Our last weekly message of 2024: Friday 20 December

If you came to one of our Christmas performances, we hope you enjoyed it and thank you for your donation. We raised £95 for our school charity: Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Highlights

It’s our last message of 2024! We thought it would be nice to share some of our highlights…

• Mr Freeman: ‘Handwriting and presentation has been impressive. This has been noticed by parents and other adults looking in books across all subjects – the children have really worked hard in daily handwriting and dictation practice. And another: Year 3 have consistently sustained a happy and healthy attitude. They look after each other, show compassion to each other and are willing to help children and staff at any opportunity. Their fantastic manners were noted on our trip to Lotherton Hall by the workshop organisers!’
• Miss Ward: ‘The children in Nursery really enjoyed a particular story this term: We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen. Their favourite part was going on a bear hunt into our forest school! After lots of searching and recalling key parts of the story, we found the bear! In the story the bear walks away from the family home and looks sad, so the children wanted to invite the bear back to Nursery to enjoy snack time together. We spoke about how it’s nice to be kind and caring towards each other. One of our Christian values is compassion.’
• Mr Kilner: ‘Children in Year 5 and 6 continue to arrive at school happy and healthy, ready to achieve. We’ve seen progress across all subjects and this has been supported with recent assessment results. Our recent Art topic has been a huge success. We’ve even incorporated this Art work with our yearly calendars. Some other highlights include our trip to Leeds Discovery Centre, The Royal Armouries, Tempo FM, Wetherby Town Hall and Wetherby High School (here we continue to build links, helping children with their transition to high school).’
• Mrs Kendrew: ‘My highlight for the autumn term has got to be how well the Reception children have settled into school. They’ve adapted amazingly to school life making new friends and establishing the school values and routines. They really have been shining stars for St James.’
• Mrs Poole: ‘The highlight of this term for me has to be all things related to times tables! It has been wonderful to see children’s enthusiasm for Mastering Number and to demonstrate our learning to teachers from other schools across West Yorkshire. It was also exciting to celebrate many of the children achieving their personal best at the times tables check last week.’
• Mrs Bye and Mrs Palmer: ‘The real highlight of the autumn term in Year 1 has been the children’s fantastic attitude to learning, which has led to amazing progress since their first day. By applying their Christian values to all aspects of their work, they have shown great courage, compassion, and perseverance.’
• Mr Nash:‘My highlight is this half term’s art topic. The children have been really engaged when learning about Georges Seurat and his work, and have been fascinated by pointillism. They’ve loved exploring different mark-making techniques to the point where pointillism has infiltrated our everyday… any opportunity to be artistic has been characterised by pointillism. Move over Georges Seurat!’

…and the highlight from Miss Beatson and me is a simple one: standing at the school gate at the start of the school day and being greeted by happy and healthy children as they arrive at school – it’s such a positive way to start the day! ​Our teachers at St James’ CE Primary have been great, pupils have been great, and parents have been great. Thank you to everyone.

Spring Attendance Competition

Just like last year, we’re excited to launch our Spring attendance competition… St James’ CE Primary is a happy and healthy place to be – and maybe even a lucky one, too!

All pupils with attendance of 97% or higher will be entered into a prize draw to win a £50 Love to Shop voucher!

So… for the full Spring 1 half-term, Monday 06 January to Friday 14 February (six weeks), if your child comes to school 97% or more, their name will be entered into a prize draw. We’ll select one lucky winner on the last day of the half-term (Friday 14 February).

Remember, arriving late for school counts as an unauthorised absence. This affects a child’s overall attendance figure, and that might mean they lose out.

So far this term, 40 pupils have 100% attendance and 87 pupils have 97% or more attendance – well done to the children and their families!

Leeds at Christmas

The ultimate guide to Christmas in Leeds includes a whole host of information about what’s happening over the Christmas and New Year period, such as visiting the Christmas markets across the city centre, family attractions including Northern lights at Temple Newsham and where to see Santa.

Finally, all that needs to be said is have a happy Christmas. We’ll see you all again on Monday 06 January.

Christmas lunch

We’ve had a wonderful final day of term and our tummies are full!

Thank you to all the catering team for cooking a delicious Christmas lunch.

Wishing everyone a lovely Christmas break and we look forward to seeing you all back on Monday 06 January 2025.

Our weekly message: Friday 13 December

Next week’s the last week before we break up for Christmas. It’s a busy week, so please check our school calendar. We’ve noticed a few children appear more tired than usual so make sure your child gets plenty of sleep so they can enjoy the last week.

Keep reading!

