From the desk of the Chairman:
- We are all still reeling from the sudden loss of Bernd-Christian Lickfett, the Secondary German and Latin teacher who passed away on the 16th of June in a traffic accident on the A415. The school has been respectful, dignified and efficient in its communications and dealings with this tragedy, culminating in a very moving Memorial Service on Wednesday the 23rd of June and the planting of an acacia tree in the garden behind the staff room. It has been a very sad way to end this year.
- CESPA has redoubled its efforts and will work in tandem with the school management to ask for safety measures on the road outside our school. A letter has already gone out to Oxfordshire County Council outlining the problems and possible solutions. The next step will be a petition that all of us will be asked to sign.
- The Summer Fete was cancelled as a sign of respect and will now be organised on the 18th of September. We realise and regret that this is also the date of the important Jewish festival of Yom Kippur. Unfortunately this clash is unavoidable for reasons of practical organisation.
- The transformation process into an Academy is still on schedule and on track. During a meeting last Friday we were able to ask some pertinent questions to CLASS, Mouchel and our Head Teacher. Minutes of the meeting will be distributed shortly. The future of non-vehicular languages (all languages except for English, German and French) in the Academy is still unclear. And unfortunately the teaching in these same languages is now being eroded, whilst we still are a Type 1 school, due to financial austerity measures imposed on all European Schools by the European Commission. As a result Danish in Primary is threatened with closure from 2011, there will be no Dutch L1 in Nursery and Primary 1 next year and other classes are under close scrutiny as well. We all know that this reduction in mother tongue tuition will deeply affect the ethos of our school, which is not just about being multilingual, but being multicultural. To me, it is clear that this is where the main changes or compromises will happen in the Academy. From what we understand at the moment, non-vehicular languages will be offered as additional subjects in the Academy. We as CESPA are very concerned about this development and are trying to find ways in which to ensure L1 teaching in languages other than English, German and French as part of the core curriculum. The teaching of the mother tongue is a fundamental principle of the European Schooling and European Baccalaureate educational system. Watch this space for more information.
- However, the very good news is that the Academy will continue to offer the European Schools’ European Baccalaureate curriculum, as it has been established that the EB curriculum fulfils the essential requirements of the English National Curriculum.
- Congratulations to Ken and his team in the kitchen on earning the ‘4 star’ Food Hygiene Award under the Oxfordshire County Council scheme ‘Socres on the Doors’. This is a huge improvement on last year’s ‘2 star’ rating.
- Our school won 1st prize with the project ‘Drugs just say NO’, called ‘an excellent combination between ICT and biology involving several pupils and teachers’. Congratulations!
- Good luck to all the S7 pupils who will be doing their Bac orals this week.
- A fond farewell to all the families, teachers and staff who are leaving our school.
- Whilst on your travels over the coming months, please pick up one or maybe two nice items for the auction during the Carnival celebration in March next year – remember the beautiful Venetian masks?
- Have a wonderful summer! It’s already beautiful and sunny out there. See you again on the 7th of September, rested and ready for what is undoubtedly going to be a very interesting year!
Bus route 32
Information about bus route 32 (Abingdon, Didcot, and Wantage to Culham)
please follow link below to access file local bus route 32
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