On Friday 20th October we opened our doors and invited parents and family friends to come and view the school as ‘a working school.’ The children were involved in Project Based Learning activities which focused on the Archaeological activities they had been learning throughout the week. The children always talk about how much they enjoy these afternoons and the opportunity to ‘show off’ their learning to their parents.
Our Harvest Service was held on 29th September 2017 at St Faith’s church and led by the children in Class1 and 2. The church was decorated with flowers and produce, and it was lovely to see so many parents and relatives attending the service. Thank you for all the donations of food for the ‘Faringdon Food Bank’ which provides food parcels to those in our immediate area who find themselves temporarily in difficult circumstances. We also held a non-school uniform day to support ‘The Farming Community Network.’ This charity provides practical and pastoral support for farmers and farming families in England and Wales during times of need, anxiety and distress which stem from the farm business. Children and staff dressed up as farmers and farm animals and a total of £105.36 was raised.
Our Year 5 and 6 pupils began the new academic year with a residential to Yenworthy Lodge in Devon. The children and staff had another fantastic and fun-filled week of rock climbing, surfing, and kayaking as well as a number of other challenging outdoor and adventurous activities.
Our Year Six Leavers’ Service took place at St Faith’s church in Shellingford on Thursday 20th July. This special service was held to celebrate and prepare the Year Six pupils’ as they embark upon the next stage of their journey of life and learning. During the service, the Year Sixes reminisced and reflected on their time at Shellingford CE (A) Primary School and the school sang some of their favourite worship songs and ‘Give a Little Love’ from our recent summer production of Bugsy Malone.
The whole school had a wonderful time at our school Sports Day. The children took part in team activities in their ‘Family Groups’ which were then followed by a series of competitive track events. Certificates were awarded for the overall winning team and to the team who demonstrated the best team spirit. A special word of thanks goes to Mrs Setchell for organising yet another enjoyable Sports Day.
Our summer production of Bugsy Malone was just fantastic! Congratulations to the children for two outstanding performances and to Mr Drew in particular for leading the production. £243.25 was raised in donations to cover the cost of the performance fees and video licence.
Our ShWimbledon tennis competition this year was held over two days on: Thursday 29th June for Class 1 and 2 in school; and on Friday 30th June for Class 3 and 4 at The Faringdon Tennis Club. The event involved competitive sessions and mini coaching games for the children and was led by local Tennis Coach, Mr Alan Elbourne.
Thank you to everyone who supported our Fun Day on Saturday the 10th June. The amount raised this year is in the region of a fantastic £2,241. I am sure you will join me in saying a huge thank you to the FoSS committee for organising the event and to all those involved in helping to make the day a most enjoyable and successful occasion.
We held a special Community Picnic on the village green for Shellingford residents and school governors in aid of ‘Children on the Edge’ on Friday 26th May. It was a perfect day for a picnic and the children in Class 4 served refreshments and everyone received a celebratory piece of cake and cupcake! The school presented ‘Children on the Edge’ with a cheque for £4000 and a further cheque was presented from FoSS for £1500. At our Celebration Assembly in the afternoon for parents Children on the Edge spoke to the school about the work of the charity and how the money the school raised would help provide education for Syrian refugee children living in tent schools, as well as employing teachers from the refugee community.
An exciting event took place at our school on the 26th and 27th April 2017. We arranged for an outdoor prayer and reflection space for the school community to engage with organised by Oxford based charity ‘BeSpace.’ The aim of BeSpace is to ‘help Christians serve their local communities through prayer and reflection spaces and exploring other ways to help people ‘be’. A bespoke tent with four ‘stations’ featuring different interactive tactile activities for the children to experience was set up by local volunteers from St Faith’s church. Every child was then given time and space to reflect on different themes such as ‘thankfulness’ or ‘our world.’
