St Francis would like to extend a huge thank you to our wonderful PTA for organising a superb Summer Fete for our school community yesterday afternoon . With the sun shining, families came together to enjoy the incredible array of activities and stalls. From traditional favourites such as the coconut shy, hook-a-duck, and hoopla, to the ever-popular bouncy slide, there was something for everyone to enjoy. The children especially loved the chance to soak a teacher and take part in a penalty shoot-out against another ! To top it all off, there was a fantastic selection of delicious food, including refreshing watermelon, mouthwatering noodles, homemade spring rolls, and cones of chips. What a wonderful celebration and yet another opportunity to bring our school community together

Our Year 6 children enjoyed their recent visit to Christchurch Cathedral for their Leavers' Service. It was a special opportunity to reflect on their time at St Francis, celebrate their achievements, and look ahead to the next chapter in their learning journey. The children enjoyed meeting the Bishop after the service, and were treated to an ice cream from George and Delilah's on the way home! We are so proud of our Year 6 pupils and all they have accomplished during their time at St Francis

Welcome to our brand new website!

This week, our Year 5 pupils enjoyed a fantastic cookery workshop led by volunteers from Sofea's Nourish & Flourish School Programme. The children learned how to make the most of surplus food while developing their cooking skills. They worked together in small groups to create a delicious curry and were excited to take their finished dishes home to enjoy with their families.

We are proud to introduce Park & Stride at St Francis CE Primary School, encouraging families to swap school gate drop off for a short walk instead! We are encouraging families to park at Costa Coffee at The Range retail park and walk the final 10 minutes to school. Benefits of this initiate: Supporting your child's WOW Travel Tracker journey A healthier start to the day Less congestion outside the schohol gates. Even taking part once a week can help make a real difference so we hope many of families will get involved! #ParkAndStride #WOWTravelTracker #ActiveTravel #StFrancisCEPrimarySchool #LivingLifeToTheFullest #HealthyJourneys #Sustainability

Children from Year 4 to Year 6 took part in an inter-school swimming competition yesterday at Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre. They represented the school with great enthusiasm, determination and effort throughout the event. A special mention goes to Esme, who won all of her heats and went on to take first place in both the girls' front crawl and backstroke finals – an outstanding achievement! Congratulations to Esme and to all of our swimmers for their fantastic performances. We are very proud of you all!

Last Friday, our St Francis family joined together to celebrate the opening of our new Prayer Garden, dedicated to the memory of Lisa Sawyer - a much-loved friend, mother, and valued member of our school community who gave so much to St Francis. The Prayer Garden has been created as a calm and contemplative space where children and adults alike can walk, pause, pray, and reflect. Whilst rooted in ancient spirituality and Christian symbolism, the garden is accessible to all. To mark this special occasion, our choir performed a selection of beautiful hymns, followed by a reading from our Co-Headteacher. The garden was then officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by Lisa's daughter, Elsie. We were delighted that so many of you were able to join us for this special occasion - thank you! It was also the perfect opportunity for us to showcase our brand new coffee shack, where parents and children could enjoy a cup of coffee and a biscuit together before the ceremony.

As our Year 3 and 4 children prepare to head home from Youlbury later today, the staff have shared more photos of the fabulous outdoor activities they've been enjoying. It has been an incredible adventure, and we are sure they will return home exhausted but very happy!

Our Year 3 and 4 children are having a wonderful time on their Youlbury residential. They have been enjoying a range of adventurous activities, including heroic high-rope challenges such as the spellbinding Leap of Faith and the death-defying 3G Swing. They have also been preparing food over the campfire during Backwoods Cooking and practising their parry and riposte skills in fencing. All of this is set against the beautiful, sunlit, bluebell-covered hills of rural Oxfordshire!

Exciting news! You may have noticed some interesting markings on the astro turf surface surrounding the middle tree. Here at St Francis, we are in the process of building a prayer garden including a prayer labyrinth. What is a prayer labyrinth? A calm, contemplative space where children and adults can walk, pause, pray, and reflectrooted in ancient spirituality and Christian symbolism but accessible to all. Next steps: Create a welcoming and accessible garden space for all. A small team will be working on this on Monday 30th March, 10am. If you would like to be involved and volunteer to help, please contact: jcrozier@st-francis.oxon.sch.uk

We are recruiting for a new Teaching Assistant to join our happy team! Please click or share the link below if you or someone you know might be interested.

St Francis is recruiting! We are looking for an After-School Club Playworker to join our happy team. 12.5 hours per week (3.15pm - 5.45pm, Mon-Fri), term-time only. Click link below for details

We're incredibly proud of the amazing work of teaching and support staff in schools across the county. Their dedication and passion to making a real difference to children's is inspiring! We're hoping to reward our amazing St Francis team with some sweet treats for the staff room – and we need your help! Some very kind people at Sweet Layers have set up a poll, and the school with the most votes will receive a delicious delivery of goodies! Please take a moment to vote for us and help give our hardworking team a well-deserved treat! Please vote and share as much as possible!!! Thank you in advance for your support!!

We are Hiring! Join our team as a Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA). Are you passionate about supporting children's learning and making a real difference in the classroom? We're looking for a dedicated, enthusiastic Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) to join our friendly and supportive school in East Oxford. Position: Higher Level Teaching Assistant Location: St Francis CE Primary School Contract: Full time, term time only (fixed term) Start Date: asap Salary: Grade 8, FTE £30,559

We are looking for an HLTA to join our happy team! Please find below a link to the job advert where you can apply direclty for the position.