1 WEB SITE LATEST – Launch Thursday 2^nd February

REMINDER!!

There has been much work behind the scenes populating our new web-site.

 We would like to invite all parents to its official launch on Thursday 2^nd February at 2:30pm in the hall. This will give you the opportunity to see the site and experience the many new facilities it has to offer both for you and your family. We are all convinced that after a short introduction the site will be really easy to use. I do hope many of you will be able to attend.

 We anticipate the new site will replace the existing one during the following week and next week’s newsletter is likely to be the last to appear at the current location. A new interactive calendar will replace the listing shown below each newsletter.

 2 AMY POINTER’S SWIM

Classmates and some of the older children will already be aware that our Y6 pupil, Amy Pointer, is currently undertaking an impressive sponsored challenge.

 Amy is swimming 1455 lengths of Malmesbury pool (this is 23 miles, the entire length of Loch Ness) for Help for Heroes as her brother has recently been deployed toAfghanistan.

 Now on the home stretch with just a few more pre-school day swims to go, Amy is scheduled to complete her challenge at a special session at The Activity Zone, Malmesbury, on Sunday 29^th January between 1.00 and 2.00pm. Swimming in her own lane, Amy will be attempting her final mile in a single session.  

 The Western Daily Press and Wiltshire Gazette and Herald will be there to cover her big finish and it is also hoped there will be an ITV news team at the pool. Amy’s father has recently confirmed that Olympic Medallist Duncan Goodhew will also be appearing as a special guest.

 Spectators from School are very welcome to come and watch and cheer her on!

 Amy has raised a whopping £530 so far, and with your support stands a fighting chance of reaching her new goal £750!!  If you feel you would like to make a donation to Amy’s chosen cause then follow the link below.

 http://www.justgiving.com/amysheroes

 3 TRAMPOLINING

Congratulations to Lauren Vincent who took part in the SW Trampoline Grading for U13 atBathlast week. It involved performing a routine in front of an audience numbering over 400! Well done!

 4 AUSTRALIA DAY

Children had a great day finding about our cousins down-under and enjoying some of the food and fruit that they enjoy. Many thanks to Niki and Andy Walden who organised a specialForestSchools afternoon for the Reception children and gave them the opportunity to cook damper on an open fire and also to our caterer abm who organised taster sessions for the KS2 children.

 5 HEAD LICE

A general plea to all parents to check children’s hair during the weekend. We are aware of a small number of children from all ages have experienced unwanted friends on their heads.

 6 Friends of Sherston School – A Reminder!

This year we are planning to organise Family Olympic Fun Day on Saturday 19th May. 

We would really like some volunteers to help us plan and run this event, and that mean you!  Dads, especially the sporty ones (you know who you are!) we need you to get involved!

We are having an initial planning meeting at 8pm on Wednesday 1st Feb at The Rattlebone. All parents are welcome, we’d really like to see some new faces, so come on down and help your children get into the Olympic Spirit. Look forward to seeing you!

Events Calendar

*** More details to follow

Teacher Development Days

All dates are now finalised

There has been much work behind the scenes populating our new web-site.

 We would like to invite all parents to its official launch on Thursday 2^nd February at 2:30pm in the hall. This will give you the opportunity to see the site and experience the many new facilities it has to offer both for you and your family. We are all convinced that after a short introduction the site will be really easy to use. I do hope many of you will be able to attend.

 2 AUSTRALIA DAY Thurs Jan 26^th – Bring a bush/sun hat for dinner!

January 26^th is Australia Day and as part of the Olympic countries themed meals we will be celebrating the day with an Australian style dinner.

We will be encouraging all children to sport a bush or sun hat for the day (despite the weather!) and to wear it for their meal.

 abm, our catering company, will be organising Bush Tucker Trials in the KS2 classes.

 Oak class will have the chance to make damper Forest Schools style (outside) with Niki Walden during the afternoon. We can’t guarantee Australian weather so the usual warm and/or wet-weather gear will be necessary.

 We hope to send some photos of the day to our friends inAustralia

 3 OBOE AVAILABLE!

Mrs Williams our woodwind teacher tells me there is a spare county oboe desperately needing a player! If your child is Y3 or above and would be interested in taking up this opportunity do contact me.

