It has been another busy and positive week across school, with pupils continuing to settle confidently into their routines and making the most of their learning and the opportunities available to them.

It has also been lovely to welcome prospective families into school this week as they begin to consider their Reception places for September 2027. We have really enjoyed showing families around our school, sharing our values and giving them a glimpse of what makes Launton such a special place to learn. We are looking forward to welcoming more families for our planned school walkarounds over the coming weeks.

This week’s news is from Mrs Khan and Year 5

This term Beech Class is learning about Forces in Science.

This week we were specifically focussing on Air Resistance.

Sophie, Molly, Elizabeth, Darcey and Clara said:

“We made three different sizes of parachutes. We used plastic, string, blue tac and stop watches. We were asked to drop the parachutes from the same height for each recording. We timed how long it took different size parachutes to reach the ground. We had to be really fair and precise otherwise our values would not be accurate. After performing the experiment, we compared our results with the other groups in our class. We learnt how to work in teams effectively and to be a great team member.  We had lots of fun!!! “

Pot of Gold-Supporting Sobel House Hospice

We are delighted to be taking part in Pot of Gold Day in support of Sobell House Hospice, a local charity that provides care and support to families facing difficult times. On Friday 16^th October, children will have the option to come to school in appropriate non-school uniform and are invited to bring in a £1 donation to support this important cause. As well as raising money for a wonderful local charity, the day provides a valuable opportunity for our children to learn more about kindness, compassion and community, and to understand the importance of supporting local families when they need it most. We hope that our school community will enjoy coming together to make a small but meaningful difference.

Footsteps – Helping Children Stay Safe on the Road

Oxfordshire County Council offers Footsteps, a free road safety programme designed to help parents and carers support their primary-aged children to travel safely and develop greater independence.

The programme encourages adults to involve children in making decisions about road safety during everyday journeys, helping them to develop the awareness, confidence and skills they will need as they grow older.

Footsteps can be used as part of everyday activities, such as walking to and from school, and requires no special equipment or training.

If you would like to find out more about how you can help your child develop their road safety awareness, please look at the parent guide.

Footsteps Parent Guide:

https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/sites/default/files/file/fire-and-rescue/Footsteps-Parents-guide.pdf

Sharing Contact Details

Just a little reminder about sharing contact details and other personal information. To protect everyone’s privacy, the school follows strict rules and guidance and will not share parents’ or carers’ personal telephone numbers or other details with other families. This is part of our approach to ensuring that personal information is handled appropriately and consistently. Thank you for your understanding.

A huge well done to all our classes for the improvement in attendance this week. A special congratulations to Oak Class and Rowan Class for achieving an amazing attendance of over 98% this week. 

Allergies - Nut Free School

We are still getting items in lunchboxes which contain nuts, we are a nut free school and have children in school with serious allergies please do not send your child in with items containing nuts, this includes chocolate spread, peanut butter and products containing a chocolate filling like Nutella or chocolate bars containing nuts. 

Reminder to Parents - Please ensure that packed lunches contain food which is cut appropriately we have seen an increase in grapes, cherry tomatoes, olives in lunch boxes which have not been cut which causes a choking hazard. Please follow this link for some information regarding the risk of choking and how to reduce the risk.

Secondary School Open Evenings

Wednesday 7th October: Whitelands Academy 

Thursday 8th October: The Bicester School

Saturday 10th October: Headington School

For more information about the Open Evenings please see the specific schools website.

Your PTA trustees are:

Lucy Crawford (Yr 4)

Emma Austin (Yr 3 and 5)

Catherine Ravensward (Yr1 and Yr5)

Jill Bali (Yr 3 and 5)

Charlotte Noakes (Yr2 and 5)