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Issue 4 | December 2011

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We are extremely pleased to report that the recent church inspection has deemed our school a good school, where “Christian values are at the heart of the school’s daily life.” The report says that the children feel secure and happy and learn to respect others. “Thankfulness and generosity are also consistently fostered. Because of this, the children have a well developed concern for others which shows itself in their thoughtful responses to each other as well as in their enthusiastic support of charitable causes, such as the Operation Christmas Box. Their behaviour is outstanding, well supported by the school’s calm and purposeful ethos. Pupils benefit from the ongoing

In this issue...

Sports

Curriculum Activities and Trips

Friends of Woolhampton

Church Inspection

House Points

Our netball squad were runners up at the Bradfield Netball Tournament.

Year 6 attended an amazing talk with famous illustrator, Quentin Blake.

A major fund raising initiative starts this term.

Woolhampton CE Primary School is rated as a good school by the Church.

Blue Kingfisher win the House Cupthis half-term.

Parent Notices

Term 1 2011Term 1 2011

Children’s WorkRead an extract from the sensational new novel by Elizabeth Romanski

Notices about parking, uniform and the school website.

The second phase of our major classroom refurbishment progamme was completed in the summer holidays. The Foundation and Year 1 classroom and annex area was completely renovated and is now an amazing learning environment. The room has been divided into different zones, including a reading corner, a writing area, a construction zone and a DT/Cooking area. The Foundation annex has its own teaching area and a wonderful scribble board. Joscelyn loves her new classroom. “It is so pretty and I like the blue wall. It is all so neat and tidy.” Beth enjoys “drawing on the walls” (I think she means the scribble board!) whilst Archie and Dylan commented on how much they like sitting on the new blue carpet. We are now looking forward to completing the final phase of our building project, the refurbishment of the Year 2/3 and Year 4/5 classrooms. Many thanks to all the governors and Mr Weight who helped oversee the building work during the holiday.

CHURCH INSPECTION

As well as the work carried out on the Foundation and Year 1 class, the entire west facing roof of the main school building was also replaced. An inspection of the roof had found that the many of the wooden battens supporting the tiles were rotten and this was the reason why there were a number of leaks in the Foundation annex.

New roof tiles

The newsletter has changed! As the school website is now the main source of information for the parents the newsletter will only be published every half-term.

Although Mrs Puttock has left her Finance and Administration post, we are pleased that she will continue in her role as Clerk to the Governing Body. A huge thanks for all her hard work over the past 18 months.

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programme of refurbishment which reflects a clear understanding of the ways in which pupils learn. I would like to thank Rev. Des Foote for his invaluable and continued support; he is rightly identified in the report as an important influence on the school. I would also like to thank the staff for their hard work and commitment and the children, particularly those in Year 2/3 who staged a super assembly on Matthew during the inspection.

For the first time, our netball team competed at the indoor Bradfield Netball Tournament, held at Bradfield School on Tuesday 11th October. The smallest school participating, we won our group stage, winning all three of our matches. In the semi-final we

played Church End, a school with a formidable sporting reputation. However, the team played superbly, and won the match by three goals to nil. In the final we played against Spurcroft Primary School. Although we took a 1-0 lead, Spurcroft fought back and scored two goals to win a very tense final. Well done to Max, Archie, Owen, Charlie, Samuel, Victoria, Isabel, Elizabeth,

Jessica and Henry. Many thanks to Mrs Javes for coaching and managing the team. The Thatcham Tag Rugby Tournament took place on Saturday 8th October. Once again, we entered two teams, a Year 3 and 4 team and a Year 5 and 6 team. In the lower juniors, we played four matches, drawing two and losing two. The boys and girls played extremely well and most importantly enjoyed the competition, even though they did not manage to progress beyond the group stage. The standard of play in the upper juniors was exceptionally high this year, and our team were unlucky not to get through to the semi-finals. They drew one match, won one and lost two, both by a narrow margin. Team work was superb and some fantastic tries were scored. Thanks to Mrs Hillerton for her work coaching and managing the teams. Congratulations to Ed, Aaron, James, Matthew, Torr, Elliot, Tyler, Abigail, Lily, Eloise, Max, Archie, Owen, Isabel, Charles, Henry, Elizabeth, Jessica and Louis. All the Y6 children who went kayaking managed to pass three levels of the Paddlepower Passport scheme. During the six week course the children took part in kayaking and canoeing, and learnt about water safety and paddling skills. Most importantly the children were allowed to capsize their kayaks and spend some time swimming in the River Thames! Many thanks to Mr Baldwin for taking the superb pictures, which can be viewed on the school website. During the past half-term there have been a number of curriculum activities

and trips to extend and enhance children’s learning. Year 6 were lucky enough to be invited to attend a question and answer session with the famous children’s illustrator, Quentin Blake, at the Royal Festival Hall in London. The children travelled by train to London and then took the tube

to Westminster. From Westminster they walked along the Embankment, passing the Battle of Britain Memorial, to the South Bank. The weather could not have been better and the London sights looked amazing in the bright autumnal sunshine. Quentin Blake talked about his long association with Roahl Dahl and then proceded to amaze the audience by quickly sketching a number of famous Dahl characters, including the formidable Mrs Trunchbull. He also produced some drawings of creatures featured in the BFG. One of these creatures provided the inspiration for the stories written by Year 6 (extracts from two of these stories are on page 5. Many thanks to Catrinoa Hillerton for setting up this amazing opportunity.