Even during all the excitement in the run up to the Christmas holidays, we continue to teach Phonics lessons and maintain as many reading practice sessions as we can in Early Years and Key Stage 1. You can help at home by reading to or with your child during the Christmas holidays. It’s a wonderful way for children to relax, explore their imagination and continue learning. Stories about winter adventures, festive traditions, or magical journeys can spark creativity and deepen their love for books. Reading also strengthens vocabulary, comprehension, and critical thinking, keeping young minds active while school is out. It’s a great opportunity to bond over shared stories or bedtime tales. Encourage your child to pick a book they’ll love – whether it’s about reindeer, snowmen, or elves – and make reading a cosy, fun holiday tradition this Christmas!

Staying healthy in the winter months

The UK Health Security Agency has published advice on how to reduce the spread of winter illnesses.

Please remember to follow NHS guidance to know when a child is too ill for school. Pupils should not miss school ‘just in case’ – they can normally attend school with a cough or cold, but not with a fever or diarrhoea and vomiting.

Talk to your child about staying safe online

Most of us tend to think of our online and offline lives as separate, but children today are growing up with technology and the internet as a natural part of their lives. To them there isn’t a separation. It’s all just life. The internet is now part of the real world.

Talking to your child about what they do online is just as important as asking where they are going when they go out with their friends. It can be difficult starting the conversation with your child about their online activities. Technology keeps changing and you might find it overwhelming trying to keep up with it all, but you don’t need to. You just need to take an interest in what apps and games your child is using. That’s the best place to start. Your child might not want to share anything with you at first, but keep trying.

Having honest and open conversations with your child and speaking to them regularly about what they’re doing online could be crucial in giving your child the confidence to tell you if they’ve seen something that makes them feel uncomfortable or may highlight someone who is wanting to cause harm.

Further guidance is available on the LSCP website as well as information on how to set up parental control on all the devices that your child uses.

Class trip

At St James’ CE Primary, we’ve a schedule of visits for each class in school. This week, it was the turn of the Y5 and Y6 children to go on a visit – they went to the Leeds Discovery Centre and the Royal Armouries:

• ‘At the Leeds Discovery Centre, we found out about Ancient Egypt: we saw some bandages used to wrap up a mummy thousands of years ago.’ Ashton
• ‘We also visited the Royal Armouries. We found out about different wars and we saw different weapons. My favourite weapon was an umbrella gun used in the early 1900s. People would pretend it was an umbrella but really it was a gun.’ Aubree
• ‘The best bit was using a bow and arrow simulator where we could practise our aim.’ Valerie

Wetherby and District Foodbank assembly

Today, we invited Jenny from Wetherby and District Foodbank to lead our collective worship.  She spoke to the children about what the foodbank can provide and how people can ask for help. Jenny explained that the foodbank can also provide financial support in different ways such as support with transport and debt management. We thought it was a great example of compassion which is our Christian value this half term.

If you would like to find out about how the foodbank can support you and your family then please speak with Miss Beatson or you can call 08082082138 to speak with the foodbank directly.

National Santa Dash

On Friday, all children took part in the National Santa Dash. This event was all about having some fun whilst being active.

We’ve decided to extend this event: we’ll be holding an Easter and Summer Dash, too! Our goal is to allow pupils to set some targets and improve on their personal bests through the year.

Here are some photos – enjoy!

Our weekly message: Friday 06 December

Stuck for a gift idea? Check out the National Book Tokens website: book recommendations (for adults and children), activities, and a chance to win a £100 book token!

It’s a busy time of the year but have a look at this Leeds guide for free and low-cost things to do this winter – from opportunities to meet Santa to a chance to enjoy a festive mystery matinee.

It’s the countdown to Christmas, but there’s still lots of learning to prioritise, too. Keeping daily routines helps your child to manage such an exciting time. Please remember to stick with our Uniform Policy.

Measles

Did you know measles is on the rise in this area? Measles is highly infectious. It can lead to serious complications including fits, damage to the brain, or even worse. Unvaccinated children are most at risk of severe complications from measles. Check out this information from Leeds LA, covering symptoms and how best to protect you and your family.

Science

This rest of this week’s message comes from Mr Wilks, our Science and Foundation subjects leader. The message is about what your child’s currently learning in their Science lessons…

Year 1

Pupils are currently learning about different materials. They’re identifying objects made out of different materials and describing them using appropriate adjectives (eg soft, hard, rough, smooth). They’re working scientifically, for example, to investigate whether different materials float or sink.

Next term, they’ll learn about different types of animals. They’ll work scientifically by identifying and grouping animals. They’ll also learn about carnivores, herbivores and omnivores.

