Attendance for this week is 97.67%. 

Dear parents,

On Tuesday next week we have our SIAMS inspection. The principal objective of a SIAMS inspection is to evaluate the distinctiveness and effectiveness of the school as a church school. It also looks at the quality of collective worship and Religious Education. The inspection will last one day; I will notify you of the outcome as soon as the report has been finalised.

We have had a very busy week at Charlton. On Monday, the school gathered together in collective worship to remember those who sacrificed their lives for us. The two minute silence provided the school community an opportunity to reflect upon all those in armed conflict both past and present who have done so much to make the world a better place.

It was lovely to see so many children wearing odd coloured socks on Tuesday (see picture below).

As our Anti-Bullying policy states: 

'Bullying will not be accepted or condoned.’ 

So far, we have raised £75.10. Thank you for your support.

As a school and community, we have high expectations with regards to how we treat one another. Our value for this half term is respect and we have been praising pupils across the school for being respectful in their actions.

Today, despite the flooding we were able to open our doors. Children and staff were dressed in their pyjamas to raise money for Children in Need (see picture below, although Yr 5/6 were already changed for PE). Thank you to everyone for donating and supporting a fantastic cause. A special thank you to the Clinic Prep Outpatients at the John Ratcliffe Hospital who donated £31.00 making a grand total of £112.

Earlier this term we introduced the new school vision, ‘Achieving personal and academic fulfilment through growing and learning together.’ The children have been learning the parable of the Mustard Seed, Matthew 13: 31-32, recognising that we can all achieve great things, learn new skills and grow as people (please see photos below). I encourage all families to think of a design for our vision. Please send any entries to the school office.

On a final note, can I please ask that all trophies awarded during the Celebration assembly be returned on the Monday. We have had a few instances recently of trophies not coming back to school on time meaning that children have not received the trophy on a Friday.

On Wednesday, all of KS2 received training from Hazard Alley on staying safe on line and UKS2 also had drug awareness training.  Both were really interesting and we were all shocked by some of the statistics.  Information for parents can be found below.  Thank you to PTA for funding this training.

On Thursday, Year 5/6 welcomed Chris from Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue, who give us some very useful fire safety training.  Ask your child what they would do if they came across a fire or heard an alarm.  They might even talk to you about your family fire escape plan.

The children listened to the parable of 'the mustard seed' read by Revd Lisa and were asked what they would like to grow in themselves, their answers were written on wooden sticks and "planted" in the tub. (see pictures below)

Today Emily and Mia helped Revd Lisa make a collage from them to make "the mustard tree". The sticks act as evidence and a reminder of what qualities we can strive to grow within ourselves and to encourage in our school, the church and the broader community. 

- Christmas Coffee Church/Family Service on 6th Dec from 3.15pm till 4.15 pm. All welcome!

- 6th December = Non Uniform Day in return for a bottle for the Christmas Bazaar 

- F1 to Yr6 trip to "Beauty & the Beast" at the Oxford Playhouse : 10th December 2019

We are still missing a lot of consent and payment for the PANTO and it is only 3 1/2 weeks away so pleas can you ensure that you fill in the Form from Kuwanda and send your payment to the office before the 22nd November. Thank you.

- All school, Christmas Lunch: 17th December 2019

The Form was sent to you via email before half term so please can you ensure that you filled it otherwise your child might miss out on the option that he/she wants. Thank you.

Dear All,

Ref: school photos order deadline for free return.

Due to the flooding in the area and difficulties reaching school the final day to place orders for school photos, either online or via school, for free return to school has been extended to Monday, the 25th of November. Orders can be placed after this date but P&P charges would apply.
Kind regards,
Ian Taylor
PS: I’ll come over on the 26th to collect the orders and rest assured that prints will be back before the end of term.

I'm pleased to say we've now had the final amount from the Harvest Auction, our share is  £1,4425.25, so we are well on the way to achieving our £5,000 target, last year we smashed this target raising £6,129, and with all your support I  hope we can do it again.