 4 MALMESBURY ABBEY SKATE (AND SCOOTERS!)2012

If your child might be interested in taking part in this event click on the link below:

http://malmesburyabbey.info/malmesbury-abbey-skate-2012/

 5 PLEA TO DOG OWNERS

Thank you for using the dog park (!) and not bringing your dog onto school premises. However I am aware that a few of our younger children have been startled by dogs which are a bit boisterous when tied up and left. Please be aware of this when you leave your dog and if necessary stay with it or consider alternative arrangements.

Events Calendar 

*** More details to follow

Teacher Development Days

All dates are now finalised

Once again we are very grateful to the Open the Book team made up of members of the village churches for leading our collective worship on Monday mornings.

They will be following the timetable detailed below. Page references to the Children’s Bible are listed to enable parents to follow-up the stories with their children at home.

2 FOR BUDDING ASTRONOMERS!

BBC Stargazing Live Event  on Wednesday 18^th January 2012 (4.30 – 9.30pm) at Lacock, nr Chippenham.

How many stars are in the sky? Is space really the final frontier? Can you photograph the night sky with a mobile phone?

If you’ve been spellbound by TV astronomers like Professor Brian Cox, then join us for a BBC Stargazing Live Event at Lacock on Wednesday 18th January.

The National Trust is playing host to this BBC event with a host of free family activities taking place between 4.30pm and 9.30pm.

Explore the skies with astronomy and photography talks, telescope demonstrations and a mobile planetarium with venues including the Tithe Barn, the village hall and St Cyriac’s church.

Guest speakers include Nick Howes (European Space Agency writer and science broadcaster), Dr Helen Walker who will be discussing if other earth like planets exist and Mark Brake & Jon Chase will be taking a different look at the Solar System using fruit and toilet rolls!

Our star storytellers – Jim and Bea – will be using the night sky as their backdrop as they pick out seasonal constellations, like Orion the Hunter and take you back to the time of the ancient Greeks. But it won’t just be about storytelling, much of our understanding of Physics comes from studying the stars – from black holes to time travel, supernovas to the big bang – many of the answers have come from our night sky.

This is your chance to join us at the Stargazing Live Discovery Night to find how and why the night sky and the stars above us are so important.

There’s live coverage on BBC Wiltshire. Please wear warm clothing, sturdy footwear and bring a torch if you have one. Parking is available in the National Trust car park. Refreshments will be available to purchase from the Stable Tearooms.

3 CHESS SUCCESS

Congratulations to Emily Vaughan who has been selected to represent Wiltshire in their U11 team.

4 WEB SITE UPDATE

The framework for our new web-site has been released and sections are now being populated. We hope to launch the new site before half term with a familiarity session for parents just before the end of the school day and opportunities for children to visit the site during their IT sessions. The date should be finalised by next week.

5 AFTER-SCHOOL CLUBS

Forest Schools

There will be Thursday sessions on offer during this term and both Tuesday and Thursday sessions have a limited number of vacant sessions.

Latin

Due to a more advanced group meeting before school on Thursdays there are a few vacant spaces for any beginners wanting to explore Roman life and speak like a Roman!

6 FRIENDS OF SHERSTON SCHOOL

This year we are organising a Family Olympic Fun Day on Saturday 19th May. 

We would really like some volunteers to help us plan and run this event, and that means you!  Dads, especially the sporty ones (you know who you are!), we need you to get involved!

We are having an initial planning meeting at 8pm on Wednesday 1st Feb at The Rattlebone. All parents are welcome, we’d really like to see some new faces, so come on down and help your children get into the Olympic Spirit. Look forward to seeing you!

Events Calendar 

*** More details to follow

Teacher Development Days

All dates are now finalised

Welcome back to the new Spring Term!

I do hope all of us were able to find some time to recharge the batteries over the Christmas break!

We welcome Tim Iliffe-Moon who joined us this week

1 AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS – Spring Term

Most clubs start next week.

A note detailing all clubs and a return form will be distributed to all pupils in Years 1 to 6 today.  There are currently no clubs for Reception children.

2 PUFFIN BOOK CLUB

Your child should bring home a Puffin Book Club catalogue today.  You may order on line at  www.puffinbookclub.co.uk  (click on the Online group ordering box for instructions) or by sending your order in to school.  Please quote our Club Account Number 7915541.  Cheques should be made payable to Puffin Book Club. The last date for orders is Wednesday 25^th January.

