Our weekly message (Friday 12 July 2024)

It’s our penultimate weekly message of the year. It’s a bit of a cliché, but has to be said – we can’t believe how fast the year has gone.

Themed week

This week has been our Staying Safe week.

Of course, staying safe isn’t just about one week of the year. Check out these Summer safety tips. and this clip about staying safe near water.

This week is also a good time to think back to previous Living and Learning statements. For example, does your child know the two STOP messages about bullying from Autumn 2 (Several Times On Purpose and Start Telling Other People)? Does your child understand the importance of permission / consent? What online safety tips can your child tell you about?

Every year, we have two themed weeks. Next year, it’s the turn of Me and My Communities and Being Healthy themed weeks.

Moving on…?

The close of the school year sees Year 6 friends getting ready to move on to secondary schools. There’ll also be children in other year groups moving on, too – perhaps you’re moving house and therefore your child is switching schools.

Whatever the cause, this change can be a source of anxiety. It’s a perfectly natural response to a new environment and a new society into which to fit. With this in mind, Childline has published advice to help children deal with their feelings as they move on.

Our Summer competition

Have you and your child started to think about our Summer competition?

Take a pic of one particular letter in ST JAMES – each letter is for a year group in school. This list refers to current years, with children in Nursery and Year 6 sharing the first S…

• S – Nursery and Year 6
• T – Reception
• J – Year 1
• A – Year 2
• M – Year 3
• E – Year 4
• S – Year 5

The winning entry will be a letter that’s been ‘found’ or created in an unusual way. There’s a £10 book token for one winner in each year group.

To enter, email your pics to stjamesoffice@spherefederation.org by Friday 06 September. Enter ‘Summer competition’ as the subject.

Get caught in the Breeze

The Breeze people write:

Are you ready to have some fun this summer?! Breeze in the Park is back to bring family fun to a park near you this summer holidays.

We’ve 26 events plus 8 relaxed events, all jam-packed and ready to bring the sun, fun, chills and thrills to your holidays!

Expect sports, games, arts and crafts, interactive play, food, entertainment and, of course, their famous inflatables. Plus, much much more!

The events, which are aimed at 0 to 19-year-olds, will run as two separate sessions on the days. The first session takes place from 12pm to 2:30pm and the second session runs from 3pm to 5pm.

Along with the open sessions, eight of the events throughout the summer will also be hosting relaxed sessions for children and young people with additional needs. These sessions will run from 11am to 12pm and will have additional staff, minimal queuing and reduced crowds.

Tickets for Breeze in the Park are 50p per child and must be pre-booked in advance. Fast track five times on our most popular inflatables with a Breeze Pass…the best accessory for this summer giving you discounts, giveaways, offers and early access to many venues and events!

Book your tickets now and avoid disappointment.

Finally this week…

A big thank you…

…to everyone who has helped out on our PTA this year. Check out the 2023-24 annual report (including the treasurer’s report). A special thank you must go to our fantastic Chair, Heidi Moment. Heidi’s stepping back from the role of Chair, but thankfully will still be a part of the PTA. Please have a think about stepping up to volunteer for the PTA – maybe even as Chair!

Have a happy and healthy – and hopefully dry – weekend.

Our weekly message (Friday 05 July 2024)

With just two more weeks left of the school year, it’s time to start thinking of our Summer Competition!

Summer competition

Each year, we invite you and your child to take part in our Summer Competition. We’ve asked for pics to show extreme reading, happy and healthy, smiley faces… This year, we’re inviting you to think about our name. More specifically, take a pic of one particular letter in ST JAMES, but one which is hidden away or created in some unsual way.

Each letter is for one year group in school. This list refers to current years, with children in Nursery and Year 6 sharing the first S…

• S – Nursery and Year 6
• T – Reception
• J – Year 1
• A – Year 2
• M – Year 3
• E – Year 4
• S – Year 5

The winning entry will be a letter that’s been ‘found’ or created in an unusual way. There’s a £10 book token for one winner in each year group.

