Current Newsletter

Previous Newsletters:
Newsletter 1
Newsletter 2
Newsletter 3

Newsletter 4

Dear Parents

Combe Fun Run: A big thank you to all those who walked, ran and supported the annual Combe Fun Run. It was a beautiful day and the course was challenging yet great fun, it really is a humbling experience being over-taken by a group of chatting 7 year olds! Well done to Chris A'Court and to Pirate Fitness for putting the run together and organising such a great event. The refreshments were so well received and certainly 'hit the spot' to help refresh tired and aching legs. Thank you to Trudie Normanton and her group of dedicated workers for providing and serving a delicious range and selection of refreshments. I very much look forward to running again next year! We raised £300, which is fantastic and part of this money will be spent on a brand new music scheme for the whole school to enjoy.

European Day of Languages: Fantastico, Bravo. Our first celebration of the European Day of Languages was a great success; my thanks go not only to the children who persevered and 'had a go' with great enthusiasm, but to our parent helpers who provided the expertise for our morning of languages. We enjoyed Italian, German, Spanish, Malay and Iranian! The playground banter was awash with greetings from so many different languages. Congratulations to all who took part. We are fortunate at Combe Primary School, to be able to offer French lessons to the whole school and I hope we will continue to develop our enthusiasm for modern foreign language speaking throughout all school years.

Some dates for your diaries:

Friday 3rd October 2008 School is closed as it is a county INSET day dedicated to performance management.

Wednesday 8th October Friends of Combe School Annual General Meeting at 7.30pm Guest speaker- Julie Fenn Headteacher, The Marlborough School Woodstock. Mrs Fenn will be talking about secondary education in general, the changes ahead, how to support your child in the early stages of transition from Primary to Secondary and what to look out for when choosing a school for your child.

Wednesday 22nd October Harvest Festival Service St Lawrence Church 1.30pm

Important notices: I am delighted that so many children wish to attend our afterschool club programme; this really is an important part of our extended curriculum. Due to the large numbers in Tuesday's Games club, I am splitting the group into 2, and Mrs Pascoe has kindly offered to take Years 3 and 4 each week.

As with all extracurricular activities, it is essential that your child actually wants to take part in their chosen activity, a very small number of children do not seem happy to participate and therefore may disrupt the learning for others. Clubs are not compulsory, they are there as an extra opportunity should your child wish to develop and try new skills.

Nuts: From now on Combe Primary School is a nut free zone. I am very sorry to those of you who enjoy bringing nuts as part of your packed lunch, but due to the number and the nature of our nut allergy sufferers, the risk is now too high. I am sure you can still enjoy nut snacks at home, but please keep all food brought into school nut free. (This does not apply to those foods which state 'may contain traces of nuts') If you would like to discuss any of our lunch arrangements with me, please don't hesitate to ask.

Water: Please could you provide your child with a full water bottle each day? I am not convinced that all children are drinking enough water. I always allow pupils to have access to their bottles, without it becoming a time consuming exercise. In my experience, drinking water throughout the day really does make a difference to concentration levels and general levels of well being.

I am hoping in the very near future to be able to provide each child with a new Combe Primary School water bottle.

Recreation Ground: warning to parents from Tony Hyder
Three or four times a year, when the ground is saturated by heavy rain and water pours from the surface of the field, the drain to the skateboard bowl is unable to cope and the bowl fills and overflows into the ditch beyond. When this happens there is a period (seldom more than 24 hours) of potential danger. The Village Hall and Recreation Ground Committee is considering a proposal to divert the flow around the bowl but, until the problem is solved, thinks it sensible to warn parents to keep their children, young and old, away from the field when there is any sign of standing or flowing water.

The Committee would also like to give parents advance notice that several projects involving heavy plant and soil excavation are scheduled to take place on the Recreation Ground this autumn. Standard safety measures will of course be implemented while the work is in progress but, once again, parents are advised to exercise caution.

Swimrite has asked us to notify parents of the swimming instruction for adults and children they provide locally in Long Hanborough. Please see the Parents' Board for more information.

Congratulations to the following pupils who have been awarded Pupil of the Week certificates already; Charlie Penton, Isobel Shone, Jessie Penton, Cameron Newton-Grain, Daniel Grant, Conrad Peck, Sophie Richard and Freddie Ashcroft

I hope you will attend the FOCS AGM on 8th October, I am sure between us all we can find a really positive team of parents to continue the great work started here at Combe Primary School, as always I am here to help and assist in any way I can.

Thank you

Wendy Foster