Dear parents/carers,
Residential Meeting.
There will be a residential meeting for Beech Class parents on Friday 25th September at 3.30pm in the hall. This will give all the details of this year’s residential to Kilvrough.
The Friends of Dr South’s Colour Run and Welcome (Back) BBQ – Sunday 20 September
Thank you to everyone who has booked tickets for Sunday’s Colour Run and BBQ. We are looking forward to a fun and colourful afternoon!
A few reminders ahead of the day. If you haven’t already returned your consent/safety declaration, it would be a huge help if you could bring it along with you on Sunday. Please don’t forget to bring glasses or goggles for your child(ren). If you have ordered a pair of glasses through ParentPay, these will be ready for collection on the day. Children will get messy during the Colour Run, so please make sure they wear clothes you don’t mind getting stained. Plain white T-shirts are ideal, as they help the colours show up really well. If you are coming by car, you may also want to bring a change of clothes or something to protect your car seats from colour transfer.
Please arrive around 10 minutes before your child(ren)’s class start time: Willow – 2.30pm; Ash – 2.45pm; Oak – 3.00pm; Beech – 3.15pm. We can’t wait to see you on Sunday!
The Friends of Dr South’s 100 Club
The Friends of Dr South’s are running the 100 Club again this year – and numbers are now on sale! The 100 Club is a simple fundraising lottery where supporters buy numbers for £15 each, which are entered into ten monthly draws from October to July. Each month, three cash prizes are awarded, with a top prize of up to £37.50 (depending on the number of tickets sold).
As well as giving you the chance to win, the 100 Club raises valuable funds for the school – up to £75 each month goes towards FODS-funded projects at school. We would be very grateful for your support by buying a number or two.
A letter with more information about the 100 Club has been sent out today, and numbers will be available to buy in the playground before school next week (Monday, Tuesday and Friday). Please speak to Mel Green or Rebecca Welsford, or email us at drsouthsfriends@gmail.com with any questions.
Oak Class Stone Age Workshop
On Monday, Oak Class enjoyed a Stone Age workshop where they completed soap knapping and handled a range of flint tools and looked at how people’s lives have changes over the years. Thank you to Mr Schjelde for organising this event which the children enjoyed enormously.
Save the date for FODS AGM – Tuesday 6th October at 8pm
We will be holding the Friends of Dr South’s (FODS) AGM in the Lin Cooper Building on Tuesday 6th October (arrival from 7.45pm for an 8pm start).
More information to follow nearer the time, but please save the date!
It would be lovely to see as many of you there as possible to, among other things, give your views on the planned calendar of events.
Family afternoon
This afternoon, we enjoyed a session where all the children were introduced to their school family. Each family has children from every year group and this system gives the children an opportunity to get know children in different year groups as well as the opportunity to nurture and inspire each other throughout the year. Today we enjoyed circle games, parachute games and all the children created a poster and agreed on a name for their family. We will run family afternoons throughout the year so that the children continue to build these links with their school family.
Road closure
We have been made aware that significant road closures will be in place in the village from the 20th September. Temporary traffic lights will be in place from the 20th – 25th September on Islip bridge and then from the 28th September until the 20th November the bridge will be closed with no vehicle access across the bridge and a diversion in place. This will cause an increased journey time for parents. For more details of the planned closures, please follow this link : Islip Bridge traffic signal installation and improvement work | Oxfordshire County Council
Oak Boy’s Football Match
Next Thursday, Oak boys will be attending a Kidlington Partnership football match at West Kidlington School where they will compete against other Kidlington schools. A letter with further details will be sent out on Monday.
Oak Class trip to Hill End
Parents in Oak Class will have received a letter with details of this trip to Hill End. Please ensure you have given your consent for this trip on ParentPay by next Friday.
Be Space
Next week, we will be visited by Be Space who work with churches and schools to create reflective spaces for children. In a practical sense, this involves transforming a physical space so students can creatively explore faith and spirituality from a broadly Christian perspective. These sessions will involve all the children on either Monday and Tuesday and will be held in the Lin Cooper Building.
This week we congratulated:
Willow Class: Grace, for great concentration on matching and sequencing games this week; Freya, for being kind and a great team player especially at tidy up time;
Ash Class: Laurie, for a positive attitude to all new learning and for always trying his best; Isla, for excellent development of her independent writing this week;
Oak Class: Thea, for showing excitement and wonder when making geodes in Science Club; Ferris, for showing great imagination when doing soap
knapping in the Stone Age workshop;
Beech Class: Gaby, for her incredible thoughtful contributions during lessons; Rosie-Ann, for amazing effort in writing sentences about David Attenborough.
Our Christian value for the term is Courage. Ask your child about the story of George and the dragon
Key Dates for the year
We have a church service most terms which all families are welcome to attend.
Our May Day celebrations are at the end of May and this is a whole day event for families to attend if they wish.
Sports Day is for the whole school and begins at 9am and last until approximately 1pm. Parents are welcome to watch and enjoy a picnic lunch with their child after the races if they are able to.
Term 1
20/9/2026 FODS welcome BBQ and Colour Run
25/9/2026 Beech Class Residential meeting 3.30pm in the hall
28/9/2026 Oak Class trip to Hill End
2/10/2026 Harvest Festival 2.15pm at St Nicholas Church
6/10/2026 FODS meeting
19/10/2026 Parents consultations 3.30 -6pm
22/10/2026 Parents consultations 3.30pm – 6pm
26/10/2026 Half term week
Term 2
2/11/2026 Inset day – School closed
3/11/2026 Start of term
4/12/2026 Christingle Service – 2.15pm at the church
10/12/2026 Willow nativity performance 9.15am at school
18/12/2026 Christmas carol service 2pm at St Nicholas Church
18/12/2025 End of Term 2
Term 3
4/01/2027 Start of term
12/2/2027 Soup lunch and talent show – Village Hall from 1.00pm
15/2/2027 Half term week
Term 4
22/2/2027 Start of term
4/3/2027 World Book Day
15/ 3/2027 Parents consultations
18/3/2027 Parents consultations
25/3/2027 Easter service at church 2pm at St Nicholas Church
Term 5
12/4/2027 Start of term
26/4/2027 Beech Class Residential
3/5/2027 May Day School closed
28/5/2027 May Day celebrations 9.30 – 3pm approx.
31/5/2027 Half Term week
Term 6
7/6/2027 Inset – School Closed
8/6/2027 Start of Term
17/6/2027 Sports Day
19/7/2027 Leavers’ Service 1.30pm at St Nicholas Church
19/7/2027 End of Term
20/7/2027 Inset – School Closed
21/7/2027 Inset – School Closed
Don’t forget – you can always check term dates at: https://dr-souths.co.uk/term-dates/