10th October 2025
In this week's messages...
Important Safeguarding Notice: Children’s “Spy” Books
Diwali Lunch
Safety at St Margarets roundabout: info about planned protest
Flu vaccination guidance
Stars Update: including booking information for Autumn 2 and Spring 1
Lost Property
School Street and Parking
Toys in School
In this week's news...
St Stephen's Literacy Fun Run, Year 6 trip to Hooke Court, and more...
Dates may be subject to change. For a full list of our yearly dates please check our 'Summary of Dates' page on our website
Where dates have been changed, reminders are yellow.
Newly added dates are green.
OCTOBER
Wednesday 15th October - Year One trip to Bocketts Park Farm
Wednesday 15th October - Reception Autumn walk to Moormead Park
Monday 20th October - Diwali lunch (see information below)
Thursday 23rd October - Year Four trip to Thames Explorers
Friday 24th October - Inset Day - Stars will be open (booking open on Parent Pay)
Monday 27th - Friday 31st October - HALF TERM
NOVEMBER
Monday 3rd November - Children return to school
Thursday 6th November - Whole School Flu Immunisation (see information below)
Monday 10th - Friday 14th November - Anti-Bullying Week (see separate information page)
Friday 21st November - Year Two trip to Gilbert White's House (further details to follow)
Tuesday 25th November - Year Three Mandela class trip to The Museum of Richmond (further details to follow)
Wednesday 26th November - Year Three Thunberg class trip to The Museum of Richmond (further details to follow)
Wednesday 26th November - Year Five trip to Hampton Court Palace
DECEMBER
Monday 1st December - Year Six Swimming Group - last session
Monday 8th December - Year Six Helping Hands Workshop (further details to follow)
Wednesday 10th December - Reception Nativity, 2.30pm
Thursday 11th December - Reception Nativity, 9.30am
Monday 15th December – Children’s Christmas Market – Winchester Room, Turks Head (This is a FOSS event)
Wednesday 17th December - Christmas Service at St Stephen's Church (further details to follow)
Thursday 18th December - Christmas lunch and Christmas jumper day
Friday 19th December - Last day of term - children finish at 2.15pm
For FOSS Events and Fundraiser Dates, please see page 6 - FOSS UPDATE
Important Safeguarding Notice: Children’s “Spy” Books
We want to make you aware of a recent issue affecting some popular children’s books by Andrew Cope, including the Spy Dogs, Spy Cats, and Spy Pups series.
Some editions of these books include a printed web address at the back. This link used to go to the author’s website, but the domain is no longer under his control. It has since been taken over by another party and now leads to inappropriate adult content.
The publisher, Puffin, has paused sales and distribution of the books and is working with schools, libraries, and retailers to remove copies from circulation. They have stressed that the website has no connection to the author or publisher.
What this means for you:
If your child has any Spy Dog, Spy Cat or Spy Pups books at home, please check the back for website links and make sure they do not try to visit the site.
It is safe for children to continue reading the stories themselves — the concern is only with the outdated link.
We recommend talking with your child about the importance of not following web addresses in books without checking with an adult first.
We will continue to share updates from the publisher as more information becomes available.
The school kitchen are holding a Diwali lunch on Monday 20th October so we won’t have our usual Monday menu that day.
Third-party information about planned protest - safety at St Margarets roundabout:
We are circulating this information by request from the organiser:
Almost 2,500 local people including many parents from this school signed a petition last October demanding improved safety at St Margarets roundabout and along the shared bike and pedestrian pathyways. Since TfL have dismissed our concerns we have decided to stage a protest. Please make a bold sign and come and join us at 8.15 - 8.45am on Friday 17th October at the crossing outside the school. We need to show that we care and shall not be ignored so please spread the word. Munira Wilson MP plans to attend and hopefully some press.
Please attend with your children but it is absolutely paramount that we keep them safe - as we all know the road is extremely dangerous. We shall only stand on the road when there is a green man.
Flu Vaccinations
The NHS school nursing team will be visiting us on Thursday 6th November to administer the nasal flu vaccination to all children whom consent has been given. To provide consent for your child, please scroll down and scan the QR code on the NHS poster below. Consent should be given in advance via the QR code only, the nursing team do not accept verbal or emailed consent on the day. If you have any queries about the vaccination and would like to discuss them , please contact the nursing team on the phone number on the QR poster.
INSET day - Friday 24th October:
Places are now available to book on ParentPay for our STARS inset day club. Stars will be open from 8:30am – 4:30pm, the cost is £40 for the day.
October half term camp:
Due to the playground resurfacing works taking place over the half term, there will be no half term camp running this half term holiday.
Stars bookings for Autumn 2:
STARS breakfast club and after school club bookings will be loaded into Parent Pay next week for Autumn 2
During this period, the STARS bookings will be taken offline, should you need an ad hoc session and the system is offline, please email stars@st-stephens.richmond.sch.uk
Your booking pattern, as agreed by the google form will be continued into Autumn 2, unless you have already communicated updated requirements to STARS.
Payments will be due by Sunday 2nd November
Payments can be made in ParentPay when the bookings have been loaded. If paying via childcare vouchers, we kindly request you only transfer the amount owed.
In line with our cancellation terms, we request half a terms notice for any changes/cancellations to your booking pattern. Should you need to make any changes for the Spring Term, please email STARS.
We will issue our Spring Term club schedule before the deadline.
We will notify you when the bookings have been uploaded and are ready for payment.
We will notify the whole school in due course when ad hoc STARS bookings are available
Stars bookings for Spring 1:
Bookings for Spring 1 will be loaded into ParentPay early December and we wanted to notify you ahead of the Christmas period that the payments for Spring 1 bookings will be due by Sunday 4th January 2026.
Toys in School
We know that many children enjoy bringing small games and toys to play with at break and lunchtime. To help everyone have fun safely and fairly, please note the following guidelines:
Allowed in school:
Rubik’s cubes
Card games (such as traditional playing cards or UNO)
These items are brought to school at the child’s own risk, and children are responsible for looking after them.
Not allowed in school:
Trading cards (e.g. Match Attax, Pokémon or similar)
Thank you for your support in helping us keep playtimes enjoyable for everyone!
Lost Property
The un-named lost property box on the playground will be cleared when we return to school after the half term holiday. If you are missing any items, please ensure you check the box before school ends on Thursday 23rd October. The lost property box can be accessed in the mornings at school drop-off or in the afternoons at pick-up.
School Street and Parking
The council’s School Street operating hours are Monday-Friday 8.15-9.45am and 2.30-4pm (term time only) - during these times, the only vehicles permitted to drive into this section of Winchester Road belong to residents. Any car without an ‘S ZONE RESIDENTS PERMIT’ displayed on their windscreen that is inside the marked area during the operational times is at risk of receiving a PCN.
The council have recently painted the entrance to the school street red to highlight that you are about to enter the school street and should turn around if this during the operational period.
The school street enforcement makes the road safer for our children by reducing the number of parked vehicles around the school entrances and eliminating traffic and speeding vehicles. Another benefit is that cars cannot park outside the school with their engines running.
Additionally, parents must not park in the garage area belong to the residents of Grove House (residential building opposite school gates on Winchester Road).
You read more about school streets and their enforcement here:
For regular updates on all the exciting things we are getting up to in school, you'll need to follow us on Instagram @ststephens.cofe
