NORTHBOURNE NEWS

Issue No: Twelve
Date: 26th November 2010

www.northbourne-school.org.uk

Some advance warning…we will close at 1:30pm on the final day of term, Friday 17th December.

NATIVITY TIME!
Tickets for the Key Stage One Christmas production are now on sale, priced at £1.50 per adult and £1 per child. The tickets are restricted to two tickets per family for the morning and two tickets for the evening performance in the first week. Any tickets left over will be available for general sale from Monday 29th November. We will be able to provide a crèche for children under 5; please speak to your child’s class teacher or the office staff to reserve a place. Please note that only children who have places booked in advance will be able to stay at the crèche, as we need to organise the appropriate number of staff members to cover. To help with our ongoing preparations, could Key Stage One children bring their nativity costumes into school next week, on 1st December. Please speak to a class teacher if you have any questions.
Staff in Key Stage One would also like to thank parents and other family members for all the support given to children in completing their home learning projects on pirates. The children produced some fantastic work which is now being displayed outside the hall for everyone to see. We also really appreciate the positive feedback you gave us on the parent questionnaire forms for the project. As the projects are now complete, maths homework will start again on Tuesdays.

STAFF NEWS
Congratulations to our caretaker, Chris Davies, who recently collected her 25 year service award from Oxfordshire County Council. We are all proud of Mrs. Davies for such an impressive achievement… here’s to your hard work continuing for the next 25 years Chris!!
We are also looking forward to our new Deputy Headteacher, Miss Newton, starting work with us on Monday. Miss Newton will be teaching Kite class alongside Mrs. Holdcroft for the week, to help her start to get to know her new pupils and learn some of the systems and routines we have at Northbourne. I am sure everyone will make Miss Newton feel very welcome, and that she will quickly become a very valued member of our school community.

SCHOOL DINNER MONEY
Just a quick reminder for all parents that school dinners now cost £1.90 each or £9.50 for a full week. Please can you ensure that money is submitted on a Monday, either directly to the office or through the blue box in your child’s classroom. Office staff would appreciate the correct money being handed in wherever possible.

CLUBS
Please note that clubs finish for this term next week. Thank you to all staff who have given their time to help provide so many after-school activities, and to the children who stay behind so eagerly after school to develop their skills and talents in so many different areas! We will begin clubs again after Christmas…look out for the list of what is on offer in a newsletter in January.

CHRISTMAS BAZAAR
Remember that our Christmas Bazaar will take place next Friday from 2:30pm. Hopefully, you will have seen the flyer and information sheet giving further details about the event; if you have any questions, please speak to Mr. Shaughnessy, a member of the PTA or your child’s class teacher.
Remember too that pupils can come to school in non-uniform next Friday, the day of the bazaar, in return for an item we can include in our hamper raffle. These will be collected at the gate at the start of the day, and we would be really grateful for donations of things including… christmas cakes, Yule logs, christmas puddings, savoury or sweet biscuits, pickles, sweets, chocolate tree decorations, mice pies, mulled wine…

CAN YOU HELP??
The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) is looking for parents and pupils to give their opinions, mainly through online surveys, on a wide range of educational issues. £2 will be donated to the PTA for each household that signs up to the panel, and you will receive £2 worth of points, which can be spent at Amazon, for each survey you complete.
More information is available at www.nfer.ac.uk/panel. If you do register, the Northbourne PTA code to enter when prompted is ER555. Please speak to Mrs. Benn, the treasurer of the PTA, if you would like any further information.

CHILDREN IN NEED
A BIG thank you to all the children, parents and staff who donated to Children In Need this year by coming to school in spotty non-uniform and taking part in a sponsored silence last Friday. The school has raised a total of £151.27 to date. Well done to everyone for helping raise such an impressive total, and a big thank you to all of the school council for helping plan, promote and run the event.

