class 3 pupils on Tuesday 7th July at 2.45pm.

PTA NEWS:
The Family Quiz Night is this Friday from 6 -10pm. It promises to be a fun filled evening for all the family. A few tickets are still available from Sue Bowerman priced at £10 for a family ticket, with lots of questions for the children to answer. Hope to see you there!

Clothes Recycling collection is on Tuesday 19th May at 9am. This is a great opportunity to get rid of all unwanted clothes. Please use additional black sacks if needed. All money raised from recycling our old clothes goes to PTA funds.

Sponsored family fun run, Saturday 13th June 2-4pm sponsorship forms will be appearing in book-bags next week.

Dates for your diaries:
Sports Night is on Friday 10th July and End of Term Disco is on Thursday 16th July.

The giving machine
This is a great opportunity to raise extra money for the school without costing you anymore, please read the link below or visit thegivingmachine.co.uk to sign up, our cause is Stadhampton Primary School, an easy way to raise extra money without costing you a penny.
https://www.thegivingmachine.co.uk/cms/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Acrobat-Document2.pdf

Thank you for your continued support of the PTA.

Friday Cake Club
Congratulations to Beau Burnell, the lucky winner of last week’s cake, kindly donated by Annett Fegyveres. A reminder to Mrs Bradley that she is on the rota for 22 May.

DIARY DATES:
Friday 15 May PTA Event – Family Fun Quiz
Tuesday 19 May PTA Clothes Recycling Collection at 9am
Sulgrave Manor visit for Class 2
Wednesday 20 May Ewelme Estate visit for Class 3
Thursday 21 May Bookfeast visit for Class 1
Year 6 Forest School session
Friday 22 May Cycle Safety Training for participating Year 6 pupils
Break up for the May Holiday at 3.15pm
Monday 1 June INSET DAY – Teachers and Mrs Hopkins only in school
Tuesday 2 June Pupils return to school for the start of Term 6
Tuesday 30 June African Dance Workshop – further details to follow
Friday 10th July Whole School Sports Evening – details to be confirmed


LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Thank you to everyone who supported our recent Ladies Supper Night. I think we would all agree that the evening was a huge success!
The Little Bears will be making some junk model spaceships. Next week our book of the week will be ‘Are the Aliens Coming?’

Community News
• Attachment – Flyer from Little Masters – Workshop Offer

Newsletter for week ending 8th May 2015

We are pleased to welcome Sophy Mercer who joined Class 3 this week. We now have 96 pupils on roll and expect to have 101 in September!

Teaching Assistant Appointment
Five candidates for a TA post were shortlisted and interviewed on Thursday. It was a unanimous decision to offer the position to Mrs Lucy Baker who is a very well qualified TA with experience in a neighbouring school where she was highly regarded. We look forward to welcoming Mrs Baker onto the staff team on Monday 11th May. Mrs Baker will predominantly work in the Reception class alongside Miss Mould and will also cover library sessions for other pupils on Thursday afternoons.

New School Meals Menu
The new school meals menu which begins on 1st June and goes though until October half –term has been uploaded onto the school website as a reference point for parents. An electronic copy of the menu is attached to this newsletter.

UNICEF Nepal Earthquake – Bring a Pound Day
To support the people of Nepal we will be participating in the UNICEF ‘Nepal Earthquake Bring a Pound Day’ campaign. If we raise £55 this could provide five families in Nepal with clean water kits. Please bring your donation to school by Friday 15th May. Our collection will be sent to UNICEF soon after the 15th May and we will, of course, let you know how much we collected in the Newsletter. In addition, the School Council will be organising a ‘Danceathon’ during the school day on Wednesday 3rd June. Details of sponsorship for this event will follow next week.

Ghana Week – 29th June -3rd July
As part of our focus on Ghana we have a number of activities already planned for this special week:
• A dance and drumming day on Tuesday 30th June, including a demonstration for parents towards the end of the school day – more details to follow.
• Fair Trade activities and an assembly followed by an after school Fair Trade stall on Wednesday 1st July.

