The Carswell

Times 29th March 2019

Disco Daze! The lights were flashing and the bass booming on Thursday as FOCS put on their annual Easter disco.

There was dancing and games for KS1 and KS2 danced the evening away to the sounds of modern pop,

disco classics and old favourites like ‘Gangnam style’ and Whip nae nae’. Both groups had sausages in

buns, drinks and fruit pots to keep their energy up. Scenes of excitement and joy soon erupted into spon-

taneous conga lines and there was even the rare sight of our (somewhat tired after all the late evenings

this week) teachers joining in!

KS1 disco photos!

KS2 disco photos!

Peacock botanists! Our year one Peacock class visited the Oxford Botanical gardens this week. They toured the gardens and

greenhouses, sketching and learning about plants which they made into the terrific art works you see be-

low. It’s great to see team work in action and this is a good example of how working together can pro-

duce something wonderful. I hope they had time to visit Lyra and Will’s bench (read His Dark Materials by

Philip Pullman if you want to know more!). We are very proud of how they behaved and thank you to the

Peacock staff for taking them!

My favourite football

moment

It was ten to three, I’d had my tea,

The match was about to start,

The team lined up nice and smart.

With the sound of the whistle ringing in ears,

The crowd began to cheer,

Passing and defending,

Flying down the wing,

The ball is in the box: will it go in?

GOAL!

The crowd went wild for a goal scored in style.

But then with a tug,

Dad pulled the plug

And FIFA was no more.

By Ethan Richards

My favourite football

Moment

Me in traffic,

On the way

To Vue cinema to see Lego movie 2.

Lots of people in seats,

Lots of people kicking the ball,

Cheering.

By Jack Graham

Poetry corner

Below are the two winners of our school poetry competition. The task was to write a poem about their favourite

footballing moment. The winners both received two tickets to see Oxford United vs Wycombe Wanderers at the

Kassam stadium this Saturday. Congratulations to both Jack and Ethan; they are terrific poems and enjoy the

match!

Cool pictures of the week!

Sakura in the playground Sakura is the Japanese name for cherry blossom.

Lexus in Monarch class brought her painting in to show us this week. It has bold brush strokes, vivid colours and is reminiscent

of the work of Howard Hodgkin. Thank you for showing us your lovely artwork Lexus!

COFFEE & CHAT

Our informal drop-in Coffee and Chat groups are a great way to meet other parents and carers. You don’t have to be an OASIS member to come along

and the groups are open to parents, carers, grandparents, school staff, any-one who might find benefit in chatting about their experiences or who would

like support.

All our groups are hosted by OASIS volunteers who offer a warm friendly wel-come, coffee and cake. Pre-school children and babies are more than wel-

come to attend with their parents.

Venue:-

Dalton Barracks Community Centre

Cholswell Rd

Shippon, Abingdon OX13 6HW

10.30-12.30am

Friday 1st February

Friday 1st March

Friday 5th April

http://oasisonline.org.uk/

Thank you to all the parents who filled in our survey, it was very positive and its great to have such clear

feedback for us to act upon. We have resent the link to it by Parentmail so if you haven’t already could

you please take five minutes to fill it in.

Below is a summary of some of your concerns and what we are doing about them. Once again, thank you!

You said: We did: Communications are sometimes contradictory

and can be at short notice.

We have made sure dates for the rest of the year are in the Carswell

Times. We also now check that information going out on different

platforms is the same and proof-read.

I would like Parentmail to contain a direct link to

the Carswell Times.

The link is now set up and the email that goes out on Friday will contain

a one-click link named ‘Carswell Times’

I’d like to know more about the ways my son is

learning day to day.

All the staff operate an open-door policy. If you need some information

about your child’s progress and where you can help you are welcome to

chat informally during pick up and drop off.

Homework is not challenging enough.

Homework is too challenging.

Our homework policy (see website– information-policies) is flexible to

allow for this. Parents are welcome to discuss homework with their

child’s class teacher if there are problems completing it.

Parental support is encouraged with learning times tables, counting

back and forward in steps, reading and sharing books, spelling and pro-

ject based or child-led interests. There also are many online support

apps and websites available.

We never get any feedback on suggestions! I hope this page has helped!

A selection of positive comments

‘Carswell is a brilliant, nurturing and caring school.’

‘My child loves going to school every day. I am very happy with the staff and the way they treat the pupils.’

‘Carswell is a wonderful nurturing school. Each child’s needs are taken into account.’

‘All of the staff at Carswell are excellent. I feel my child is really valued and cared for as an individual with unique

qualities. He is encouraged to challenge himself and is comfortable sharing any problems he has with staff. ‘

‘My son is a very happy learner. He loves school and is engaged, stretched and stimulated.’

‘Carswell is very well led and managed, with clear vision and open approach.’

‘The team at Carswell create an environment where each child feels important. They are encouraged to think about others and

are empowered to take part in the school community, and become responsible citizens of the world.’