3 SALVATION ARMY COLLECTION

Sycamore class would like to thank all the parents who came to watch the Christmas service on the last Friday of term and who donated money; we raised a huge amount which went to the Salvation Army. They used the money to buy a Christmas dinner for forty five homeless and elderly people, who would otherwise be lonely at Christmas time. Captain Lisa Goble said that they all had ‘a thoroughly enjoyable day’.

The class is very grateful for all your kindness and generosity, and we would finally like to thank Mrs. Preston for all the hard work she put into the Christmas service and for helping us to understand the real meaning of Christmas.

4 HEAD LICE

It has been reported that head lice were found in children’s hair at the end of last term. Could you please check and if necessary treat your child’s hair.  Thank you.

5 CHESS SUCCESS

Congratulations to Sam Watling who retained the School Chess Cup for the third year. He is only the second person to achieve this in 19 years! Next year will have a new name on the cup! This term the Chess Club will take part in the UK Schools Chess Challenge.

6 SCHOOL DINNERS

It seems some of you did not receive the copy of this term’s menu which was sent out in the final week of last term.  The menu is now available to view on the school newsletter website, the catering blog and on the parent’s noticeboard by the bike shed so please refer to these if yours has gone missing.

We have been asked to remind you that all lunch requests and money should be sent in on a Monday morning. This facilitates the ordering of provisions and ensures that all monies are ready for collection on the appropriate day. Please remember the cost of a meal is £2.20! 

Events Calendar 

*** More details to follow

Teacher Development Days

All dates are now finalised

 1 AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS – Spring Term

Details of Fencing/Tennis clubs have been circulated – see item 7.

There will be no after-school clubs during the first week of term.

A note with full details of clubs will be circulated soon after our return in January

2 WEBSITE

The final design for the new-look website has been approved and over the Christmas Break the web-designers will be completing their work. We expect this to be back with us for early January. We will then need a couple of weeks to populate the site before we launch it with an event for parents and children sometime before the end of the month. Watch this space for the launch date!

3 MUSIC TUITION

Music lessons for next term will start on the following dates:

4 WELLIES

We always try to ensure all children have some time outside during playtimes. On some occasions particularly at this time of the year children have to stay in even though it’s not raining because the playground is too wet for normal day shoes. We have supplied wellie racks in all classes so we can accommodate wellies brought in for this purpose. Do make use of them during snowy weather!

 5 ROTARY CLUB SLEIGH

The Rotary Club will be bringing their sleigh through the village tonight (weather permitting) between 6.00 and 8.00pm.

 6 CAR PARKING

We make no apology for having to mention this subject yet again but we did witness unauthorised drivers opening the gate and driving in to school on Tuesday this week.  We appreciate the weather was very inclement and made for uncomfortable walking but the decision not to allow vehicles onto the premises at drop off and pick up times was made in the interest of safety of your children in mind. This reasoning has not changed and the behaviour of some has not encouraged us to reverse this decision.

 7 FENCING AND TENNIS CLUBS

Letters have been sent out to parents of those children we believe might be interested in taking part in the Fencing and Tennis Clubs next term.  If you have not received a paper copy and think your child would like to join please use the links below:

 Fencing Jan to Mar 2012

Tennis Jan – Feb 2012

 8 ROOF REPAIRS

We expect to have builders from Daylan Gleed in school for the first two days of the holiday. They will be replacing the lead with a less attractive man-made substitute which is just as expensive as lead. Additional time is also needed to make good the building fabric from which the lead was wrenched. As there is the possibility of a repeat visit we will be leaving the school lights on during this period but if you see any suspicious activity around the school please do report it to the Police by telephoning 101.

 9 EXTENDED SCHOOLS

Malmesbury extended schools are offering the opportunity to learn basic craft skills and provide inspiration to recycle, upcycle and make and mend. The following classes are on offer:

Learn to knit: Thursday 2^nd February 9.30-11.30am

Learn to crochet: Thursday 9^th February 9.30-11.30am

At “The Bungalow”, Malmesbury School

£15 per session – booking essential

For more information and to reserve your place please contact Janice on 07805 062164 or janicebotterill@btinternet.com If you can’t make these times or dates but want to learn a new craft, call or email to find out about individual and group tuition and at-home craft parties. Gift vouchers also available.