SPORTS

Woolhampton Netball Squad

Elizabeth looks to pass to Louis

Ready for Launch! Y6 kayaking

ACTIVITIES & TRIPS

The never before seen creature from the BFG.

This year the Friends are embarking on a major fundraising initiative to raise £10,000 to enable the school to complete the final phase of the refurbishment programme. We have created a fundraising target board in the shape of a beanstalk and this will show our progress to the target of £10,000. The first Friends event of the new year is ‘Kids on the Catwalk’, a children’s fashion show, which takes place on Monday 14th November. The Friends held a similar event a couple of years ago and it proved very popular. To take place we need at least 30 children to act as models. Everyone who took part in the last fashion show thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The ever popular Friends Film Night takes place on Friday 25th November. All parents should have received a Bags2School sack for any unwanted clothes and shoes. In the past this has raised a large sum of money for the Friends. Mrs Javes and Mrs Coltart are busy organising the Christmas Fayre, which takes place on the evening of Friday 9th December. Please contact Kate or Kirsten if you are able to assist in setting up or running a stall. Finally, we are hoping to hold an Auction of Promises (this was postponed from last term). Please do think about any service you may be able to ‘auction’. It does not have to be anything particularly special (though it could be!) Mr Bingham will be offering to paint a ceiling, whilst Mrs Howe will be auctioning a baking lesson! The Christmas Cards designed by the children should be returned soon for parents to peruse and place orders.

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Year 6 also visited the Milestones Museum in Basingstoke, where they learnt about life in wartime Britain. As part of their topic on water, Year 4 and 5 visited the Kennet and Avon Canal in Woolhampton. During their visit the children were lucky enough to see several narowboats pass through Woolhampton Lock and were allowed to open the lock gates. Year 4 and 5 also went to the Thatcham Discovery Centre, where they studied the various animals and creatures found in and around the lake surrounding the centre. Year 3 visited Heathrow Airport as part of their work on data handling in maths. They collected data on the airlines landing at the airport and then used this to create graphs and pictograms in Excel and Xara Graphic Designer. Many thanks to Mrs Brown for accompanying the children on the visit. Mrs Howe’s class visited Newbury

Hospital on Wednesday 19th October. The children were shown around some

of the wards and were invited to try out some of the specialist equipment in the hospital (nothing in the operating theatre!) They were also give nurses hats and face masks, which they all enjoyed trying on. Mrs Howe commended the children on their

immaculate behaviour. Thanks to Mrs Aldridge for helping out on the trip. On Friday 14th October a number of children visited South Street Theatre in Reading to take part in three Comedy Workshops, one of which was led by top children’s comic, James Campbell. The event was organised by the Theale Extended Schools Partnership. The children learnt some of the skills of (intentionally!) making people laugh and also went onto South Street to stage a No Smiling or Laughing demonstration. Passers by were most amused! James Campbell is appearing at the South Street Theatre in Reading on Sunday 23rd October, where he will be presenting his Comedy 4 Kids show. He is extremely funny!

FRIENDS OF WOOLHAMPTON

The children in Year 4 and 5 help to open the lock gates at Woolhampton Lock.

Dylan and Jamie testing a hoist.

Matthew resisting all attempts to make him laugh

(Chairperson)

Kate Javes

The two charities the school will be supporting this year are the RSPCA and Helen and Douglas House. Many thanks to the wonderful support parents gave to our Christmas Box appeal. The response was fantastic with over 55 boxes created. The £70 collected at the Harvest Festival will be used to pay for the postage costs to send the boxes to children overseas. Jeans for Genes day on October 7th raised £89.

This half term we have been awarding house points for considerate behaviour. The winning house is Blue Kingfisher, who amassed a total of 141 points, 20 more than Goldfinch. The child who was awarded most points for considerate behaviour was Isabella B in Year 5. Well done to Isabella and Charles H and Ethan, who were joint runners up. Next half-term we will be awarding house points for presentation (presentation of work and uniform). The following children have been awarded Achievement Awards this half-term. Foundation: Jayden, Rosie, Emily,

Miles, Nathaniel and Dana.

Year 1: Katy, Katie, Archie, Dylan, Lola and Joscelyn.

Year 2: Charlie, Amy, Tilly, Alex, Clara and Louie.

Year 3: Eloise, Thomas, Tyler, Harry, Abigail and Oliver.