Monday 7th January 2019—Term 3 starts

Friday 15th February 2019—Term 3 ends at 3:05pm

Monday 25th February 2019—Term 4 starts

Friday 5th April 2019—Term 4 ends at 1:15pm

Tuesday 23rd April 2019—Term 5 starts

Monday 6th May 2019—BANK HOLIDAY school closed

Friday 24th May 2019—Term 5 ends at 3:05pm

Monday 3rd June 2019—INSET school closed

Tuesday 4th June 2019—term 6 starts 8.45am

Wednesday 24th July—Term 6 ends at 1:15pm

Tuesday 4th September 2018—INSET: school closed

Wednesday 5th September 2018 INSET school closed

Thursday 6th September 2018—Term 1 starts at 8.45am

Friday 5th October 2018 —INSET school closed

Friday 19th October 2018—Term 1 ends at 3:05pm

Monday 29th October 2018—Term 2 starts at 8.45am

Thursday 20th December 2018—Term 2 ends at 1:15pm

Friday 21st December 2018—INSET school closed

Start of Term 4

Monday 25th February

Easter Disco Thursday 28th March 2019 Carswell School Hall

Tortoiseshell Science Magic Show

Monday 1st April 2019 at 2pm Main Hall

Gatekeeper Project Outcome Tuesday 2nd April 2019 at 2pm Gallery

Peacock Project Outcome Wednesday 3rd April 2019 at 2pm KS1 Library

Purple Emperor Project Out-come

Wednesday 3rd April 2019 at 2pm Gallery

Monarch Project Outcome Wednesday 3rd April 2019 at 2pm Dining Hall

Swallowtail Project Outcome Thursday 4th April 2019 at 2pm Gallery

End of term 4 Friday 5th April 1:15pm

Start of term 5 23rd April

FOCS Coffee Morning Friday 3rd May 2019 at 8.45 School Dining Hall

BANK HOLIDAY Monday 6th May 2019 SCHOOL CLOSED

SATS WEEK Monday 13th May 2019 – Friday 17th May 2019

School

Year 6 Breakfast Club for SATS Monday 13th - Friday 17th May at 8.15am School

Peacock Project Outcome Thursday 23rd May 2019 at 2pm Hall and sensory garden

KS1 Sports Day TBC Abingdon Boys Field

KS2 Sports Day Friday 24th May 2019 9am-1pm Tilsley Park

End of term 5 24th May 3:05pm

INSET DAY Monday 3rd June SCHOOL CLOSED

Start of term 6 Tuesday 4th June

FOCS Coffee Morning Friday 7th June 2019 at 8.45am School Dining Hall

Phonics Screening check week Monday 10th—Friday 14th June 2019 School

Peacock (Arts Awards) Friday 21st June 2019 at 2pm Gallery

SUMMER FAIR Saturday 22nd June 2019 at 11.30-2 Carswell School

CAMO DAY Friday 28th June 2019 School

FOCS Coffee Morning Friday 5th July at 8.45 Dining hall

Year 3 Ristorante Italiano Wednesday 10th July at 6pm Dining Hall

Monarch Project Outcome Friday 19th July at 2pm Gallery

Hill End Week Monday 15th July to Friday 19th July Year 1 - 6

Year 6 Matinee Performance Tuesday 23rd July at 1.30 – 2.30 School Hall

Year 6 Evening Performance Tuesday 23rd July at 6pm – 7pm School Hall

Year 6 Leavers Disco Tuesday 23rd July after performance School Hall

Leavers Service TBC Trinity Church

End of Term 6 Tues 24th July 1:15pm

INSET DAY 25th July SCHOOL CLOSED

Dear parents and carers,

What a busy week here at Carswell! Two days of learning reviews and the Easter disco plus Carswell’s Got Talent today has left us a little frazzled. It was however a good chance for parents to hear about all the challenges and successes their chil-dren have been through since the last learning review and to see the children challenging themselves to perform and dance!

The disco was a great success, I had a bit of a dance with the year sixes, they showed me the shuffle dance and I showed them how to dance like MC Ham-mer…

A huge thank you to FOCS who organised it all and put on the food and drink and to all the staff that gave their time to help supervise.

I’ve just come back from Carswell’s Got Talent and what a show! There was every-thing from acting to dancing, alternative comedy; tap dancing, playing piano and even a drum kit! Each contestant gave it their all and impressed us with their con-fidence and perseverance. Layla did a great job as compere and Emily and Livvy supported with the sound engineering. A big thanks to Mrs Auckland and the school council for the behind the scenes planning too!

In other news we have decided to expand our nursery provision. We currently of-fer half a day but as of September will be offering the full 30 hours a week, all day nursery with a qualified teacher. We are also explor-ing the possibility of breakfast and after –school club for our nursery-aged children. We’ll let you know more as soon as we know. In the meantime if you have any queries or would like your child to attend nursery please pop into the office.

Thanks for the parent survey replies– I’ve started a new page in here to address some issues you raised. The feedback was very useful and has given us lots of food for thought.

Well, that’s about it for me, hope everyone has a great weekend (the weather looks good) and I’ll see you on Monday (at 7.30 if you’re a parent of a year 6!)

Best wishes,

Mr Crandon Art work by Lily S and Evie V