Woodlands Residential
Thank you to those families in Class 3 who have now paid their outstanding balance for the residential visit to Woodlands in June. Please may we remind everyone else that the final balance is due by no later than 15th May 2015. Thank you.

Tests for Year 2 Pupils
Following a mention in last week’s newsletter about SATs tests, Mrs Manzie has confirmed that Year 2 pupils will have their SATs tests spread over a two-week period from Monday 11th May until Friday 22nd May. We would be grateful if parents would not make routine dental /doctor appointments for those pupils during this time. Thank you.

Clarinet Lessons
Thank you to the families who have already completed the reply slips for clarinet lessons for 2015 -16 and paid the initial deposit. The deadline date for return of forms was 1st May. We would therefore be grateful for any outstanding forms to be completed and returned to school as soon as possible for all pupils in Years 5 and 6 in the next school year. Thank you.

Swimming Voluntary Contributions
A reminder that we would still be very happy to receive ‘voluntary contributions’ towards the cost of the swimming transport to the Abbey Sports Centre in Berinsfield from any families in Class 2 who have not made a contribution as yet for this term. Thank you.

Chess Megafinals – Report by Greg
The chess megafinals was held at Spires Oxford Academy. Greg Madry, Oliver Lowman, Charlie
Austin, Lawrence Wright and Izzy Kenny took part in the tournament. We had to play six chess matches against other children from other schools.
All the chess games were held in a huge hall. There were approximately 200 children at the tournament.
We all thoroughly enjoyed the day, had a brilliant experience and will definitely go again!
We got the following points:
Charlie: 3 points
Lawrence: 3 points
Greg: 2 points
Oliver: 1.5 points
Izzy: 1.5 points
We all did well considering 4 points were needed to qualify for the next round.

PTA NEWS:
Clothes recycling is on Tuesday 19th May and bags for the collection have now been put into book-bags. This is a great opportunity to get rid of all unwanted clothes! Please use additional black sacks if needed. All money raised from recycling our old clothes goes to PTA funds. The collection will be at 9am from the school.

Family Quiz Night is being held on Friday 15th May from 6-8pm. There are only a few tickets remaining for this event which promises to be a fabulous evening for the whole family to enjoy. Tickets cost £10 for a family of up to 6 people. Please see Sue Bowerman for tickets.

A Sponsored Family Fun Run is being held on Saturday 13th June from 2-4pm. Sponsorship forms will be appearing in book-bags soon.

Our next PTA meeting is Tuesday 12th May 8pm at The Crown.

Friday Cake Club
Congratulations to Ruby Clark, the lucky winner of last week's cake, kindly donated by Ewa Klorek (Oliver Lemon's Mum). A reminder to Mrs Hackett that she is on the rota for 17th May.

DIARY DATES:
Monday 11 May SATs week – please ensure no routine appointments such as for the doctor or dentist are made for this week for Year 6 pupils and Year 2 pupils in particular. Thank you.
Tuesday 30 June African Dance Workshop – further details to follow
Friday 10th July Whole School Sports Evening – details to be confirmed

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week the Little Bears will be learning about space travel and astronauts. The children will be making a very large spaceship and some miniature flying saucers. They will also be talking and looking at astronauts who travel in space.

Community News – Message from Rowena Dobson – Flyer attached
I am hosting an evening of Boogie Bingo on 4th July at the Church (Hall) in Stadhampton on Saturday 4th July, in aid of the Sue Ryder Hospice, where Gareth spent his last few days. Please find attached the poster about it. It would be lovely to see you all there. If you need any explanation of what Boogie Bingo is I'm happy to explain!

