Dear Parents and Carers,
We are really in full flow here at St James and there has been so much exciting learning going on in classes! I have been able to visit a number of classes this week to see the children working hard and settled into their new classes. I cannot wait to visit the rest of the classes next week!
Thank you to all the parents who came along to the Meet the Teacher sessions last week. It was great that over 150 parents were able to attend!
Daily Communication Changes
It is lovely to receive all the positive feedback on our daily communication bulletin and our yearly dates sheet. We are pleased so many parents have found this useful.
Parent Survey Results and School Development Plan
As many of you will remember, we conducted a parent survey in July 2024. We have analysed these comments fully and have compiled the results for you below. You will note that we have created an action plan as as a result to your feedback. Please watch this space for further improvements as a result.
Our School Development plan has also been finalised for this upcoming year and the targets can also be seen below. As you know we are always striving to get "even better" in all we do here at St James so we appreciate your views to help us do this.
Please respect our neighbours
Sadly I have received a complaint this week from our neighbours on Grotto Road about children playing on driveways at the beginning and the end of the school day. Please could all parents remind their children of the school values, and maintain supervision during the drop off and pick up times, to ensure that we are demonstrating respect to our neighbouring community.
Paralympian visit
You would have received an email about our Paralympian visit on the 30th September. We are very excited to welcome Courtney Orange and Nerys Pearce to St James for what is set to be an inspirational visit. The children will be completing a sponsored sports circuit, which will raise money for the school. Please do encourage your child to collect sponsorship money if you can.
Trips and Visitors
Last year we supplemented the school visits by over £8,000, and this has been steadily increasing over the last three years. As a result, we are having to consider the number of trips we offer at St James, as well as evaluate the impact of all trips we arrange for the children. Whilst these contributions are voluntary, we unable to offer these curriculum enhancing school trips where we make a considerable loss. We are yet to cancel a trip, but sadly we may have to this year if we do receive adequate contributions. If you are able to contribute to our School Fund, which we use to support any unpaid fees for these trips, you can make a one off voluntary donation through Scopay or set up a monthly standing order through your online banking.
For a standing order, the School Fund bank account details are as follows:
Account No - 01182080
Sort Code - 40-46-22
Account Name - St James C of E School Fund
Please ensure you use your child's name/s as the reference if setting up a standing order.
As always, if you are experiencing financial difficulties, and contributing to any school visit will increase pressure, please do reach out as they may be additional support we can offer.
Sunset and Sunrise Club
Over last two years we have worked to increase our capacity at our Breakfast and Afterschool provision. We have increased our offer by over 45 spaces per day across the week during the last few years. Whilst, despite our efforts, we do still have a considerable waiting list for afterschool club, we do have some spaces in Breakfast club. If you are interested in our wraparound care offer, please see our information booklet here for more details and email the office to enquire about space availability. We will continue to look at ways that we can meet the demand for afterschool care at St James in the hope that we will be able to reduce the waiting lists further.
And finally,
Do you know anyone who is in need of a space to hire at weekends? Our Hall, Lodge, Durrant, field and playgrounds are available to hire for regular or one-off hires. Please pass on this advert for anyone who may be interested.
Hope you all have a lovely weekend.
Mrs Murphy
Robins - Watson
Y2 Kingfishers - Hazel
Woodpeckers - Esmae / Noah
Y3 Barn Owls - Elara
Snowy Owls - Asha
Y4 Merlins - Jessica
Kestrels - Alias
Y5 Kites - Xiaochen
Falcons - Tyler
Y6 Eagles - Harriet
Hawks - Annabelle
Values Certificates and Counter Collection
This week we awarded:
LOVE: Emina / Grace
RESPECT: Maddison / Jacob / Evelyn / Anna
UNITY: Year 4
COURAGE:
W/C 9th Sept
Monday: British Values
Tuesday : Kingdom of God - Led by Father Damian
Wednesday : Singing
Thursday : Picture News
Friday : Celebration Assembly
W/C 16th Sept
Monday: Paralympian Event - We are all special
Tuesday : Kingdom of God - Led by Rev. Tom
Wednesday : Singing
Thursday : Picture News
Friday : Celebration Assembly
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
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.
The Family Information Service is a free impartial information and signposting service for families with children aged 0 to 19 (up to 25 years for those with additional needs). The role of the service is to help families get the most out of the information and services available in the community and online.
https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/children/support-and-advice/families/contact/about
Please find below the 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.
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.
Multiply is a range of free, flexible courses that can help people like you improve their number skills. The courses come in many different shapes and sizes - from just a couple of hours online, to in-person courses that run over several weeks - there's something to suit everyone.
Whether you just want to feel more confident with numbers in everyday life, need better number skills to get a new job or move ahead in your current role, want to earn a new qualification, or just want to be able to help with your children’s homework, there's a course to suit you.
All Multiply courses are completely free, and are available to Surrey residents, aged 19 and over who don’t currently have a GCSE in maths (or equivalent).
If you’d like to start improving your number confidence today, please check out the Multiply page on the Surrey County Council website. You can complete the online form to register your interest (so someone can get back to you with more information), and view the full list of available courses: www.surreycc.gov.uk/multiply
Reception Tours for 2025
We are now starting our school tours for 2025 starters. If you know someone who has a child due to start school next September, please do let them know that our tours are available to book on our website.
Our advert here can also be shared.