News and Events

Miss Hancock took 2 children to Bath last Wednesday to receive our ArtsMark Gold award.
We applied for Artsmark last November and were moderated by the Arts Council earlier this year and our application was sucessful!
The ArtsMark Gold is the highest and so recognises all the time, efforts and achievements of our school in the arts.
It was a lovely day and we were very proud. The children represented our school beautifully and the organisers commected that our school looked like great fun!
Miss Hancock took 2 children to Bath last Wednesday to receive our ArtsMark Gold award

This Thursday, 26th June at 6pm, Y5/6 will be putting on a performance of The Township Jive with our African partners.
Click on International Links: South Africa Sum 08 to read a piece from Coenie Vente which explains just a little of what it is all about - if you wish to come and watch, please fill in the slip from the 18th June newsletter (click here) and return it to the office - all donations gratefully received

The theme of our first Inventors’ Day seemed to be ‘how could we make life better?’.

Look forward to the day when these young inventors grow up and put their ideas into action – life is going to be good!

The whole school has been hard at work for the last few weeks trying to come up with an original idea – an invention that no one before has thought of. Each class agonised over choosing the best invention from their class; putting the most ingenious ideas forward to be judged by a panel of ‘experts’ and the rest of the school at the Inventors’ Day Assembly on Tuesday. There were some tough decisions and a lot of very close voting.

There were inventions to bring you food as you laze in bed, rockets to exercise your pet, vehicles that travel on land, sea and in water! There were working wings for humans, multi-purpose electronics and amazing teapots. But the inventors who knocked the socks off the panel – not to mention their fellow inventors and friends were:

KS1 – L designed and made, not only a prototype, but a working example of his invention – a set of plant pots that allow you to keep your plants away from the damage of nasty slugs and snails. He has obviously been thinking about growing healthy food for the future!

LKS2 – K impressed everyone with his huge prototype of a robotic dog that does your housework as you sit back with your feet up. The teachers loved that one!

UKS2 – E had her sights on a cleaner, greener world with a walking rubbish collector with specially designed claws and an internal crusher.

Congratulations to the winning inventors who have won tickets to take their families to Explore@Bristol. Huge praise is also deserved by the top inventors from each class and to everyone who entered the Inventors’ Day competition. Every teacher was impressed by the high level of thought and creativity exhibited by all of the entrants.

Welly and Crockery Amnesty

On the morning of Wednesday 4th June from 8:25 please could you bring in any old and unwanted wellies, which we can use for a Welly Wang! We would also like any crockery which we can SMASH UP for the Summer Fayre. Please bring them to the front reception where a member of Friends of Redoaks will be waiting. Many thanks

Reminder for Reception and key stage 1 children...
Don't forget to get your playground rules poster to Miss Sollars by Friday 23rd if you would like to take part in the competition! Please put your names on teh back and which class you are in.

9 May: Speed Bumps
Hopefully speed bumps will be installed at the entrance and in the car park this weekend (10/11 May). Please take great care when driving through the car park. The one way system will now be clearly marked so please make sure you adhere to the arrows. Many thanks.

'Red Oaks Primary is a good school. It is improving rapidly because of the inspirational leadership of the headteacher; many areas of the school's work are outstanding. One parent commented, 'What a great place. I almost wish I was six again!' This view was echoed by many others, who described the school as 'brilliant' or 'wonderful'.'

Red Oaks has met the requirements of the Standard for recognition as an Investor in People. A huge thank you to Miss Brittain for managing this process.
The examples of good practice are a credit to the whole staff and governor team.
Here are a few of the key highlights:

The report concludes that the examples of good practice shared are just a small list of many. The assessor also wrote, "Red Oaks is probably one of the finest Investor in People schools I have had the pleasure to assess in fifteen years."

Carrier bags are a real issue for the environment with over 150 million being used every week! With the new 'Go Green For Schools' Scheme ASDA are encouraging local communities to go green.
Every time you shop – without a plastic carrier bag – Red Oaks benefits!

Each time an ASDA customer uses an alternative to new carrier bags, they are given a voucher. The vouchers are collected and swapped by schools for environmentally linked prizes such as bird view remote cameras, solar panels, weather stations and grow beds.
But what are the alternatives to using new plastic carrier bags…..?

You could use: (click here for images)
- all those old plastic bags in the kitchen
- a long-life reusable plastic bag
- a sturdy fabric bag
- heavy-duty paper bags
- your hands, pockets or handbag – if you’re not buying too much
- a cardboard box
- a backpack or rucksack
- a pram
- a wheelie bag
- a wheelbarrow
- …….

Send your ‘Go Green for Schools’ vouchers to
- the office
- Miss Menzies
- a member of the Eco Action Group.

Red Oaks is due to release its first ever CD this term. It is going to be professionally recorded and will be on sale in the not too distant future. Watch this space!

Red Oaks are awarded the Intermediate International School Award for their global activities and work with South Africa and France in 2006-2007.

The British Council recognises that Red Oaks Primary School are developing Internationalism.

Eco Action Group have gained another prestigious award for Red Oaks – the much coveted Eco Schools Silver Award. The Group have been working really hard since September to evaluate how eco-friendly the school is and to make a detailed action plan to go greener. We now have a link governor and two recycling schemes on the go – ‘Recycool’ and ‘Go Green for Asda’ – more details coming soon. We have taken over the collection of the paper recycling bins and are saving Mick a job while ensuring that all classes (and the teachers!) are recycling sensibly. Click here for the Certificate

19 December
Mary and Joseph found Charlie's new seat very comfortable. Have you tried it yet?

10 December
Opening Tescos
On Friday 7th December Red Oaks pupils officially opened the new Tesco store in Redhouse Village. Goodie bags, buns and a £500 cheque were very gratefully received. A big thank you to Tesco. Mrs M recommends the jam doughnuts!

