19th December 2025

A Message from Mrs Murphy

Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been a truly sparkling lead-up to the end of term, and the children are all incredibly excited for the Christmas break.

Spectacular Christmas Productions

Our Christmas productions this year were nothing short of spectacular. Every child in the school had the opportunity to perform over the last two weeks, and every single performance was incredible. The children performed with such confidence and demonstrated great "St James courage."

These events were exceptionally well-attended, with over 940 tickets issued across all performances. Thank you to our parents for being such wonderful audiences, and a huge thank you to the staff for their tireless hard work on costumes and rehearsals.

Festive Fun and Special Visitors

The school was filled with laughter during our Christmas Extravaganza today. Our Christmas lunch was delicious, and the children loved being served by our staff and Governors.

The festive spirit reached a whole new level when we received a very special visit from Santa, his elf (a governor in disguise) and his reindeer! Every child visited Santa in his Grotto and received a gift. We would like to share a big thank you to the Friends of St James for decorating Hagrid's Hut ahead of Santa's arrival; it looked truly magical.

Choir Highlights

Our choir has been exceptionally busy sharing the sounds of the season with our local community. They performed beautifully at Morrisons, Gail’s, and St James Church, bringing smiles to many faces. Their hard work and talent represented our school wonderfully. We owe a huge thank you to Mrs.Cowden for her talented leadership and for providing these opportunities for the children to "let their light shine."

Fond Farewells and Congratulations

Today we wish good luck to Mrs Difranco (Miss Reid) as she leaves St James. Mrs Difranco has been a dedicated member of the St James team for many years and we wish her all the best with he relocation. We do welcome Mrs Kaur to the Reception team in January as teacher of Chicks class. She has already been in to school a number of times and cannot wait to be a member of the team.

I would also like to congratulate Miss Chadburn who passed her National Professional Qualification in Senior Leadership this week. This a huge achievement and we are very proud of her.

Inside This Newsletter

Phase Highlights: As is tradition for our end-of-term newsletter, I have invited our Phase Leaders—Mrs. Doyle, Mrs. Michaelides, Miss Boyle, and Miss Chadburn—to share their highlights from the term. Please take the time to read these for a great insight into the learning happening at St James.
SEND Support: Mrs. Wales has provided information regarding SEND, including useful documents to support children as they transition back to school on Tuesday, 6th January.

As usual, staff will be on hand on the first day back to welcome and support the children.

Christmas Wishes

Finally, as we head into the Christmas break, I want to thank you for your continued support. I wish you all a peaceful, happy, and restful holiday. We look forward to seeing everyone back on 6th January.

Merry Christmas,

Mrs. Murphy

Phase Leader Updates

RECEPTION:

A Stellar Start to the Autumn Term in EYFS

We were delighted to welcome a busy and excited group of children to St James this term. The Early Years Reception cohort has settled wonderfully into school life, quickly mastering daily routines and rituals, such as self-registration, hanging up coats, and managing their own bags.

Developing Skills and Exploring New Worlds

Every day has been filled with discovery time, where children have engaged in a wide variety of activities. Key motor skills have been a focus; children have mastered the use of scissors, practised joining materials with tape and slot joints, and learned how to hold a pencil correctly for effective writing.

A firm favourite has been our physical motor activities designed to strengthen whole arms, wrists, and hands, including energetic sessions of "Dough Disco" and "Squiggle While You Wiggle."

Immersed in Literature and Learning

The children have loved being immersed in diverse texts this term. We journeyed through imaginative worlds from Halibut Jackson and Where the Wild Things Are, explored Mae Jemison’s impressive impact on space advancement, and, of course, enjoyed our special Christmas story.

Our young learners have demonstrated wonderful creativity in building rockets, planes, and shelters. They have also developed physical skills, learning the balance and coordination needed for riding balance bikes.

A Flourishing of Creativity and Performance

The term culminated in brilliant performances. The children confidently performed poems, rhymes, and a wonderful Nativity play. Well done to one and all for such a successful first term.

To everyone, a very Happy Christmas from the EYFS team.

Year 3:

DT: During our Design and Technology unit this half term, children have been baking in our new kitchen to focus on fundamental food preparation techniques. The projects involved preparing and baking an apple crumble and seasonal tart, children designed their tarts thinking about patterns and colours of food that has grown seasonally. Children refine core skills such as cutting, slicing, peeling and measuring. The children successfully navigated the process from ingredient preparation to the final baked product and loved being creative throughout.

