Rob

We have been busy preparing for Christmas in our hearts and minds during our daily Collective Worship when we are reflecting upon Advent and the coming of Christ. Our Christmas tree has now arrived, and the children are clearly beginning to get excited! Children in Class One and Two performed the Nativity ‘Born in a Barn’ It was such a joy to see our youngest children enjoying themselves and for parents to be able to present and share their excitement. We collected for Ronald MacDonald House which provides accommodation near to specialist children’s hospitals (including Oxford) which is invaluable to families at a critical time in their lives. Our Christmas Service was led by the children in Class 3, we all sang our hearts out and it was a lovely way to finish the end of the term.

Our School Choir took part in The Big Christmas Sing in Oxford, an event organised by the County Music Service. We were extremely proud of the children and pleased that they were able to take part in this festive event.

Here are some photographs of the children enjoying recent curriculum visits:

We have also had a very positive Anti-Bullying Week which focused on this year’s message of ‘Reach Out.’ Across the school we have been delivering lessons, assemblies and different cross-activities to remind everyone whether it’s in school, at home or in the community to reach out and show support to one another. Our Anti-Bullying Policy is written in accordance with OCC guidelines and can be found on our school website.

We all enjoyed our visit to the Watermill Theatre to see Rapunzel. It was a charming musical adventure full of surprises, laughter and wonder. The children are always captivated by the stage set, the actors and actresses in their wonderful costumes and all the different musical instruments that the cast play. We would like to thank FoSS for covering the cost of the coach transport for this event.

Our Act of Remembrance and Dedication was held at St Faith’s Church and was a very poignant occasion for the school community. We would like to give a very special thanks to Mr Tom Scrivens, and Mrs Steve Cloete from The Royal British Legion who were in attendance and to The Reverend Max Young for leading the service. The school choir sang two moving songs, each class presented a wreath and poppies were laid as a mark of respect. The school raised £232.09 for The Poppy Appeal.

Friends of Shellingford School (FoSS) organised a Crazy Hair Day for the children. We were very impressed with everyone’s hair styles – they certainly were very crazy!

We celebrated National Poetry on Thursday 6th October. The children and teaching staff shared their favourite poems. The children created poetry of our own and each class performed their poetry to parents at our Whole School Celebration Assembly.

Our whole school Harvest Service took place on Friday 30th September at St Faith’s church and was led by the children in Classes 1 and 2. We had the most enjoyable Harvest Service and it was so lovely to see so many parents and families attend the celebration. The church was full and the children sang their hearts out! We would like to extend our appreciation and thanks to Mrs Veronica Buxton from the Ministry Team who lead our service. Thank you also for your generous donations in support of the Farming Community Network following our ‘Farmers and Farm Animal Day which raised £83.00.