Hot Potato Syncopators – Flyer attached
At Stadhampton Church – Saturday 9th May, 7pm for 7.30pm start
Running Time: 1 hour 15 minutes + interval
Age Suitability: All ages
Links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9U_fMHyUPU
Why we have selected this show: Musicalablity, showmanship and comedy in equal measure = a great night out
Performances
To reserve your tickets contact Stephen Dawson on 01865 890079 or email s.dawson78@yahoo.co.uk

Sat, 09/05/2015 St John the Baptist, Stadhampton Doors open at 7pm, Show at 7.30pm
Tickets: £10, under 16s £6

Newsletter for week ending 1st May 2015

Happy MAY Birthday to: Billy Bowerman, Hannah Bradford, Leo Burnell, Lorenzo Elliott, Gene Green, Isabel Hector, Megan Hutchence, Miriam Hutchence, Joshua Hursey, Olivia Kenny, Jack Smith and Freddie Webber

During MAY we are focusing on the core value of UNDERSTANDING

Woodlands Residential
Thank you to those families in Class 3 who have now paid their outstanding balance for the residential visit to Woodlands in June. Please may we remind everyone else that the final balance is due by no later than 15th May 2015. Thank you. We’re really looking forward to this visit!

Forest School Sessions
• Reception pupils will have Forest School sessions on the afternoons of Thursday 25th June and Thursday 2nd July. Please could parents ensure that pupils have suitable old clothing in school for those two dates.
• The Year 1 Forest School session scheduled for Thursday 21st May will change to Thursday 18th June as Class 1 will be attending a ‘Bookfeast’ session on that day. (More details about Bookfeast are to follow shortly).
• The session for Year 6 pupils scheduled for 18th June will now take place on Thursday 21st May instead.

Student in Class 3
Miss Sophie Peet, a PGCE student at Oxford Brookes, will be completing her final school placement with us from 5th May to 3rd July and will mainly be working with Miss Raval and Class 3.

Young Leaders Training Day – by Leo Burnell, Class 3
The ‘Young Leaders’ training day led by Mrs Manzie, was lots of fun. We used the new Fit 4 Life kit bag and organised games for each other using the new equipment. Games included ‘Not in My Backyard’ and ‘Target Golf’. Next week, we will be running Clubs for the younger children. At the end of the day, instead of a certificate, we were given a fitness wristband to show that we are Young Leaders and to make sure we are physically fit enough to run clubs!

Hosts Required!
We have a group of 12 people from our partner school in Hazlach, Poland, visiting from Friday 19th to Tuesday 23rd June. There are 4 pupils, each with a parent, and 4 members of the teaching staff. Parents and members of staff have generously offered to host families, providing transport and hospitality, however we are still looking for someone willing to offer accommodation for 2 of the teachers. They are both female and would be willing to share the same bedroom. One of them is an English teacher at the school, has very good English and visited us before but the other has limited English so it would be best to keep the two together. There is no obligation to become involved in all the planned activities (although you would be very welcome to be!), the main priority is to provide somewhere to sleep. If anyone could help, please contact Mrs Turner. Thank you.

Clarinet Lessons
Unfortunately the letter which went home to families earlier this week about Clarinet lessons for pupils in Years 5 and 6 in the next school year did not contain details of who to make the cheque payable to. To clarify, cheques for clarinet tuition should be made payable to OCC. Thank you and apologies for the omission.

Nepalese Earthquake
Our thoughts go out to the people of Nepal, and the many visitors there, following last weekend’s devastating earthquake. It is hard for us to imagine what people there are having to cope with but our newly elected School Council are keen to do something to help and are looking into fundraising options to best help the Nepalese people. We hope to be able to give you further details of their plans very soon.

Booking Clerk for the School (Community) Hall
Sarah Massey, the bookings secretary and treasurer for the Hall Management Committee, takes bookings for the school hall, organises the keys and payments for hirers and balances the accounts each year, is looking for someone to take over from her so that she may step down. Would anyone be willing to take it on? It is not too onerous a task as only a handful of hirers now use the community hall regularly and for the occasional party. Please let Mrs Hopkins know if you might consider it and need any further information. Thank you.

PTA NEWS:
Clothes recycling is on Tuesday 19th May and bags have now been put into book-bags. This is a great opportunity to get rid of all unwanted clothes! You may use additional black sacks if needed. All money raised from clothes recycling goes to PTA funds. The collection will be at 9am from the school.

