End of Term 6 @ 3.15pm

Thursday 2nd September – Start of term 1

Birthdays next month – August.

 Parent Governor Nominations.

On behalf of the Governing Body I am pleased to inform you that Tim Hampton is our new governor.

Extra Inset Day 2010/11.

Did you know?
The following after school clubs are available to our pupils at Thomas Keble School.

Monday – Netball from 4.30pm to 5.30pm.
Tuesday – Gymnastics from 4.30pm to 5.30pm. (possibly trampolining in term 6)
Wednesday – Table tennis and badminton from 4.30pm to 5.30pm.
Thursday – Tennis (new for term 6) from 4.45pm to 5.45pm.
Friday – Basketball club from 4.30pm to 5.30pm.

If you are interested in finding out more information please contact the school office.

Dates for your diary Term 6.
School photographs    -   Friday 11th June
Year 5 Technology day at Thomas Keble    -   Tuesday 22nd June(More details to follow in term 6)
Key Stage 2 production (evening performance)   –    Thursday 15th July – pm  (More details to follow in term 6)
Sports Day    -   Tuesday 20th July –pm   (Reserve date Wednesday 21st July – pm)
Achievement worship for the end of Term 6    -   Thursday 22nd  July – am

Could you be a Governor at our school?
In the first week of Term 6 we will be sending out information regarding nominations for parent governor election. In order to provide more information about the role we have produced an information sheet that we hope will be useful. Please do not hesitate to contact myself or Brian Cheeseman for more information.

Finally, thank you so much to all who were involved in supporting our visit from Holy Trinity School. A great time was had by all and the visiting staff and pupils were so impressed by our very unique school and setting. Many photographs are on the website.

Birthdays next month
June.
Phoebe – 6 on 10th
Hermione – 10 on 16th
Archie – 6 on 18th
Vieve – 6 on 26th

Well done to Alfie, Alban, Ben, Joe, Maria and Megan who successfully completed the end of Key Stage 2 SATs this week. All staff have been extremely impressed with their attitude and preparation not just this week but throughout the school year. In order to celebrate their achievements the class took part in the traditional “toast with toast”. 

The Marvellous May Revels.

In spite of the cold and somewhat damp weather the 2010 May Revels was still an enjoyable and fun experience for all. Many positive and supportive comments have been received about the skill of our pupils’ May Pole dancing and a number of people have expressed just how much they enjoyed the traditional theme.  The event is featured in the most recent edition of the Stroud News and Journal with a report by Hester in Year 4 and photos by Nick Miles.  I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who helped to support the preparation, the setting up and the running of the day. The event runs so smoothly due to the amount of hard work and dedication behind the scenes.

A meeting of the School Association will take place next Thursday 20th May 8.15pm at school.

Visit to Oakridge.

On Tuesday 18th May 26 Y5 pupils from Holy Trinity School in London will spend the day at our school.  Our Key Stage 2 class has already been in contact with the pupils through written communication.  Last term the classes studied the same topic – Victorians.  We were thrilled this week to receive a copy of a DVD the class had made on the subject.  Our main aims for the day are to show the visiting children our very special local environment and to give the pupils from both schools the opportunity to get to know each other and discover both the differences and similarities in their learning experiences.

Summer Activities 

A leaflet giving information regarding summer activities in the Stroud area is available from the school office.

There will be an achievement worship on Friday 28th May at 9.10am in church.

Congratulations to Joe and Ben in Year 6 who represented our school this week in the regional finals of this very difficult competition. Joe and Ben reported that “we had to build a tower over 75cm tall with a platform and a lift which was really hard! There were also lots of different schools there.”  Thank you to Mrs Williams who provided valuable team support on the day.

Young sports leaders.

Well done to Joe, Ben, Alban, Alfie, Maria, Megan, Jack, Elden, Katie, Bonnie and Beth for successfully completing their young leaders training. All these pupils have now been trained in developing the necessary skills to plan and lead activities with younger children. This initiative has been provided through the sports partnership links with Thomas Keble School. We extend our thanks to Kayleigh for working with our school.

Feedback from parent consultation meetings.

Early feedback indicates that our recent changes to the running of the meetings have been a success. Staff felt particularly pleased with the new arrangements. Many thanks for your co-operation with this matter.

End of KS2 SATs.

Two teaching unions have called for primary Headteachers to boycott the testing arrangements this year. I will not be taking action and so SATs will go ahead as planned for our year 6 pupils this year. If you would like to discuss this further please make an appointment to meet with me.

