Brownies
Guides
North Oxfordshire School of Drama
Scouts
Spotlight School of Dance
Baby and Toddler Group
Steeple Aston Brownies
Steeple Aston Brownies meet at the Sport and Recreation building every Wednesday during term time between 6.00 and 7.30pm.
Brownies are the junior division of the Girl Guides for girls aged from seven to ten. They provide an opportunity to get together with other girls of a similar age, try new activities and make some friends while developing confidence and life-skills — all while having fun!
Activities include arts, crafts, outdoor activities, cooking, singing, games and team challenges. Brownies can also earn badges for doing their best to meet special challenges across a wide variety of interests including “artist”, “stargazer”, “wildlife explorer” and “world culture”, to name but a few.
Termly subscriptions are £25, which works out at approximately £1.80 per week. Girls can join at any time, not just at the start of term, and the subs are worked out pro rata. There are no subs for the first two weeks, during which time the girls can decide if becoming a Brownie is for them.
There may be spaces available for girls aged seven to ten to join now (even mid-term) and younger girls can put their names on the waiting list. For more information, contact Fiona, details below.
Contact
Fiona McLoone
Tel: 01869 340132
Email: aston.brownies@yahoo.co.uk
Guiding For Girls
1st Deddington Guides Report – Summer 2018
We had lots of fun when the Brownies joined us for our sausage sizzle on a lovely evening in June. The Guides led each group, teaching the Brownies about safety round the fire and then showed them how to light a fire ready to start cooking. The sausages were delicious and we rounded off the evening with toasted marshmallows and games. Thank you to Tim and Bex at the Duke of Cumberland’s Head for being so accommodating.
“Ready, Steady, Cook” presented a special challenge: to cook a meal from the ingredients provided, again cooking on an open fire. Everyone did really well with some super meals being served, followed by bananas and chocolate in foil. Thanks here to Janet and Brian Bond who also kindly let us go exploring in the woods before our cooking challenge.
Our final cooking challenge was to cook without utensils! So we experimented with Camembert cheese, sausages, burgers, chicken, sweetcorn etc. We mainly used foil to cook in the ashes – with mixed success! However we had fun trying and had a lovely evening in beautiful surroundings. Many thanks to our host Mr Brian Fuller.
We didn’t just spend the summer term eating; we also had an excellent evening at Horley on the adventure course, in the woods and especially trying archery. Always fun to try something new.
Back to Horley in June, where we joined another 60+ Guides for our annual ‘Sleeping under the Stars’ evening. Following camp fire singing and the inevitable hot chocolate we settled into our sleeping bags and literally fell asleep under the stars.
A beautiful bright morning greeted us when we awoke and after cooking our breakfast we joined in all the challenges in the Inter-Patrol competition. After a lot of fun and games one of our patrols won!! Well done to them. It also meant the Guides gained their Switzerland challenge badge along the way.
It was a huge pleasure to have one evening set aside for the presentation of the Baden-Powell Award to Hannah Coull and Connie Neal. This is the highest award you can gain as a Guide and for the girls it was a fine achievement. They had to plan and organise various activities, take part in a variety of events and run sessions during the meetings across a wide range of topics. They chose to take their patrols to camp last summer which involved a huge amount of work, over 2 weekends. They also went on a residential event in Norwich and made lots of Guide friends from other counties. Their awards were presented in front of family and friends by Mrs Glynnis Eastwood. Great celebrations followed with cards, flowers, and of course cake!! Congratulations, Connie and Hannah.
Our last meeting was stream walking at Barford. Always guaranteed to produce squeals and laughter and everyone soaked from top to toe. We also had the added bonus of hand feeding alpacas!
Before we knew it we were off to camp at our favourite site at North Aston with appreciative thanks to our hosts Clive and Trudi Busby at Dane Hill Farm. The weather was glorious, with not a drop of rain. We had fun and games exploring, stream walking, rambling, a dawn adventure – up at 4am to watch the sunrise, water slides and water games to keep cool, shelter building and sleeping under the stars. All part of our busy camp. We had a brilliant time, all our meals cooked on an open fire, with many international dishes too, and of course our speciality chocolate steamed pudding. The end of an amazing summer.
With a new term in prospect, a new Guide Programme has been rolled out! Exciting times ahead.
Maggie, Marian, Catherine and Tilly
Contacts
Maggie Rampley: 01295 810069
Marion Trinder: 01869 340806
Catherine Blackburn: 01295 258008
North Oxfordshire School of Drama
North Oxfordshire School of Drama offers classes for primary school children in Steeple Aston Village Hall on Wednesdays during term time.
It offers classes in three sessions: Stage One is for ages 5 – 7 (3.15pm – 4.15pm) Stage Two, for ages 8 – 11 (4.20pm – 5.20pm) and Stage Three for ages 12-15 (5.45 – 6.45). .
The classes are suitable for all abilities from beginners to those with more experience. The classes will cover basic drama skills including voice, stagecraft and improvisation with an emphasis on fun and confidence building.
For details of fees and booking go to their website www.northoxfordshireschoolofdrama.org
Contact
Jenny Stewart, Principal
Aston Cottage
Heyford Road
Steeple Aston
OX25 4SH
Email: principlenosd@gmail.com
Website: www.northoxfordshireschoolofdrama.org
Steeple Aston Scouts
Get involved with Steeple Aston Scouts. Come and join them on Tuesday evenings between 7.00 and 8.30pm at the Sport and Recreation building. It is open to boys and girls between the ages of 9½-15 years of age.
They at present have a thriving troop, who have already enjoyed such activities as sailing, cooking, archery and shooting. They have camped out, cooked on open fires and gained badges from a range of specialist skills.
For further information, please contact Colin.
Contact
Colin Cassford , Group Scout Leader
Tel: 01869 243038
Email: c.cassford@sky.com
Spotlight School of Dance
The Spotlight School of Dance is a North Oxfordshire based dance school teaching children ballet, tap, modern and street dance. Lessons are after school in Steeple Aston, Middle Barton and Sandford St Martin. RAD ballet and ISTD tap and modern exams are taken throughout the year, with the highest grades offering extra points to apply for University.
Ballet classes start from the age of three, tap from age four, and modern and street dance starting from five years old. Modern is a combination of dancing seen in musicals and music videos.
These fun and imaginative classes give the children a good grounding in musicality, fitness, posture and performance. Every two years there is a dance show in a theatre using professional lighting, scenery and stage effects. The performers have costumes and stage make up giving them the full theatre experience.
For details of class times, prices and venues please visit the website www.spotlightdanceschool.com.
Contact
Suzi Hambidge
Spotlight School of Dance
Tel: 01295 722230
Website: www.spotlightdanceschool.com
Steeple Aston Baby and Toddler group
The Baby and Toddler Group meets at the Sport and Recreation building every Thursday from 9.30 to 11.30am.
The group is a friendly one. Children can socialise with others whilst mums, dads, grandmas, grandpas and carers chat over a cup of tea or coffee. They have a good selection of toys, puzzles and other activities, and also benefit from being next to a fantastic children’s play area.
Membership is open to anyone with a “bump”, or bringing along a baby or toddler. The cost is £2.00 per session. All you need to do is turn up on the day and you will be very welcome.
To view some pictures of the group click here
Contact
Charlotte Clarke
Tel: 01869 340061
Email: charlotte@clarkefarming.co.uk