Geography: Children were exposed to different styles of maps that represented weather and climates from around the world. They learned how weather and climate are generalised into world climate zones and what biomes are. They researched distinctive climates, looking at flora, fauna and human activity. They investigated what the advantages and disadvantages are for humans and animals who live in different climates and how adaptations have been made to ensure life thrives in even the remotest of areas.

Year 4:

Science:

This term, Year 4 explored the world of electricity. Our science topic focused on understanding what electricity is and how we can use it safely to make things work. We began by learning that electricity needs a complete path, called a circuit, to flow. We investigated and identified the key components of a circuit, including the cell (or battery), the wires, and a component that uses electricity, such as a bulb or a buzzer. We also took part in an electricity workshop where we experimented with making electricity from different sources, such as solar power, as well as from oranges and lemons.

History:

Throughout this term, we have also been learning about Ancient Egypt. We focused on how this powerful civilisation thrived for thousands of years, primarily thanks to the River Nile, which we discovered was the main source of their prosperity. We also learned about the Egyptian Gods, the ways the Egyptians worshipped them, and why they worshipped different gods for different aspects of life.

Return to School Social Story

SEN Social Story and Timetable

Respectful Parking Reminders

To ensure the safety of all our pupils, we kindly ask parents and carers to be extra mindful of their parking during the school run. We’ve had a few reports of blocked driveways and restricted access for neighbours recently so please park considerately.

Please help us keep the area outside the school gates clear and safe for everyone.

Catch it, Bin it, Kill it.

As we approach the end of the Autumn term, we have placed an extra focus on health and hygiene across the school.

We have been consistently reinforced the public health message of Catch it, Bin it, Kill it with the children.

Catch it: Use a tissue for every cough or sneeze.
Bin it: Put used tissues straight into the bin.
Kill it: Wash those germs away immediately!

As part of our Lifeskills teaching, we teach the children the importance of clean hands We remind children regularly to wash their hands before meals, after the toilet, and after outdoor play. We are also actively reminding children to keep their hands away from their faces to stop germs in their tracks.

How You Can Help for the Spring Term

To help these habits stick, we kindly ask that you reinforce these messages at home over the Christmas break. Practicing now will ensure the children return in January ready for a healthy Spring Term:

The 20-Second Scrub: Practice washing with soap for 20 seconds.
Remind little ones to use a tissue rather than their fingers for itchy noses or mouths.

By working together to reinforce these practices now, we can ensure our school community returns healthy, happy, and ready to learn in the New Year!

School Lunches

Please find below the current lunch menu from our school caterers, Twelve15. This is a three week rolling menu. All children choose from one of the three meal options at the start of each school day. There is also a fully stocked salad bar and fresh bread served daily.

Please remember to book school meals in advance using ARBOR.

Spring Term Clubs

Please see attached the 2026 Spring Term club timetable.

To view external club flyers, please click here.

2026 Club dates and times Spring Term.pdf

Attendance and Penalty Notices

Weekly reminder - for parents/carers, that if they take their children out of school without authority for 5 or more days (which do not have to be consecutive), then you will be liable for a penalty notice fine

1. If you have not incurred a penalty notice relating to this child/children in a rolling 3 year period since 19 August 2024, then the penalty notice will be charged at the rate of £160.00, per parent/carer per child, if paid within 28 days. This will be reduced to £80.00 if paid within 21 days of receipt of the notice. Failure to pay the Penalty Notice will result in Surrey County Council considering legal proceedings against you in the Magistrates Court.

2. If you have incurred a penalty notice relating to this child/children since 19 August 2024, the rolling 3 year period will be activated from the date of the first penalty notice and the second penalty notice will be charged at the flat rate of £160.00, per parent/carer per child, if paid within 28 days. There will be no reduction for payment within 21 days. Failure to pay the Penalty Notice will result in Surrey County Council considering legal proceedings against you in the Magistrates Court.

3. If you have incurred 2 penalty notices relating to this child/children in the rolling 3 year period since the first penalty notice was issued, then you will NOT receive a third penalty notice – Surrey County Council will have no option but to consider a prosecution, per parent/carer per child, in the Magistrates Court under s 444 Education Act 1996.

Surrey County Council is not responsible for authorising pupil absence and therefore cannot withdraw any Penalty Notice requests without the written permission of the Headteacher.

The St James Attendance Policy can be found here..

Leave of Absence form can be found here.