To enter, email your pics to stjamesoffice@spherefederation.org by Friday 06 September. Enter ‘Summer competition’ as the subject. All entries will be displayed in school, and there are prizes for our favourites.

Here’s an idea to get you thinking…

Uniform

In the last couple of weeks, we’ve featured our updated Uniform Policy to help you to start preparing early for the new school year. Please read the latest version.

This week, we’re looking at what our policy says about jewellery…

Only discreet (ie small, not brightly coloured) stud earrings and items that are absolutely required by a religion are allowed. Advisors recommend no earrings are worn for PE; therefore, we will ask your child to remove earrings before the lesson and put them back in after the lesson. This will be carried out by the child. If they are unable to remove or put their earrings back in by themselves, they must not wear them on the day they have PE.

A watch or step counter is allowed. Any device that connects to the internet (eg a smart watch) or that can record (including taking photos) is not allowed for safeguarding reasons. Such items should be left at home, but can be handed over at the start of the day. Refer to the Positive Relationships Policy for more details of items not allowed.

We don’t accept responsibility for any loss or damage to an individual’s property.

Staying safe

Next week is another Living and Learning themed week: Staying Safe.

The themed week is a good opportunity to continue to think about healthy, active and safe ways to travel to school.  Children are encouraged to travel to school in a sustainable way, keeping safe along the way. For a chance to win a £10 Love2Shop voucher, we’d love to see their active travel staying safe photos, maybe using a traffic crossing or wearing their bike helmet (send photos to stjamesoffice@spherefederation.org). Photos should be sent by 4pm on Thursday 11 July and winners will be announced on Friday 12 July.

Our Living and Learning statement is I make safe choices, including online. Check out these tips for helping children stay safe online.

Next week is also the Key Stage 2 production: Wednesday at 1.45pm and Thursday at 6pm.

Our weekly message (Friday 28 June 2024)

Thanks to everyone who came along to our talent show on Tuesday and our Sports Day on Wednesday – we hope you enjoyed them as much as the children and staff.

Survey

Thanks to the 30 parents and carers who have completed this year’s annual survey. If you haven’t, there’s still time! In fact, you’ve one more week left to complete – the survey closes at 2pm next Friday.

Uniform

Last week, we flagged up our updated Uniform Policy in time to help you to start preparing early for the new school year. Please read the latest version.

In particular, we drew your attention to expectations for PE – it basically only involves a change for the bottom half only.

This week, we’re looking at the uniform itself – please follow the points set out here:

A word from our Junior Leadership Team

Here are some bite-size reviews of the year from our Junior Leadership Team…

• ‘We talked about charity and the things we like and dislike about school. We have been able to speak to the healthy school lady about our school. We have also been able to choose really good play equipment.’ James, Year 5
• ‘I have enjoyed getting the new equipment for the rest of the school.’ Lilly, Year 5
• ‘I have liked being on JLT because we got to choose the equipment. I also like our meetings.’ Arthur, Year 1
• ‘During meetings, I felt good because I feel like my voice was heard.’ Isla, Year 3
• ‘We have discussed and made decisions which have helped the other children in our school.’ Lily, Y5

Finally, a couple of things to look out for… We send annual reports home next week, staggered across the week. And in next week’s message, look out for details of the 2024 Summer Competition, too!

Our weekly message (Friday 21 June 2024)

First off this week… Don’t forget out Sports Day on Wednesday:

• Nursery and Reception – 9.15am-11.00am
• Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 1.30pm – 3.00pm

We’re also excited to be hosting the St James’s Got Talent show on Tuesday evening at 6.00pm. Forget Britain’s Got Talent – St James’ has enough talent to entertain and surprise and intrigue!

Uniform

Every year, we review our Uniform Policy. We know some parents/carers like to start preparing early for the new school year, so please read the latest version.