The PTA has been spending money and this term has paid for the Reading Records for each child, the Hazard Alley Day and each class has been given £200 to subsidise a school trip and to purchase items needed for their own class.  So, the money raised is already making a difference to our children.

School Cookbook - The winner of the school cookbook cover competition is Orla (Yr1/2) - see picture below. Our runners up were Alexander (Yr5), Emily, Emilia and Kara (Yr3/4). The recipe book will be ready for purchase at the beginning of December, so will make an excellent Christmas present.  Look out for pre-order forms in bookbags next week.

Christmas Cards - the Christmas card on-line shop closes on Saturday 16^th November so don't forget to get your orders in.  They are also selling gift tags and wrapping paper with your child's design on.  Your purchased cards etc will be in bookbags by the beginning of December.

Bingo - Please get your booking forms back asap for the Family Bingo Friday 22^nd November.  Tickets can be purchased on the night but it helps with catering if we have an idea of numbers beforehand.  As well as the hot dogs, we have a licenced bar, tuck shop, raffle and Dave Griffin will be doing the calling.  It's always a fun evening that both children and parents enjoy and a great opportunity to socialise with other parents and for those new to the school to meet people. This is a community event so if you know anyone that would like to come please let them know.

Coffee Church - Rev. Lisa will be hosting the popular Coffee Church on Friday 6^th December from 3.15pm.  There will be crafts, songs, storytelling and refreshments all with a Christmas theme.

Cherwell Lottery www.CherwellLottery.co.uk The school association now has a page on this site. Go onto the site and find our page, purchase a lottery ticket naming the school as the charity you wish to support. 50p from each ticket purchased will be donated to the school and you might win £25,000!

Easy fundraising and Amazon Smile - with Christmas approaching please consider going through these sites when shopping on-line, we are signed up to both charity schemes.  There are over 3000 shops signed up to easy fundraising, a percentage of your spend will be donated to the school. Google Amazon Smile  and choose Charlton on Otmoor School as your charity or follow the link for easy fundraising   www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/charltononotmoor/

If you would like to speak to a member or find out more about the PTA please contact us via the playground, office or email mailto:Charltonschoolassociation@gmail.com   or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/149362305695629/

Upcoming Events, Save the Dates

Friday 22nd November - Family Bingo evening
Friday 6^th December       Non School uniform day in return for a bottle for the Christmas Bazaar & Christmas Coffee Church from 3.15pm with refreshments
Saturday 14^th December - Christmas Bazaar
Wednesday 18^th December - Carols and mulled wine at the Church

Orla with her prize.

Bingo Poster

Please find some information below about the Oxfordshire County Music Service and what they have to offer to young people.

To whom it may concern, 

I hope you don’t mind me contacting you with regards to our services we are bringing to your area.  I am writing from the Family Dog service at the assistance dog charity Dogs for Good. This service is for parents and carers who have a child with autism between the ages of 3 and 16, who are either looking at getting a dog or who want to train their own pet dog to help their child. The service consists of 3 workshops followed by unlimited email and phone aftercare.

We are planning on running these workshops at Dogs for Good Centre (The Frances Hay Centre, Blacklocks Hill, Banbury OX17 2BS), the series will begin in the middle of August 2020.  This is the twenty ninth series of workshops that we have conducted in Banbury; we are hoping to distribute some information about the workshops in local areas to spread awareness.

We do run these workshops throughout the UK, so please do check all of our venues in case there is another more convenient option: https://www.dogsforgood.org/how-we-help/family-dog/our-workshops/family-dog-workshops-2020/

I was therefore wondering if you would be able to distribute a flyer we have created to families that could benefit from the service (attached). This could either be printed out for notice boards, putting on Facebook groups or however you wish to do it.   Even just telling people would help.  We do have flyers that can be posted to you if you wish.

Any help would be much appreciated.

For further information, please visit our website https://www.dogsforgood.org/how-we-help/family-dog/  and we also have a short YouTube clip that can also be shared   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S6e_UDlcmE

Thank you ever so much for your help.
Kind regards,
Sarah