ISSUE 12
A warm welcome to Pixies’
th
50
Anniversary
| September 2013
Upcoming events
Tues 1st October
School partially open due to strikes
Fri 4th October | 6pm
FOPHS Catwalk Company
Value of the month
Our value of the month is Unity. We thought this to be a very apt value as we all gather
together in new classes with new teachers. We have taught this value through showing children
that answering a quiz and using your hand without a thumb to write can be a difficult
experience in isolation. Through exploring a range of different types of brushes, the children
saw that they and we come in different shapes, sizes, skills but can be unified in purpose.
Mon 7th October | 3.30-4pm
Open Classrooms
Tues 15th October | 3.30-6pm
Parent Consultation Evening
Wed 16th October | 5-8pm
Parent Consultation Evening
Martin Smith, Headteacher
Thurs 17th October
Y4 Class Assembly
Fri 18th October
Help us celebrate our 50th year
Balloons | Courtesy of Aimee Hammond
Secondary school admissions
If your child is in Year 6, please don’t forget that
the secondary admissions deadline is on 31st
October. Details of applications and other useful
related
documents
can
be
found
at
www.hertsdirect.org/admissions.
Mrs Axford and I are on standby if any parents
have questions, queries or help requests related to
this.
If you are applying for a place outside the local
authority, you will need to access this information
from the relevant authority. Again, please don’t
hesitate to ask if you require any assistance.
Harvest Festival
We will be celebrating over the course
of the year with various events. We
hope to have a new website live after
half-term, Stu McLellan, local artist, will
be returning this academic year to do
some new projects and we will be
planning a bigger celebration day in
the Summer term.
Fri 25th October
If you have any good ideas to help us
celebrate, please voice them. We will
be asking the school council,
governors and staff for their ideas in
due course.
A short note to say we haven’t
forgotten about exploring Breakfast
Club!
Non-Uniform Day
End of Half Term
Breakfast club
The start of term has been
extremely busy, although I will be
approaching neighbouring schools
with a proposal shortly and we will
explore the viability of this project.
If your child is in reception and you
would be interested in a breakfast
club, please could I ask you to give
your child’s name and specific days
of interest to the admin staff.
Fundraising
This term, we will be supporting
Michael Sobell House Hospice.
Contributions from the school
magazine will go to this hospice
who support patients and families
with life threatening illnesses.
Congratulations Simon!
Space on the newsletter usually comes at a premium but in Simon Belson’s case,
it’s space well used! He writes…
Well everyone, I have done it. After
months of intense training, including
getting up for 6:45 lake swims on
Saturday mornings!!! and countless
hours running and biking up hill and
down dale, I successfully completed
the Dorney Lake Olympic Triathlon on
Sunday 15th September, with no
injuries or disqualifications. After my
“Taxi” arrived late, and having to walk
just over a mile from the car park to
the registration tent lugging bike and
equipment, I got to the transition area
with just about 20 mins to spare,
meaning I had a lot of frantic rushing about to affix my race number to my race belt, bike and
swim hat, and organise the kit box.
So the event started and off we all went, my swim went well, in fact I set a new personal best
for the distance, I exited the lake towards transition number 1 and immediately felt dizziness
like a 4 year old experiences getting off the tea-pot ride at Southend!!! As for the transitions,
well let’s just say that I don’t think McLaren’s pit crew need worrying about me challenging
them for a record pit stop time!!! The bike leg went well until about lap 6 of the 8, and then it
started to get very windy and rainy and I really had to push to get around the last 2 laps, I
finished the bike, got back to the transition area and got ready for the final stretch which was
the run, the end was in sight (well 6 miles away!!!!), no retreat, no surrender, I knuckled down,
and managed to keep my running pace all the way to the finish line, even though, the last lap of
the circuit was only achieved through shear will power and determination. I crossed the line in a
total time of 3 hours and 36 minutes. I had done it, my first Triathlon and at Olympic distance
too, I was very pleased with myself, and now at time of writing this, I am already looking
forward to next year for my next “Tri.” I have the bug, and will certainly be doing more of them.
I had some amazing support throughout the day from my family, who despite standing around
in the wind and rain for 4 hours, cheered me on, every step/stroke/cadence of the way. The
weather could have been better, however the frequent strong winds and rain, wasn’t enough to
dampen my spirits.
For those interested, my split times are as follows:
SWIM: 35:13
T1: 7:36
BIKE: 1:49:06
T2: 3:38
RUN: 1:00:43
A huge thanks to all that have sponsored me, and remember, there is still time
to sponsor, so please grab a form and help raise money for the school.
Stars of
the week
Week of 13/09/13
Reception: Whole Class
Year 1: Zac Broadbent
Year 2: Harry Wright
Year 3: Bobby Wright
Year 4: Niamh Bates
Year 5: Tristan Flury
Year 6: Max Mistretta
Week of 20/09/13
Reception: Liam Flury
Year 1: Hayden Marsh
Year 2: Chloe Harvey
Year 3: Elliot Su
Year 4: Lillie Hammond
Year 5: Kyle Welfare
Year 6: Oakley Marchant
Week of 27/09/13
Reception: Grace Maddison
Year 1: Lila Rance
Year 2: Sophie Brand
Year 3: Ryan Pearce
Year 4: Matthew Morgan
Year 5: Millie Kelly
Year 6: Zofia Lamburn
Well done
to everyone!