Dear Parents and Carers,

 

Christmas Fair

 

I would like thank the many families who supported the Christmas Fair. The PTA worked extremely hard as usual and the event was well organised by Nicky Simmonds. There was as usual, a lovely atmosphere.  I’m sure that all of you who attended the Fete enjoyed it.  I understand that about £3,600 was raised for the two schools, which is a fantastic achievement!

 

Charities

 

Once again we would like to thank you for your generosity in supporting a number of charities recently.

 

The children had a brilliant day on Friday 16^th November bringing lots of colour to the school to support Children in Need!  Pudsey Bear even visited us at lunchtime which caused a lot of excitement! The children paid a pound to wear red, white and yellow for the day, and also brought in their own teddies! We also managed to completely fill the planets in the playground with loose change.  Altogether we raised a staggering £490 for Children in Need.  Thank you for all your contributions and for supporting such a worthwhile cause.

 

We also raised £89.46 selling poppies for The Royal British Legion  Poppy Appeal and collected £169.66 for the NSPCC (the charity requested by the children) through our Lower School concert collections.

 

Two of our years 6 children are now collecting CDs for the Blue Peter Appeal. So look out for a letter about this shortly.

 

Sport

 

On a chilly but sunny Saturday in November, a team of Year 3 and Year 4 children took part in a football tournament at Crosfields School . The tournament was organised at very short notice and consisted of any willing volunteers who were not already ‘otherwise engaged’ in a sporting activity that day. As a result we had a very enthusiastic group of children who were looking forward to an exciting and enjoyable occasion. 

 

The tournament proved to be a great success with both teams battling hard to try and win their respective matches. They had to play 5 league games against far more experienced opponents and neither team disgraced themselves in the process.  Fair play and fun was the order of the day and Oaklands provided both of these in abundance.

 

 

 

There was an opportunity to meet Kingsley the lion, the Reading F.C mascot at an awards ceremony, which provided a great photo opportunity. Each child came away with a certificate, and each team was presented with a football.

 

Mr Pearse and Mr Hutton were delighted with the attitude and commitment of all participants and are looking forward to future similar events.

 

School Surveys

 

I would like to thank all parents who have taken part in our recent surveys.

 

At the end of the last school year a general survey took place and I believe I gave out the headlines from this. I am very belatedly sending you the summary of parent responses.   (See sheet attached to hard copy sent home with pupils)   I believe that the overall results are very positive.

 

A number of parents very kindly completed our recent school travel survey and we will let you have the results of this when they are collated.  If anyone still has one of these to send in to us we would be very grateful for it as so far we have received only about eighty responses.

 

Visiting Professionals

 

As a school we may occasionally feel that it would be of benefit to your children to discuss their progress or behaviour with other professionals. If you have any objections to this please inform Mrs Stevens.

 

Parking and Safe Access to School

 

We have had a few incidents reported to the school this term. Although we regularly remind parents to park sensibly when dropping off, or collecting children from school this often falls on deaf ears.

 

Our attention has recently been draw to the fact that cars are parking on the grass verge on The Avenue. This may well be nothing to do with our school but in general we would ask that you please respect the neighbourhood when parking. 

 

Can we also remind parents that when using the Butler Road entrance to keep to the fenced off path and not walk through the car park.  Children bringing bicycles into school must follow the pathway and access the bicycle shed from the gate between the terrapin and the school.  They must not walk through the car park area.

 

 

Science Club

 

The terrapin has been full of odd smells since making indicator from red cabbage. It was the smell of freshly squeezed lemons this week. We have had fun testing liquids for acids/alkalines and neutralising them. Next we will test for water hardness.
 
Big Schools Bird Watch

 

During lunchtime on Tuesday 22nd January we will be busy counting the birds that visit the school grounds for the annual RSPB bird watch. Parents and grandparents with an hour to spare to help the children identify the birds will be most welcome. Please let Ms Moores know if you can help.

 

School Meals

 

See letter from Edwards & Ward Ltd. attached to the hard copy sent home with your child.

 

Bulbs
Keep an eye on the grassed area just before you enter the school gates - the children have planted bulbs here. Many thanks to all who provided bulbs - let's hope for lots of colour here next spring.

 

Cycling Proficiency

As many of you know, we always run a course in Cycling Proficiency for our year 6 children and we believe that it is very worthwhile.

 

 We generally start this training in the summer term after the SATs tests have taken place but for the past two years we have struggled to find enough parents who are willing to train as instructors or generally help out. We did run a stall at the Christmas Bazaar to try to draw in some support and I am pleased to say that there were a number of potentially interested people coming forward.  However we still need more willing supporters for this.

 

We would like to begin holding sessions after Christmas on certain days after school and at lunchtimes. The difficulty with this is the fact that the evenings become dark early and the school playground is needed for the children to play on at lunchtime.

Last year we held quite a few sessions during the school day but found this disruptive and detrimental to the children in respect of the rest of their curriculum studies, so we don’t plan to operate in that way again.

 

With more that sixty children requiring training and testing, the organisation is a major problem.

 

We will be sending out a letter to year 6 parents shortly but if there are any parents throughout the school who would be willing to help we would like very much to hear from you.   To train to be an instructor only takes an hour!

 

Christmas Events

 

Decoration Day

 

Thanks to all the parents who attended school and helped the children on Decoration Day. It is always very enjoyable for the children and they love parents to come to school to help.  The school now looks very festive in readiness for Christmas.  

 

Christmas Concerts

 

The Year 3 and Year 4 children performed for parents and families on Tuesday 11th and Wednesday 12^th. It is always lovely to see children in this situation. There are many children who are quite shy in class but really come into their own on stage. I think that they all did a tremendous job of learning scripts, songs and putting in all of the appropriate actions. Thank you for supporting and helping them to succeed.

 

 

 

I would also especially like to thank the staff who worked behind the scenes and  particularly the class teachers involved, Mr Cotterill and Mrs Ginty for Year 3, and Mr Hutton and Miss Scoble for Year 4. 

 

Cinders

The pupils and staff enjoyed the theatre production, which took place on Wednesday 5^th December.  If you have not already sent a contribution of £1.50 per child there is still time to do so.  It’s lovely to be able to give the children a treat at this time of year, which they can all enjoy with their class and friends at school.

 

Christmas Lunch

As previously advised, Christmas lunch will be served on Tuesday 18^th December. 

 

School Carol Service

On Tuesday 18^th December the school will be visiting St. John’s Church for our annual Christmas Carol Service.  As usual we will be walking to and from the church and would welcome any offers of help to supervise the children en route.  Please ensure that your child has a warm waterproof coat to wear in case of inclement weather.  Do join us at the church if you would like to.  The service begins about 9.30a.m.  If the weather is horrendous we will endeavour to squeeze everyone into the school hall.

 

End of Term Sing-a-Long

As usual you are very welcome to join us singing our favourite Christmas carols and songs.  We will begin at approx. 1.40p.m. and will finish at 2.10p.m. in order to  get the children ready to go home.

 

End of Term Finishing Time

 

I would like to remind you that term finishes at 2.15p.m. on 21^st December.  School re-opens for the children on 8 January 2008.

 

 

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very happy and peaceful Christmas.

 

Best wishes to you all

 

Yours sincerely,

Mrs. S. Stevens

Headteacher