Please note what we expect children to wear on PE days – it basically only involves a change for the bottom half:

Annual survey

Your views count. Every year, we ask for your views and we follow up on as many as we can. Thank you to the 18 parents/carers who have already completed it. If you’ve not yes, there’s still time: please complete this year’s survey before the 05 July deadline.

It’s not been a great summer yet, has it? With the hope we might enjoy some sunnier days ahead, don’t forget to follow the NHS advice on sun protection for your child.

Summer Fair

We had our annual Summer Fair on Friday and what a great success it was!

Thank you to the  PTA who organised the event and to everybody who came along to support the school.

The total raised was a magnificent £1,645! This is the most we’ve raised at a PTA event.

Thanks again to all involved.

Our weekly message (Friday 14 June 2024)

Don’t forget the school photographer’s in next Wednesday to take class pics – please make sure your child is in uniform, even if it’s a PE day.

This week’s message comes from out Science and Foundation Subjects Leader. It’s about the final topic of the year…

What is this half-term’s topic?

Design and Technology is the driving subject for this half-term and it’s a great topic to finish the year! The focus for all classes this year is textiles (next year, it’s construction) so children will be busy designing and making products using fabric.

A key aspect of the Design and Technology curriculum is the understanding that products don’t just get made. Instead, they go through a design process that includes three key elements: evaluate, design and make. Think of this process as a cycle. For example, St James Motors want to create a new family car. Before the car is made, they need to evaluate existing products and talk to customers so that they’re clear about what the new car needs to have. They will then design the car and evaluate those designs. They may make a prototype of the car to help them evaluate the designs. Next, they’ll decide on a final design that will go into production and get made. This finished product will be evaluated and the whole process starts again.

Each phase has age-related specific knowledge, skills and vocabulary that they’ll learn, use and apply across the topic – see pages 14 and 15 of our Topic Curriculum Guide.

Years 1 and 2

The product children will be designing, making and evaluating is a hand puppet. They’ll start by learning about the design process before looking at and evaluating existing hand puppet products. They’ll then learn to use an over stitch and practise threading needles and tying knots. Following this, they’ll be introduced to all the materials they can use to create their puppet. Once they’re familiar with the materials, they’ll design their puppet. Next, it’s on to the making stage. They’ve already honed their sewing skills so they should be confident making and then decorating their puppets according to their designs. Finally, it’s evaluation time: children will compare their designs to their finished products. They’ll reflect on successes and things they’d do differently next time.

Years 3 and 4

The product the children will be designing, making and evaluating is a pouch. The function of this pouch is entirely up to them. It could be used to store some pens, trading cards, a shell collection. Children can be as creative as they like – as long as the pouch can be made using a 20cm² piece of felt!

Before they begin to design their pouch, they’ll learn about a famous designer and how they became a designer. They’ll also learn some important skills that a designer needs to have. Children will then evaluate existing pouches, with a focus on fastenings, and will then design their pouch. They’ll practise their sewing skills, becoming proficient using a running stitch. They’ll then begin to make their pouches. First, they’ll create a template which they’ll use to cut out the pieces. Next, they’ll join the pieces using their running stitch and create a fastening for their pouch. Finally, they’ll evaluate their designs by comparing them to their designs, testing whether they’re fit for purpose and reflecting on their successes and areas to improve.

Years 5 and 6

Children will be designing, making and evaluating a cushion. However, before they get stuck into their cushion, they’ll learn about some designers who changed the world: Isambard Kingdom Brunel, George Stephenson, Lewis Latimer and Jony Ive. They’ll learn about their creations and their impact and look for things that link the designers.

Following this, children will learn about the importance of design criteria when designing a product. After this, they’ll practise their sewing skills and learn how to sew using a backstitch. Next, they’ll evaluate existing cushions. They’ll then decide on the specific design criteria for their cushions and create their designs using an annotated sketch, detailing the dimensions of their product. They’ll learn about the importance of using sustainable materials when researching the filling used for their cushion (the plan is to use old, unwanted pieces of fabric to stuff the cushions rather than Polyfill so please have a look through your wardrobe and keep hold of any old t-shirts or other clothes as we’ll need them later in the half-term).

