Newsletter : Friday 5th January 2024
A Message from Mrs Murphy
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back to all parents, carers and children as we enter 2024!
Our term has started really positively with the children all settling back to learning quickly, all eager to get back to work and to see their friends. In my assembly on Wednesday, all children took time to reflect on what their wishes were for 2024. We read New Year poetry and considered what we could do to "Let our Light Shine" in 2024!
School development work at St James
The staff at St James hit the ground running on Tuesday 2nd January with a packed training day. The teaching team had a full day training on High Impact Teaching, led by an inspirational visiting speaker, whilst the Teaching Assistants refreshed their knowledge of Colourful Semantics, a writing intervention we are embedding in our practice across the school. There was lots of excitement within the staff team to try out new things following this training as we continue on our commitment to deliver the highest quality education for the children of St James.
Class Newsletters
This week you would have received the termly newsletters for each of the year group. These include the termly curriculum for each year group, as well as key vocabulary. If you have not done so already, I would recommend having a look at these as they do provide ideas on how to support your children at home.
Playground development
As was mentioned at the end of the term, we now have an exciting new addition to the KS2 playground. The new history timeline is now in place and is already being used at breaktimes and lunchtimes where children are learning historical facts. The mindfulness garden is also proving popular and lots of children are enjoying the additional all weather space.
Key Stage 2 Library Update
We are very pleased to announce that our KS2 Library reorganisation has finished. Our 'Reading for Pleasure' library books are now arranged by genre to help children choose something they like, while others are organised by author. Children can now select books from both the non-fiction and fiction shelves so parents and carers will start to see a range of books coming home. All classes are visiting the library weekly to change their books.
To reduce worries about returning books, and continue to promote a love of reading, we have removed the book scanning requirement, replacing it with a trust based system.
We do ask that parents help with this and, if they do find books with the St James stamp in, at any point in the future, please do return to the office so that they can be reintegrated.
Values Homework Gallery
Today we opened our doors at the end of the day to allow children, parents and carers to view the fantastic homework the children created based on our school values of Love, Unity, Respect and Courage. Thank you to all the families that visited today and to the teaching assistants who worked so hard to display the work so creatively.
If you were unable to visit today, we will be opening our 'gallery' one more time next Friday so do please come and have a look at the amazing work.
Celebration of our writing progress across the school
Every term at St James, all children participate in a whole school writing task to monitor our high standards and progression across the school. In this task, all children, from Reception to Year 6, complete the same writing task. At the end of last term, the children were asked to re-write a version of a traditional tale, either Three Little Pigs (R-Y5) or Little Red Riding Hood (Y6).
All children accessed this task at their own level and worked with their usual resources and support in class to write something they were proud of.
This afternoon, Mrs Powick and I had the pleasure of looking through this and were astounded by the effort the children had put in. Each version had an individual twist which was fascinating to read. Here are a few examples from across the school.
As you can see, this is another testament to how hard the children and teachers are working at St James.
Stem Week
We will be repeating our highly successful STEM week during the week of the 5th February which will aim to inspire all children in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. The teaching team are working hard to plan exciting activities for the children but would also like to hear from any parents/carers who work in these areas and would like to support us by either coming into school to talk to the children about their job, or signpost us to further resources. Please do make contact with the teaching team through the office on office@stjames-weybridge.surrey.sch.uk if you can offer any support.
E- Safety
We understand that some children may have received a new device for Christmas and we would like to remind all parents how important it is to ensure the correct parental controls are set to keep children safe online.
This resource is very useful in providing an overview to parents.
Parent Code of Conduct.pdfParent and Carer Code of Conduct
At the start of this new term, all the team are working hard to re-establish our high expectations of behaviour and learning with the children at St James following the break. As we enter 2024, we also wanted to remind our parents and carers of the St James Parent Code of Conduct, which includes the expectation that all members our community support our school values of Love, Unity, Respect and Courage.
