9th September 2015

01/16

Dear Parents

I would like to welcome you and your children back to school and to extend a warm welcome to our new children and parents who have joined Oldfield this term. I am delighted to see parents and guardians walking to school, but please can I stress the importance of using one of the zebra crossings and ensuring that you only step onto the crossing once the cars have stopped. I have real concerns about how visible pedestrians are on the Bray Road crossing and have been in touch with the Local Authority about it.

Holidays and Leave of Absence

Headteachers are no longer allowed to grant this leave – only in Exceptional Circumstances can leave be granted for children in term time. Please see a copy of our attendance policy on the website at under policies.

New Staff

I hope you will join me in welcoming a number of new staff who have joined us this September. We have two new teachers, Miss Hailey Leverett in Year 2 and Mr Kim Levin in Year 4. Miss Charlotte Burston is a trainee teacher on the Graduate Teacher Training Programme and is joining Mrs Kilgour in Year 5. Miss Nicola Povey, Miss Jessica Heard and Mrs Kinga Bazanthave joined us as Teaching Assistants. MissAlison Ward and Mrs Jill Finan also join us as lunchtime controllers. Welcome to them all.

Lateness

The whistle will be blown at 8.50am for the start of the school day. It is a parent’s responsibility to ensure children arrive at school between 8.35am to 8.50am every day. Please note, children should not be in school unsupervised before 8.35am. The school gates will be closed at 9.00am every morning. If you are arriving at school after 9.00am, please go to the school office to sign your child in and a member of the office staff will take them to their classroom. The gates will be opened at 3.10pm as usual, in preparation for parents to collect children at the end of the day at 3.20pm.

School Office Hours/New Telephone System

Our school office is open from 8.30am to 4.30pm daily. We have a new telephone system with a number of options to choose from. Option 1 is for reporting a child’s absence, please leave clear details of the child’s name, Year, class-name and reason for absence. Option 2 is for extra-curricular activity updates, we will leave any messages about activity cancellations here. Option 3 is for any other enquiries, I would ask you to avoid using this option just before the start and end of the school day as this is an extremely busy time and there may only be one person in the office.

Term Events and Activities

A list of dates for events currently planned for the year is attached to this letter. The extra curricular clubs list will be sent out as soon as possible.

Please look out for letters in the book bags as and when additional clubs become available. Unfortunately, there will be no after school clubs for Early Years during the Autumn and Spring terms. The children are very young and we feel that the school day is already long enough for them. Clubs may be available to them during the Summer term, but we will advise you nearer the time.

As we will have a number of after school clubs running this term, we would be pleased to hear from any parents who would be able to give up their time to assist staff in running them. If you are able to help, please would you contact the person running the club, as detailed on the list, when it is issued. Thank you.

Lunches

Please note that the price of school lunches remains at £2.20 for children in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6. Cash only please, or cheques in advance, for no less than £11.00, made payable to Caterlink Limited. You can always pay for your child’s lunch weekly, monthly or termly. There is a post box for Caterlink in the main reception area, outside the school office for you to use.

If you are sending your child with a packed lunch, we encourage healthy eating and would ask you not to include sweets, chocolate or fizzy drinks. We are a ‘nut free’ school and due to the increasing number of children with allergies we would ask you to bear this in mind with regard to snacks and packed lunches.As well as the two choices on the menu, there isa third choice of jacket potatoes with various fillings available every day except Friday, when the third choice will be pasta. Copies of the menu have been sent home in book bags today.

Infant Free School Meals

All children in Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage One (Years 1 and 2) are entitled to a free school lunch.

Pupil Premium

Families are entitled to Pupil Premium if they are in receipt of family benefit or their annual earnings fall below a certain amount. If you think you are entitled to Pupil Premium, please contact Jackie Kirk, School Business Manager, for further details on how to apply. Those families who already receive the premium will continue to do so without having to take any further action.

Travelling Book Fair

We will be having the travelling book fair in school on Monday, 21st September until Friday, 25th September. You can come along with your children after school between 3.20pm and 3.50pm to inspect and purchase books. As this will be taking place after school, Mrs Kilgour would be pleased to hear from anyone, (as soon as possible) who could give half an hour of their time to help out.

