3 Apr 2009 - Newsletter 3rd April 2009

We are looking forward to welcoming Grandparents to the school on the last morning of term, Friday 3rd April at 9 am.

Thank you to the children who have applied to be part of the Oaktree Bike Team. We will be organising trials during the Summer Term to decide on the final team and substitutes.

We will be starting a Walking Bus from St John's Lye during the summer term. We have 12 families interested in joining the Walking Bus from St John's Lye. We received one or two other slips showing interest in other areas. We will contact the people wishing to start from other areas after the holiday to discuss options.

We will be in touch with all of the people interested in the Walking Bus from St John's Lye to complete the relevant paperwork. Hopefully we will start before the end of April.

On Monday this week a reporter from the News and Mail spoke to me because a number of local residents complained about the parking around the school at the last Police Forum Meeting.

It was great to hear so many children talking about what they did during candlelight on Saturday. I am still wondering how the child managed who told me that he took the candle in the shower.

It was impressive that 3,943 cities and towns in more than 88 countries took part in WWF's Earth Hour 2009. Seventy national capitals participated, including nine of the 10 most populated metropolises on the planet. Global landmarks switching off included the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Empire State Building, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Birdcage Stadium in China, the Acropolis in Greece, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Colosseum in Rome.

In the UK we were one of over 1400 schools who took part. 100 Local Authorities and 700 businesses signed up, and cities and towns all over the UK turned out lights and held special events. Landmarks that 'switched off included Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, Nelson's Column, the National Gallery and Wembley Stadium Arch in London; the Senedd and Millennium Stadium in Cardiff; the entire Quayside in Newcastle; Stormont, City Hall and the Wheel in Belfast, the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol and Edinburgh Castle.

On Monday this week a reporter from the News and Mail spoke to me because a number of local residents complained about the parking around the school at the last Police Forum Meeting.

We will be starting the Bike Club again after the holiday, so make sure that during the holiday all those bikes and scooters get a good clean and are in good working condition.

So what is Bike Club? The children become members of the club and receive a Bike Club tabard, membership card and Bike Bonus Card . They ride a bike or scooter to school. They will attend meetings to discuss safety and there will be an opportunity to undertake some very basic safe riding skills training. Every day the children ride to school they receive a stamp on their Bonus Card. At the end of the term we have a prize draw for children who have travelled to school for 80% of the available time.