Friends of Woodcote Primary School have had a great start to this school year.
Coffee Shop
So far we have raised £165 from our community coffee shop morning. This is always a fun and tasty way to raise funds and we were pleased that so many donated cakes and their time to run this event. Thank you to all the eager cake eaters in Woodcote for popping along and enjoying a Saturday morning treat.
Class Cake Sale
We also helped run a class cake sale for year 1 and 6. This took place after school on a Friday afternoon and thanks to our volunteer mums, we were able to raise £55 for each class. Again a big thank you to all who baked and helped, as well as those who purchased the delicious cakes.
School Disco
In the next few weeks we will be organising our ever-popular whole school winter disco where children from Woodcote Primary have the chance to come back to school in the evening and be treated to a disco dance. This is taking place on Friday the 11th November. Any children in Oak clas still under age 5 must be accompanied by a parent. If you are able to help chaperoning the event, please let the office know or email fowps@woodcote-primary.co.uk
Christmas Fair
With thoughts on Christmas, our magical Christmas Fair is back on Friday the 9th of December and promises to be a lovely family event. With a special visit from Santa, singing from our choirs, food and drink, and stalls to keep the children busy and happy, we’re sure it’ll be a good way to spend your evening!
Jingle Jog Fun Run
We have many keen runners at our school and so have decided to host our first ever Jingle Jog Children’s Fun Run. Merrily dressed in Christmas themed clothing, the children will light up the village green on Sunday the 11th December. This event is open to all children aged 3-11 in the village, not only those who attend our school.
Information about all these events can be found on the school website www.woodcote-primary.co.uk . Any queries regarding these events can be made via email on fowps@woodcote-primary.co.uk.
Open mornings
We are having an open morning on November 2nd at 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. for prospective parents. We would like to welcome you to take a tour of the school, see the classes in action and have the opportunity to speak to the head teacher. Contact the school office to book your place.
Scholastic book fair
We have had another successful book fair. The children loved browsing the books and thank you for supporting this for another year. Once all the orders have been processed we will let you know how much the fair raised.
FOWPS news
Friends of Woodcote Primary School have had a great start to this school year. So far we have raised £165 from our community coffee shop morning. This is always a fun and tasty way to raise funds and we were pleased that so many donated cakes and their time to run this event. Thank you to all the eager cake eaters in Woodcote for popping along and enjoying a Saturday morning treat.
We also helped run a class cake sale for year 1 and 6. This took place after school on a Friday afternoon and thanks to our volunteer mums, we were able to raise £55 for each class. Again a big thank you to all who baked and helped, as well as those who purchased the delicious cakes.
In the next few weeks we will be organising our ever-popular whole school winter disco where children from Woodcote Primary have the chance to come back to school in the evening and be treated to a disco dance. This is taking place on Friday the 11th November.
With thoughts on Christmas, our magical Christmas Fair is back on Friday the 9th of December and promises to be a lovely family event. With a special visit from Santa, singing from our choirs, food and drink, and stalls to keep the children busy and happy, we’re sure it’ll be a good way to spend your evening!
We have many keen runners at our school and so have decided to host our first ever Jingle Jog Children’s Fun Run. Merrily dressed in Christmas themed clothing, the children will light up the village green on Sunday the 11th December. This event is open to all children aged 3-11 in the village, not only those who attend our school.
Information about all these events can be found on the school website www.woodcoteprimary.co.uk . Any queries regarding these events can be made via email on fowps@woodcote-primary.co.uk.
The Woodcote Correspondent Christmas Cover Competition
Children are invited to enter the annual Christmas Cover Competition for the December issue of The Woodcote Correspondent. The winner will have their design printed on the front cover of the monthly magazine. Your picture should be 20cm x 20cm and be Christmas or winter themed. Please don’t add any message such as “Merry Christmas” as this will be done by the production team. Entries need to be handed in to the school office by Thursday 10th November. Perhaps it is something you could create over half term? Good luck!
Applications for Secondary School places
Please be aware that the closing date for applying for your Secondary School place is October 31st. The national offer day is March 1st 2017. If you miss this deadline you may not be offered a place in your preferred school. Apply online at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/admissions
Calais Refugee Collection
Thank you for all your donations for the Calais Refugee collection. All donations have been delivered to the Reading Refugee Support Group.
