Trust

• There are lots more dates to add to the calendar but we wanted to get these to you as soon as possible to put into your dairies...

2025-2026 Academic Year

INSET Days and Trust Development Days

INSET and Trust Development Days (in red , blue and purple) are days children are not in school. These are important training days for staff to enhance their skills, knowledge, and collaboration across the school and Trust.  They ensure we deliver the best possible education for our children.

At St Mary’s, we know that every day in school matters. There are only 40 teaching weeks in the school year, with 12 weeks of holiday, so it’s vital that children make the most of their learning time. We expect all children to be in school and on time every day, and we celebrate good attendance and punctuality each week in our Celebration Assembly on a Friday. 

Did you know?

📌 Missing just five days of learning per term, every year, is the same as losing an entire school year!

📌 95% attendance may sound good, but it means your child is missing one day of learning every month.

The Benefits of Good Attendance ✅

⭐ Higher motivation to learn

⭐ Greater confidence and independence

⭐ More opportunities to enjoy extra-curricular activities

⭐ A strong sense of achievement and self-esteem

⭐ Stronger friendships and social skills

Let’s work together to ensure every child shines their light at St Mary’s, attending school every day and making the most of their education!

Keeping Our Children Safe Online

At St Mary’s, we recognise that our pupils are growing up in a world where technology is constantly evolving. The internet opens up exciting opportunities for learning, creativity, and connection, but we must also acknowledge the risks that come with it.

We are committed to helping children navigate the online world safely. Through our curriculum, we teach them:

The impact of cyberbullying and the importance of seeking help if they are affected.

Online awareness, ensuring they understand that not everyone they meet online is who they claim to be and to be cautious about what they share.

Seeking help from trusted adults when something online makes them feel uncomfortable or upset.

Thinking critically about information found on the internet, understanding that not everything they see online is reliable.

How We Keep Children Safe at School

At St Mary’s, we use RM Safetynet, an advanced filtering system that ensures safe internet use within school. This system allows us to:

✔ Filter content appropriately for different age groups, ensuring children only access suitable materials.

✔ Monitor and log search activity, preventing inappropriate content from being accessed.

✔ Block harmful websites and search terms before they reach children’s screens.

✔ Apply time-specific filters, allowing additional control over internet access during certain times of the day.

While we take great care to promote online safety in school, we know that much of children's internet use happens at home. To support families, we have compiled a list of useful resources to help parents and carers guide their children in becoming responsible and safe digital citizens:

Helpful Online Safety Resources for Parents

Thinkuknow - http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk - A programme from the National Crime Agency’s CEOP Command, offering practical advice and information for parents, carers, and children.

Internet Matters - https://www.internetmatters.org/advice/esafety-leaflets-resources/ -  A comprehensive hub of advice and guidance on internet safety.

National Online Safety - https://nationalonlinesafety.com/resources/platform-guides/ -  Up-to-date safety guides on social media apps and platforms children may be using.

NSPCC - http://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/share-aware/ - Share Aware – Advice to help parents understand how to keep children safe online.

Childnet - http://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/share-aware/ - A UK charity dedicated to making the internet a safe place for children.

CEOP - http://ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/ -  A resource for reporting concerns about online abuse or unsafe communication.

BBC - https://www.bbc.com/ownit  -  A website and app designed to support children in managing their online lives.

SafeToNet - https://safetonet.com/ -   A safeguarding tool that helps children make safer online decisions in real time.

Online safety is a shared responsibility between school and home. By working together, we can ensure that children develop the skills, awareness, and confidence to explore the digital world safely.

For more information or guidance, please speak to a member of staff or explore the resources listed above.

The ABC Model For Online Safety and Wellbeing

Written by online safety expert -Teodora Pavkovic (Child Wellbeing Specialist)

When it comes to raising children in the digital age, ensuring their online safety and digital wellbeing is a top priority for parents; therefore, setting up their devices with safeguards is an essential step when creating a safe online home environment. The ABC Model has three key steps to help you create a digital environment to not only protect your child, but to help them thrive.

Access

Boundaries 

Communication

Access: The digital seatbelt

Safe access is comparable to your child being in a car - you wouldn’t allow your child to be in a car without a seat belt, or for younger children, a child seat. Similarly, when it comes to devices and the internet, it’s essential to ensure their access is safe.

Before handing over a smartphone, tablet, or gaming console to your child, it’s advisable to put safety settings and parental controls, such as Qustodio in place to filter or block inappropriate content, manage social media and gaming apps, and even help you supervise screen time effectively.

Apply manual safety settings on all devices (ages 0-9) or use parental controls to block access to age-inappropriate apps and manage screen time (ages 10-16). For children aged ten years and under, turn on Google Safe Search and YouTube Restricted Mode on each individual device. For children over ten years of age, have a strict ‘off’ time at night. You can use parental controls to block access to social media and entertainment apps after bedtime.

