2016-17

Number 8

December 16th 2016

Dear Parents,

I really hope that all the children and their families have enjoyed the variety of special seasonal activities. I would also like to say how proud I am of the children and their enthusiasm as the last few weeks have been very busy at school with so many different events to celebrate Christmas and what a pleasure it has been sharing the fun of the build up to Christmas with them.

Christmas Dinner

Once again Mandy and her team cooked the most delicious Christmas Dinner on Wednesday which was enjoyed by many children and staff. We were treated to roast turkey with all the trimmings preceded by crackers for everyone.

A big thank you to everyone who helped to make this a success, especially Mrs Ward for coordinating everyone and the lunchtime supervisors, staff and parents who came along to help serve, cut up food and clear away. Your support made a huge difference to the smooth running of the day.

Christmas Performances - What a week!

Well done to all our Y2 children who performed their Christmas nativity at Hayesfield School on Monday.

We also had the pleasure of watching our Reception and Year 1 children perform their Christmas nativity this week. I am sure you agree that all the children were just brilliant reading, singing and dancing their hearts out to remind us of the story of the very first Christmas. Each performance has been unique and there have been some special and touching moments. We are very proud of each and every one of them and I am sure those of you who were at the performances will agree that these occasions are to be remembered and treasured and are a wonderful way to share the meaning of Christmas through the children’s eyes.

Christingles

The children really enjoyed making their Christingles. They learned about

the meaning of each part of the Christingle and will be joining in a candlelit

assembly this afternoon.

Nativity Charity Collection

Thank you all for your generosity after each of our Nativity Celebrations. The chosen charity this term is The Air Ambulance Charity. We will let you know in the new year how much money was raised.

Moving from Year 2 to a Junior School September 2017 - urgent deadline approaching

A reminder that the cut-off date for applications to transfer to a Junior School for September 2017 is January 15th 2017. We received notification from the Local Authority last week that there were still 24 children at Oldfield Park Infant School who had not submitted their application. Reminder letters and application forms have been sent to the individuals concerned. If your application is late you will not be considered in the first round of applications and it would be highly likely that you would not be offered a place in your first choice school.

If one of your choices of school is Oldfield Park Junior School, you do still need to complete an application form.

Encouraging independence with our children

As the new school year begins I would like to ask all parents to work with us to encourage our children to become more independent as we prepare them for the next stage of their learning journey. This can be achieved by allowing them to walk into their classrooms independently and encouraging them to take greater responsibility for the organisation of things they need for the day such as reading books, homework etc. Your support will be greatly appreciated.

Training to be a Reading Partner - The school is very grateful for all the support that parents give in listening to their children read and supporting them at home. Some children can find starting to read a challenge and are helped by an additional programme that we run in school. We are looking for volunteers who would be willing to help an individual child three times a week, preferably from 9:00am to 9:20am or possibly 2:40pm to 3:00pm. We would provide training which would cover the structure of each lesson and approaches that enable children to succeed.

The children have certainly benefitted from the extra support but the ‘reading partners’ have also said that they have found the sessions rewarding and enjoyable.

If you are interested in helping the school in this way please speak to either Mrs Evans (SENCo) or myself.

Thank you

Coffee Morning - It was lovely to see some friendly faces at our first coffee morning this year. Please see below the proposed timetable for future coffee mornings with Hannah Chambers our Parent Support Advisor and Danni Taylor our school nurse. It would be great to see you there. All sessions start at 9.15am

Tuesday 17th January 2017 / Behaviour and anger management
Wednesday 1st February 2017 / Sleep and bed wetting
Monday 6th March 2017 / Dealing with anxious children
Tuesday 4th April 2017 / Dealing with illness and additional needs within the family
Wednesday 10th May 2017 / Health and Exercise to include eating patterns and screen time
Tuesday 20th June 2017 / Routines and Boundaries

Staying Safe online

I hope that those of you that were able to attend the NSPCC workshop on Wednesday found it useful. We will be adding information from the NSPCC to the website in the new year.

PTA News

Many thanks to the PTA for all their continued hard work over the year. The class who collected the most jars of sweets for the Christmas Fayre was Barn Owl Class with 62 jars and they have claimed their class treat! Well done and thank you to all families for their support.

Cake Sales

Please see below list of dates for forthcoming cake sales all of which are on a Friday.

Rabbit / 27th January 2017
Squirrel / 24th February 2017
Badger / 31st March 2017
Barn Owl / 28th April 2017
Frog / 26th May 2017
Fox / 30th June 2017

Class Assemblies

Please join us for class assemblies in Terms 3 and Terms 4.

Thursday 19th January 2017 at 2.45 pm / Rabbit Class
Thursday 26th January 2017 at 2.45 pm / Barn Owl Class
Thursday 2nd February 2017 at 2.45 pm / Squirrel Class
Thursday 2nd March 2017 at 2.45 pm / Badger Class
Thursday 9th March 2017 at 2.45 pm / Fox Class
Thursday 16th March 2017 at 2.45 pm / Frog Class

Weekly Attendance

Week beginning 28/11/16 Week Beginning 5/12/16

Badger / 100% / Squirrel / 98.66%
Squirrel / 98.21% / Barn Owl / 97.41%
Fox / 97.50% / Frog / 96.56%
Frog / 97.08% / Fox / 95.83%
Barn Owl / 96.98% / Badger / 95.42%
Rabbit / 95.98% / Rabbit / 94.20%

May I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and New Year. Thank you for all your support and kindness during the year, it has been a real pleasure.

Here’s to a successful 2017 for all at Oldfield Park Infant School.

Yours sincerely

Claire McMurtry

Head Teacher

Please note the new school email address is

Please see a list of dates below which are also displayed in our new ‘IMPORTANT DATES FOR YOU DIARY’ noticeboards which are on the corner of the building and in the Playground by the tree.

Spring - Term 3
Tuesday January 3rd 2017 / INSET day – School is closed to pupils
Tuesday 17th January 2017 / Coffee Morning – Behaviour and Anger Management at 9.15am
Thursday January 19th 2017 / Rabbit Class assembly at 2.45pm
Thursday January 26th 2017 / Barn Owl Class assembly at 2.45pm
Wednesday 1st February 2017 / Coffee Morning – Sleep and bed wetting at 9.15am
Thursday February 2nd 2017 / Squirrel Class assembly at 2.45pm
Monday February 6th 2017 / Theme Week – Healthy Me! (More information to follow)
Friday February 10th 2017 / End of Term 3
Spring - Term 4
Monday February 20th 2017 / Start of Term 4
Thursday March 2nd 2017 / Badger Class assembly at 2.45pm
Friday 3rd March 2017 / World Book Day - Dress up as your favourite character from your favourite storybook.
Monday 6th March 2017 / Coffee Morning - Dealing with anxious children at 9.15am
Thursday March 16th 2017 / Frog Class assembly at 2.45pm
Thursday March 23rd 2017 / Dance Umbrella
(More information to follow)
Tuesday 4th April 2017 / Coffee Morning – Dealing with illness and additional needs in the family at 9.15am
Friday April 7th 2017 / End of Term 4

PLEASE NOTE THAT TUESDAY 3RD JANUARY IS AN INSET DAY AND THAT CHILDREN WILL RETURN TO SCHOOL ON WEDNESDAY 4TH JANUARY 2017.