21st November 2025

A Message from Mrs Murphy

Dear Parents and Carers,

The school has been busy with activity over the last two weeks which has included so many trips and visitors. These curriculum enhancements support the children to apply their learning in different contexts.

Over the last two weeks alone, Year 1 enjoyed a fascinating historical journey to Milestones Museum; Year 6 had an exciting and educational day out at London Zoo; Year 5 visited a local Synagogue as part of their Religious Education studies and Year 5 had a Shakespeare workshop in school.

Remembrance

Last week our KS2 pupils conducted a moving Remembrance Service at St James church. This service included poems, songs and reflections of thankfulness. In school all children took part in pause day activities.

Healthy School Award

We are also thrilled to announce that St James has achieved yet another reward this week. We have achieved recognition from Surrey County Council for our efforts in developing a Healthy Schools Approach to wellbeing, health, inclusion and achievement. This is something we take pride in doing here at St James with our relationship model approach so we are very pleased for this to be recognised. Thank you to Mrs Powick, Mrs Dodd and Mrs Herbert who worked hard to coordinate our application.

Lantern Parade Preparations

This week our KS2 children have been busy crafting beautiful lanterns in school, ready to light up the Weybridge Lantern Parade on Sunday 30th November.

Their creativity and teamwork have been amazing, and we can’t wait to see the finished lanterns glowing during the parade. A huge thank you to our fantastic TAs and parent volunteers who supported the children in making these wonderful creations. Your help has made this possible.

Want to join the fun?

All children across the school are welcome to take part in this special community event. If your child would like to join, please complete the sign-up form using the link below:

Children attending will receive their lantern on Friday 28th November. Meeting location and time is within the sign up form.

Teaching Consent to children

On Monday, children had an in class assembly on the theme of consent. The assemblies are aimed at helping children to understand that everyone has the right to personal space and to make choices about their own bodies. This is an important part of safeguarding and helps children develop respect for themselves and others.

What Does Consent Mean for Children?

Consent isn’t just about saying “yes” or “no.” It’s about understanding boundaries and respecting them.

For example:

• Listening when someone says “no” and not trying to change their mind.

• Knowing they can say “no” themselves if something makes them uncomfortable.

Why Is This Important?

Teaching consent early helps children:

• Build confidence in expressing their feelings.

• Understand that their body belongs to them.

• Develop empathy and respect for others’ choices.

At St James we teach all children that if they say 'stop I don't like it' they should expect the behaviour to stop. This is a message and sentence we teach across all year groups as we develop understanding of consent in an age appropriate way.

Looking ahead

We are looking forward to seeing lots of you at our Christmas Fair tomorrow, Saturday 22nd November from 2pm until 5pm. This festive event will be both inside and outside, so please wrap up warm! It's the perfect way to kick off the festive season and support the school. We can't wait to see you there!

I hope you have a lovely weekend,

Mrs Murphy

Christmas Performances

Save the Date!

EYFS & Year 1 - 10th & 11th December (9:15am - School hall)

Year 2 - 16th December (9.15am - School hall)

Years 3 & 4 - 16th December - Carols (2.30pm - School hall)

Years 5 & 6 - 17th December - Carols at St James Church (5.15pm until 6.15pm)

Online sign up forms to attend these events will be sent out by email in due course.

Friends of St James

Christmas Fair - 22nd November 2025

Dear Parents and Carers,

This year we are kicking off the festive season early with the St James Christmas Fair taking place on Saturday 22nd November between 2pm and 5pm. We can’t wait to welcome all our St James families and friends for an afternoon of fun, games, food and drink!

We have a whole host of fun planned to include:

Giant Advent Calendar · Pin the Nose on Rudolph
Christmas Decoration Making · Biscuit Decorating
Coin Toss Game · Money Tree
Tin Can Alley · Christmas Stocking Game
Lucky Candy Canes · Christmas Hat Ring Toss
Snowman Snap · Bottle Tombola
Guess the number of sweets in the jar · Christmas Tuck Shop
BBQ & Bar · Mulled Wine and Mince Pies
Toy Collection for the Giant Advent Calendar

Tokens

All stalls will accept both cash and tokens.Tokens can be purchased at the fair.

Natasha’s Law and Allergies

Various stalls at the Christmas Fair will feature a selection treats/food items for sale, including a dedicated biscuit decorating stall. In line with Natasha's Law, we want to assure you that all ingredients will be clearly displayed at each stall offering food items. As these stalls are run by volunteer parents, we must stress that the school and the volunteers cannot take responsibility for children purchasing food items. It is the responsibility of parents/carers to ensure that any child with a known allergy is either accompanied, supervised, or not permitted to buy items without adult oversight to ensure their safety.

Thank you in advance for your support of our Christmas Fair and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Kind Regards,

Daisy and the Christmas Fair team.

School Menu

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.

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.