This week’s message comes from Miss Beatson…
As we come to the end of the school year, I’d like to reflect on what a great year we’ve had at St James’ CE Primary School.
The children and staff have worked incredibly hard and this is reflected in our end of year outcomes for our children. The highlights have been the progress made by our Reception children, the Year 1 phonics scores, KS1 SATs outcomes and our KS2 reading and writing outcomes- we’re very proud of everyone’s achievements.
Summer term has seen the opening of our fabulous forest school. Years 1 to 5 have had the opportunity to learn in the St James’ Woodland and the feedback from children, parents and staff has been so positive.
- ‘It makes me feel happy and go out of my comfort zone.’
- ‘I enjoyed making a slack line and a swing with ropes – we were told how to stay safe.’
- ‘We’ve created art and made a snake hotel using a big tube and leaves for a bed!’
- ‘I’ve enjoyed the fire – I learnt that it needs three things: air, wood and sparks. I enjoyed toasting the marshmallows too.’
We really value the benefit of forest school for the personal development and wellbeing of the children. With help from the PTA, we’ve managed to secure funding for forest school to continue for next year which means all the children in school will have the chance to attend.
We’ve also enriched the curriculum with trips to various places: Early Years visited Piglets Adventure Farm, Key Stage 1 visited Cannon Hall Farm, Key Stage 2 had fun on the beach in Filey and Year 6 went on their residential to Robinwood. These are experiences the children really enjoy and will remember forever.
This week, we’ve had the Key Stage 2 performance of Robin and the Sherwood Hoodies. The children were brilliant and we had some lovely comments from those who came to watch.
It’s also been health week this week. As part of the themed week, we had our sport’s day. Thank you to all the visitors who cheered the children on in their races (and took part themselves!). Well done to the blue team for achieving the most points overall. Check out our recently updated guide: Physical Activity. Also, make sure your child completes the health questionnaire alongside you – it’s this week’s homework.
As we come to the end of the academic year, we’re sadly saying some goodbyes. Year 6 will be leaving us to go to secondary school. I’m so proud of the Year 6 children who were in Year 1 when I first started at St James’. It’s been a pleasure to watch them grow and mature into fantastic young people- I wish them all the best in their futures.
We also say goodbye to some members of staff: Mrs Rowley, Mrs Valentine, Mrs Payne and Miss Kay. Thank you to them all for their hard work and commitment to the children at St James’ – you will be missed.
In September, we’ll see new arrivals in our Nursery, Reception and teaching staff. We’re looking forward to welcoming them into our school community.
This year, our school chosen charity has been Cancer Research UK. Thank you for all your donations throughout the year. Some of our staff have raised money for events outside of school, too. Mrs Payne and Miss Gledhill were busy baking and selling cakes at a recent cake sale at St James’ Church and last weekend a group of staff participated in the Race for Life event in Harrogate. Miss Gledhill had a special mention on the day for being one of the top five fundraisers! Well done to all involved (and thank you if you donated).
We’ve one more week to go but I’d like to wish everyone a happy and healthy Summer break. We look forward to seeing the children back on Tuesday 05 September.