Dear Parents and Carers,

We have reached the end of the half term and what has been a very busy week at St James. Not only have the children been excited about STEM week and Internet Safety day, but we have also had lots of external visitors this week who have all been wowed by how well the children behave and really impressed by how enthusiastic the children are about their learning.

Some highlights this week have been:

• The Life Tent has visited Reception, Year 1,2,4 and 6 this week to support their RSHE Lifeskills lessons.

• Year 5 have been making bolognaise in their DT Day

• Year 2 built structures inspired by the Iggy Peck, Architect book. 

• Year 4 got a little wet on Tuesday when they were developing fieldwork skills in the river at Juniper Hall.

See below for some photos of these events. 

Playground Maps and Reception Enhancements 

Very excitingly, we have had some new maps installed over the weekend on both the KS1 and KS2 Playgrounds. These were selected by Mrs Lawrence, our Geography lead, and have been a real hit. Children have been having discussions about positions of countries, counties and capital cities during their breaktimes.

Reception have also had a delivery of a new Sand Shed and Water Wall which has provided lots of learning fun in Chicks and Ducklings. 

Thank you to the Friends who have paid for all of these items and Mr Le Roux who has constructed the sandpit and water wall. 

Welcomes 

We would like to warmly welcome Mr Pearse who will be joining us as our new caretaker at half term. He is very familiar with our school and will work alongside Mr Le Roux for the next two weeks as he gets familiar with the site. I am sure all the children, staff and parents will make him feel very welcome. 

Parent reminders

Whilst this has been a really positive week at school, unfortunately I do need to remind parents of the following: 

Parking: 

I have received a number of complaints this week about parents parking over driveways at pick up and drop off . Please could I ask all parents to follow our values of Love and Respect when parking to drop and pick up children after half term.  

Social Media and Parent conduct online.:

Further to my newsletter at the beginning of the term where I shared our Parent Code of Conduct, I would like to remind parents and carers again that it is not acceptable to post defamatory, offensive or derogatory comments about the school, children, staff or any member of its community, on social media platforms, which includes WhatsApp. As is outlined in this policy, any reports of this will be taken very seriously and appropriate actions will be taken. If parents/ carers do have a concern about anything to do with school, and this has not been solved through discussion with the class teacher, you are encouraged to bring this to my attention through requesting a call through the office, or sending an email marked confidential to office@stjames-weybridge.surrey.sch.uk  

As always, we appreciate all those parents who support our school values at St James. 

Wishing you all a lovely half term with your families. 

Kind regards,

Mrs Murphy