Year 2

Pupils are also learning about materials. They’re exploring a range of different materials and their uses. They’re explaining why a certain material is or isn’t appropriate for a particular use. They’re working scientifically by, for example, investigating whether different materials are waterproof or not.

Next half-term, they’ll be biologists as they’re learning about plants. They’ll explore the types of plants that grow in the school grounds. They’ll also learn about different parts of plants. They’ll work scientifically by conducting an enquiry into whether plants grow healthier in the light or in the dark.

Year 3

Pupils are learning about rocks. They’re describing rocks according to observable characteristics. For example, does the rock have layers? Does it have visible crystals? Is it rough or smooth? Hard or soft? They’re working scientifically by grouping rocks according to these characteristics.

Following this, they’ll learn about soils and then fossils. They’ll learn about the fossilisation process and a female scientist: Mary Anning.

Year 4

Pupils are currently learning about the different states of matter (solids, liquids and gases). They’re classifying things as solids, liquids and gases. Some of these are tricky, for example, sand behaves like a liquid (it pours and takes the shape of its container) but it’s a solid. Pupils are working scientifically by carrying out an enquiry about how the temperature of water affects the time it takes for ice to melt. As part of this unit, they’re also learning about the water cycle.

Year 5,6

Pupils are learning about electricity this half-term. They’re drawing circuit diagrams using symbols to represent the different components. They’re working scientifically by investigating the effect on different components when the current in a circuit is changed.

After half-term, they’ll move on to learn about light. In this unit, they’ll learn about how light travels in straight lines, how shadows are formed, and they’ll work scientifically by investigating how the size of a shadow changes when the distance from a light source changes.

Help at home

Talk to your child about their learning in class. Check out the Class News pages as they may have some posts about Science learning. Your child may want to recreate an experiment they’ve done at school or have a different question they’d like to investigate. Or, you can look up fun, practical science experiments you can do at home with everyday objects.

Get outside and take notice of the natural world. A large proportion of the primary science curriculum is devoted to biology so here are a few ideas which will support this:

• Talk about plants and animals that you see at different times of the year. Now is a great time to spot deciduous and evergreen trees.
• In December/January look out for winter flowering plants like snowdrops, pansies or camellias.
• Try taking a photo every week from of a green space in your locality. Take it from the same position so that over the weeks and months you can see how the landscape changes.
• Go on a nature walk. Make a list of ten things to try to find on your walk and see how many you can tick off. It’s been three years and I still haven’t been able to tick woodpecker on my list!

Wellbeing Advent

It’s one day late, but you might like to try this out with your child…

The lead up to the winter break can be a fun and exciting time. For some though, it can be anxiety inducing and stressful. Young Minds has created a series of wellbeing advent calendars, customised for primary and secondary children.

Our weekly message: Friday 29 November

This week, our Living and Learning statement has been ‘I can talk about my feelings’…

When you’re reading aloud with your child, or talking about what they’ve been reading independently, or even chatting about something you’ve both watched together, invest some time talking about the feelings of the characters. The more comfortable your child is at this, the more able they’ll be at managing their feelings. (And a good message is that all feelings are okay, but the behaviours they lead to may not be okay – it’s okay to feel angry, for example, but not okay to act in ways that hurt others.)

Terrific times tables

Every year, children in Year 4 take part in the national Multiplication Tables Check. The national data was released this week. The average score across the country was 20.6 out of 25. At St James’ CE Primary, our average score was 21.2 – higher than the national. Well done to the children (our current Year 5 children). Thank you for making sure your child learns their times tables. Check out our information and advice about supporting your child with this.

Learning to read, reading to learn

The shift from learning to read to reading to learn is a crucial milestone in a child’s educational journey.

In the Early Years and Key Stage 1, children focus on learning how phonics works and decoding words (that’s ‘sounding out’ the letters into sounds – phonemes).

As they move towards the end of Year 2, children use reading as a tool to explore and acquire knowledge across subjects like science, history, and geography. This can help develop thinking, comprehension, and the ability to use information they have read.

Mastering this skill empowers learners to independently research, solve problems, and engage in lifelong learning. Encouraging reading a wide range of texts and promoting curiosity ensures children are prepared to thrive in an information-rich world.

Help at home: make sure your child reads at home every day, and encourage them to be enthusiastic readers by talking about what their reading, whatever that is – comics, stories, factual books…

Have a happy and healthy weekend.

Our weekly message: Friday 22 November

This week’s message is a short one. It starts with a particularly important point…

Staying safe

Did you read this news story this week? We were so sad when we read it.