Year 4: James, Ellen, Lewis, Shona, Harriet and Edward.

Year 5: Georgia, Isabella and Owen.

Year 6: Henry, Victoria, Elizabeth, Charles, Edward and Max.

Please could parents park considerately and not park on the yellow zig zag lines at the end of the school day. Also, it is very dangerous to attempt three point turns in the road. Many thanks for your co-operation.

We find it very hard to repatriate uniform and coats when they are not named. At the end of term there are always a large number of items, including expensive coats, which are left in the lost property box. Please could all coats and uniform items be named (it is also worth checking to see whether names are clearly visible as they easily fade). We would repectfully ask that parents who bring young children or babies to school services in the church or the hall take them outside (or the vestibule in the church) should they start to make too much noise. At the last Harvest Festival service it was very hard to hear the pupils presentations as there was too much background noise. The children spend a lot of time and effort preparing for the services and parents like to be able to hear the children’s performances. A number of parents have commented on the noise levels during services and I sympathise with them on this issue. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter. Please ensure that the Parent Data Sheets and Medical Forms are returned to school as soon as possible. It is important that the school has the latest data on file. Parents are most welcome to the Rememberance Day Service on the 11th November, starting at approximately 10.30 (please check on the website for the precise time) Parents should be aware that the school website is the best place for information, including dates and times of events.

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Christmas Boxes

HOUSE POINTS

Year 6 on the Embankment Bridge during their visit to London

St Peter’s Church are holding their annual quiz night on the evening of Friday 11th November. The event starts at 7.00 p.m and is being held in Woolhampton Village Hall. We have 3 tickets available so if you would like to join our team please let Mr Bingham know!

ST PETER’S QUIZ NIGHT

ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

SCHOOL CHARITIES

PARENT NOTICES

The Woolhampton display at the Newbury Show

We would like to welcome Mrs Allen to Woolhampton School. Mrs Allen is our new Finance and Administration Officer. We hope she enjoys working at the school. We would also like to welcome teacher training students, Miss Harris and Miss Smith.

WELCOME

The children in Year 6 have been writing stories about an unusal creature, using the drawing by Quentin Blake as inspiration. The first story is an extract from Elizabeth’s novellet, The Nishnobbler.

Chapter 1 “Are we there yet, Gran?” Pip was impatient.“Darling, we won’t be there until noon. Sorry.” Gran was unhappy, especially now she had to look after two children that were completely opposite to each other. Their names were Pip and Jim.

Pip was a 9 year old girl who wasn’t very clever, but she was a brave little thing who would stand up for anything. She had brown, mush coloured hair with blue eyes and she had a temper that could be quite ferocious.

However, here brother, Jim, was the complete opposite of her. He was a mere 8 years old and was as scared as a mouse. Although he wasn’t brave, he was amazingly clever for his age, and he always came in handy when Pip was struggling with her homework. He had bright yellow hair and chocolate brown eyes, with long legs that made him the height of a 9 year old.

They had just started to live with their gran who had decided to take them out of the orphanage in Norway after 5 years spent in awful conditions. They had to go into the orphanage when their parents died in a car accident on their way back from the shops. But they were too young to remember their parents so they were

not too sad about it, but they would have both loved to have been a part of a proper family.

Their gran was very old but had lots of energy and was as jumpy as a kangaroo. She was always busy, but most of the time was very unorganised. However, she always had time to tell stories in the evening to Pip and Jim because she cared for their children like they were her own. Charles has given his Quentin Blake creature two names - Quimple and Quample - one for each head. His story

is set in Gombland, a strange land in a strange time, where Josh and Rebecca have found themselves. Luckily they met Quimple and Quample who try to help the children get back to 2011 in spite of the evil monster, Shelm.

Chapter 5

‘’Oh no! The wind, it’s pushing the water over the edge.’’ Josh said while everyone started to run from the river. They got to a cave with a huge stone gate.

“This could hold the river,” thought Josh so he shoved the gate open and shouted to Quimple and Quample to come over with Rebecca and help him shut the gate. They came over, went in the cave and shut the gate. Then they turned around and saw a

giant slug- looking monster which was trying to bite them with its huge jaws.

They ran around the slug and headed for the light where they saw the biggest tree in Gombland.

‘’That’s it, the giant tree! We need to get over there and quick before that monster gets any closer,’’ said Quimple in a very scared voice.

They ran to the tree but saw Shelm’s monsters cutting it down. Josh went charging at them and started hitting them but they just kept using their axe to chop the tree down.

‘’Your men won’t be able to chop the tree down, Shelm. It’s too strong.’’ shouted Quample.

‘’Oh I don’t think so. These are the strongest monsters in Gombland so I think you’re wrong, Quample! ’replied Shelm in a smug voice.

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Christmas Boxes

CHILDREN’S WORK

Pencil drawing by Isabella B

Pencil drawing by Owen M

Vegetables created by children in year 2 and year 3