STEPPING STONES – LETTER FROM SANTA SERVICE
Stepping Stones are running a Letter from Santa service. The cost is £1.50 + a self-addressed stamped envelope per letter. Each letter will get a personal reply from Father Christmas plus a small treat. If you would like to make use of this service you need to place the letter to Father Christmas in an envelope along with payment and the self-addressed envelope and be placed in the post box (this should be marked letter to Father Christmas). The Post Box can be found on the pre-school stall at the Christmas Bazaar on Friday 3rd December or in pre-school and will be available from Monday 29th November until Friday 10th December. This service is open to anyone wishing to receive a letter from Santa. We will also be selling reindeer dust and Christmas Eve packs at the school fair.

LEARNDIRECT
Help your children with their homework…
learndirect offer FREE Maths and English training and qualifications as well as a wide range of IT courses including Internet, email, beginners IT and Word Processing. IT courses are free (terms and conditions apply). If you start a Maths, English or IT programme with learndirect before Christmas you’ll get £10 of shopping vouchers (Somerfield/Co-op/Sainsbury’s) and we’ll donate £10 to your PTA.

For more information, please contact Donna at learndirect, Abingdon on 01235 559000 or email donna.evans@best.co.uk or Tony at learndirect, Didcot on 01235 515375 or email tony.cashman@best.co.uk.

NORTHBOURNE NEWS
Issue No: Twelve
Date: 27th November 2009

www.northbourne-school.org.uk

OUR B-L-U-E GALLERY!

It was great to see so many families come to visit our anti-bullying art gallery last week. The art work on display was all of a very high quality, and really reinforced the message about how important it is for children to tell someone whenever they might be concerned about any form of bullying. Our local MP, Ed Vaizey, and 2 police officers judged the competition and chose a winner from each year group. All of the winners will be framed and displayed in school for the rest of the year.

Two pupils and Mr. Shaughnessy attended a Local Authority conference at the Kassam Stadium during the week, which looked at the relatively new problem of cyber-bullying. The school council will be following this up with some work in school to raise awareness of potential problems which text messages and social networking sites like Facebook can sometimes cause. Our pupils were impeccably behaved during the day and worked really hard to plan events to run in school…well done both of you.

BBC Radio Oxford heard about the work the school was doing, and interviewed us live on air last Friday. They were really interested to hear about everything we had been doing at Northbourne to raise awareness of this very important issue.

KS1 PLAY UDATE

Tickets for ‘The Shiniest Star’ will go on general sale from Monday. This means that further tickets on top of the initial limit of 2 per family can now be bought. Please remember to speak to your child’s class teacher with any costume queries, or to book younger children into the crèche; this must be done by next Wednesday in order to secure a place.

CHRISTMAS DINNER

Remember that Christmas dinner money (£1.85) must be sent to the office in an envelope labelled with child’s name and class by next Friday in order for the correct amount of turkey to be ordered!

D-I-S-C-O!!

Our Christmas discos will be on Wednesday 9th December. Foundation Stage and years 1, 2 and 3 will have their disco from 5 – 6pm, and the year 4 – 6 event will run from 6:15 – 7:30pm. Tickets are now on sale from the office at £1.50 each; the entrance price includes squash and a bag of sweets to bring home. Small and large glow sticks will be on sale for 50p and £1 each. .

If any parents or family members are able to help with any small jobs on the evening, please let Mr. Shaughnessy or a member of the PTA know. All help will be gratefully received!

Our discos are always good fun, and we hope to see as many of you there as possible to start the Christmas celebrations!

CHRISTMAS BAZAAR

We will be holding our Christmas Bazaar next Friday (4th December) from 2:30pm. Children and class teachers will be running games and selling small items they have been making for Christmas, ranging from cards to cakes! Stalls will be in the hall and in some of the classrooms in the main building.

You are welcome to collect your children at any time from 2:30 and walk around the stalls with them; please come into school through the main door by the office and let the class teacher know you are collecting your child. The stalls will run until 3:30 so if you can’t make the earlier time you are still very welcome to have a look round after the end of school. Older children will be given time by their teachers to look round stalls on their own, so please feel free to send them to school with a small amount of money in the morning. Class teachers may ask for extra pairs of hands, either from family members or from some of the older pupils; please keep your eyes peeled for sign-up sheets around school throughout next week if you are able to help.