Family Quiz Night is on Friday 15th May from 6-8pm. This promises to be a fabulous evening for the whole family to enjoy. Tickets cost £10 for the family of up to 6 people. Please order your tickets from Sue Bowerman. Tickets are limited so be quick!

Date for your diary
Sponsored Family Fun Run will be on Saturday 13th June- more details to follow nearer the time!

Our next PTA meeting is on Tuesday 12th May at 8pm in The Crown.

Friday Cake Club
Congratulations to Jem Burnell, the lucky winner of last week's cake, kindly donated by Debbi Purchon, Bobby Byrne's Mum. A reminder to Mrs Fegyveres that she is on the rota for 8 May.
DIARY DATES:
Thursday 7 May Forest School for Year 4 pupils
Monday 11 May SATs week – please ensure no routine appointments such as for the doctor or dentist are made for this week for Year 6 pupils and Year 2 pupils in particular. Thank you.
Tuesday 30 June African Dance Workshop – details to be confirmed
Friday 10th July Whole School Sports Evening – details to be confirmed

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week the Little Bears will continue learning all about the solar system, enjoy experimenting with marble inks and learning lots of facts about planets. We will also be enjoying some group book times together with the book "Everyone Loves the Moon"
Last chance to get your tickets for the Ladies Supper night on Friday 8th May at the Village Hall at St Johns Church - 7.30 till 11.30pm.
Tickets are £12 each - Everyone is welcome for nibbles, cold buffet, choice of desserts.... come along and bring your own drinks.
Please see Debbie to order your tickets.

Newsletter for week ending 24 April 2015

Ofsted Report for Icknield Community College
Congratulations to ICC on securing a ‘Good’ grading at their last Ofsted inspection. A copy of the Ofsted report is attached to this newsletter.

Holidays in Term-Time
A reminder that as a result of changes since September 2013 to the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006, Headteachers are unable to authorise any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as bereavement. It will be impossible, therefore, to support any requests for holidays during term time. Please support us and your child by making all holiday bookings during school holidays. Any requests for consideration of exceptional circumstances must be submitted in writing to Mrs Turner and this may be followed by a meeting. Thank you.

Tests for Pupils
End of KS1 Standard Attainment Tests (SATs) for Year 2 pupils will take place throughout May. End of KS2 SATs for Year 6 pupils follow a set national timetable and take place during the week beginning 11th May. Pupils in Years 3, 4 and 5 also have assessment tests in May. We politely request that routine dentist or doctor appointments are not made during this time. Thank you.

Cycle Safety Training – More Volunteers Required please!
Cycle Safety Training will be taking place for eight Year 6 pupils on the following dates: 15th, 22nd May, 5th, 19th, 26th June and 3rd July. We already have in place a small group of experienced leaders of this activity but we urgently need to recruit one or two more volunteers to help when pupils go out on the busy main road to practise. Please let Mrs Hopkins know if you could help with this training or would like more information about what is required. Thank you.

School Council Election of New Members
The following pupils were elected to the School Council this week by their fellow pupils: Oliver, Cora, James, Zara, Daniel, Juliana, Beau, Isabel Holmes, Phoebe and Jem. Congratulations to them all. We also used the opportunity, with the older children, to discuss democracy and the system of voting in elections.

Shakespeare Day on Wednesday 22nd April
Class 3 report
On the 22nd of April, Abby, a professional actress from the West End Schools Theatre Company came to Stadhampton to lead a fantastic Shakespearen workshop for the school. The Shakespeare play we were preparing to perform was “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. She taught us facial expressions and how to put exaggeration into our speech and acting. After each year group completed their workshop everyone came together in the afternoon to perform the whole play. Abby had put together background narration with ‘Puck’ the naughty pixie. We all joined in ‘Team Puck’ and were naughty pixies putting juice in the eyes of Titania, Lysander, and Demetrius! It was amazing how well it all came together at the end!

