St Blaise School 14/1/20

Achieving together

Dear Parents and Carers,

This year in worship our Christian values are being examined through topics. This term we are thinking about homelessness. We have had a number of assemblies, pupil parliaments and PSHE lessons about this – the children are very engaged and eager to help. We have our homeless activity next week – children will stay after school until 4.45pm - they will build a shelter, have a simple soup meal and then go outside and spend time in their shelter. If you have any large cardboard boxes we could use that would be great. The children will need a sleeping bag or some blankets and a warm coat, hat, scarf, gloves etc. We are not trying to replicate what it might like to be homeless but to give the children a taster. If we have not had your form and money then unfortunately your child is not able to attend. Please read the article written by Lily and Emily.

Oxford Soup Kitchen

On Wednesday 8th of January Lily and Emily (Yr6) went to the Oxford Soup Kitchen to understand homelessness in greater depth and to see how people struggle. When we arrived, we were greeted by the one and only Ma Smith (who has won a Pride of Britain Award) and Gary (Ma’s son who is also famous in America and has performed as a DJ in the Oscars). Both were kind and full of pride for the kitchen, we started by writing the menu, then preparing and cooking the food. The volunteers at the project were friendly and eager to use this opportunity to support and help. The fresh food came from the Oxford food bank who collect reduced food and donations from nearby supermarkets. The food on offer included eggs, vegetables, bread, cheese and other delicious food.

“Now I see what it is truly like it has really hit home” (Emily)

After cooking the food, people started arriving there were facilities where they could go and get clothes that would be warm and comfy as well as sleeping bags.  As soon as the soup had gone, we started to serve the main courses: cottage pie or jerk chicken, we were on vegetables duty as well as gravy. Now everyone had been fed we sat down to eat having a conversation with two friendly men. One went to one of the best schools in London but lost his job then had no money for his home. There stories really inspired us to continue to help.After all this it was time to say goodbye and we left knowing someone is trying to do good in the world.

On Friday 24th, 31st Jan and 7thFeb Lily, Alice and Caitlin will be selling slices of pizza for £1 – all profits will go to the Soup Kitchen – please support them with this venture

Wanted Old simple tents that the children can use Picnic blankets Wool – all types

Have a great weekend,

Ruth Leach and the St Blaise team.

Building NewsThe school expansion is now due to begin at the start of May. Delays have beencaused due to site access. The building company have got to install a temporaryroad access because the road leading to the football club will not sustain the amount of heavy traffic anticipated. The building company are doing some further tests. Work should begin in the area behind school early April. We will keep you posted.

RED JanuaryRED January is a campaign lead by the charity Mind encouraging you to get active every day of the month. Exercise can be a massive influence on our Mental Health and January is a perfect month for the challenge, urging us to kick start the year and boost our self-esteem through fun activities. ‘RED’ stands for “Run Every Day” but whether we walk, jog, dance or play team games, each day of January, St. Blaise will be getting active!We will also hold a RED non-school uniform day on Friday14th Feb. With all proceeds going to Mind.See what you can do at home – useful links- https://www.wea.org.uk/families-get-active

https://www.nhs.uk/change4life Charlotte has set up a Just Giving Page for the event – please have a look and if you feel that you could contribute and make a donation we are targeting making £100 for MIND

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/StBlaise

E-safetyPlease be aware of this app that is becoming increasingly popular

When you sign up for TikTok, your account is public by default, meaning anyone cansee your videos,send you direct messages, and use your location information.Because of the access to inappropriate content, and the use of popular music that may contain explicit language, this is not an app for young kidsTik Tok is rated 12+ on the Apple app store and “teen maturity” on Google Play.

Internet safety evening.

On Monday 10th February 18.00 – 19.00, Nick Speller from ICT123 (The School’s IT support company) will be holding an Internet safety talk. Nick will be providing lots of tips

and advice for parents to keep your children safe when using the internet at home.

CAMAHS Survey - The Oxfordshire Parent Carers Forum are asking for people's experiences of accessing CAMHS in Oxfordshire.  Whether you are a parent/carer, professional or young person, we would like to understand what your experience has been.The survey is available at the following link:  https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CAMHSOXON

Dates for Term 2 2019-20Dates are subject to some minor changes – please use the website calendar as well.

Week Date Event Notes4 27th 28th /1/20

2 teams per night

Homelessness after school activity – includes living in a box and soup kitchen – after school

FULL

31/1/20 Certificate worship 9am5 6/2/20 Parent breakfast – 8.45am

7/2/20 Willow open afternoon 2pm*6 14/2/20 Certificate worship

Launch of family art competition9am

6 14/2/20 Maple class Mayan afternoon 2pm6 17/02/20 Half Term

Week Date Event Notes1 26th – 28th/2/20 Book Fair2 2/3- /3/20 Book fair2 5/3/20 World Book day2 6/3/20 Certificate worship2 TBC Weights and measures for Oak

and Y6Letter to follow

3 All week Maple class at Woodlands11/3/20 Outdoor learning day

4 18/3/20 Parent meetingsThere will be a Mother’s Day

event this week20/3/20 Certificate worship

5 26/3/20 Parent breakfast – 8.45am27/3/20 Fitness testing day

6 2/4/20 Easter service at school 2pm3/4/20 Launch of Maths art competition

School ends 1.15pm