Ensure your child’s identity is kept private on social media and gaming apps by turning on privacy settings and turning geolocation off for apps where it is not essential. For children aged ten years and under, set up all apps and accounts using a parent’s email address and password (and of course, don’t reveal the password to your child).

As you implement these steps with your child, engage them in conversations around online safety, and the differences between safe versus unsafe use of devices and online platforms.

Boundaries: The online road rules

Just like the road signs that guide us while driving, setting clear boundaries and rules for your child's device and internet use is vital. Remember that when creating your family tech agreement or establishing screen routines, you should involve your children to ensure everyone is on the same page and they work for all family members.

 Expect rule-breaking to happen, especially if you have young teens; however, when it does, reinforcing boundaries and correcting inappropriate behaviours is just as important (if not more so) as the boundaries themselves and will pay off in the long run.

 Develop a family tech agreement (a written document for ages 3-14 and a verbal agreement for ages 15+) to set clear rules about online behaviours. Include rules about appropriate ways to communicate online and the role you will take in their digital lives, e.g. whether you will follow their social media accounts.

TIP: Developing the agreement as a family is a great way to ensure everybody is on the same page and to help your child feel empowered.

 Have both positive and negative consequences. Many parents only use negative consequences for bad behaviour; however, having positive consequences for good online behaviour reinforces learning much faster.

 Set up a screen routine. Having clear boundaries regarding time spent online helps to manage expectations around when devices can be used. If your child is younger, this should be very structured (e.g., device leisure time between 4-5pm each day). For teenagers, there should be clear ‘off’ times (e.g., no screens after 8pm and no social media use during homework time – you can use a parental control tool to help enforce this).

 Adopt a screen-free area or screen-free time in the home to help with digital downtime and opportunities for face-to-face connection. The important thing to note is that these screen-free expectations apply to everybody in the home, including parents. Modelling is an essential part of online safety education.

 Children who use their devices in the later hours are less likely to be supervised; therefore, more likely to engage in riskier online behaviours.

Communication: The vehicle for digital safety and wellbeing

When communicating about online safety and digital wellbeing with your child, the key is to talk early and often, making conversations part of your everyday chat.

 Become involved in your child’s digital life. To effectively communicate with them regarding their online habits, you’ll need to learn about and become interested in the apps and games they’re using. Ask what they do and don’t like about the apps they’re using or what new skills they have mastered in a game they are playing. Be sure to keep the conversation positive to help them engage with you.

The key learning points around online safety for children in primary school are interacting with strangers online, catfishing (people pretending to be someone they aren’t), and online privacy. Conversations around how much control we do (and don’t) have over our personal information and photos once uploaded or shared are also helpful. 

If your child is older, keep the conversation broad. Young people of this age should be taught about dealing with online conflict and bullying, technology-related laws, the risks associated with sending nudes and succumbing to peer pressure, excessive technology use, digital footprints, and their online reputation.

Be sure to let your child know that they should always come to you with any worries or challenges they may be facing online. You ultimately want to be their go-to person for a thoughtful solution regarding any online concerns they have.

By following the ABC Model, you can create a digital environment that not only protects your child online but also helps them thrive.

House Points

This year, children will continue to earn House Points to fill their house team's bucket. Each week, the house with the most points will be awarded four points, the second place will receive three points, and so on. At the end of each term, the winning house will enjoy a non-uniform day as a special reward for their efforts.

Above and Beyond

Attendance Class of the Week...

Year Six at the Indoor Athletics

On Thursday, our Year 6 pupils took part in the indoor athletics competition at The Reach. It was an exciting afternoon and children participated in a range of challenges with enthusiasm, displaying great teamwork. They finished in fourth place overall. Well done to all the children who took part, and a big thank you to the staff who cheered them on. 

Netball Enrichment Club

Our netball enrichment club for Years 4-6have been working hard on practising their drills, showing fantastic focus and determination, before getting stuck into a thrilling game. 

🎶Celebrating Dillon's Musical Achievement🎶

We are incredibly proud of Dillon, who has passed his Debut Level on the guitar! This is a fantastic achievement, demonstrating his hard work, dedication, and passion for music. Learning an instrument takes perseverance and patience, and Dillon has shown both.

Well done, Dillon—keep strumming and shining your light! 

St Mary’s Highlights: Don’t Miss a Moment!

Stay connected and dive into the excitement at St Mary’s! Our social media pages are buzzing with all the amazing activities our children have been involved in over the past couple of weeks. From vibrant class projects and special assemblies to heartwarming community events, there’s so much to see and celebrate!

Click on our social media links to catch up on all the fun, unforgettable moments, and proud achievements. Don’t miss out—follow us and be part of the joy that makes our school community shine!