Early Riser’s Club

Our Early Riser’s breakfast club has restarted and we will be welcoming a number of new EYFS children from next week. Numbers are now almost at a maximum on most mornings, therefore pre-booking is essential. Please note that refunds are not available for missed, pre-booked sessions. Early Riser’s club will be inthe large hall, please use the KS1 entrance where a member of staff will meet you and take you to sign your child in. If you would like to contact the club directly, you can e-mail them at

Just a reminder that the sessions available and prices are:

8.00am with breakfast - £3.50

8.00am without breakfast - £2.50

8.25am onwards £1.50

E Mail Communication

We will continue to communicate electronically with all parents. During this term we will be sending home Data Collection Sheets for you to check, change as necessary, sign and return to us. Please would you make sure we have your correct e-mail address listed. This is particularly important for parents of new children who have started this week, as we will be sending most letters and information by this method. If you do not have access to a computer, please would you let the office staff know as soon as possible, and we will arrange for paper copies to be made available for you. Spare copies can also been found in the pigeon holes in the school reception area.

Any letters requiring a signed permission slip to be returned, will still be sent home as a paper copy.

Parents Governor

We currently have a Parent Governor vacancy and will be holding an election soon. A letter with further information will follow.

Should you have anything you wish to discuss, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s class teacher or myself.

Yours sincerely

Richard Jarrett

Headteacher

Academic Year 2015/2016*

Dates for your diaries:

September

11thTae Kwon Do club starts 8.00am

14thNetball clubs start after school until 4.30pm (Years 5 & 6)

Drama club starts

15thFirst table tennis

First Year 3D Swimming

Choir starts 3.30pm

15thJR Rugby Starts Years 1 to 6

16thJudo starts

Pro-direct football starts for Years 1 to 6

17thFirst Year 3B Swimming

Active Gamerz after school club starts

French and Spanish Clubs start – KS2 only

21st – 25thTravelling Book Fair

22ndYear 6 Residential Meeting 3.30pm

29thEYFS My Class Photo

October

8thEYFS Information Evening 6.00pm

9thYears 3 trip to Amersham Field Centre

23rdSchool Photographer Portraits and Siblings

Half TermMonday, 26th October to Friday 30th October 2015

November

2ndChildren return to school

6thKS1 Parents Assembly(not EYFS)

Report Cards to Parents

10thYear 6 Shakespeare Performance

12thYear 1 Phonics Evening 6.00pm

13thKS2 Parents Assembly (not Year 6)

16thParents Evening - 4.00pm to 6.30pm

18thYear 6 trip to Reading University

Year 1 trip to Living Museum

19thParents Evening 5.00pm to 7.30pm

20thYear 6 Parents Assembly

27thMufti Day – Gifts and Toys for the Christmas Fair

December

2ndYear 3 trip to Roald Dahl Museum

4thMufti Day – Bottles for the Christmas Fair

OSA Christmas Fair

8thChristmas Shopping Morning

Last Year 3D Swimming

Year 1 Nativity 2.15pm

9thYear 2 Nativity 2.15pm

Last Pro-Direct Football

10th Last Year 3B Swimming

Year 1 Nativity 2.15pm

11thYear 2 Nativity 2.15pm

14thEYFS Sing-a-long 2.30pm

17thSchool Panto 1.45pm Years 1 to 6

18thMufti Day

Kids Concert

Last day of term

Christmas HolidaysMonday, 21st December to Friday, 1st January 2016

January

4thInset Day

5thChildren return to school

22ndKS2 Parents Assembly

29thKS1 Parents Assembly (not EYFS)

February

5thNSPCC Number Day

10th or 11thYear 5 Dance Show

12thLast day of term

Half TermMonday 15th February to Friday, 19th February 2016

22ndChildren return to school

26thReport Cards to Parents

March

3rdParents Evening 4.00pm to 6.30pm

4thWorld Book Day

7thYear 6 Bikeability (all week)

10thParents Evening 5.00pm to 7.30pm

23rd/24thYear 4 to Ufton Court

24thLast day of term

Spring Holiday Friday, 25th March to Friday, 8th April 2016

April

11thInset Day

12thChildren return to school

May

2ndBank Holiday – School Closed

5thInset Day

9th KS2 SATs Week

27th Last Day of Term

Half TermMonday, 30th May to Friday, 3rd June 2016

June

6thChildren return to school

13thYear 3 trip to Rushall Farm

Year 6 Residential to Brenscombe

17thYear 6 return from Brenscombe

20thSports Day

22ndReserve Sports Day

27thClass and Team Photos

July

5thYear 6 Transition Day tbc

13thParents Open Evening 6.00pm to 8.00pm

19thEYFS trip to Odds Farm

20thLeavers Assembly 9.30am

21stLast Day of Term

*Please note that dates may be subject to change, please check your fortnightly newsletters for updates