 10 A BIG THANK YOU

A big thank you to all who have performed in the wide range of concerts and assemblies during this period and to those of you who have supported them by supplying costumes, helping back stage and practising at home. I really enjoyed the Infant Pirate Extravaganza (!), a Y3 concert of violins and recorders and a recital featuring all our guitar players. Today we were treated to a very thought provoking assembly led by Sycamore Class and in the process they raised a fantastic £182.31 for the Salvation Army in Chippenham who provide care over Christmas for the homeless and elderly who will be alone over the holiday. Finally even our parents (and ex-parents) got in the act with a super Christmas Selection Box Evening enjoyed by a packed house last Thursday.

Once again another quiet Christmas at Sherston and I haven’t mentioned the Story Box Theatre, Discos………….!

Events Calendar

*** More details to follow

Teacher Development Days

All dates are now finalised

 We have a number of events taking place during the final week of term.

 Carol Singing – Monday (5:30pm)

We hope to sing carols around the village on Monday 12^th December. This will be in aid of the Salvation Army’s work with the homeless. If you would like to come, please be in school for 5:30pm. Please bring a torch; warm clothes and reflective items are really useful also. We hope to visit the High Street,Cliff Road and Anthony’s Close. We expect to be finished before 7pm.

 Story Box Theatre – Tuesday (9:30am)

Once again we welcome Rod Burnett and the Story Box Theatre. This year’s performance will be the tale of The Pea, The Bean and The Enormous Turnip. Once again parents are welcome to attend.

We are very grateful to the FSS for funding this event

 Violins & Recorders (Y3) (11.00am)

Beech class will be giving a short concert featuring violin and recorder groups.

 Guitar Concert – Wednesday (2:30pm)

A short concert featuring pupils who have guitar lessons with Mrs Bisgrove.

Parents who have children performing are most welcome to attend

 Christmas Dinner – Thursday

Please note the closing date for meal orders has now passed

 Christmas Disco – Thursday

There will be two fab discos in the main hall.  Infants 5.30-6.30 Juniors 6.45-7.45. Party clothes at the ready!

 Christmas Service – Friday (10.00am)

Led by our Y6 this will take place in the School Hall. Parents are welcome to attend

 2 STACKPOLE 2012

Advance warning that our visit to Stackpole for the current Y5 class will be from Monday September 3^rd to Friday 7^th September 2012. Please note that this will start on the first day of the Autumn Term.

 3 BRAESIDE RESIDENTIAL (Y3)

Thank you for the large number of positive offers of help regarding transport to Devizes. This is a great help in keeping the cost of the residential visit down. We hope to be able to provide parents in Beech class with actual costs next week.

 4 MUSIC SUCCESS

Congratulations to Amy Peevers who has passed her Grade 1 Piano with ‘Distinction’.

 5 ROTARY CLUB SLEIGH

The Rotary Club will be bringing their sleigh through the village (subject to the weather) on Friday 16^th December between 6.00 and 8.00pm.

 6 CAR PARKING

We have received a further complaint from a member of the public about the inconsiderate parking by members of the school community.  Please do not to park on the corner of the junctions withGreen LaneandSopworth Roadas this causes severe visibility problems for drivers trying to enter and exit these roads. Can I also ask parents not to park inButler’s Close as residents recently have had difficulty in accessing their drives. Thank you in anticipation of your co-operation over these matters.

 7 CHRISTMAS CRACKER EVENING

A big thank-you to all who were involved in another really successful evening! It was great to be able to forget my long-suffering cold for an hour and have a good laugh. I do appreciate the time and effort put in by so many and as always it was good to see parents of past-pupils and for the first time past-pupils coming back to support us in this event.

 8 THEFT OF LEAD

You may be aware that the school was the victim of a serious theft of lead from our roof probably over last weekend. Other thefts in the area took place at a similar time. We are awaiting the visit of a surveyor but we expect to have a non-lead replacement. Naturally we have insurance, however we are uncertain as to how much of the cost will have to be borne from our own school budget. If you did see any suspicious activity over the weekend please report it to the police using their phone line 101.

 Events Calendar

*** More details to follow

 Teacher Development Days

All dates are now finalised

Tuesday 3^rd January 2012

Monday 12^th March 2012

Monday 11^th June 2012

Friday 29^th June 2012

Monday 23^rd July 2012

Many of you will have noticed we have not been closing the gates recently trusting that parents will observe our request not to bring their vehicles in to the school grounds at drop off and pick up times.  We have been disappointed to note that some are abusing this trust.  Please may we remind you that only authorised vehicles are permitted on site at these times, all other vehicles should be parked in the local vicinity.  Thank you.

