A warm welcome to Pixies’ 50 th Anniversary

1. ISSUE 12|September 2013 A warm welcome to Pixies’ 50th Anniversary Upcoming events Tues 1st OctoberSchool partially open due to strikes Fri 4th October | 6pmFOPHS Catwalk Company Mon 7th October | 3.30-4pmOpen Classrooms Tues 15th October | 3.30-6pmParent Consultation Evening Wed 16th October | 5-8pmParent Consultation Evening Thurs 17th OctoberY4 Class Assembly Fri 18th OctoberHarvest Festival Fri 25th OctoberNon-Uniform Day End of Half Term Value of the month Our value of the month is Unity. We thought this to be a very apt value as we all gather together in new classes with new teachers. We have taught this value through showing children that answering a quiz and using your hand without a thumb to write can be a difficult experience in isolation. Through exploring a range of different types of brushes, the children saw that they and we come in different shapes, sizes, skills but can be unified in purpose. Martin Smith, Headteacher Help us celebrate our 50th year We will be celebrating over the course of the year with various events. We hope to have a new website live after half-term, Stu McLellan, local artist, will be returning this academic year to do some new projects and we will be planning a bigger celebration day in the Summer term. If you have any good ideas to help us celebrate, please voice them. We will be asking the school council, governors and staff for their ideas in due course. Breakfast club A short note to say we haven’t forgotten about exploring Breakfast Club! The start of term has been extremely busy, although I will be approaching neighbouring schools with a proposal shortly and we will explore the viability of this project. If your child is in reception and you would be interested in a breakfast club, please could I ask you to give your child’s name and specific days of interest to the admin staff. Balloons | Courtesy of Aimee Hammond Secondary school admissions If your child is in Year 6, please don’t forget that the secondary admissions deadline is on 31st October. Details of applications and other useful related documents can be found at www.hertsdirect.org/admissions. Mrs Axford and I are on standby if any parents have questions, queries or help requests related to this. If you are applying for a place outside the local authority, you will need to access this information from the relevant authority. Again, please don’t hesitate to ask if you require any assistance. Fundraising This term, we will be supporting Michael Sobell House Hospice. Contributions from the school magazine will go to this hospice who support patients and families with life threatening illnesses.

2. Stars ofthe week Congratulations Simon! Space on the newsletter usually comes at a premium but in Simon Belson’s case, it’s space well used! He writes… Well everyone, I have done it. After months of intense training, including getting up for 6:45 lake swims on Saturday mornings!!! and countless hours running and biking up hill and down dale, I successfully completed the Dorney Lake Olympic Triathlon on Sunday 15th September, with no injuries or disqualifications. After my “Taxi” arrived late, and having to walk just over a mile from the car park to the registration tent lugging bike and equipment, Igot to the transition area with just about 20 mins to spare, Week of 13/09/13 Reception: Whole Class Year 1: Zac Broadbent Year 2: Harry Wright Year 3: Bobby Wright Year 4: Niamh Bates Year 5: Tristan Flury Year 6: Max Mistretta Week of 20/09/13 Reception: Liam Flury Year 1: Hayden Marsh Year 2: Chloe Harvey Year 3: Elliot Su Year 4: Lillie Hammond Year 5: Kyle Welfare Year 6: Oakley Marchant Week of 27/09/13 Reception: Grace Maddison Year 1: Lila Rance Year 2: Sophie Brand Year 3: Ryan Pearce Year 4: Matthew Morgan Year 5: Millie Kelly Year 6: Zofia Lamburn meaning I had a lot of frantic rushing about to affix my race number to my race belt, bike and swim hat, and organise the kit box. So the event started and off we all went, my swim went well, in fact I set a new personal best for the distance, I exited the lake towards transition number 1 and immediately felt dizziness like a 4 year old experiences getting off the tea-pot ride at Southend!!! As for the transitions, well let’s just say that I don’t think McLaren’s pit crew need worrying about me challenging them for a record pit stop time!!! The bike leg went well until about lap 6 of the 8, and then it started to get very windy and rainy and I really had to push to get around the last 2 laps, I finished the bike, got back to the transition area and got ready for the final stretch which was the run, the end was in sight (well 6 miles away!!!!), no retreat, no surrender, I knuckled down, and managed to keep my running pace all the way to the finish line, even though, the last lap of the circuit was only achieved through shear will power and determination. I crossed the line in a total time of 3 hours and 36 minutes. I had done it, my first Triathlon and at Olympic distance too, I was very pleased with myself, and now at time of writing this, I am already looking forward to next year for my next “Tri.” I have the bug, and will certainly be doing more of them. I had some amazing support throughout the day from my family, who despite standing around in the wind and rain for 4 hours, cheered me on, every step/stroke/cadence of the way. The weather could have been better, however the frequent strong winds and rain, wasn’t enough to dampen my spirits. For those interested, my split times are as follows: Well done to everyone! SWIM: 35:13 T1: 7:36 BIKE: 1:49:06 T2: 3:38 RUN: 1:00:43 A huge thanks to all that have sponsored me, and remember, there is still time to sponsor, so please grab a form and help raise money for the school.