Woodcote Youth Club
The Youth Club needs volunteers on Monday (Yr.6 and 7) and Tuesday (Yr.8 and 9) evenings. Help could be weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Please contact Elizabeth Sandham on 07917897417.
Sports News
Lunchtime Mile Club is going really well with around 20 children taking part in the lunchtime runs. We have split the group so that KS2 runs between 12 noon and 12:30 p.m. and KS1 runs between 12:30 p.m. and 1.00 p.m. Thanks to Dr Sudbury and Dr Casey for volunteering to help run these fun sessions for the children. If your child is interested in joining in, please collect a form from the foyer, fill it in and hand it back to the office.
Children in Need 18th November – Spotty Spectacular
To raise money for ‘Children in Need’ the School Council will hold a ‘Spotty Spectacular’ event. Wear something spotty on the day or make a spotty cake for the cake stall. Look out for more information over the next few weeks. All money raised will go to ‘Children in Need’.
Checkendon School Association Firework Display
Checkendon Primary School will be hosting its annual Fireworks evening on Friday 4 November this year. Gates open at 6 p.m. and the fireworks will start at 7 p.m. There will be a BBQ, a bar selling wine, beer and mulled wine and the school hall will be transformed into a games room with stalls, tombola, lucky dip, face-painting and fun games for all. Please come and share an evening of fireworks and fun, even if you are not connected to the school or village as the event is open to all and there will be a very warm welcome on the night. All proceeds from the evening will go towards outside play and learning equipment.
Entry on the gate is £5 per adult, £3 per child and there is plenty of parking available.
October Half Term
School closes for October holiday from Friday 21st October at 3:30, starting back on Monday 31st October.
Dates Event/ Activity
November 1st-30th FOWPS Raffle Hamper collection
November 2nd Open Morning for prospective parents.
November 3rd Beech Class FAI Farm Trip
November 4th Year 2 & 5 Class Cake Sale
November 8th -18th FOWPS Christmas Fair Jolly Jar collection
November 9th Ash Class Open afternoon
November 10th Closing date for Woodcote Correspondent cover art competition
November 11th FOWPS Whole School Disco
November 22nd – December 2nd FOWPS Christmas Fair Bottle Tombola collection
December 2nd School Council Film Night
December 6th & 7th Year 1 & 2 Nativity play
December 8th & 9th Foundation Christmas Play
December 9th FOWPS Christmas Fair
December 11th FOWPS Jingle Jog Fun Run
December 14th Aspens Christmas Lunch
December 15th Whole School Pantomime Trip and Bedtime Stories
Christmas Holiday Dates
School closes for Christmas holiday on Friday 16th December at 1:00 p.m. and reopens on Wednesday 4th January 2017.
Parent’s evenings
A reminder that parent’s evenings are taking place on 18th and 20th October from 3:30. Sign up lists are up in the foyer. Do pop in and sign up if you haven’t already.
Open mornings
We are having two open mornings over the next few weeks for prospective parents. We’d like to welcome you to take a tour, see the classes in action and have the opportunity to speak to the head teacher on the 19th October 9:30 and 11:00 and also on 2nd November 9:30 and 11:00. Contact the school office to book your place.
Flu Immunisation Day
This year, children in year 1, 2 and 3 have been offered a free, painless nasal spray flu vaccination. Those who have returned their consent forms will be visited during the school day by the schoolnurse on the 17th October.
Calais Refugee Collection
Having spent an evening sorting and packing clothes for refugees in Reading last week, Lizzie (Year 5) and Phoebe (Year 3) have been inspired to organise a collection of much needed items to send to refugees in Calais, Greece, Croatia, Syria and wherever else the aid is required. The items collected will be delivered to Reading Refugee Support Group (http://rrrh.co.uk), a grassroots project run by local volunteers who sort and pack the donations, load them into vans and deliver them directly to where they are needed. Phoebe and Lizzie would love to have your support, so if you feel able to donate any of the following items to school over the next week, which would be great:
Donations can be taken to the school hall any time before Thursday 20th October. Thank you.
Scholastic book fair
It’s the time of year when we host a fabulous book fair at school. Running from the 18-21 of October after school each day, there is a wonderful array of book to delight children of all ages. Please do come along and browse, and buy some delightful books.