BREAKFAST CLUB

Breakfast Club is open from 7.50 am. We offer breakfast until 8.20 am. We have lots of toys and activities for the children to do. On Friday, we usually go into the hall and do activities, eg, table tennis/skittles/badminton to name but a few. Please can you arrive early to be able to participate and join in the fun! (as well as having a great healthy breakfast at the same time). Weather permitting we go out on the playing field, but if it’s been wet, can we please ask that children bring their wellington boots so they can still go outside.

YES! YES!! YES!!!

We WILL be running our Christmas Camp this year!!!

AND WE STILL HAVE SOME SPACES!

Pick up more information and booking forms by visiting the school office or downloading them from our host school’s website ( http://www.willowcroft.org.uk/childcare.asp ) and return your completed forms to the office asap. Ring our Childcare Co-ordinator at 07599 018 627 for more information or to book a tour. Hope to see you on the playground!

NORTHBOURNE NEWS

Issue No: Twelve

Date: 28^th November 2008

FUN FOR FREE!

Would you like your child to do fun activities outside school but can’t afford it?  If your child is entitled to free school meals then there is funding available to pay for them.  The activities could range from swimming lessons, to Brownie/Cub subscriptions to horse-riding lessons, or almost any activity!  If you are interested in finding out more then please speak to either your child’s class teacher, Mrs Burr or Mrs Rowley in the office.

ELIGIBILITY FOR FREE SCHOOL MEALS

As from 28 October 2008, a new benefit has been introduced by the Department of Work and Pensions that replaces Incapacity Benefit and Income Support called Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). Certain recipients of this new benefit will be entitled to free school meals as outlined here.

As from April 2008 the new threshold figure which forms part of the ‘Tax Credit’ free school meal eligibility category is £15,575 (an increase from £14,495 for April 2007/08).

Pupils whose parents/carers receive the following support payments are entitled to free school meals:

• Income Support (IS) – proof of entitlement is in the form of a Job Centre Plus letter or FF260 form
• Income Based Jobseekers Allowance (IBJSA) – proof of entitlement is in the form of a Job Centre Plus letter
• Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 – proof of entitlement is in the form of a Home Office letter
• State Pension Credit – proof of entitlement is assessed by the ‘Pension Credit M1000 Award Notice’. The ‘How Pension Credit has been worked out for…’ section of this form clearly shows details of any Guaranteed Pension Credit in payment
• Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) has been introduced to replace both Incapacity Benefit and Income Support
• ESA(IR) will be an eligible benefit for free school meals – proof of entitlement is a letter or a statement from the Department of Work and Pensions
• ESA (C) recipients are not automatically eligible benefit for free school meals
• Child Tax Credit with an annual income “as assessed by the Inland Revenue” that does not exceed £15,570 (the parents/guardians must not have Working Tax Credit) – proof of entitlement is assessed by the ‘TC602 Award Notice’ by viewing the information inside the box on the first page.

CHRISTMAS LUNCH

Christmas dinner this year will be held on Thursday 18^th December.  If you would like your child to have lunch on this day then please could you send in an envelope £1.85, marked with your child’s name, class and Christmas on it.  Payments for this should be received in school no later than Monday 8^th December so that we can let the kitchen know numbers.

KS1 AND FOUNDATION STAGE CHRISTMAS PLAY ‘IT’S A BABY’

The Christmas play will be on Monday 8^th December from 6 – 7pm, on Tuesday 9th from 10 – 11am and on Tuesday evening from 6 – 7pm (parents please drop children off at 5.30 via the main entrance for evening performances).

Tickets will be available from Monday 24^th November and will cost £1.50 for adults and £1.00 for children.  Please note only two per family will be initially available to allow every child to have family members present. Remaining tickets will be available on a first come, first served basis from Monday 1^st December.

There will be a crèche for children under 5.  However, there are only a limited number of places on the crèche and only children who have been booked into it will be able to attend.  Therefore please see your class teacher if you require a place.

STEPPING STONES AT NORTHBOURNE – LETTER FROM SANTA/FATHER CHRISTMAS

As in previous years we will once again be running the Letter from Santa/Father Christmas service.  The cost is £1.50 + self-addressed, stamped, envelope per letter.  Each letter will get a personal reply from Santa/Father Christmas.

