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.

A Reminder About Playground Equipment After School

For the safety of all our children, we kindly remind parents and carers that playground equipment should not be used after school. Our insurance only covers children when a member of staff is present to supervise, and as staff are not on duty after dismissal, we ask that children do not climb or play on the equipment at this time.

Thank you for your understanding and support in keeping everyone safe!

A Reminder About Parking

At St Mary’s, we value our strong relationships with our local community and ask for your support in ensuring we remain considerate to our neighbours when parking.

To help ease congestion and minimise disruption, we strongly encourage all parents to park at Tesco and walk up to school wherever possible. This not only supports our local residents but also promotes a safer and healthier start to the day for our children.

Please be mindful not to block driveways, park on pavements, or cause inconvenience to residents. If we receive reports of inconsiderate parking, registration numbers will be included in our newsletter as part of our commitment to working together with our community.

Let’s set a positive example for our children by showing respect and care for those around us. Thank you for your cooperation.

U is for Unauthorised -  When a child is absent from school, their absence is recorded as either authorised or unauthorised. Absences for reasons such as birthdays, shopping trips, or waking up late will be unauthorised. Genuine illness may be authorised, but if your child's attendance is already below 93%, we may not be able to authorise the absence, even if the reason would usually be accepted. This is considered on a case-by-case basis.

If your child's attendance falls below 93% (whether authorised or unauthorised), they will be placed on our monitoring list, and their attendance will be checked daily.

In all cases of absence, please ensure you phone the school office before 9am.

Next week we will be celebrating Art Week by participating in the Take One Picture Project run by the National Gallery. The children will share with you the details of the painting as the week progresses.

This year we are lucky enough to have photographer Shanice Keenan join us on Wednesday 5th February to run a workshop with each class. Children will need to bring in a teddy or similar stuffed toy to use as the subject for their photographs. Please send this to school in a named bag on Wednesday morning.

Year 5 will have the first workshop of the day which starts at 8.45am. Please could we ask that Year 5 children arrive at school between 8:30 and 8:40am so that we can start the workshop promptly at 8:45am. We appreciate your support with this as it helps timings for the day to run smoothly.  

We look forward to sharing the photographs with you.

At St Mary's, safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to ensuring that our children feel safe, supported, and cared for both in and out of school.

Our school participates in a national scheme called Operation Encompass, which is a joint partnership between Three Rivers Police and schools. This initiative ensures that all incidents of domestic abuse are shared with schools, not just those where an offence can be identified.

We recognise that children can be significantly harmed both physically and emotionally in these situations, and this can have a negative impact on their learning and behaviour. To mitigate this, information is shared by the police with the school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) before the start of the next school day following a domestic abuse incident.

This allows us to:

✅ Provide immediate emotional support for children involved in or exposed to domestic abuse.

✅ Tailor our approach to meet the individual needs of the child.

✅ Offer additional support for families in difficult situations.

If you have any concerns regarding domestic abuse and the impact it may have on your child, please do not hesitate to contact our Designated Safeguarding Lead (Mrs Maxwell) for further support.

Online Safety – Age-Restricted Games and Their Impact

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...

Stepping Back in Time: Year 6 WW2 Experience

Year 1 Toy Time Travel

Year 1 had a wonderful time taking part in the History Off the Page toy workshop! The children explored and compared old and modern toys, gaining a hands-on understanding of how toys have changed over time. In the afternoon, they had the exciting opportunity to create their own toys to take home. We also loved seeing the old toys brought in by parents, which made for a truly special shared experience.

A huge thank you to our fantastic parent volunteers for their support! 

Year 6 at a U11 Badminton Training Session

On Friday, six of our Year 6 pupils proudly represented St Mary’s at an Under-11 Badminton training session at York House. They showed fantastic skill, teamwork, and sportsmanship throughout the session - well done to everyone who took part! A big thank you to Mrs. Thomas for accompanying them.

With only two other schools in attendance, our pupils had the fantastic opportunity to receive focused coaching from the PE teacher at York House. The session began with a general warm-up before moving on to a fun activity using bean bags to illustrate the precision and control needed when hitting a shuttlecock.

They then worked in pairs, practicing different shots - one throwing the shuttlecock while the other aimed to execute the techniques they had learned. The session wrapped up with exciting quickfire games, where players rotated in and out of the court based on their performance, culminating in a thrilling final rally to determine the winner.

It was a fantastic experience, and our pupils did us proud with their enthusiasm and determination! 

Siddarth - Year One

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!