Ickford News

I don’t see a great deal of television during the week but recently, I have managed to catch a programme on BBC2 about 1066, and the Norman conquest of England. Following the infamous Battle of Hastings and the subsequent coronation of William I, life in England was never the same again.Now in 2017, Ickford’s finest are primed to change the course of history as they make the final preparations to next week’s assault on Normandy! Mme Basnett will be at the head of the Ickford battalion (Joan of Arc pales into insignificance) leading the way as we maraud through the markets of northern France. L’escargot will quake in their shells and no croissant will remain unturned. Ooh la la!

As much as I enjoy going away with the children (what’s not to love? Sleepless nights, travel sickness…) the timing of this year’s trip has coincided with several sporting competitions and so, as this is my area of responsibility, I shall be in close contact with home checking the progress of our Badminton Team who will compete at Waddesdon next week.

It is a testament to the dedication of the children that although our Year 5 children are away, we have two teams of Year 4 children taking part in the Year 5 tournament and I am very confident that they will hold their own.

Unfortunately, I was not able to watch the ballet assembly this week but Mme Basnett assured me it was as delightful as ever and everyone enjoyed the dancing and the short demonstration of steps. I am indebted to Miss Sharon and Miss Lisa for the dance provision and the relationship with Claydon’s Academy is one I hope will continue to thrive in the future.

Our School Council made the trip to Aylesbury this week to visit Berryfield’s Primary School. This visit was organised by Mr Owen who has worked hard with the School Council to initiate some wider community interaction in order to support and develop the concept of ‘citizenship’ in our school. This project is in its early stages and the School Council visit and the recent trip to the Mosque are just some of the activities we are planning in order to give the children a deeper understanding of the world we live in and the need to embrace the opportunities afforded to us living in a multi-cultural and dynamic society.

I spoke to some of the School Council who told me how much they had enjoyed the visit and meeting other children. Mr Owen was also impressed by the welcome extended by Berryfields as well as being very proud of our children who led group discussions and spoke articulately about our school and the values we have at Ickford. I look forward to being able to invite children and staff from Berryfields here in the near future.

Ickford News from the officeDates for your diary…

13th-17th March / Y5&6 French Residential
14th March / Trip to Warwick Castle
17th March / Medieval Dress Up Day
20th March
6pm-9pm / Class 4 Echoes Performance, Royal Albert Hall
30th March / Class 2 Assembly
31st March / Inset Day

Sainsbury’s Active Kids Vouchers Please send in any vouchers that you collect, the collection box is next to the Golden Book in the front entrance so you can browse the Golden book at the same time.

Childcare Vouchers

Following the recent parent questionnaire, we received a request that we look into accepting childcare vouchers. If this option would be of interest to you to pay for after-school clubs in this way please inform Mrs Addis in the office which childcare voucher scheme you use as we need to affiliate with companies individually. We cannot promise anything at the moment but we are going to look into what we can offer.

Please NoteThough we will look into accepting childcare vouchers, our after-school clubs are NOT cheap child care. There have been several instances recently of parents treating them as such and using them as a cheaper alternative to other child care set ups. Children should only be enrolled in clubs if they genuinely want to take part in the activity and are suited to it.

Apology

My apologies for any reference to Oakley School in the last newsletter. My comments were not intended to suggest that Oakley is anything but a good school.