Newsletter: 19th July 2024

A Message from Mrs Murphy

Dear Parents and Carers,

Here we are at the end of yet another school year and there is so much to celebrate. The last three weeks have been so busy as we have supported the children in their transition to their next year groups and new schools.

Some highlights that we have had over the past three weeks are:

Year 6 Production

Two weeks ago, the Year 6 children took to the stage to wow audiences with their acting, dancing and singing skills. Their performance of 'Rock Bottom' was outstanding and was so amusing to watch. Congratulations to all the children!

Summer Fair

On Saturday 13th July, the school was full of life as it was the St James Summer Fair. It was so lovely to see the school site being used by so many families. Thank you to all the parents and carers who volunteered to support the Friends of St James run this event. A special mention to Claire, Gemma and Shaun (and their families) who gave up so much time on Saturday to get everything organised.

Congratulations

We would like to offer congratulations to Mrs Procter for reaching her "Teaching for 30 years" milestone today. This is a huge achievement. The children have been challenged to work out how many children she may have taught over those years, but as we all know, her impact is greater than the classes she teaches.

Celebration of Learning

Over the last few weeks we have been treated to performances from Year 2, Year 1 and Reception. Each child demonstrated how much they have developed over the year and it was fabulous to see how much they all enjoyed performing. We are very proud to give each child two opportunities across the year to perform to parents and our focus this year has been to develop the range of songs the children can sing and perform. The development of singing was evident across all the school assemblies so a huge congratulations go out to all the children. Thank you to all the parents who were able to come to school to watch.

Curriculum successes

As you know, we always stride for the best for all children at St James and are fully committed to our school development journey as a team. Across the year, there are a number of statutory assessments set by the DFE and the results of these are now in. I would like to congratulate every child on their outcomes. All children have made great progress and we are incredibly proud of them all.

As a school, we are proud to announce that 90% of our Year 1 pupils achieved the pass mark for phonics this year, which is our highest ever at St James. We were also significantly above national average for children achieving greater depth in KS2 SATs. The times table improvement in Year 4 was tremendous and we were very proud of everyone who completed this multiplication check.

Developments this year

Throughout 2023-24, St James has been committed to improving the offer for our children. It is always important to reflect on the difference a year can make, so as a staff we took some time to consider the changes that have been put into place over the last year. Whilst some of these are visible to parents and carers, the impact of others is more subtle but all of these were chosen for high impact on the children's learning and school experience.

There is still more to come over the summer with the further development of the Reception outside area and classrooms. In September we will have new doors and windows and a large canopy to support all year round access to their outside area.

Coco Foundation Fundraising

I would like to congratulate the group of enterprising Year 3 children who ran a tuck shop to raise money for for CoCo's Foundation. Well done to Aarya, Avie, Coral, Isla, Katelyn, Livia, Lucas, Oliver, Rosie, Riley, and Toby who worked so hard together to raise £100 for Coco Foundation. This will be sent on to Coco Foundation and will be gratefully received.

Sporting events

In Year 5, boys and girls went to Walton and Hersham football club to play a 6 a side football tournament held by Eduthing. Both of the teams worked really hard for each other, showing excellent unity throughout and they all thoroughly enjoyed the day.

The last event of the school year was an amazing football festival for our Year 2 children at Cleves school. Scores were not taken with a full focus on playing and enjoyment. The children were excellent and behaved themselves wonderfully throughout. Lots of goals were scored and they all looked very professional in our new Year 2 football team kit.

Parent Survey

Thank you so much for those 133 parents who have completed the Parent Survey this year. This was the highest uptake so far and we really do appreciate your views. Whilst we will be reviewing this over the Summer break, and using it to guide our school development plan, I did want to share the common positives that parents shared about St James.

Olympic Home Learning

Congratulations and well done to all the children (and their parents and carers) for the fantastic display of work from the Summer term home learning. What was evident here was how much time and effort was put in to learn about this sporting event. I do hope it inspires some children to watch some of the events this summer.

Y6 Leavers

Today marked the last day for our 61 Year 6 pupils. Each child has made so much progress from their starting points and we are incredibly proud of what they have achieved. Over the course of the week, the children have taken part in a variety of events to support their transition. On Wednesday, they led a service at St James Church. The children wrote this themselves and have also delivered it to the wider school today. It was a very thoughtful service, well done Year 6.

Year 6 were also treated to a fabulous leavers party on Thursday night at school. With mocktails, burgers, silent disco, face paints, ice-cream and bouncy castles, it was such a fantastic evening. Thank you so much to the parents of Year 6 who worked so hard to put this event on for the children. It was a magical event that I know the children will remember forever.

Marketing photographs

As you may remember, we had a visit from a photographer a few weeks ago to update our promotional photos.There were some lovely photos taken on the day and we thank all the children for their positive attitude. Over the coming weeks, you will see some of these photos feature in our promotional materials. Our advert for new Reception intake is the first of these to be finalised and it is my pleasure to share this with you all. As you will see, because of the children's enthusiasm, the photographer was really able to capture the magic that exists at St James.

St James advert 2024 (1).mp4

End of Year Thanks

To conclude this end of year newsletter, I wanted to thank all parents and carers for their support of St James over the last year. Whether it be through volunteering, supporting on school trips or donating to the school fairs, it really is appreciated by all of us here at St James.

I would also like to thank my tremendous team who have worked tirelessly to deliver a high quality education for all the children of St James. Working in schools is often demanding, but every member of my team is committed to their role because of the difference they make to children's lives. I am extremely grateful for their their dedication and I wish them all a well-deserved summer break.

And finally, I need to thank your marvellous children! Each child comes to school with the desire to learn and every day I am greeted by so many smiley faces. The children of St James work hard to demonstrate their school values in all they do and always 'let their light shine'. I cannot wait to see what they can achieve next year.

Wishing you all an amazing summer break and we will see all the children back to school on Wednesday 4th September.

Mrs Murphy

Celebration Awards

Y1 Wrens - Whole class

Robins - Whole class

Y3 Barn Owls - Robina / Hudson G.

Snowy Owls - Cosmin / Kabir / Riley

Y5 Kites - Elizabeth R. / Evelyn S. / Leila

Y6 Whole class

Values counter

This year, we also introduced our values certificates and counter system to measure the use of our values throughout the school year. Today the final measurement was taken and it was too close to call. Well done to everyone who received a certificate this year.

Values Certificates and Counter Collection

This week we awarded:

LOVE: Kenny S.

RESPECT: George S.P / Thomas K.

UNITY: Lottie H. / Pia B. / Mia H. / Evelyn / Annabelle M.

COURAGE: Cooper H. / Sam S. / Dolly-Rose / Kasper

Collective Worship

Monday: Singing with Father Damian

Tuesday : Moving on

Wednesday : Picture News

Thursday : Singing

Friday : Year 6 Leavers assembly

Attendance - Update to Penalty Notices

Just to remind 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.

From 19th August, there are changes to this and from this date, the following will apply:

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.

School Summer Menu

Please find below the new Summer 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.

If your child is in KS2 and has a school meal, please remember to pay for and book their meals in advance using the SCOPAY app.