Children will use a template to cut out the shapes, use a backstitch to appliqué decoration to their cushion, before finally sewing the pieces together and stuffing them. The final stage is to evaluate the designs against the design criteria.

How can you help?

Talk to your child about what they have been learning in class. The class news page of the school website is a good place to go to find out more about what the children are doing.

The school library and local libraries will have some books about Design and Technology which your child will be able to borrow and develop both their reading skills and design knowledge.

Finally, there’s a lot of programmes on CBBC and CBeebies with a Design and Technology focus:

• Bitz and Bob
• Grace’s Amazing Machines
• Junk Rescue
• Maddie’s Do You Know?
• The Dengineers

Finally, don’t forget to complete our annual survey – it’ll only take a few minutes and we do take on board as many views as we can.

Attendance

Last half term, we had our second attendance competition of the year. All children who had attendance of 96% or above were entered into a prize draw. Well done to Hope in Year 6 who won the competition and received a £50 voucher!

Last week, most classes had attendance of 96% or above.  This was a great start to the final half term. Thank you to everybody who has been making sure their child arrives to school on time- this makes a big difference to the child’s school day.

Please complete our annual survey

At St James’ CE Primary, we’re always keen to hear your views. We hope that you let us know any questions, comments and concerns (as well as causes for celebration!) whenever these crop up, but we like to gather the views more generally at the end of the year – we do this via the annual survey.

Please complete the survey – it’ll only take a few minutes or so. You’ve plenty of time to do this – the deadline is 2pm on Friday 05 July 2024.

We can’t guarantee to meet the needs and wants of every parent / carer, but we do assure you that we consider all the points raise and aim to act on specific points that are raised by many, or a useful idea raised by just a few.

We’re looking forward to reading your views.

Our weekly message (Friday 07 June 2024)

We’re into the final half-term of the school year – it’s always a busy one, so please keep an eye on the school calendar. Coming up soon are a few things you might want to know about…

For children in Year 1 and some children in Year 2: Next week, children in Year 1 (and those who didn’t meet the standard who are in Year 2) will take part in an assessment around their phonics skills. Check out the government’s phonics screening check information for parents.

For children in Year 4: Also next week, Year 4 children will take an online assessment to check their quick recall of times tables and division facts. Check out the guide for parents. Keep practising on Times Tables Rock Stars!

For all children: On Wednesday 19 June, the school photographer is in to take class photos.

Next week, look out for the link to our annual survey of parents and carers. too.

Attendance matters

At the start of every half-term, we review our attendance. For the full school year so far, up to the end of the Summer 1 half-term (Thursday 23 May), the whole school attendance figure was 93.9%. That’s higher than the national figure up to Friday 17 May: 93.0%. However, it’s lower than the national figure for primary schools: 94.7%.

When we look more closely, we know there’s some great attendance in school: well done to Reception (95.2%), Year 3 (96.2%) and Year 4 (96.8%) pupils for their great attendance, all well above the national figures.

Attendance matters:

• Every day matters: we can see that attendance on Fridays is lower than other days – please avoid unnecessary days off to extend weekend breaks
• Every minute matters: we can see that pupils arriving late has an impact on attendance, especially for children in Year 5 and Year 6 – please make sure your child sets off for school with plenty of time

Let’s get our whole-school attendance rate closer to the national rate for primary schools by the end of the year!

SEND support

SENDIASS support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their parents and carers to help with their related concerns or questions. They provide a free, impartial and confidential service through their website and online resources. You can self-refer to this service by contacting them directly. Find out more about SENDIASS in this short clip.

Here are the dates of forthcoming support sessions.

Have a happy and healthy half-term.

Day 2 at Robinwood

Our Year 6 children have had another busy, fun day at Robinwood.