Dear parents and carers,
Class Meetings
It was good to see many of you at these. A letter with all the information given at these meetings and an overview of the curriculum being delivered this term will be sent out in a separate letter later today.
Forest School
This starts next week for children in Years 4 and 6. You should have received a separate letter regarding this.
Bikeability
Well done to the Year 5 children who took part in the Bikeability course this week. They all successfully passed their course and were praised by the course leaders for the great listening and participation.
Colour Run and Welcome (Back) BBQ – 20 September 2026
The Friends of Dr South’s Welcome (Back) BBQ and first-ever Colour Run is rapidly approaching, and we hope to see lots of you there! A letter has been sent out with information about this fun family event, which is taking place on Sunday 20 September, including how to book tickets and order food.
As ever, we rely on parent volunteers to make events like this possible. Because of the nature of this event, we need lots of helpers to set up, marshal the Colour Run, cook and serve food and drinks, and clear up afterwards. If you are able to help with any of these roles, please let us know via the Class WhatsApp groups or by emailing drsouthsfriends@gmail.com. If you have any questions, please see Mel or Rebecca. Thank you.
We look forward to a colourful afternoon!
Oak Class Stone Age Workshop
On Monday, Oak Class will be having a Stone Age workshop at school to enhance their learning this term. Thank you to the Friends of Dr South’s whose financial support has enabled us to provide this workshop for the children – I am looking forward to hearing all about it next week.
Celebration Assembly
Today we congratulated Ewan and Hazel for completing the summer Reading Challenge.
We also congratulated Alex H for achieving his Level 2 swimming award and for being camper of the day twice during a summer tennis camp. We also enjoyed watching a performance of Reggie playing the piano to a large audience on his holiday in the summer.
Thank you for sharing your achievements with us.
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
This week we congratulated:
Willow Class: Ronnie, for great engagement with our sounds work this week; Rosie, for always being polite and respectful and welcoming a new child and showing them around;
Ash Class: Jack, for being a fabulous role model for other children and always trying his best in class activities; James, for an excellent start with this reading and for recording his work independently;
Oak Class: Matilda, for showing great concentration and working hard to write beautiful sentences in Literacy; Aran, for being kind and polite and for finding his place in Oak Class and Dr South’s so quickly;
Beech Class: Finley, for great focus in all of his lessons; Henry for a mature and proactive start to Year 6.
Our Christian value for the term is Courage. Ask your child about the story of The Monkey Bridge
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
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/