5 December
Wanted!
Are you a Male Nurse, Male Chef, fitness instructor or an artist? Can you help us enrich the Foundation Stage Curriculum? Could you give up an hour of your time in the week beginning 10th March to tell us all about your profession and inspire the children's play?
If you feel you could be the one for the job please contact Miss Sollars or Miss Harvey on 01793 707570.

A huge thank you to everyone who sent in an entry for the Eco Code competition.
The standard was very high and the Eco Action Group had a tough time trying to decide on the winners. In the end we chose 2 entries to merge into the final snappy Eco Code that everyone can try to remember by using the letters that make up Red Oaks. We also chose two joint second winners who submitted some fantastic work. Congratulations to the winners and well done to all the other entrants.
Click to see the winners and runners up and their entries

23 Nov:
Check out results of Parent Survey - November 2007 - click here
Thank you to all those parents who completed the survey. We had lots of fabulous feedback, but as Red Oaks strives for excellence and continual improvement, we will be working on the following 3 areas in the coming terms:

Providing you with more information about your child’s curriculum: in the Spring term we will be having an open morning for you to come and observe your child working in their classroom and also once a month we will have a short evening meeting about aspects of your child’s English and Numeracy Curriculum. For any parents unable to attend, there will be a copy of presentations on the website and paper copies will be provided for those without internet access. Dates to follow.
Making it easier to contact a school Governor: we are investigating options at the moment e.g. Governor notice board and/or postbox – watch this space!
Dealing with the ongoing issue of the car park: we are presently preparing a fifth advert for a lollipop person and again considering further options.

Check out Quelles Nouvelles? to see the Acrimboldo art work
from our partner school in France:
Acrimboldo created portraits from such things as
fresh fruit and vegetables.

Anti Bullying Competition
Can you design an anti bullying poster?
We are particularly focusing on Bullying on the Internet or mobile phones.

This competition is run by Swindon Police.
Fantastic prizes.
All entries to be handed to your teacher by Friday 30th November please.

15 Nov: Swindon Wildcats ice hockey team
The Swindon Wildcats ice hockey team came to see us this week to invite everyone (parents and children) to watch an ice hockey match on Saturday 24th November! Willie the mascot also came to say hello to all the children!
As a school we get great discount; adults are just £3.00 (usually £9.50) and children are £1.50 (usually £5.30.) All you have to do is fill in this form and return the bottom part to school and we will order the tickets for you! Make sure you take the remaining part of the form to the match where you can collect your tickets and pay.
This is a great way of raising some money for the school as the Wildcats give us the money raised from all the childrens tickets! You also get another half price voucher and cheaper entry for ice skating during the day!
See SwindonWildcats.com for more details

2 Nov: Lower Shaw Farm Family Days
Click on the image to find out all about these fun, discovery and learning days and
click here to see their website

27 Oct: Acrimboldo art
Check out Quelles Nouvelles? See the Acrimboldo art work from our partner school in France: Acrimboldo created portraits from such things as fresh fruit and vegetables.

COMPETITION: Can you design a face using fruit and vegetables - you can produce it in any way you like and we will then publish it on the website (you may choose to design it on the computer or make it and then take a photo..).
All finished designs to Mrs M by Friday 23 November!!

19 Oct
Competition time, and a little bit of homework
We need an Eco Code for Red Oaks!

A code is a set of rules and an Eco code is a set of rules we try to keep that would make the school and the world a more Eco-friendly place to live in. The whole school will learn the winning Eco Code off by heart so we can quickly remember the things we can do to help save the planet.
Try to keep your Eco code simple, short and catchy. It could be a poem or a list or even an acrostic poem, or…..

There will be a prize for the first, second and third entry and the winning Code will be the one that everyone in Red Oaks learns by heart. Could it be your code that makes it onto everyone’s lips? Make sure your Eco Code entry is handed to Miss Menzies before the first Friday back after half term – 2nd November.

8 Oct: Cricklade 10k
Miss Ellis, Miss Menzies and Miss Hancock felt very healthy this weekend when they completed the Cricklade 10K run! Miss Ellis ran the 6 miles in 55 mins while Miss Menzies and Miss Hancock did it in 70 mins. They are all very proud of themselves and their medals!
And we are all VERY PROUD of them too - WELL DONE

In response to the question 'what is the best feature of the school site?' the top comments were:
Celebrating Children area, online homework, site being up to date, feeling informed and involved, news, dates and newsletters, easy to use

25 Sept 07:
Breaking news: Miss Brittain and Miss Hancock have worked incredibly hard to gain the Basic Skills Award. This is a fabulous achievement after only one year of opening. Well done ladies!

Extra, extra, read all about it! Mrs Deeley presented us with a certificate to celebrate our School Travel Plan.

17 Sept: Short Gender Survey
All schools must have a Gender Equality Scheme in place. We have been asked to collect your views on whether you think we offer equal opportunities for different genders. Your answers will then help the governors to shape future policy.

6 Sept 07: COMPETITION
Mapping the Future of Great Brittain!
What do you think GB will look like in the year 2050?
Click here for more details and to download an entry form
This competition is being run by Ordnance Survey but
all entries to Mr Smart by Monday 24th September