St Oswald’s C of E Aided Primary and Nursery School
Newsletter - Spring Term 2016
A Happy New Year to You All!
Happy New Year
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year.
We welcome the new children who recently commenced Nursery and Sunshine Club. I hope the new families
will enjoy being part of our whole school family.
Nursery News
We are delighted to announce that Miss Jewell is due to have her baby soon and will be commencing her
Maternity leave in February. In the meantime we are recruiting for a temporary Nursery Nurse and will advise
you of who this is in due course. Miss Hunter will be returning from her maternity leave in March. It is
wonderful to have two more babies to add to our St Oswald’s family.
Student helpers
We have numerous students who help out in school on a weekly basis. These students are mainly from
Durham University and are proving to be a welcome addition to our support network.
The following classes have a regular student who is in school on placement. Their names are:
Nursery –Miss Maindonald ( Monday)
Elvet – Mrs Christopher (Wednesday), Miss Martin (Friday)
Dunelm – Miss Saunders (Wednesday and Friday), Miss Martin (Friday)
Kingsgate – Mrs Henniker-Major (Tuesday), Miss Smith (Wednesday), Miss Thomas (Thursday)
Neville – Mrs Christopher (Monday), Miss Watts (Tuesday)
The Friends
Thank you to all of the families who either attended or donated items for the school fair. The total amount
raised was £781.77. The event was enjoyed by everyone, including members of the Parish who took the
opportunity to look around our beautiful school.
The friends regularly receive cheques for between £80 and £100 from Easy fundraising, which is a method of
purchasing items for from major retailers via their website, by electing that the funds go to St Oswald’s School.
Further details are available from the Friends and on the Friends Facebook site.
We are extremely grateful to the Friends for all of their fundraising and the support they give the School.
Friends Appeal for Committee Members - If any parent would like to become a member of the Friends
committee and take on an area of responsibility we will be extremely grateful. Even if you can only give us a
small amount of occasional help and can’t attend the regular committee meetings, your help will still be
valuable.
You can also keep up to date with the Friends and our school community on our Facebook page which can be
accessed on Facebook by searching for Friends of St Oswald’s.
Clubs in Term 2
Cookery and Gardening Y1, Y2
After half term
French Club
R, Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4 Tuesday
3.15 - 4.15pm
Guitar & Violin lessons Y4
Monday
12.15 – 3.45pm
Y3
Wednesday 12.15 – 3.45pm
Recorder Club
Y2
Monday
12.00 – 12.25
Recorder Club
Y3/4
Wednesday 12.30 – 12.55
Multiskills
R, Y1, Y2
Friday
3.15 - 4.15 for 1st half term
Basketball
Y3/4
Thursday
3.15 – 4.15 for 1st half term
Chess
Y3/4
Monday
3.15 – 4.10pm
Singing Club
Y2/3/4
Tuesday
12.30 – 1pm
Further details will follow about sports clubs in the second half of the term.
Parent/Teacher Meetings
There will be parent/teacher meetings held for each class, where parents can have an
appointment with the class teacher to discuss their child’s work. The appointment times will be
arranged at a later date, but the dates are as follows:
Nursery – Mrs Kirkup
Nursery – Mrs Stanley
Elvet – Miss Preece
Dunelm – Ms Wilson
Kingsgate – Mr Handy
Neville – Mrs Cantwell
Tuesday 15th March
Thursday 17th March
Wednesday 16th March
Tuesday 15th March
Tuesday 22nd March
Monday 21st March
Kingsgate Class Assembly
On Thursday 11th February parents of children in Kingsgate Class are invited to join us our assembly at 9am.
After the assembly they will be invited into the classroom to look at the children’s work until 10am.
Elvet Class Assembly
On Wednesday 16th March parents of Elvet Class children are invited to join our assembly. After the assembly
they will be invited into the classroom to look at the children’s work until 10am.
World Book Day
World Book Day is on 3rd March. Children are encouraged to come to school dressed as
a story/book character. They may also bring in a book featuring that character. Please
note that the children in Years 1-4 will be getting changed in the afternoon to attend the
Zambia Fun Run.
Easter arrangements
A decorated Easter egg competition will be held on Monday 21st March and will be judged in
the afternoon. Small prizes will be awarded when they are judged that afternoon. Please collect
your Easter egg from the hall after School/Nursery on Tuesday 22ndh March.
We will conduct our Easter bonnet parade on Tuesday 22nd . Small prizes will be allocated for the
best hat in each class.
Easter Service
The Easter Service will take place in St Oswald’s Church on Wednesday 23rd March at 9.15am.
Please join us for this service. Nursery will also be attending this service.
Sunshine Club
St Oswald’s Sunshine Club will run a holiday club during half term from Monday 15th to Friday 19th February
inclusive from 8 am - 6 pm.
The Easter Holiday Club will be open on Thursday 24th March from 8.00 am – 6.00 pm and then Tuesday 29th
March to Friday 8th April excluding weekends 8.00 am to 6.00 pm.
Please note that Sunshine club will be closed on Friday 25th March, and Monday 28th March which are bank
holidays for Good Friday and Easter Monday.
Parents can get an application form from the website or contact Sunshine Club at
sunshine@stoswaldsdurham.net or by telephoning 0191 3868322.
Charitable Contributions
Christingle candles raised £180.00 for the Children’s Society.
