Rob

Earlier this week BeSpace and the Uffington Benefice of Churches organised a Prayer Space in St Faith’s Church to give the children an opportunity to experience prayer in a personal way.  We were very grateful to the volunteers and for everyone’s hard work in providing this experience for the children. Activities focused on Max Lucado’s book ‘You Are Special’.  The children wrote prayers about forgiveness and watched the ink fade away in water. They used plasma balls to think about God’s presence in the world, thought about our uniqueness and what makes us special by looking at themselves in mirrors and focusing on personal qualities.

Our Year 5 children were trained as Active Junior Leaders this week. The training programme took four days to complete and was led externally by ‘Active Leaders’.  Our Year 5 pupils are now trained in leading practical outdoor playground games for younger pupils with an emphasis on teamwork, confidence building and being confident role models.  It also included First Aid and CPR training. The trainer was very impressed with the children’s enthusiasm and attitude and was extremely complimetary about the school’s ethos.  Thank you and well done to Year 5.

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 The Reverend Jeremy Goulston who led our service.  Thank you also for your generous donations in support of The Fisherman’s Mission which raised £182.45.

Class 4 enjoyed a wonderful week at Yenworthy Lodge in Somerset, embracing a range of outdoor and adventurous activities - not even the rain could dampen their spirits!  During the week, the children had the opportunity to learn many new skills including canoeing/kayaking, surfing, coasteering and mastering the centre's ropes course.  We all enjoyed a night walk on the moors as well as rock pooling, scavenging for evidence of the Lynmouth flood of 1952 and making the most of the coast.  As always, we were so impressed by the behaviour and resilience of the children, all of whom challenged themselves and made fantastic progress in such as short space of time.  We are sure that they have many tales to share with you and made memories that will last a lifetime. Mrs Sucksmith and Mrs Carter

As part of Class 3’s topic this term on the children went to The Oxford Playhouse this week to watch a stage production of Floella Benjamin’s book ‘Coming to England’.  What a fantastic way to kick-start the topic this term! "I couldn't take my eyes off it! Now I know why my mummy says Floella is her Hero!" Penny

As a church school our Christian vision is at the heart of our provision and steers all we do with our pupils and with one another.  We talk about having ‘roots and foundation in love’ (Ephesians 3:17) to help inspire and guide our hearts and minds.  In our Collective Worship and as part of daily activities and interactions we remind ourselves that the best roots we can have can be provided by Jesus and demonstrated by the way we show love for other people. We hope that this will become the foundation of our lives to enable us to grow into good people.

We ended the academic year with a truly memorable Leavers’ Service for our Year 6 pupils at St Faith’s Church, Shellingford.  We wish them all the very best as they begin the next chapter in their lives.

We had two lovely mornings  for our Sports Days for the younger and older children across the school.  Mrs Setchell and Mr Henry organised a range of physical activities and competitive races to encourage team building and to promote our ‘Heart’ Values (Honesty, Effort, Aspiration, Respect and Team Work).

Our Summer Production was again of a high standard! Congratulations to the children for two fantastic performances and to Mrs Sucksmith and Miss Broomfield for leading the production.  £184.60 was raised for the charity ‘Stand By Me’ and the children at Bethany School in Ethiopia.