Badminton – can you help?

This week our KS2 class were keen to commence a series of badminton lessons in the PE slot before swimming. The leisure centre at Cirencester have many wonderful resources but not enough racquets for our class. If you or your child has a badminton racquet that could be used on Wednesday afternoons we would be very grateful of its loan over the next five weeks.

Countdown to the May Revels.

The time is fast approaching to May 8th. May pole dancing rehearsals are going well and we are keeping our fingers crossed for good weather. Some parents have enquired about costume requirements for the children who are performing.  School will be sending a note about this early next week but we can confirm that any clothes needed will probably be something that you already have e.g. flowery dress for girls/white shirt and grey trousers for boys.  School will provide any additional items.

A reminder.

Please note that the final payment for PGL is due next week. Also, there are still some swimming contributions outstanding.

Bank Holiday.

The weather forecast for the weekend says rain – it must be a Bank Holiday.  School will reopen on Tuesday 4th May.

Finally, thank you to everyone who sponsored me to run the 2010 London Marathon. It was a truly amazing race and believe it or not I loved every minute.  In fact I had a tear in my eye at 23 miles because I was sad that it was nearly over. My finish time was 4 hours 38 minutes.   I managed to take some photos on the way round and these will be posted on the school website – I think the one overtaking Richard Branson is quite impressive !

Birthdays next month – May.

Beth – 10 on 3rd
Kallum – 9 on 5th
Zoe – 7 on 9th
Katie – 10 on 12th
Tom – 6 on 20th
Amy – 8 on 24th

The staff would like to say a big well done to all the pupils, parents and grandparents who successfully completed a wet and soggy mile up at the playing field last Friday. The total amount raised for the Sport Relief appeal was £79.00.  Yet again our Pupil Council did a great job in coordinating the organisation of the event – great lap markers

PGL – a reminder. 

The next payment of £30.00 per pupil towards the cost of the KS2 residential visit is due by 31st March 2010.

Victorian Day – Wednesday 31st March

For Wednesday 31st March (last day of term) we have organised a Victorian day for the whole school. Please come in Victorian dress ready to experience many exciting activities including examining authentic Victorian artefacts.

Tennis Coaching for KS2 – Monday 19th April 

Please can all Key Stage 2 pupils have their PE kit in school for Monday 19th April as they will be receiving some tennis coaching during the morning.

Enclosed is a short questionnaire from the tennis coach, Charlie Crisp for the Key Stage 1 pupils who received tennis coaching earlier this week. He would appreciate any feedback and will collect any completed questionnaires returned to school before the end of term.

Parent Questionnaire Results – March 2010.

 Other comments.

Areas to consider / develop

 All our cross country runners in the Y3 and Y4 Stroud District finals on Wednesday were amazing. Their enthusiasm and efforts were noted by many. Our team was awarded two first and one second place medals – which for a very small school is such a fantastic achievement. We would like to give a special mention to Amy, Hester and Libby who apparently have been wearing their medals twenty four hours a day.  However, we need to say a big well done to all runners and parents who have supported training. It is rumoured that training at altitude in Oakridge is the key to success. 

Parent Questionnaire

 At the end of Term 3 a parent questionnaire was sent to all families. To date six completed forms have been received. Your feedback is important to us. It helps to inform decision making and review current practice.  It’s not too late, please return any forms to the box located in the reception area.

 Governor Newsletter.     

In order to further improve and enhance communication between families and the Governing Body an overview newsletter has been produced. The aim is to send out a similar document three times during the academic year. Your response to this publication would be much appreciated. 

 Celebrating China     

A full and informative day is planned for next Tuesday. See the flyer sent out on Thursday for more details.  If you would like to assist in the smooth running or have any artefacts or resources that could be used to support learning, please contact Carolyn to discuss this further.  Any empty unwanted shoe boxes would also be appreciated to help in the making of our dragon – please bring them in on Tuesday morning. 

 World Book Day     

Thursday 4th March is the annual World Book Day.  Official World Book Day Tokens will be distributed to all pupils on that day and we plan to celebrate the occasion by coming to school dressed as your favourite book character and bringing a favourite book to share. 

 Cloak Hooks      

Thank you to Mr Heath and associates who helped to resolve this issue.  

 Recycling    

Mrs Warren would like to say thank you to all KS1 parents for responding so well to the recycling homework set. We found it really interesting and earned four glitzys! 