Class 2 report
A lady from the West End Theatre called Abby came in and taught us two parts from the play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. It was great fun and exciting learning about the funny and confusing characters like Nick Bottom. We also liked learning about cheeky characters like Puck, and strong powerful characters like Titania and Oberon.
We loved doing our part in the play. Year 3 did the comedy part and it was really funny. We had to act out different personalities; confused, scared, show-off, angry and sleepy.

PTA NEWS:
Clothes recycling is on Tuesday 19th May,- this is a great opportunity to get rid of all your unwanted clothes! Nearer the time we will send a white bag home to each family for putting unwanted clothes in but you may also use additional black sacks if needed. All money raised from clothes recycling goes to PTA funds. The collection will take place at 9am from the school.

Family Quiz Night will be on Friday 15th May 6-8pm. This promises to be a fabulous evening for the whole family to enjoy. Tickets cost £10 for a family of up to 6 people. Please see Sue Bowerman for tickets. Tickets are limited so please order yours now!

Date for your diary:
Sponsored Family Fun Run on Saturday 13th June- more details to follow.
Our next PTA meeting is on Tuesday 12th May at 8pm at The Crown.

Friday Cake Club
Congratulations to Myles Dobson, the lucky winner of last week's cake, kindly donated by Mrs Hutchence. A reminder to Ewa (Oliver Lemon's mum) that she is on the rota for 1st May.
We now have enough cake donators until the end of the school year - thank you all very much!

DIARY DATES:
Monday 27 April Governing Body meeting at 7pm
Wednesday 29 April Class 3 pupils working with Mrs Manzie and Miss Raval on Sports Leader scheme. All pupils must have their PE kit in school please.
Thursday 30 April Forest School for Year 4 pupils
Thursday 7 May Forest School for Year 4 pupils
Monday 11 May SATs week – please ensure no routine appointments such as for the doctor or dentist are made for this week for Year 6 pupils and Year 2 pupils in particular. Thank you.

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Next week at Little Bears we will be learning all about the solar system, enjoying experimenting with marble inks and learning lots of facts about planets.
Little Bears are hosting a Ladies Supper Night on Friday 8th May at the Village Hall at St Johns Church - 7.30 till 11.30pm.
Tickets are £12 each. Everyone is welcome for nibbles, cold buffet, choice of desserts.... come along and bring your own drinks. Please come to Little Bears for more details.

Newsletter for week ending 17 April 2015

Welcome back to everyone!
We would like to welcome Megan Hutchence who recently joined Class 3 and Freddie Webber who recently joined Class 1.

Happy APRIL Birthday to: Katende Amery, Oliver Bourne, Cianna Browning, Bobby Byrne, Charlie Hackett, Isabel Holmes, Zachary Holmes and Sam Sundberg.

During APRIL we are focusing on the core value of HUMILITY

Topics/Areas of Study
Termly Outline Plans giving parents and carers an overview of the key areas of teaching and learning in each class have been uploaded onto the school website. If anyone would like a paper copy please ask in the school office for one.

Guitar Lessons
Guitar lessons start again on Wednesday 22nd April for participating pupils.

Let's perform a Shakespeare play together - in a single day”
We are delighted to welcome back West End in Schools on Wednesday 22nd April to spend the day with all the children joining together to perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream to each other - the whole process, including preparation, all in one day!
The actors will be involved with each year group leading to a shared final performance providing all the children with a wonderful introduction to Shakespeare.
At the end of the day the children will perform a version of the play to each other in a shared assembly, each class telling a different part of the story. The workshop leaders will direct, and ‘weave’ the production together as they go.
The children will get to explore and understand the characters and the story, will lose any ‘fear’ of Shakespeare, and will experience performing in a way they will never forget.
The final shared assembly is a key part of the day, and an opportunity for the children to engage with the play as a whole, as well as to play their own parts. Unfortunately, on this occasion the children will not be performing to parents.
We know this will disappoint some parents but this is a condition of this particular workshop with West End Theatre. We are planning another event later in the Summer term to which we intend to invite parents to a shared presentation.