The Santa Fun Run in Nursery raised £210 for St Cuthbert’s Hospice
Thank you for your kind generosity.
Authority to collect
Could we remind all parents to inform the school if their child is going home with anyone not previously
authorised. Please keep the authority to collect list held by the school up to date. Can I also ask that you
update school if you change your telephone number or email address?
Clothing
Could I urge all parents to name all clothing, shoes including hats, scarves, gloves etc.? We have a large
selection of unnamed items of clothing which have been in school for over a term. Please also return clothes
loaned by school promptly, especially underwear which we are running short of.
PE Kits
Please ensure that children have NAMED PE kits in school every day. The timetable for PE is not fixed this year
and children may have the opportunity to do PE on a variety of days, so please make sure the children have
their full kit in preparation for this.
School uniform
 We will require all of our children to wear the stipulated school uniform of a blue sweat shirt or
cardigan, white polo shirt, grey trousers, grey skirts or pinafore dresses and the option of blue and
white checked summer dresses or grey shorts for the warmer weather. Girls tights should be limited
to blue, black or grey.
 We also request that suitable school black, brown or navy shoes are worn which do not include
trainers or lace up high top boots. In winter if boots are required due to the cold weather, we request
that they are plain zip up or slip on boots. Trainer type shoes can continue to be worn during PE
sessions along with black plimsolls.
 For P.E. children will continue to wear the stipulated PE kit, including a coloured t-shirt. From
September this kit will be worn for all PE activities, including for after school Sports Clubs, thus
avoiding bringing in personal sports kits. If specific footwear or equipment is required children will be
specifically asked to bring this.
 Jewellery such as earrings should not be worn in school as they pose a Health & Safety risk. If a child is
unable to remove their earrings, they must be taped over on a daily basis.
Mobile Devices such as phones
Although this has not been a problem due to the age of the children, in order to pre-empt a future problem,
we ask that our children do not bring any such devices into School. This is due to the fact that we can’t control
the content of such devices which in turn can have safeguarding implications.
Birthday treats
Please can I ask you to refrain from sending cakes into school as part of birthday celebrations? This is due to
the dietary restrictions for some of our children. If you want to send in birthday treats, please send in sealed
bags of sweets which clearly state what the dietary contents are. These will be sent home and parents can
then decide if their child is able to have the sweets. We never share sweets in school or allow the children to
consume them on the premises. This helps us to avoid introducing life threatening food to any child with food
allergies.
Key Stage 2 Snack
In light of healthy School recommendations please can you ensure that the daily snack which is brought into
School for our junior children (Kingsgate & Neville Classes) is a piece of fresh fruit or vegetable and not any
form of processed food such as a breakfast bars or fruit winders.
Payment for clubs
Please ensure that when reserving a place for a School club etc., that the money for the club accompanies the
reservation and the appropriate form is filled out by the requested date. Loose cheques can cause the office a
lot of problems unless they are attached to the correct form or come into school attached to a letter stating
what the money is for.
Weekly newsletters
As you know we send out a weekly newsletter on a Friday and text messages for anything urgent. We would
appreciate it if you could ensure these newsletters are read. If you are not receiving the newsletters or know
someone who is not receiving it due to the fact that you may have changed your email address, please let Mrs
Clift know as soon as possible so we can ensure your current email address is activated. It is also important
that you ensure the newsletters are not going into your junk email and our address is accepted into your inbox
as a safe sender. Those parents who require a paper copy of the newsletter need to look for this arriving in
your child’s book bag, usually on a Friday.
Thank you
Mrs. Harrison
Diary Dates Term 2
Dates
Time
Event
January
4th
7th
8th
9.00
3.15-4.15pm
3.15-4.15pm
School Re opens after Christmas Holidays
Basketball Club
Multi Skills Club
February
11th
11th
12th
12th
15th-19th
22nd
22nd
9.00-10.30am
3.15-4.15pm
3.15-4.15pm
3.15pm
8.00-6.00pm
9.00am
3.15-4.30pm
Kingsgate Assembly
Last Basketball Club
Last Multi Skills Club
Last School Day before Half Term
Sunshine Club Open all week for Holiday Club
School Returns After Half Term
Cookery and Gardening Club
March
3rd
3rd
8th
15th
16th
16th
17th
21st
21st
22nd
22nd
23rd
23rd
24th
29th-8th April
12.30-3.00pm
All day
10.30
TBC
9.00am
TBC
TBC
TBC
Judged in PM
TBC
TBC
9.15am
3.15pm
8.00-6.00pm
8.00-6.00pm
Zambia Fun Run [Year 1 -4]
World Book Day – children to Dress up as a story/book character
Elvet Class Singing at the Institute
Nursery- Mrs Kirkup and Dunelm- Ms Wilson [Parent Appointments]
Elvet Assembly
Elvet –Ms Preece [Parent Appointments]
Nursery- Mrs Stanley[Parent Appointments]
Neville-Mrs Cantwell [Parent Appointments]
Decorated Easter Egg Competition.[collect eggs 22/3 from hall]
Kingsgate-Mr Handy [Parent Appointments]
Easter Bonnet Parade
Easter Church Service – all welcome. Nursery will attend
School Closes for Easter
Sunshine Club Easter Holiday Club open
Sunshine Club Easter Holiday Club open
April
11th
9.00am
School Re opens after Easter Holidays