Newsletter 20 14/7/10
Dear Parents and friends,
Leavers Service & Summer Production begins at 6.00pm in the Church
Followed by food and drinks at the School
The children will need to arrive at the Church by 5.45pm dressed ready in their costumes where appropriate. The evening will begin with a short service for our year 6 leavers followed by the children’s performance of “A Blast from the Past”. When the performance is over we would like everyone to return to the school as FOSS have prepared food and drink. For the bargain price of only £3 there will be Mexican fajitas, tortilla chips & dips followed by English summer puddings. Drinks for children and adults will also be on sale.
The Summer Fete
I’m sure you have all heard the phrase contained in the poem ‘To a Mouse’, “the best laid plans of mice and men”. But who could have predicted the ferocity of the wind through the early hours of Sunday morning! In the face of adversity, FOSS managed to re-organise the entire event in the space of a couple of hours. When people began to arrive at 12 noon they had no appreciation of the amount of effort that had been put into making this event a wonderful community occasion. This is certainly one of the main fundraising events of the year for FOSS and this was no exception. The Fete committee, led by Laura Watts, did a fantastic job in organising, preparing and running this memorable event. The school is extremely grateful for all the hard work and effort that went into making this such a success. The event this year managed to raise over £1000 which will be used by FOSS to support the children’s education at school.
Sports Day
We were certainly blessed with some good dry weather this year for the event. However, the prolonged dry weather has caused havoc with the surface of the playing field. The numerous cracks which had opened up were filled with sand donated by the National Trust. This was a job that we entrusted the children with using trowels from the gardening club. The children did a great job and learnt that soils often contain clay particles which shrinks greatly when dry – hence the cracks.
The morning session consisted of 8 different ‘10 step’ activities including; compass run, an object pick up, beanbag throw, cricket, slalom, standing long jump, shuttle run, and a seated soccer ball throw. Each child had their own score card which they took around to each activity and challenged themselves to achieve as many points as possible. These points were totalled up and allocated to their own house team. Similarly during the afternoon each child was working for their team to generate points by competing against one another.
Sports days are about participation and working together as part of a team. They allow children the opportunity to challenge themselves and compete against others of a similar age. It also provides a platform for children to support each other and to learn to cope when things don’t always go the way that we would like.
This event is also a wonderful chance for parents to come into school to support and see their children taking part in school activities. We are very fortunate in having a terrific FOSS group who provided both children and parents with some wonderful refreshments during the interval. Well done to all the children for competing like true sports men and women, and thank you to FOSS for keeping everyone fed and watered during the afternoon.
Rounders Tournament
Children from years 3 & 4 did very well at the Rounders Tournament at Northleach recently. They were certainly able to show children from other schools that they could easily compete at their level and showed them that their ball skills were equal to, if not better than, many of the others who attended.
National Trust Guardianship
Last week, Natalie Bradley came into school to do a ‘pond dipping’ session for the children. This entailed catching pond wildlife, placing it in a temporary viewing tray and then identifying some of the different mini-beasts which live in this environment. The children were fascinated to see the diversity within such a small area and it was felt that this small ecosystem was functioning well.
Earlier this week, Mrs Bradley came into school and gave a demonstration on Wood Carving and Pyrography. She brought in a range of cut logs from different tree species to show the children which types are most suitable for wood carving. Along with the logs she also brought in a range of finished and ‘in-progress’ pieces that she has created. The children also saw some of her Pyrography which means ‘writing with fire’. The children were able to watch a demonstration of this burning / etching process and then a few of them were able to have a go at using the ‘special heated pen’ to write their names on a piece of wood.
Parents Evening & Review
I was very pleased to hear that so many parents took the opportunity to come along to the recent informal parents evening to see some of the children’s work and to discuss their progress. We have only received a third of our parent / child comments sheets which are attached to your child’s review. Please can the remaining comment sheets be returned to school on Monday, so that we can copy and return them to you all on Tuesday 20th July 2010.
Mrs Burch
I would just like to briefly say ‘thank you’ and ‘farewell’ to Mrs Burch, who has worked tirelessly in our school for many years. At the end of this term she is moving on to The Cotswold School to continue with the work that she has been doing with us. We would all like to wish you well in the future.
Mrs Cooper
Mrs Cooper has been working in class 1 since February and will be continuing with us but working in class 2. She will be increasing her working hours so that she will be working until 2.30pm Monday to Thursday and until midday on Fridays.
Library events
Join the Space Hop this year’s Summer Reading Challenge at your library this summer. From Sat 17th July, children can pick up a free fold out poster and membership card.
At each of the 3 stages: Blast Off!, Space Race and Lunar Landing stickers (including some smelly scratch and sniff ones) can be collected. To receive a certificate and a medal for completing the challenge, children need to collect all 6 stickers, and record 6 of their favourite books. Space Hop is aimed at children aged 4 -12 years, for younger ones there is a special Bookstart Bookcrawl certificate to collect.
There will be lots to do in the library, quizzes, events competitions etc. See how far you can go on your space voyage!
So pop in and see what’s going on… (It’s all FREE!)
Check out our web site for more details: http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/libraries and www.spacehop.org.uk for fun things to do.
School dinners - ParentPay
The last menus have been distributed and we must insist that all meals are paid for by the end of term. The school cannot accept any debt for hot meals being carried into the summer holidays. Parent Pay will allow for credits to be forwarded to next term where appropriate.
Secondary Admissions 2011
Just a reminder to parents of children going into Year 6 in September that the closing dates for registration for the grammar school test and common application form are 1st October and 31st October respectively. Further information on the application process will be distributed to you in September.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for supporting the school and your children throughout this academic year. It has been a particularly busy year for all of us, what with the changes to staff and the introduction of new Governors followed by an Ofsted and SIAS inspection. Throughout the many changes that have taken place the children have been fantastic and managed to cope exceptionally well. I am delight that all the hard work that has been put in has been recognised by Ofsted and that we are now firmly categorised as a ‘GOOD’ school. This is something that we should all be proud of and willing to share with others in this and the surrounding communities. So if you feel it appropriate do mention us positively to others.
On behalf of all the Staff and Governors I would like to wish you all an enjoyable, relaxing and safe summer holiday which is blessed with plenty of warm sunshine.
Best wishes
Mr Pudifoot
Headteacher