This Code of Conduct is in place to protect all children, parents, staff and Governors at St James as we work to ensure that the school can operate smoothly and support all the school community. It contains guidance on what is seen as acceptable and unacceptable parent and carer behaviour, both at school and online (which includes social media and WhatsApp). Please do take time to read and reflect on this.
At St James we are incredibly proud of our school, the work we do to support the school community and the relationship we have with parents and carers as we work with the common goal of providing the highest quality of education for all children.
Thank you to all parents and carers for their support in creating the caring environment that we have at St James by following this code of conduct.
And finally...
NEWS FLASH... Spaceship landed at St James!
Very excitingly, we did have an alien rocket crash land at St James this week. Year 1 classes, Wrens and Robins, have been investigating this in their English lessons. Year 1 parents, please do not worry, I understand the alien is very friendly! I cannot wait to see all the writing this immersive learning activity supports the children to produce!
Wishing you a lovely weekend.
Best wishes,
Mrs Murphy
Promoting a love of Reading
Reading Challenge
As you know, we are promoting reading at home with our 50 Reads Challenge.
Congratulations to all the children who have received their certificate. Reading Rainbow in the hall is growing nicely. I wonder when we will start to see the next colour appear for 100 reads?
Autumn/Winter Lunch Menu
Please find below the Autumn/Winter menu. 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.
Family Support
Collective Worship at St James
Week beginning: 1st January 2024
Wednesday: New Year, new opportunities
Thursday: Class assembly
Friday: Celebrations
Celebration Awards
Y1 Wrens: Henrique
Robins: Liliana
Y2 Woodpeckers: Robert F.
Kingfishers: Thann
Y3 Snowy Owls: Gracie
Y4 Kestrels: George
Merlins: Freya L.
Y5 Falcons: Harriet
Kites: Tabitha
Y6 Eagles: Tommy
Hawks: ALL
Values Certificates and Counter Collection
This week we awarded:
LOVE: Katie S.
RESPECT: Ryan P.
UNITY: -
COURAGE: Isla T. / Daisy R.
Diary Dates
DIARY DATES:
17, 24, 31 Jan Y5 Swimming
Thurs 18 Jan Y4 Cake sale
Fri 19 Jan Early Years - Open Theatre workshop
7, 21, 28 Feb Y5 Swimming
Tues 6 Feb Y4 'Juniper Hall' day trip
Thurs 8 Feb Y3 Cake sale
W/C 12 Feb HALF TERM
Tues 5 March Y3 Kew Gardens day trip
6, 13 March Y5 Swimming
13 / 14 / 15 March Parent meetings (times TBC)
Friday 15 March Red Nose Day - Mufti / wear anything red.
18 - 20 March Year 4 Residential 'Hindleap Warren'
Thurs 28 March Last day of Term (Easter) - Normal 3:15pm finish (no After-School Club)
Mon 15 April START OF SUMMER TERM
Tues 16 April Y6 'A Midsummer Nights Dream' workshop. 9 - 11.30am
Wed 17, 24 April Y4 Swimming
Wed 24 April Y1 Wisley Gardens day trip
Wed 1, 8, 15, 22 May Y4 Swimming
Thurs 2nd May Y5 Dorking Halls Primary Music Festival
w/c Mon 13 May Y6 SATS
Tues 21 May Reception - Painshill Park day trip
Thurs 23 May Mufti Day - 'Break The Rules'
Fri 24 May Inset Day - (School closed)
W/C 27 May Half Term.
Mon 3 June Back to School.
Fri 7 June Someone Special stall
Mon 10 - Fri 14 June Y6 Residential - Isle Of Wight
Tues 18 June Y6 - Leavers Service at Guildford Cathedral
Thurs 27 June Y1 Cake sale
Fri 28 June Sports Day
Tues 9 July Y6 Leavers Production.
Wed 10th July Y6 Leavers Production
Fri 12th July Friends Mufti Day
Sat 13th July Summer Fair
Wed 17th July Y6 Leavers Service at St James Church
Friday 19 July End of Summer Term - 1.30pm finish (no After-School Club)