 2 INFANT CHRISTMAS PRODUCTION – CHANGE OF TIME TO 1.45PM

The performance of ‘Captain Christmas’ is unfortunately taking longer than was first anticipated. For this reason we have had to change the start time to 1.45pm.  We hope this will not cause too much inconvenience to those of you who have to arrange time off work.

 3 CLUBS

The following clubs will meet next week:

All other clubs have finished for this term.

Only Monday Choir, Fencing and Latin will meet in the final week of term.

 5 FOREST SCHOOLS CHRISTMAS SESSIONS

The KS1 session (Saturday 10^th December) is fully booked.

There are still 3 places left for the KS2 event to be held on Tuesday 20^th December.

Please contact Niki Waldon via the office if you wish to book a place.

 5 CAROL SINGING

We hope to sing carols around the village on Monday 12^th December. This will be in aid of the Salvation Army’s work with the homeless. If you would like to come, please be in school for 5:30pm. Please bring a torch, warm clothes and reflective items are really useful. We hope to visit the High Street,Cliff Road and Anthony’s Close. We expect to be finished before 7pm.

 6 CHRISTMAS CRICKET CAMP – Westonbirt School 19^th – 21^st December

Details of a cricket camp for 8 years and over can be found in Reception

 7 CATERING NEWS

Don’t forget to send in your slips and payment for the school Christmas Lunch by Monday 5th December. The lunch will be on Thursday 15th December. Also, a reminder that there will be two special menus next week – first there is an Indian Theme Day menu on Tuesday 6th December, and the Design a Lunch winners menu will replace the usual choices on Thursday 8th December. Full details of menus are available on the school dinners blog and noticeboards at school.

 8 FSS NEWS

 Christmas Selection Box Evening – Thursday 8th December 6.30pm

This is a fantastic evening of festive entertainment and fun for all the family, put on by parents and friends of the school.  Tickets will be on sale at the Christmas Fair and at the school by the scooter rack next week.  Make sure you get yours as it’s always a sellout!  All children need to have an adult with them; please bring a cushion for comfy floor sitting.

 Christmas Disco’s – Thursday 15th December

There will be two fab discos in the main hall.  Infants 5.30-6.30 Juniors 6.45-7.45. Party clothes at the ready!

Events Calendar 

***  More details to follow

Teacher Development Days

All dates are now finalised

Tuesday 3^rd January 2012

Monday 12^th March 2012

Monday 11^th June 2012

Friday 29^th June 2012

Monday 23^rd July 2012

It does appear that negotiations between the government and public sector unions/organisations have failed to avert the threat of strike action next Wednesday.

We are not able for legal reasons to ask staff about their intentions until 48 hours before potential action. I am therefore unable to give you any concrete details until Monday when I will send out a note to all families. In the meantime I will repeat my advice given over the last fortnight that parents should seek to organise alternative childcare arrangements to cover the possibility that their child’s class will not operate on Wednesday.

At this stage the only definite information is

 Beech class (Y3) will operate as normal.

School Dinners will be available for children who are in school

Further to previous information guitar lessons will now take place on Thursday 1^st December

Fencing lessons will run at the normal times on Wednesday

A further update will be distributed on Monday

 2 BIRD CAM

I am told the link does work!

You should be able to access the web cam through

           http://webcam.sherston.wilts.sch.uk

 You will then be asked for a user name and password. These are

          birdwatch   and     nest

 3 NEW STYLE WEBSITE

Further to our report last week our first draft for the new website was sent off yesterday and we hope that the new site will be up and running early in the new year.

 4 HALL PROJECTOR

On Tuesday the new projector and screen were installed in the hall. This will be a great asset for assemblies and presentations. We are very grateful to the FSS for their financial support which has enabled this impressive resource to be provided in school.

 5 AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS

The following clubs finished this week

          Netball

          Football

          Art for the current group (Group 2)

 There will be no chess or art club on Friday 2^nd December as the Christmas Fair is held that afternoon. The final chess club will be held on Friday 9^th December.  Art club will also be held on 9^th December but for Group 1 only.

 6 MORRISONS TOKENS

This offer has now closed and we are unable to accept any further tokens. Your collection totals nearly 2000 which we can use to augment our gardening tools. Many thanks!

 7 FSS NEWS

Christmas Cards and gifts featuring your child’s artwork are ready to order NOW!

