Farewell Mrs. Burr

Submitted by admin on Fri, 16/07/2010 - 12:26

At the end of another busy and successful school year, we would like to wish Mrs. Burr lots of luck in her well-deserved retirement.

Mrs. Burr’s time as headteacher at Northbourne has seen the school become increasingly effective, and she leaves us in an extremely strong position as we continue with our ambition to move from good to outstanding. She has recently completed a move to the seaside, and we are sure she will enjoy waking up to the sound of the sea each morning… and we hope she will pop back and see us from time-to-time. Good luck Mrs. Burr – we are so grateful for your hard work, and will all miss you.

Northbourne School: Academy Status

Submitted by admin on Tue, 06/07/2010 - 04:45

Dear Parents,

The new government is inviting all schools in England to apply for Academy Status. This is designed to give schools freedom from Local Authority control.

At last week’s Governors’ meeting the issue was discussed and it was unanimously decided not to seek Academy Status at the moment but to review the situation in the future.

Parent Governors

Submitted by Jon Driscoll on Wed, 09/06/2010 - 13:57

Dear Parents,

It is likely we will soon have an election for a position of parent governor at Northbourne School.

This would be for someone to start from September this year and so would be open to any parent with a child currently in Year 5 or below. However, a governor’s term of office runs for four years so I would ask you to bear that in mind when deciding whether to stand.

Leading Aspect Award

Submitted by admin on Fri, 14/05/2010 - 13:03

Northbourne has become only the third school in Oxfordshire to gain a Leading Aspect Award. The award recognises our hard work in developing motivated and enthusiastic learners in the Early Years, and we were thrilled when this was awarded this week.

Northbourne School Head Teacher

Submitted by admin on Thu, 01/04/2010 - 12:11

Dear Parents,

The Board of Governors of Northbourne School is delighted to announce that Mr Paul Shaughnessy has accepted the role of Head Teacher, starting from September 2010.

Mr Shaughnessy was an outstanding candidate and was appointed unanimously by the Governors last night.

As Deputy Head and then as Co Head, he has been instrumental in the outstanding development of the school in recent years. We are all confident Northbourne will continue to move from strength to strength under Mr Shaughnessy’s leadership.

Children's Author Mini Grey Visits School

Submitted by admin on Wed, 24/03/2010 - 15:52
The author and illustrator Mini Grey spent the day with us talking about her work. Mini has written a range of beautifully-illustrated books, including Biscuit Bear, the Traction Man series and The Pea and the Princess.
To celebrate Mini’s visit and Book Week 2010, we repeated last year’s successful book character day where everyone was encouraged to come to school dressed as favourite book characters. Well done to all pupils (and staff!) for their imaginative costumes.

Mayor Opens Refurbished Library

Submitted by admin on Mon, 15/03/2010 - 15:38

The Mayor of Didcot, Margaret Turner, visited Northbourne School on Monday 15th March to open the newly refurbished library.
She spent the morning in school listening to children read and was sung the Northbourne Song by all of the pupils in assembly.

Railway Museum

Submitted by admin on Thu, 04/02/2010 - 22:22

Kites and Eagles went back in time for the day at Didcot Railway Museum. All the children dressed as evacuees and took part in a mock evaucation, They got to tavel on a real steam train (including sitting in first class!) and met mock foster parents at a station. We all enjoyed our time at the museum, which also included a visit to a real 1940's air raid shelter. Miss Murphy and Mrs Holdcroft would like to thank all the parents for their hard work, putting together some amazing evaucee outfits!

Mini Basketball at Willowbrook Leisure Centre

Submitted by admin on Thu, 14/01/2010 - 12:38

Basketball is the UK’s fastest growing sport, and now children in Didcot will have the chance to take it up. It’s a great way for them to keep fit and have fun.

At these sessions, children will practice basic ball skills and ball games, and begin to learn the rules of basketball. The sessions are taken by a specialist Level 2 Basketball coach, Serguei Terekhov, who has coached several prominent local basketball teams including Abingdon Eagles and Reading Rockets.

Boys and girls aged 6-8: 1 session per week, Monday 5.00 – 5.45 pm, price per term £25.00.

Snow

Submitted by admin on Mon, 11/01/2010 - 12:49

We would like to say thank you to everyone for your patience during the bad weather. Whilst we try our hardest to keep the school open and running as normal at all times, our first priority has to be the safety of children using the site and staff on their journeys to school.

When weather conditions cause problems, the decision about whether to close is made as soon as possible. Information on closure or any changes to hours is shown in a number of places:

* The school website front page (address above);