If you would like to make use of this service you need to place the letter to Santa/Father Christmas in an envelope along with payment, and the self-addressed envelope and place in the post box.  (This will be marked letter to Santa/Father Christmas).  The Post Box can be found in Pre School and will be available from Monday 24^th November until Friday 12^th December.  This service is open to any one wishing their child to receive a letter.  Just place a letter to Santa along with payment and a self-addressed envelope in the box and the child will get a personal reply back.

CLUBS

Clubs will be stopping this week but Mr Collett’s Astronomy Club will be running right up to Wednesday 17^th December.

MULTI-SPORTS CLUB – AFTER SCHOOL ON TUESDAY 16^TH DECEMBER

Multi-Sports Club are holding a Christmas Special on Tuesday 16^th December from 3.00 pm until 4.30 pm.  Those children who already attend the club will go as normal.  If your child does not normally go to the Club but would like to come to the Christmas Special please come to office to collect a permission letter and pay £3.00.

KEY STAGE 1 HOME LEARNING PROJECT

On Monday 1^st December at 2:40pm we would like to invite parents and carers to watch the child receive certificate for their home learning project.

BOOKS

This year, we are working on developing pupils’ love of books and reading.  We would be very grateful to receive offers of help, especially :

Donations of children’s new and nearly new fiction and non-fiction books.

Washable cushions for use in our reading groups and story clubs.

Any fabric which we could use for creating colourful book displays throughout the school.

All donations will be gratefully received at the school office.  Many thanks, Mr Shaughnessy and Mrs Conway.

BREAKFAST/AFTER SCHOOL CLUB

Please note that the phone number for Maggie in the Extended Day Clubs has changed with immediate effect to 07532 096434.

Breakfast/After School Club is held in the library.  Breakfast Club starts at 8.00 am and is £3.00 per session, £2.50 for a sibling.  On Friday there is a continental breakfast (croissants, yoghurt, ham, cheese, etc).  After School Club with snack (fruit, cereal bars, toasts with ham, honey, jam, cheese, etc) is from 3.00 pm til 5.30 pm.  One session costs £9, for siblings it is £8.50 per session.  The first session is free!

There is help available to families whose children use our clubs.  We accept a variety of child care vouchers, such as Busy Bees and Kids Unlimited.  We can also provide you with information about Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit.  This support is available to most families on a wide range of incomes.  We would strongly recommend that you enquire as to what help you may be entitled to.

If you are interested please contact Maggie Rapacz in the Library or phone her on 07532 096434. Please collect your children promptly at 5.30 pm as school is officially closed at 5.45 pm.

PTA MEETING

The next PTA meeting will be held at 7.30 pm on 15^th January at the Oak.

FAMILY DISCO ON FRIDAY 12^TH DECEMBER FROM 6.00 – 8.00 PM

Family Disco tickets will be on sale from Thursday 4^th December at 3.00 pm at the main gate.  Tickets are £5 per family.  Mulled wine and mince pies will be sold on the evening.  Glow sticks will also be available to buy.

FUNDRAISING FOR NORTHBOURNE

The PTA would like to thank those who have already registered with the online shopping fundraising website.  Use the following unique link to register.  It is completely free and easy to use:

www.easyfundraising.org.uk/northbournesch

There are lots of well known high street stores participating from Next to M & S.

TANDEM SKY DIVE BY FATHER JAMES

Father James will be leaping from an aeroplane at over 10,000 feet on 6^th December at Hinton-on-the-Hedges, Brackley in order to raise the profile of St Peter’s within the community, and at the same time raise funds for the Parish.  If you would like to sponsor Father James please come into the school office to complete a sponsorship form.  Many thanks.

STAFF VACANCY -MIDDAY MEALS SUPERVISOR

We have a vacancy for a midday meals supervisor.  The hours are 12.00 noon – 1.00 pm.  Supervisors are also entitled to a school meal – the full-time salary is £12,125.  For 5 hours per week the pro-rata salary payable will be £1,344.84.  The particular responsibilities are to supervise children during the lunch break, in the playground and hall on a rota basis, and in classrooms during wet weather.  If you are interested please speak to Mrs Purling in the school office.