Information Resources for Parents
We have a small number of books which may be of interest to parents and would like to set up a small reference resource based on an honesty arrangement. We have the following books in a box on the cupboard just outside the school office;
• Detoxing Childhood (what parents need to know to raise bright, balanced children) by Sue Palmer (2 copies)
• Raising Boys by Steve Biddulph
• Raising Girls by Steve Biddulph
This is a modest collection but if the resources are popular we can add to it and would be happy to consider other publications recommended by parents. If you would like to borrow any of the books please leave a note in the accompanying note-book, giving the book title, and your initials and phone number. Thank you.

PTA NEWS:
We hope that everyone had a lovely Easter break.

A reminder that clothes recycling is on Tuesday 19th May. The collection will be at 9am from the school.
This is a great opportunity to get rid of all your unwanted clothes; nearer the time we will be putting white bags for you to fill your clothes with; you may use additional black sacks if needed. All money raised from recycling our old clothes goes to the PTA.
Exciting events coming up........

Family Quiz Night- Friday 15th May
Sponsored Family Fun Run- date tbc

Our next PTA meeting is Tuesday 12th May 8pm at The Crown.

Friday Cake Club
Congratulations to Mia Gravett & Emily Hackett, two lucky winners of cakes the last Friday before Easter. The cakes were kindly donated by Mrs Marshall and Debbie Purchon (Bobby Byrne's mum), who has also kindly offered to make another cake for Friday 24th April.
If you would like to pay for next term in one go, prices are £1.20 to May half term, and £2.60 to the end of the school year per child. Just 3 more cake donators needed now please! Please see Rowena.

DIARY DATES:
Wednesday 22 April Shakespeare Workshop
Thursday 23 April Forest School for Year 3 pupils
Monday 27 April Governing Body meeting at 7pm
Thursday 30 April Forest School for Year 4 pupils

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Welcome back to Term 5. We hope you had a enjoyable Easter.
This term the Little Bears will be learning about space and space travel as well as enjoying lots of garden time with the improving weather!
Little Bears are hosting a Ladies Supper Night on Friday 8th May at the village hall at St Johns Church - 7.30 till 11.30pm.
Tickets are £12 each - Everyone is welcome for nibbles, cold buffet, choice of desserts.... come along and bring your own drinks.
Please come to Little Bears for more details

Community News:
Thames Valley Police is appealing for witnesses following a burglary in Chiselhampton. A blue car and a white 4x4 crew cab vehicle were seen in a nearby lay-by acting suspiciously at approximately 4.30pm.
If you have seen any suspicious looking people or vehicles in the area or have any information relating to this message please call the police on 101.
Alternatively if you have any information but wish to remain anonymous, please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online @ crimestoppers-uk.org. No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.

Newsletter for week ending 27 March 2015

Cycle Safety Training
Cycle safety training begins on 15th May for participating pupils. There will also be sessions on 22nd May, 5th June, 19th June, 26th June. The test will be on Friday 3rd July. At present only 5 Year 6 pupils (Amy, Greg, Cora, Sophie and Betsy) have their names down for this opportunity and there have been reminders in the last two school newsletters. We are now extending this opportunity to Year 5 pupils and invite them to let Mrs Hopkins know if they would like to participate. The maximum number of pupils able to undertake the training is 8, so if more than 3 pupils would like to do it, places will be allocated on a ‘first-come, first served basis. It is essential that pupils have an appropriately sized roadworthy cycle and a cycle helmet which conforms to British Standards and fits correctly.

Swimming at Berinsfield
Swimming sessions at Berinsfield will begin for Class 2 pupils in Term 5 starting on Monday 13th April. They will have 5 sessions followed by a further session on Monday 8th June when Class 3 will be at Woodlands (£12 in total for the 6 weeks). Families who paid in full and in advance in Term 3 may deduct £2 for the session for when the coach did not appear. Please see Mrs Hopkins with any queries on payment! Thank you.