There are two ways of ordering – if you’re in a rush it’s best to order online. Go to www.my-fundraising-project-co.uk Put in the ID code which has come home on the sample card in your child’s book bag. Then you’re away. You’ll be able to buy cards, thank you cards, and all kinds of Christmas gifts featuring their design, £1 per gift goes to school, £1.25 per pack of cards, but you will have to pay postage.  OR you can order just the Christmas cards via school, at £6.50 for a pack of 10, £1.50 of which goes to school.  You just fill in the form on the sample card and return it with your cheque made out to ‘Friends of Sherston School’, no later than Monday 28^th November. Please put in the allocated box by the office.  These orders will come back to school, it doesn’t cost you or school any postage, but it can take up to a week, that’s why there’s a tight turnaround on school orders. Please help us make the most of this fundraising opportunity! Many thanks, Friends of Sherston School

Christmas Fair is on Friday 2nd December

The FSS School Christmas Fair is just around the corner and one of the popular features is the Secrets Room, where the children choose and wrap presents for parents and keep it a secret!  So we need your donations now!  Please donate quality new items for gifts suitable for Mums and Dads such as chocolates, candle, costume jewellery, Dad gadgets, bottles of wine.  Please put them in the box which will be next to the scooter rack all next week.  Any last minute tombola goodies are most welcome too!  You will also soon be receiving cake plates, and we’d be very grateful if you could return them with cakes or cookies, (big or small) in time for us to sell at the Fair on Friday. Thanks for your support, we look forward to seeing you there! 

8 DESIGN A MENU COMPETITION WINNERS

We’re delighted to announce that Milly Harvey (Chestnut Class) and Olivia Ascough (Ash Class) were chosen by abm as the winners of their recent Design a Menu competition. Milly’s tasty Meatball and Pasta main course (M) followed by Olivia’s Chocolate Fudge Cake and Ice Cream will be available to everyone to sample on Thursday 8th December, and will replace the usual choices for that day. The vegetarian option will be Jacket Potato with Beans and Cheese (V). Details of the menu are available on the noticeboard at school and will be posted on the School Dinners Blog.  

Olivia and Milly will be invited in to the kitchen to help Pam prepare the dishes for that day. Well done to Milly and Olivia and thank you to the other pupils who entered the competition. 

Christmas Lunch Menu

This year the Christmas Lunch will be on Thursday 15th December. The menu choices have been sent home in book bags today. Please complete the tear off slip, indicating your child’s choices for the meal, and return the slip along with payment (£2.20 per meal) to the school by Monday 5th December. Please enclose the correct amount in cash or make cheques payable to Abm Catering Ltd. Abm are offering a festive choice ofTurkeywith all the trimmings or Quorn fillet with vegetables and roasties, followed by Christmas Pud or Jelly & Ice Cream.

9 SAFETY IN THE HIGH STREET!

As you are probably aware the Post Office has now moved to the old school building. Having spent over twelve years in that building I am fully aware of the potential road safety issues around its entrance! Please take care with your children as drivers do use the area outside the doorway to pull in, sometimes at speed, and also be aware that the crossing point opposite the school is often covered by parked cars.

I am aware that some improvements to the pavements in the area are planned but this may take a year or more to complete.

10 ADVENT FLYER

Saturday 26^th November

Church of the Holy Cross Sherston

10am – 12 Midday

A family journey to Bethlehem

Stories, craft, refreshments and quiet time

Fun for all ages from 3 – 93. No charge but please let Becky know if you will be coming – there will be room!

Becky Fisher

Phone 07974 030212

Email Becky.fisher@deanery.org.uk

11 ROYAL BRITISH LEGION POPPY APPEAL

The school raised £115.65 for the above appeal.

12 CHILDREN IN NEED

Mrs Walker would like to thank all who contributed to the massive total of £350.39. She would like reassure all that both hers and Mrs Clark’s feet have fully recovered from their ‘barefeet day’ which included a walk down to the collection centre with the OCC Shoeboxes!

I would like to add that we have all been immensely impressed with the generosity of the School Community in the last few weeks. If one tries to put a value on the shoeboxes (not easy!) our fund-raising for the four charities must have exceeded £1000, a massive sum for a school of our size. Thank you once again for your generosity.

13 HIGH FIVES NETBALL

Congratulations to our all-girl team who came 8^th in the recent High-Five Netball Festival held at Malmesbury

14 ESC UK FOOTBALL FUN WEEK

Follow the link below for details and application form.