We’ve a long list of online safety tips but three simple ones to follow are:

• make sure your child is only online in a shared room like the living room or kitchen where there are others around – and that also means have no mobile devices in the bedroom
• talk to your child often about what they’re getting up to online
• check your child’s mobile device regularly, just like you might check on who they’re playing with at the park – why not set an alarm on your phone a couple of times each week to remind you

Online safety has been our Living and Learning theme this week: I know how important it is to make careful choices when online. Each week, check our school calendar for the Living and Learning theme.

Oracy

This half-term, your child will be continuing to practise their oracy skills throughout all of their learning.

Oracy is your ability to communicate and express yourself effectively. It’s about having the vocabulary to be able to say what you want to say and the grammatical awareness to structure your thoughts in a logical way.

Good oracy skills have loads of benefits…

• it increases engagement in learning
• it improves academic outcomes
• it develops wellbeing and confidence
• it equips students to thrive in later life

Help at home…

1. Be an oracy role model: model good speaking and listening skills to your child, and when they’re in ear-shot.
2. Don’t ‘dumb down’ your language: try not to avoid using more complex vocabulary. Instead, use complicated language but then succinctly explain what it means eg succinct means short and quick
3. Complete the talk time homework: these are a great opportunity to have a conversation and model good oracy skills.

Have a happy and healthy weekend – and stay warm!

Our weekly message: Friday 15 November

Thanks for your Children in Need donations this morning – we raised £129.93. The collection bucket will be out again this afternoon.  

As we always do, the message this week – second week of the half-term – is all about our new topic in Key Stage 1 and 2. The message comes from Mr Wilks, who leads Science and foundation subjects across Sphere Federation.

What is this half-term’s topic?

Topics are the vehicle for delivering much of the learning in the foundation subjects (eg History, Art, Geography, Design Technology). This half-term, we’re artists. We’ll develop our art knowledge and skills.

The learning this half-term has two aspects to it:

• art appreciation and history: your child will learn about some specific artists and their work
• art process: your child will practise and develop skills by creating art

Each phase has age-related knowledge, skills and vocabulary that they’ll learn, use and apply across the topic. Please see pages 10 and 11 of the Topic Curriculum Guide.

We’ve also produced an Art Curriculum Guide which gives you more information about how art is taught in school and the different ‘visual and tactile elements’ that pupils will be learning about and using in their lessons.

What’s happening in each phase of school?

Years 1 and 2

Children will learn about two featured artists across the half-term: Georges Seurat and Bridget Riley. They’ll compare their art, talking about similarities and differences. They’ll discuss what they like and dislike about the art and how it makes them feel. They’ll also learn about the artists’ lives and where in the world they lived.

In practical art lessons, children will hone their artistic skills and knowledge by sketching objects using pencil and developing painting skills inspired by Bridget Riley and Georges Seurat.

Years 3 and 4

Children will learn about the work of two architects: Christopher Wren and Zaha Hadid.

They’ll compare and contrast the buildings that these architects designed. They’ll look at the influence of classical Greek architecture on the two architects and look for examples of this in buildings locally and nationally. In practical art sessions, children will develop observational drawing skills, before focussing on creating sketches and drawings of buildings on different media.

Years 5 and 6

Children will learn about and study the work of two designers: William Morris and Orla Kiely.

They’ll look at examples of products that use their designs and then focus on the designs, analysing them using technical vocabulary. They’ll also compare the designs, spotting similarities and differences.

In practical art lessons, children will sketch their own designs inspired by Kiely or Morris. They’ll then create relief prints of their own designs which they’ll turn into a wallpaper design using a design website.

How can you help?

Talk to your child about what they’ve been learning. The Class News page of our website is a good place to go to find out more about what your child is doing.

Familiarise yourself with the artists and the artwork that your child will be learning about in class. Look in books or on the internet for pieces by the artists and talk about them. Find art by other artists that you like and compare it to the featured artists. If you feel confident, you can go into more depth using the topic-specific vocabulary. However, if not, leave that to the teachers and just enjoy looking at the pieces and asking general questions:

• What do you like or dislike about the art?
• How does the art make you feel?
• What colours can you see?
• Can you spot influence of Greek architecture in buildings (eg columns or pediments)?

The Tate Gallery has a good children’s website with games and activities which children can explore.

If you’re in Leeds, the Leeds Art Gallery and Henry Moore Institute are both free to enter and if your child has already visited during a trip, they can be the tour guide and show you around!

Finally this week…

Next week is Road Safety Week. As the clocks have changed and the nights are darker, the week highlights the importance of road safety. Check out these road safety tips and just look at how important bright clothing is at this time of year…