School Meals – Message from the Governing Body
At last week’s Parents Forum meeting there were a few questions about the process for allocating school meals, as on occasions some children have not received the meals that they were expecting.

As you may be aware, the school catering is outsourced to a company called Carillion, under a contract negotiated by Oxford County Council. The Governing Body has had discussions with the School Chef, Mrs Sheridan, to understand more.

By way of background, earlier this year the Government announced that there would be Universal Free School Meals for all Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children and as a result where previously we were having approximately 25 school meals each day, that number has now doubled. You will notice that the size of the kitchen has not doubled, neither have we been able to get additional help for Mrs Sheridan as we are still deemed to be at an acceptable ratio. This is something that the school and the Governing Body are monitoring, as we recognise that Mrs Sheridan is being asked to do more and more in a limited space – and we would like to recognise that she does a fantastic job in difficult conditions.

There were a few specific points raised which we are looking to address as follows:

1) In order to speed up the serving of school meals and to prevent any confusion with what choice was made by pupils, we have purchased red and green wristbands (2 sizes). Pupils choosing the meat or fish option will be given a red band to wear by their class teacher and green bands will be given to pupils who chose the vegetarian option. Pupils will exchange their band with Mrs Sheridan at lunchtime for their chosen meal. We hope this will help to ensure that all pupils are able to have the meal they chose.

2) Certain dishes, such as gammon, were trialled on the Carillion menu, but after feedback from Mrs Sheridan and other schools this has now been removed from the menu, due to concerns re portion sizes.

3) The menu does state that there will be fresh bread each day, however Mrs Sheridan simply does not have the time or space in our kitchen to bake bread each day. However, shop bought fresh wholemeal bread for those children who would like bread to accompany their meal was made available from Tuesday 24th March.

4) On occasions it may be necessary to substitute dishes due to lack of availability, or where deliveries arrive later than scheduled. We obviously hope that this only happens in very limited cases, but Mrs Sheridan will try to ensure that there is always an appropriate vegetarian or meat alternative and we will do our best to make pupils aware of the substitution as early as possible.

We appreciate the continued feedback in this regard, and can assure all parents that the school together with Carillion and Mrs Sheridan are doing all we can to provide a varied, healthy and nutritious meal for those children that want one.

Forest School Dates for Summer 2015
A list of the Forest School dates for Terms 5 and 6 for pupils in Years 1-6 is attached to this newsletter. Please check the dates when your child/ren will need their forest school clothing in school. Separate arrangements for Reception pupils who have their sessions on the school site will be made and notified to parents after Easter. Thank you.

Scarlet Fever
We have been advised by Thames Valley Public Health England Centre that schools should be prepared for an outbreak of Scarlet Fever. The advice they have given is below:

Signs and symptoms
Scarlet fever (sometimes referred to as Scarletina) is a common childhood infection caused by Streptococcus pyogenes, or Group A streptococcus (GAS). The early symptoms of scarlet fever include sore throat, headache, fever, nausea and vomiting. After 12 to 48 hours the characteristic red, pinhead rash develops, typically first appearing on the chest and stomach, then rapidly spreading to other parts of the body, and giving the skin a sandpaper-like texture. The scarlet rash may be harder to spot on the skin of some Black and Asian people, although the 'sandpaper' feel should be present. Patients typically have flushed cheeks and pallor around the mouth. This may be accompanied by a ‘strawberry tongue’. As the child improves peeling of the skin can occur.

Infection control advice
In schools and nurseries it is recognised that infections can be spread through direct physical contact between children and staff and through shared contact with surfaces such as table tops, taps, toys and handles. During periods of high incidence of scarlet fever there may also be an increase in outbreaks in schools, nurseries and other child care settings.

As per national Guidance on Infection Control in Schools and other Child Care Settings, children and adults with suspected scarlet fever should be excluded from nursery / school / work for 24 hours after the commencement of appropriate 10 day course of antibiotic treatment. Good hygiene practice such as hand washing remains the most important step in preventing and controlling spread of infection.