FOWPS Annual General Meeting
Monday 17th October FOWPS will be holding their AGM in the school hall at 8 p.m. Please come along to find out about the work that they do and the activities, events and projects for the next year. Everyone welcome. For more information please see the school website.
Sports News
Orienteering: A group of Year 4 children attended their first ever orienteering event at Nettlebed school. “We had to run, with our partners to look for clues and find little stampers that make a pattern in our sheet. The first team to find all their clues won.” ~ Mikey. Woodcote came 2ndoverall.
Cross country: A group of children from Key Stage 2, participated in a Cross Country event at Stoke Row. Our runners did fabulously well and we came over all 3rd out of 7 schools with a super good performance from William in Year 5. “In cross country we ran at Stoke Row, we had to run down a big field and follow arrows through a forest.”~ Kiera .
Oxford Half Marathon: There were 27 children and 7 adults running for Woodcote. It was really good fun! We got to shake hands with Oxford United club mascot. Everyone ran with smiles on their faces, including our littlest runners in reception, Freddie and Charlotte. Mrs Hunt has pledged that if we get 60 entrants next year, she’ll run with us!
“We ran 0.6 of a mile on part of the actual marathon course. We had to wait a long time so we did a few dancing sessions to warm up. We each got a medal for finishing and a small bag of goodies. It was exhilarating and very quick. Most of us did a sprint finish. I’d recommend to everyone to do it. It’s worth all the training and it’s great fun.”~ George
Dates:
FOWPS coffee shop
Last Saturday FOWPS organised the Coffee shop at the community centre. Thank you to all who helped, baked and came along to buy the delicious goodies on offer. This event raised £165 for the school.
Class Cake sales
Last Friday, Year 1 and Year 6 provided cakes for the class cake sale. The generous donations and a good variety of cakes meant there was plenty for everyone to enjoy and they were snapped up in record time. Everything raised at class cake sales is split between the two classes and goes directly to the class to be spent on items they need and want for their class. This cake sale raised £55 for each class. Well done to all who donated and to Verity, Amanda N, Andrea and Helen Mc for setting it all up and selling the cakes.
The next cake sale is on the 4th November for year 2 and 5.
Hair
Reminder: Please ensure that your child has their hair tied back neatly and out of their face. Shoulder length hair or longer, should be tied back for sports and PE as well as science lessons for safety reasons. We recommend that your child brings in a hairband to school for these lessons.
Scholastic book fair
It’s the time of year when we host a fabulous book fair at school. Running from the 18-21 of October after school each day, there is a wonderful array of book to delight children of all ages. Please do come along and browse, and buy some delightful books.
Parents evenings
A reminder that parent’s evenings are taking place on 18th and 20th October from 3:30. Sign up lists will go up in the foyer week beginning the 10th of October. Do pop in and sign up for a slot to see your child’s teacher.
Open mornings
We are having two open mornings over the next few weeks for prospective parents. We’d like to welcome you to take a tour, see the classes in action and have the opportunity to speak to the head teacher on the 19th October 9:30 and 11:00 and also on 2nd November 9:30 and 11:00. Contact the school office to book your place.
Join us in welcoming new staff members
We welcome Lucy Phillips to our staff as a new teaching assistant from Monday the 10th October and
Rachel Ashwood as our new school secretary later next week.
Exciting news
We are looking forward to having the planter removed from the playground in the next few weeks and the installation of a new pirate ship climbing frame in early November. We hope these two projects will significantly improve the playground area for the children and provide a safer and more enjoyable space for them.
Oxford Half Marathon
On Sunday, some enthusiastic children will be running at the Oxford Half Marathon. We wish them well! If you are running please meet Mrs Bodeker on the steps of the Ashmolean Museum at 8am on Sunday morning.
Flu Immunisation Day
This year, children in year 1, 2 and 3 have been offered a free, painless nasal spray flu vaccination. Those who have returned their consent forms will be visited during the school day by the school nurse on the 17th October.
Dates:
FOWPS coffee shop
It’s Coffee Shop time again at the Community Centre on the 1st of October (that’s tomorrow!) from 10-12:30. We hope to see many of you there enjoying the goodies and supporting our school at this event.
