The safe place for all to grow in friendship, body and mind within the foundations of the

Christian faith.
Its nearly the end of term and there has been so much going on. This time of year really is a special
time to be working in a school and as always it has been so lovely to hear the singing and see the
dancing and acting.

End of Term Closing Date

Please can I confirm that, as indicated on the online calendar on the school website, school closes for the
Christmas break on Friday 19 December at 3:15pm and NOT Thursday 18 after the Church service. We
are expecting to see all children in school on Friday 19 December.
Please can all Church permission slips be returned to school asap please. If you require another letter
please see Mrs Johnson in the School Office.
School Uniform Update
The voting slips are in for the school uniform provision only 40 families have stated a preference and
there is no clear majority. For this reason we are going to extend the deadline for voting slips to be
returned until Monday 15 December and would urge any parents that havent returned their slips to do
so. We will follow up with a letter on Monday informing parents of the decision.
Morning Whistle
Please can I remind all parents that the whistle in the morning is the signal for you to leave your
children in the line and begin to leave the playground. This enables us to clearly see each line as it enters
the school Please can I also remind everyone that the whistle is blown at 8:50am and that children
should be in the playground ready to line up at this time.

Traffic Outside School

Once again can I please remind all parents to be extremely careful when driving
around school in the morning, in particular when pulling out. I have been informed
there have been a couple of near misses this week. Thank you.

PTA Christmas Fair

Last Friday we held the annual Christmas fair which was a lovely community event. The running total so
far is close to 2000. With our matched funding from Barclays this means the final total is close to
4000. An incredible effort I am sure you will agree. I would like to thank all the members of the PTA
who helped organise the fair. I know a great deal of work was put in. I would also like to thank all those
companies and individuals who donated raffle prizes.

EYFS & KS1 Nativity

Children in Reception and Years 1 and 2 performed their play Countdown to Christmas this week and it
was thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended. Well done to all the children who sang, danced and acted
brilliantly and a big thank you to all the staff who worked hard to put on such a lovely production.

Reception, KS1 & KS2 Parties

Children can come in to school in their own clothes on Christmas Party Day.
Reception, Year 1 & Year2 Monday
Y3,Y4, Y5 & Y6 Tuesday

Governor Vacancy
We currently have a vacancy on our Governing Body which we would prefer to be filled by a parent. This
is for the post of a Foundation Governor. Foundation governors are important members of governing body
teams in church schools with a specific responsibility in terms of monitoring and developing the Christian
distinctiveness of our church schools as well as a concern for standards. As such you will need to be a
regular worshipper at your church (not necessarily St Oswalds Backford) and your appointment would
need to be agreed by the diocese. Please contact me if you are interested for more details.

Celebration Worship
As a staff we have become increasingly convinced that last thing on a Friday is not a good time for our
celebration worship where we give out awards, celebrate the good things that have happened in school
and invite parents. The children are really tired by the end of the week and have been very restless
recently. Consequently the time of Celebration Worship will change after Christmas to 9am on a Friday
morning. If you are attending you will be able to go straight to the hall after dropping your children off
at school. We aim to be finished by 9:30am.

EASY FUNDRAISING TOTAL - 381

CAN WE GET THIS TO 400 BY CHRISTMAS?
Diary dates for next week and the first week back:

Monday 15 December Hummingbirds bag packing at M&S Cheshire Oaks

Monday 15 December - Christmas Party for Reception, Y1 and Y2

Tuesday 16 December Christmas Party for Year 3 6

Wednesday 17 December Choir singing at M&S Cheshire Oaks 10am

Wednesday 17 December School Christmas Dinner

Thursday 18 December Christmas Church Service 2:30pm

Friday 19 December School closes for Christmas at 3:15pm

Monday 5 January School reopens

Thursday 8 January Whole school visit to the pantomime