 ESCUK_Xmas11

Events Calendar 

Teacher Development Days

There are no teacher development days planned for the Autumn term.

All dates are now finalised

Tuesday 3^rd January 2012

Monday 12^th March 2012

Monday 11^th June 2012

Friday 29^th June 2012

Monday 23^rd July 2012

The situation is still no clearer and as I indicated last week I would recommend to all parents to consider arranging child care for that day as a precaution for the possible event that the school or their child’s class does not operate on the day

 Guitar Lessons – All parents have been circulated by Home Contact/phone

Fencing – Fencing lessons will run at the normal times. Parents have been contacted by a separate note from Ms Wild

 Staff cannot be legally asked whether they intend to strike until 48 hours before potential action and with the likelihood of further discussions between unions and the government the situation is not clear. I will of course keep you informed of any updates.

 2 TEACHER DEVELOPMENT DAYS

All teacher development days for 2011-12 have been finalised. Details are shown below the Events Calendar. All dates have been arranged to work around weekends; three are alongside school holidays.

 3 BIRD CAM

Our bird feeder web cam is now up and running. Whilst I haven’t had the opportunity to test it, it should be available, when the camera is working, for viewing externally in the same way as last year.

You should be able to access the web cam through

           http://webcam.sherston.wilts.sch.uk

 You will then be asked for a user name and password. These are

          birdwatch   and     nest

 It would be good to know whether the system is working. Do contact me if you are successful! There may be problems with Windows 7 users.

However the arrangements may change soon as we hope to have a direct link on the new website (see item 4).

 4 NEW STYLE WEBSITE

We will be replacing the existing website in the New Year. Thank you for all your responses. We have been careful to take on board as many of the suggestions as possible with the aim of making the site as accessible and as useful to parents and children as we can make it.

The school is extremely grateful to Rod Moyse who has worked tirelessly in setting up our first website and maintained it so efficiently over the last five years.

 5 HALL PROJECTOR

We hope to have a projector and screen installed in the hall during Tuesday. This has been funded by our Friends of Sherston School. The projector and screen will be used daily for our assemblies. They will also enable us to show DVDs and resource material to much larger groups than a single class. We are very grateful to all of you who organise and support the many FSS events and in your way contributed to the provision of this useful resource.

 6 FOOTBALL/NETBALL AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS

There will be no more football club for Y4 and Y5 pupils this term. There will be a final session for Y6 pupils next Wednesday, 23^rd November.

The final session for netball will also be on Wednesday 23^rd November but is open to all the usual members.

 7 SCHOOL CHRISTMAS DINNER

This year we will be having our Christmas dinner on Thursday 15th December. Abm will be serving up Roast Turkey with all the trimmings, or a Vegetarian option and choice of delicious puds. It is open to all pupils and we will be sending the menu slips home with pupils in book bags next week. Please complete and return your slips indicating your child’s choice (M or V), along with the payment of £2.20 per meal (cheques made payable to ABM Catering Ltd) before Friday 2nd December 2011. The Christmas dinner was a popular choice last year and representatives from Abm will be there on the day to help our team in the kitchen. We hope that the children enjoy it again this year. 

 8 MORRISONS TOKENS

This is the last call for Morrisons tokens.  This Monday, 21^st November is the last day we will be able to accept them if we are to meet the deadline for sending them off.  Thank you for your efforts so far – we look forward to receiving the stragglers on Monday.

 9 ADVENT FLYER

 Saturday 26^th November

Church of the Holy Cross Sherston

10am – 12 Midday

  A family journey to Bethlehem

Stories, craft, refreshments and quiet time

 Fun for all ages from 3 – 93. No charge but please let Becky know if you will be coming – there will be room!

Becky Fisher

Phone 07974 030212

Email Becky.fisher@deanery.org.uk

  Events Calendar

Teacher Development Days

There are no teacher development days planned for the Autumn term.

All dates are now finalised

Tuesday 3^rd January 2012

Monday 12^th March 2012

Monday 11^th June 2012

Friday 29^th June 2012

Monday 23^rd July 2012

Please be aware that Wednesday 30^th November has been identified by unions as the day for potential strike action over changes to teacher’s conditions of service particularly regarding changes to pensions and retirement ages.

I am not able to let you know at this stage whether the school will be affected by this action but I appreciate parents may need time to arrange child care in advance. Staff cannot be legally asked whether they intend to strike until 48 hours before potential action and with the likelihood of further discussions between unions and the government the situation is not clear. I will of course keep you informed of any updates.