 Easter Egg Hunt   

The Easter Egg Hunt will take place on Monday 29th March after school at The Village Hall. This year there will be one main craft activity to make and decorate a hat. Children may like to start collecting bits and pieces ready. Tickets costing £2.50 can be purchased for this event from Caroline Priestley or Kim at the shop. See Mrs Priestley for further information.

We are very pleased to announce that our school raised a total of £135.89 to help children in Haiti. Well done and thank you to all who supported this event. All monies have been sent to UNISEF.

Run Oakridge Run.

Congratulations to all the pupils in Key Stage 2 who took place in the first Cross Country race at Marling School last Friday. We are very proud of all our runners and wish to give a special mention to our medal winners this time Hester, Amy and Libby.The next dates for diaries are Wednesday 24th February for the Y3/4 championships and Friday 26th February for the Y5/6 championships both to be held after school at Stratford Park Leisure Centre.

Storymaking project.

Has your child told you the story of The Little Red Hen yet?

Staff have been inspired after attending the first of a series of professional development sessions run by Pie Corbett at a primary local school. We feel that the children have been inspired too, so why not ask your child / children to tell you a story. We’d love to hear your feedback. 

Links with Holy Trinity School, Camden.

The Key Stage 2 class have started to communicate with the Year 5 class at the above school. We are all very excited about the prospect of linking up and learning about the similarities and differences between our schools. We plan to use a range of ICT in order to get to know each school and already have a provisional date in the diary for the class from Camden to visit us.

Watch this space.

Violin lessons.

There have been a couple of requests regarding violin lessons. If your child would be interested in taking up this instrument please could you register your interest with Carolyn.

Celebrating China – a date for next term.

As part of our learning about other cultures and festivals, we plan to hold a Celebrating China day on Tuesday 2nd March. If you would like to assist in running a workshop please let myself or Carolyn know.

Achievement Worship.

There will be an achievement worship held in church this Friday 12th February at 9.10am.

This term has moved at a rapid pace. Let’s hope we have seen the last of the snow for a while. We look forward to the start of Term 4 on Monday 22nd February.  

 Birthdays this month – February.

 Oli (KS1) – 7  on 12th

 Florrie – 6 on 12th

 Harry – 7 on 15th

 Hannah – 9 on 21st

We are pleased to announce that the total amount raised through our activities last Friday was an admirable £158.59. This includes money collected in Kim’s Shop and the pub. All pupils had a super time making pizzas, biscuits and taking part in various games whilst raising money for an excellent cause. We give our thanks to the Pupil Council and Mrs Wynter for organising this event. We also extend a special thanks to Mr Gray for spending the morning with us and helping to make all the pizzas.

Disco Fever.

Thank you to all those parents and friends of the school who supported the recent disco in the Butcher’s Arms pub. Your hard efforts on the dance floor have resulted in us being given £50 to go towards the cost of new musical instruments. We pass on our sincere thanks to Jane for running this evening.

Posada and Christingle.

The last parent newsletter from the Church provided information about the plans for the Posada in the run up to Christmas. If you would like to be part of the Posada this year please could you ensure that you inform Carolyn in the office by the end of next week. Also could you inform us if you plan to attend the Christingle in Church on Sunday 13th Decemebr at 9.30am. There will be a list displayed in reception.

Jumble sale.

There will be a sale of second hand uniform in school on Wednesday 9th December at 3.15pm. Any donations of unwanted uniform will be gratefully received. Please contact Guilia Boden for more details.

Data checking sheets.

With the printed version of this newsletter, please find attached an information sheet relating to your child/children. It is vital that the school office have as much up-to-date information as possible relating to addresses, contact telephone numbers and medical history, so that in an emergency situation contact can be established. I would be grateful if you could study carefully the information listed and make any corrections or fill in any omissions as necessary. Please sign and return these forms by Friday 11th December to the school office.

Coat hooks.

Now that all pupils are bringing winter coats and clothing to school, there has been some concern about the storage facilities in the cloakroom. I am pleased to share with you that extra coat hooks are on order and plans in place to put them up.

The mini bus scheme.

A while ago there was discussion at the School Association meeting regarding the idea of purchasing a mini bus for school. This week we have investigated the possibility of the school joining the local Gloucestershire mini bus scheme. For a reduced fee it allows schools to hire a mini bus (and driver). It certainly looks to be a great scheme which we are pleased to become involved with.

With all best regards
Lisa Austin-Harrison.

BIRTHDAYS IN DECEMBER

Hester – 9 on 12th
Jack – 5 on 13th
Stella – 6 on 17th