Dear parents and carers,
Welcome back
We hope you had an enjoyable break, and that you and the children are ready for the term ahead. We are delighted to welcome our two new members of staff, Mrs. Sale and Ms. Welsford and all the new children who have joined us this term. We have a busy year planned and all confirmed dates for the year are on this newsletter and new dates will be added as we go through for the year.
Thank you from the staff
All the staff would like to say a big thank you for the gifts we received at the end of the summer term; they were all much appreciated.
Class meetings
At the start of term, each class teacher will hold a meeting with parents to set out routines and expectations. These meetings are as follows:
Monday 7th September at 2.45pm – Willow Class
Tuesday 8th September at 3.00pm – Beech Class
Wednesday 9th September at 3.00pm – Oak Class
Thursday 10th September at 3pm – Ash Class
If you are unable to attend these meetings, all information will be sent home in a letter.
FODs Welcome (Back) BBQ and Colour Run
The Friends of Dr South’s would like to invite you to a Welcome (Back) BBQ on Saturday 20th September from 2pm -6pm at the Village Hall. This year we will also be hosting a children’s colour run on the field at the same time (More information about this to follow next week). Please pre-order your food for the BBQ and your child’s entry to the Colour Run – this will be available to do on ParentPay from next week onwards. We look forward to seeing you there!
Uniform Sale – Friday 11th September
The Friends of Dr South’s will be running our first uniform sale on Friday 11th September from 3pm onwards in the school playground. Come along and grab a bargain! If anyone needs uniform urgently before 11th September please email us at drsouthsfriends@gmail.com and we will do our best to help you.
Swimming
Swimming will start for Beech Class this Friday – a letter will come out shortly.
Forest School
This does NOT start next week. Families of children in Years 6 and 4 will receive letters next week alerting them to the start date which will be the following week.
Clubs
After school clubs begin next week and there are some spaces available for selected clubs if you have not yet signed up. The clubs booking form can be found on the website. Please complete and email to the school office if you wish to book a club. We have a range of lunch time clubs and there is still time to sign up for these.
Cookery
This starts next week for children in Ash Class. We ask for a contribution of £5 per child for the term for all children from Year 1 upwards; this will be available for payment on ParentPay next week.
Music lessons
Music lessons will begin next week for Oak Class. Year 3 will have a guitar lesson on a Wednesday afternoon and Year 4 will have a clarinet lesson on Friday afternoons. Children will be issued with their new instruments in their first lesson and then they will bring these home to practise their new skills.
Celebration Assembly
Today we congratulated Grace, Theo, Eva, Charlie, Benji, Max C and Amelie who completed the summer reading challenge from the Kidlington library and shared their certificates and medals with us today.
We also congratulated Edison who had received a medal for being driver of the day at his recent karting event and Amelie for swimming 260m and achieving her Green Swimby.
Thank you for sharing your achievements with us.
Bikeability
Year 5 will be completing their Bikeability course on Monday and Tuesday next week, so will need to bring their bikes into school on Monday morning please and leave them against the fence next to the play area ready for their course.
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: Harper, for excellent counting to 5; Iru, for settling in so well in all routines and in clubs;
Ash Class: All of Year One, for leaving the classroom with a smile after their first day; Antonina, for being a wonderful role model for her classmates and for helping and supporting with kindness;
Oak Class: Raphael, for showing an excellent attitude to adjusting to a new classroom; Alexander, for showing a kind and nurturing nature when welcoming and supporting a new classmate;
Beech Class: Lucas, for a fabulous positive attitude to the start of the year; Neil, for settling back into school routines so well.
Our Christian value for the term is Courage. This week we have been thinking about how having courage will help us try new things in the coming year.
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
7/9/2026 Bikeability Year 5
7/9/2026 Willow Class Meeting 2.4pm
8/9/2026 Beech Class Meeting 3pm
9/9/2026 Oak Class Meeting 3pm
10/9/2026 Ash Class Meeting 3pm
20/9/2026 FODS welcome BBQ and Colour Run
2/10/2026 Harvest Festival 2.15pm at St Nicholas Church
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/