Marcham Primary School Newsletter

Marcham CE Primary School Morland Road, Marcham Abingdon, Oxon OX13 6PY Tel; 01865 391448 or email on; office.3235@marcham.oxon.sch.uk

OCTOBER 2012
Our value this term is FRIENDSHIP

Dear Parents and Carers,

Have you ever wondered, as you sit, drumming your fingers on the steering wheel waiting for the traffic lights to change, who invented the traffic lights? Or, as you turn on the lights, considered who created the long-burning filament for Edisons light bulb? October is Black History month, and during the afternoons this week, we will be spending some time looking at those things which black people have done that have benefited humanity as a whole. We are hoping to provide actionpacked informative sessions which will encourage children to think about how people of all nations have contributed to making the world a better place. Enjoy your peanut butter sandwiches while listening to JLS. Or The Three Degrees. Or Louis Armstrong.

Parents Maths Information Evening Maths is our focus again this year and we will be holding a Maths meeting for Parents during this term. It will take place on Wednesday 7th November at 6.45pm and you are all invited to attend. Last year we focused on addition and subtraction. This year we will be exploring multiplication and division. It will be a valuable opportunity to see how these aspects of maths are taught. It may be different from the way in which you were taught at school and so attending this meeting will mean that you can support your children with their work in a more informed and compatible manner. I know that you are keen to see your children do well and are aware of how important the home/school links are to enable this to happen. So, with that in mind, I look forward to seeing you on 7th November for an informative evening of Maths. A separate invitation will follow.

Access to Teachers We would like to express our thanks to Year 3, 4, 5 & 6 parents for not entering the building first thing in the morning and allowing us to encourage the children's independence and keep traffic to a minimum in the school corridors. We appreciate that sometimes you would like to talk to the teachers but trying to talk with a teacher first thing in the morning is not always the best time, as they are busy getting ready for the days tasks and settling the children in. If you have concerns about your child, please always speak to your child's teacher in the first instance before requesting a meeting with the Head. You can do this by calling or emailing the school to leave a message or request a meeting time and we will get back to you as quickly as we possibly can. Again, we would ask that if you have children in both ends of the school, once you have dropped your child off in Foundation Stage/Duffield, you walk around the school to use the junior entrance so that there is not thoroughfare through the school.

Parents Forum We will be holding our first Parents Forum of the school year on Monday 19th November. Please come along to the school hall at 2.15pm, and join in. Parents Assembly Kangaroos will holding their class parents assembly on Thursday 22nd November. This assembly starts at 2.45pm and is held in the school hall. You are welcome to visit classes at the end of the assembly to see work on display and take in the general ambience of the school.

School Photographs On Thursday 15th November Tempest Photography will visit the school from 8.30am. All children of primary school age will be photographed with siblings. If you would like your children photographed individually, or both with siblings and individually, please make this request clear by letter to the school office. If you have younger children, who are not primary school age, you may bring them to school at 8.30am to have their photograph taken with your primary aged child.

Diary Dates Thursday 25th Oct - Year 6 visit to Abingdon Hospital, Injury Minimization Programme (I.M.Ps) Wednesday 7th Nov - Maths Information Evening, 6.45pm Thursday 15th Nov - School photographs, from 8.30am. Friday 16th Nov - Children in Need Day (details to follow) Friday 16th Nov - P.T.A children's disco, 6-7pm F/Y1, 7-8pm Y2/3/4/5&6 (more details to follow) Monday 19th Nov - Parents Forum, 2.15pm Thursday 22nd Nov - Kangaroos Parents Assembly, 2.45pm Tuesday 27th Nov - Parents evening, 5-8pm Wednesday 28th Nov - Parents evening 3.30-6pm Friday 30th Nov - P.T.A Christmas Fayre, 6-8pm. Thursday 6th Dec - F/Y1 Production, 2pm Friday 7th Dec - Whole school trip to Chipping Norton Theatre, late return. Monday 10th Dec - Year 5/6 residential trip to Woodlands Centre, Glasbury Thursday 20th Dec - Christmas Carol Service, All Saints Church, 6.30pm Friday 21st Dec - End of term, 1.30pm finish.

The library will visit on the afternoons of; 26th Oct, 30th Nov 2012. 18th Jan 2013, 22nd Feb, 22nd March, 3rd May, 7th June, and 5th July.

Once A Week Take A Peak There have been cases of head lice identified in school and we wanted to make sure you were kept informed. While lice are nothing more than a nuisance, it is important that children are checked on a weekly basis so that any head lice can be dealt with quickly and before they are allowed to spread too far. As there has been an outbreak, we suggest that you check your childs head as soon as possible. Follow the simple CHECK, TREAT, COMPLETE routine below to ensure you are doing your bit to keep head lice outbreaks to a minimum. CHECK Your childs hair once a week Use a proper detection comb - with teeth no more than 0.3mm apart to trap head lice, and white in colour so they can be easily seen. If you find live lice, consult a pharmacist for treatment advice If head lice are spotted, take a close look at all the family, including yourself and ask close family and friends to check as well. TREAT Only treat if live lice are detected Use a clinically proven treatment, ideally with a physical mode of action to which lice are very unlikely to build up resistance. Leave the treatment on for the recommended time for maximum effect - leaving it on longer will not make it more effective. COMPLETE Repeat the treatment for a second time seven days after the first to kill any lice that may hatch from eggs during that time - if the pack instructions specify that a second application is required. Check that all head lice have gone within two to three days of the final application of head lice treatment to complete the process. For further information on head lice see your pharmacist or visit www.onceaweektakeapeak.com Thank you for your co-operation.

Term Dates Term 1 2012/13 Wed 5th Sept to Thurs 25th Oct 2012 Fri 26th Oct Staff INSET day Term 2 Mon 5th Nov to Fri 21st Dec 2012 1.30pm finish Term 3 Mon 7th Jan to Fri 8th Feb 2013

Term 4 Mon 18th Feb to Thurs 28th Mar 20131.30pm finish Fri 29th March - Good Friday Term 5 Mon 15th Apr to Fri 24th May 2013 Mon 6th May - May Day holiday Term 6 Mon 3rd Jun to Fri 19th July 2013 1.30pm finish