 2 SCHOOL FEATURE IN GAZETTE AND HERALD

 This week our school has been featured in a double page spread within the Gazette and Herald. The ‘Schools in Focus’ piece describes how we have a close connection to our surrounding community as well as a very strong international status – with our links to Kenya, Gambia and France. The write-up is accompanied by some lovely photographs of smiling pupils in a variety of settings, from digging to playing the recorder. If you don’t manage to pick up the paper, you can check it out on the noticeboard in the foyer. You can also view and order copies of the photographs used in the feature from the website http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/ . This is timely exposure for us ahead of the Open Afternoon for Prospective Pupils / Parents, which is happening next Thursday 17^th November 1:30 – 2:30pm.

 3 SCHOOL PHOTOS

Please note that all photo orders should be returned to school by Tuesday 15^th November at the latest.  If you miss this deadline you will have to order directly from Tempest Photography and will incur a late order fee of £3.00.

 4 PUFFIN BOOK CLUB

Your child will have brought home a Puffin Book Club catalogue last week.  You may order on line at www.puffinbookclub.co.uk or by sending your order in to school.  Please quote our Club Account Number 7915541.  Cheques should be made payable to Puffin Book Club. The last date for orders is Wednesday 16^th November.

 5 COMING SOON – PUPILS XMAS CARDS!

If you haven’t bought your Christmas cards yet, don’t rush to the shops!  Shortly you’ll be able to buy your child’s own design, professionally produced, and raise money for school activities and equipment!

Children will be designing their cards in school over the next week, and these will be turned into ‘real’ cards on glossy paper, by the company ‘My Christmas Project’.  As soon as they’ve been processed each child will bring home a sample of their card, and parents can order them for family and friends.  A pack of 10 cards is £6.50, with £1.50 going to school, and £1.25 if you order online. FSS ran this project last year and the pupils were really proud of their artwork!  Watch this space!

 6 REMEMBRANCE – November 11^th

A special assembly was held today where our Y6 spoke about three people who appear on our village Roll of Honour. This year two of the children were distant relatives of the people highlighted. After this our Y6 joined members of the village to observe a two minute silence at the war memorial and to read out the names of the 62 people from our community who died.

 7 NEW ROAD MARKINGS OUTSIDE SCHOOL

The line fairy appeared last night and hopefully this will help the situation for pedestrians. Further measures are planned and are currently part of a bid to improve access to the school. These will be considered by the County Council in the New Year.

 8 OCC ASSEMBLY

Final reminder that Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes need to be in school first thing on Friday morning (18^th Nov).

 9 FSS NEWS – DATES FOR YOU DIARIES

 Cracker Decorating Competition – Next week outside school

This is a competition for the children to enter (£1) and decorate a blank Christmas cracker.  Deadline is Monday 28th Nov. The entries will decorate the hall and there are prizes for the best entries.

 Christmas Fair – Friday 2nd December 4pm

Thanks for all your Tombola goodies this week, there will be a second opportunity to donate in two weeks time when we will be collecting presents for the Secrets Room at the Christmas Fair.  This year’s Fair promise to be our best yet, with some amazing stalls selling beautiful Christmas Gifts, Decorations and Food.  If there are any parents out there who would like to run their own stall, please email nicky.gray@btinternet.com  There will be a special guest of honour in his Grotto, crafts for the children to make, face painting and a quiet Christmas Storytelling Room.  There will be top quality hotdogs and mulled wine available and, if you’ve room, some yummy cakes (donations will be welcome!).

 Christmas Selection Box Evening – Thursday 8th December 6pm

This is a fantastic evening of festive entertainment and fun for all the family, put on by parents and friends of the school. Tickets will be on sale at the Christmas Fair, it’s always a sell-out!  All children need to have an adult with them, please bring a cushion for comfy floor sitting.

 Christmas Disco’s – Thursday 15th December

There will be two fab discos in the main hall.  Infants 5.30-6.30 Juniors 6.45-7.45.

Events Calendar

Teacher Development Days

There are no teacher development days planned for this term.

Four days are now fixed.

Tuesday 3^rd January 2012

Monday 12^th March 2012

Friday 29^th June 2012

Monday 23^rd July 2012

The one remaining day will be taken in the Summer Term. I’m awaiting confirmation from an outside speaker and once this is settled I will notify you of the date.