PTA NEWS:
What a busy week we have had! The Kids Bingo on Friday evening was a huge success! Thank you to the committee and to Mrs Manzie for their hard work. On Saturday we had our fish and chip supper and disco evening at The Crown. Thank you to everyone who came along. We raised an impressive £230 and had a great evening too! Finally, we held the Easter Egg Raffle on Wednesday after school and raised a fantastic £49.
Thank you to all parents for their generous donations of assorted bottles and Easter eggs. We are very lucky to have such a generous school community.

Our next PTA meeting is Tuesday 14th April 8pm at The Crown, please come along, everybody welcome

Thank you for your continued support of the PTA

Friday Cake Club
Congratulations to Tia Khan, the lucky winner of last week's cake, kindly donated by Rachel Moritz, Arun's mum. A reminder to Mrs Hutchence that she is on the rota for Friday 17 April, the first Friday after the Easter Holiday.

If you would like to pay for a few weeks at a time after Easter, the price is £1.20 per child up to May Half Term, or if £2.60 per child to the end of the school year.

There are 4 gaps left at the end of the year for cake donations. Please see Rowena Dobson if you would be willing to donate a cake.

DIARY DATES:
Monday 13 April Pupils return to school for the start of Term 5
Vision screening for Reception pupils
Wednesday 15 April Mobile Library visit
Thursday 16 April Forest School for Year 3 pupils
Wednesday 22 April Shakespeare Workshop – more details to follow
Thursday 23 April Forest School for Year 3 pupils
Monday 27 April Governing Body meeting at 7pm
Thursday 30 April Forest School for Year 4 pupils

LITTLE BEARS NEWS:
Everyone at Little Bears would like to wish you a peaceful and restful Easter break.
We return to Term 5 on 13th April to the topic of Space.

Community News
Michael Hopkins will be leading an 3-day Easter Sports Course at Stadhampton School on Monday 30 March, Tuesday 31 March & Wednesday 1 April. The course runs from 9-3pm each day and is open to all pupils (not necessarily just Stadhampton School) aged 4-11. The cost is £10 per day and bookings can be made directly by e-mailing m.hopkins07@hotmail.com or via Mrs Hopkins in the school office. Late bookings are still possible!

Stadhampton Youth Club Continues...Yes We're Open in the School Hols!

Wednesday, 1st April
19.30 - 21.00 School Years 5 to 8
Due to Volunteer availability we are running one combined session for both age groups.

Wednesday 15th April is the next regular session and these will continue on the first and third Wednesdays of the month @Village Hall at St Johns.

Sessions run as follows; make sure you’re...
• sticking to the School Year groups (approx. ages are a guide)
• arriving and being collected at the right time
18.30 – 19.30 – School Years 5 & 6 (approx. ages 9 to 11)
19.45 – 20.45 – School Years 7 & 8 (approx. ages 11 to 13)

Subs £1.50/week

Before attending, a Membership Form, signed by a parent, needs to be completed and handed to the Club/ Session Leader (available on the door or by emailing the address below). *If you have friends to stay, they are welcome - they just need to be in the right School Year/at the right Session and have a Membership Form completed by a parent*.

Have Your Say...
After Easter, we will undertake a survey to capture feedback from young people coming along to the sessions as well as parents/carers.

There is always the opportunity to feedback your thoughts (suggestion box at Youth Club) or by email.

Volunteers/Parent Helpers
Of course we need more volunteers; both adults and older youngsters, from the local community to ensure these sessions can continue to run.
*We are hoping to run training sessions in First Aid and Safeguarding in April (if we have enough people) - please contact us ASAP for more information or to request a DBS (formerly known as CRB) form*.

Forgotten What's On When?
There is an auto reply message linked to our email address - email and you'll receive a message with the most up-to date details of our next sessions on it!

stadhamptonyouthclub@gmail.com

Happy EASTER from everyone at Stadhampton School!