Weekly Winners

Housepoints:
Red – Faringdon 39

Blue – Chatteris 58

Yellow – Dulverton 52

Green – Cricklade 53

Orange – Dudley 30

Congratulations to Dulverton (Yellow) who have managed to win the House Point trophy this week!

 E for Excellence Winners:These wonderful children have demonstrated excellence this week. Congratulations to this weeks E for Excellence winners… well done!

 Sara Lopes – Mulberry

Georgia Brooks – Cedar

Lily Jones – Pine

Joshua Turner – Aspen

William Edwards – Ash

Joe Faust – Birch

Teddy Pilcher – Rowan

Libby Northwood – Fern

Jack Ibbunson – Maple

Mark Trew – Elm

Olivia Gilheney – Willow

MDA Award:The following children have been recognized for their behaviour, politeness and willingness to help at lunchtimes:
Key Stage 1
Deborah Mushonga

Key Stage 2
James Burnett

Fact Hunters

This week we have had a tremendous number of interesting facts being shared by the children. Congratulations to the following children who have amazed us with their ability to hunt out interesting snippets of information:
Adam Trower Did you know that sharks get through up to 30,000 teeth during their lifetime? Amazingly this is 937 times more than a human uses!

Chloe Trew Amazingly dolphins are able to be trained so that they can find underwater mines – which would damage a ship!

Joe Faust
Incredibly pineapples can be quite dangerous! If you eat them before they ripen, pineapples can cause throat irritation and act as a laxative.

Prince Onwuebuzie Did you know that one ostrich egg is large enough to feed up to 12 people?

Amazing Facts: London Underground

Amazingly the London Underground celebrated its 150th anniversary this week. At Broadford we have been hungrily devouring interesting facts every week in our quest for new knowledge. Consequently we thought it would be good to find out some facts about our underground system. How many of these did you already know?

1. There is only one Tube station which does not have any letters of the word 'mackerel' in it: St John's Wood. 
2. The average speed on the Underground is 20.5 miles per hour including station stops. 
3. During the three-hour morning peak, the busiest Tube station is Waterloo, with around 57,000 people entering. 
4. On the Metropolitan line, trains can reach over 60mph.
5. The shortest distance between two adjacent stations on the underground network is only 260 metres. The tube journey between Leicester Square and Covent Garden on the Piccadilly Line takes only about 20 seconds, but costs £4.30. Yet it still remains the most popular journey with tourists.
6. Many tube stations were used as air-raid shelters during the Second World War, but the Central Line was even converted into a fighter aircraft factory that stretched for over two miles, with its own railway system. Its existence remained an official secret until the 1980s. 
7. Angel has the Underground's longest escalator at 60m/197ft, with a vertical rise of 27.5m.
8. The shortest escalator is Stratford, with a vertical rise of 4.1m.
9. Only 45 per cent of the Underground is actually in tunnels.
10. The longest distance between stations is on the Metropolitan line from Chesham to Chalfont & Latimer: a total of only 3.89 miles. 
11. The longest continuous tunnel is on the Northern line and runs from East Finchley to Morden (via Bank), a total of 17.3 miles. 
12. Aldgate Station, on the Circle and Metropolitan Lines, is built on a massive plague pit, where more than 1,000 bodies are buried. 
13. The longest journey without change is on the Central line from West Ruislip to Epping, and is a total of 34.1 miles. 
14. The deepest station is Hampstead on the Northern line, which runs down to 58.5 metres. 
15. In Central London the deepest station below street level is also the Northern line. It is the DLR concourse at Bank, which is 41.4 metres below.

Prostar Jackets Available

Price of school jackets:
Many of you have seen the jackets worn by the staff on the gate in the morning and wanted to know if they are available for the children to buy. I have contacted ProKitUK, who we use as the supplier. The prices for the jackets are below and include the badge and initials being printed for you. I wouldn’t want there to be confusion about who a jacket belongs to! Mrs Clements will have an example of the sizes in from next week for you to try. We can then order them for you with a wait of around 5 working days.

These jackets are not compulsory school uniform. They are available if you want to purchase

Padded Vortex Jacket - £30.50

Lightweight Hurricane Jacket - £21.50

 

Wooly Hat - £11

Spring & Summer Term Dates

Many parents have been asking for a reminder of the term dates so that holidays can be planned. Certainly with a cold snap predicted, it is a good time to be thinking of warmer climes:
Spring 1st half term
First day – Monday 7th January
Last day – Thursday 14th February

Spring 2nd half term
First day Monday 25th February
Last day – Thursday 28th March

Summer 1st half term
First day – Tuesday 16th April
Last day – Friday 24th May

Summer 2nd half term
First day – Monday 3rd June
Last day – Tuesday 23rd July

Happy New Year!

I would like to extend a warm welcome back after the Christmas break. It was great to see all the pupils coming into school this week. The building is a very empty and cold place without them. We were also excited to get started again as this term promises to be another one full of developments and progress. Joining us are several new families. Broadford is now established as the school of choice and we are very near full capacity – which is excellent news. All the new arrivals seem to have settled in well and we are very pleased to have them join our extended family.

The builders were in during the holiday to carry on with the outdoor learning area for Reception and Nursery. Part of that involved moving around 500 tonnes of earth to make the surface more usuable. Since the start of this week they have managed to lay the hardcore foundations and get the fencing posts installed. The area has been marked up ready for the trike track to be laid and the slides have been ordered for the tree house and embankment. Unsurprisingly the children have been rather excited by these developments.

I am delighted to welcome some new staff members as well. Mr David Reynolds and Mrs Kirsti Preston have joined us this week as teaching assistants in Key Stage 2. We are committed to ensuring that all children get support so that they can make accelerated progress. In addition we have two new teachers. Mr Matt Gregory started this week in Years 5&6. He will be joined on Monday by Miss Hayley Howson who will become the Maple class teacher until the end of the year. Unfortunately we still do not have a definite return date for Miss Rutherford. The children on Maple class need to know who their teacher is and I am very pleased that Miss Howson has agreed to stay with us for the rest of the year. Finally we have a new Bursar – Mrs Gaynor Griffin Stenning. Although she was able to do a handover before Christmas, she was not officially in post until January. These new additions to the team will help to ensure that we have the best pupils, best staff, best facilities and best parents on the Hill!

Fundraising Event - Sponsored Get Fit After Christmas

Fundraising for Outdoor Equipment:
During the parents meeting, we reported back to you that the school has been required to make a substantial contribution of £72,000 towards the Nursery build. However, we will still need additional funding in order to finish off work to the outdoor play areas. For the rest of the year, any fundraising that is done will focus on getting monies that will support the further enrichment of the outdoor environment for all pupils.

Tonight we have our first Sponsored Aerobics Session. If your child is in Reception or KS1 then pick up your child at 3.15pm and join our aerobics session led by our qualified instructor Mrs Light. Not only will you be able to raise money for the school, but you will be able to burn off those Christmas calories.

If you have children in KS2 and KS1 then come to the event on Thursday night so that all of you can do the event together.

Pupils must be accompanied by an adult in order to take part. You can get sponsored for every 5mins that you manage to complete without a break, or just get a donation from friends and relatives for taking part.

We look forward to seeing you there!