Woodcote Library is 25 years old.
Help us to celebrate by dropping in to the library between 3-4pm on Saturday 1st October 2016 for a proper celebration. There will be refreshments and, of course, birthday cake.
Woodcote Primary Lunchtime Supervisor Vacancy
We currently have a vacancy for a Lunchtime supervisor. Hours required are 11:45-13:15 Monday to Friday, term time only. If you are interested please email office@woodcote-primary.co.uk or pop in to the office to collect an application form.
Menu change
There has been a change to the Aspens’ menu for Thursday the 6th of October and Friday the 7th of October. Please check if you have already ordered and amend this to ensure your child gets the desired meal on the correct day.
Thursday 6th will now be: Battered Fish and Chips or Roasted vegetable pasta bake followed by chocolate and pear pudding.
Friday 7th will now be: Two fish and potato pie or quorn sausages with bubble and squeak mash and gravy followed by jam and coconut sponge and custard.
Please note that the aspens packed lunches will remain the same -no change to these for the two days.
Aspens Lunches
If you make use of the Aspens online ordering service, please ensure that you order your child’s meal before 9am on any given day and that you cancel any orders before 9 am should you no longer require a meal for that day. This includes all children in Foundation, Year 1 and 2 who have free meal entitlement. Please also check that you have correctly named your child’s class on the Aspens website. We ask that you use the correct class tree name and nothing else. This helps us to sort them into the correct groups.
In case you are unsure the classes are as follows:
Reception – Oak
Year 1- Hornbeam
Year 2-Beech
Year 3-Ash
Year 4-Rowan
Year 5- Maple
Year 6- Willow
Autism Workshop
Autism Oxford are offering a Free workshop for Autistic people and their families, people with learning disabilities, and professional or supporters. It will take place on Friday 7th October at Didcot Civic Hall, Britwell Rd, Didcot OX11 7JN. Starting at 9:30 with refreshments, followed by the workshop between 10-2:30pm.
Year 3 & 4 Football Club
Three year 6 boys, under Mrs Bodeker’s guidance and supervision, will be offering a football club for boys and girls in years 3 and 4 after school on Tuesday afternoons from 3:15-4:15. If your child would like to participate in this club, please fill in the slip attached and return it to the office by Monday 3rd October. Places are limited to 12. The club will start on Tuesday 4thOctober. If your child has a place, they will be told on Monday by 3pm.
Year 3 & 4 Football Club – (please return to school office by 3rd October)
My child……………………………………………………… would like to take part in the after school football club for year 3 and 4 children on Tuesdays 15:15-16:15.
I will ensure my child has a water bottle, suitable clothing and trainers or soft studded boots for the sessions.
Signed ……………………………………………………….Date…………………………….
On Saturday 1st October, Helen H on behalf of FOWPS, organised and ran the first coffee shop of this school year.
We had a wonderful selection of delicious cakes from marble chocolate, carrot, coffee, victoria sponge, lemon loaf, banana and honey, to chocolate and other scrumptious colourful child friendly cupcakes and slices donated. A consistently busy morning meant we managed to be cleared out by 12:30!
It was great to see so many families, from school and the Woodcote community, come out in the soggy weather to eat cake and enjoy a hot drink.
Thank you to Helen H, Tanya, Katie, Krissy, Lou B, Rachel, Jo, Shelly, Helen S, Amanda, Zuza, Sam McD, Nella, and Tori for the delicious goodies and to Helen H, Helen B, Amanda L, Amanda N, Carla, Tanya , Liz, Jo, Steph and Shelly for setting up, serving, washing dishes and clearing away at the end. (Hopefully we’ve not missed anyone! )
When all was eaten, slurped and the last crumbs were cleared away, FOWPS has raised £165 for the school! Well done everyone.
On Friday, Year 1 and Year 6 provided cakes for the class cake sale. The generous donations and a good variety of cakes meant there was plenty for everyone to enjoy and they were snapped up in record time.
Everything raised at class cake sales is split between the two classes and goes directly to the class to be spent on items they need and want for their class. This cake sale raised £55 for each class.
Well done to all who donated and to Verity, Amanda N, Andrea and Helen Mc for setting it all up and selling the cakes.