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THE RSPB?s Big Garden Bird Watch takes place in the last weekend in January, when hundreds of thousands of people nationwide will be spending an hour recording the birds that visit their gardens.

If you want to learn about identifying the birds that you see in your garden and find out how to encourage more feathered friends, go to the Charwood Garden Centre in Stokenchurch on Sunday 29th January.

From 11.30am, Martin Kinkade from the RSPB will be giving a talk about garden birds and Cathy Rose from the Chilterns Conservation Board will be on hand to reveal all about red kites, the birds of prey that are visible from many gardens in the area.

Local artist Barbara Shaw will be exhibiting and selling wildlife prints and collages and there will be special offers on bird food and refreshments in the coffee shop.

?We?re delighted to be involved with the Big Garden Bird Watch?, says garden centre manager Alan Plumtree. ?We?re very keen to promote gardening that supports wildlife.?

A THAME primary school today launched a new school anthem and a House system based on the Knights of the Round Table, to help encourage co-operation and friendly competition amongst its pupils.
The Head teacher of John Hampden Primary School, told ThameNews.Net: “The idea of extending the House system in the school came from the children themselves who asked why they only used the system on sports days. After looking into the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, we realised that, as their great interest in Harry Potter and Narnia shows, children’s imagination can be captured by these great old English stories. When you stop and think about it, the qualities exemplified by the Knights have been those shown by great people of our own age, like Winston Churchill for instance. It is those qualities of perseverance, truthfulness, endeavour and friendship that we all want to encourage in young people.”
Each House, Gawain, Galahad, Bedivere and Lancelot, has its own shield. Three were made in metal by Zeke Moss from the Old Forge in Thame, and the fourth one, of wood, was made by Mr Lilly, one of the pupils’ grandfather.
In a special assembly this morning, the children all showed off friendship bracelets they had made in their House colours, sported coloured shield-shaped badges pinned on their school sweatshirts and sang the new school anthem, with words specially written by teacher, Laura Hockin, to the tune of the old Cubs and Guides’ song, The Quarter Master’s Store.
Two Captains for each House have been chosen and they proudly received each shield’s coat of arms from Mr Haigh.
The House Captains are Evelyn Furness and Jessica Lampit (Gawain), Jade Foulkes and Jordan Coulson(Bedivere), Guy Carter and Emily Condon (Galahad) and Matt Faulkner and Jess Storey (Lancelot).
As well as competing in netball, rounders, spelling competitions etc throughout the year, on Friday afternoons the children will sit with other children from their own House in the dinner hall and, as an extension of the Buddy system, will read together in mixed year groups.
Mr Haigh concluded: “We hope that the new House system will encourage a balance of co-operation and friendly rivalry amongst the pupils and help them to develop all the best qualities to take with them from John Hampden school into the rest of their lives.”

A Red Kite has been spotted in East London, for the first time since the Middle Ages.
The bird was spotted sitting in a Sycamore tree in a garden in Hackney on Boxing day and experts hope that its appearance heralds the return to London of the bird, which was re-introduced in the Chilterns over 10 years ago.
Red kites were considered a pest and almost hunted to extinction by the 1880s.

Photo courtesy of the East London Advertiser

LORD Williams’s Association is looking for quiz enthusiasts to join them for a Quiz Night at Lower School on Friday, January 27.
The event will be a general knowledge quiz, and the organisation is looking for teams of up to eight people to join in.
Contact: e-mail address jrpheby@aol.com, or phone 01844 215058 to book or for further information.
The LSW raises money for various projects within the school. Last year it was able to give funds towards the Maths Alive project, and previous projects have included money to Bodyzone (a student support group), the Duke of Edinburgh Award and even rats for the biology department!
In charge on the evening will be Sue Boyle, a teacher at Barley Hill school who has a reputation for organising fun events.