We’ll start this week with a couple of reminders of pages on our website you might not check out very often, but it’s useful to know they’re there…
- the Safeguarding page gives you a broad overview of some aspects of safeguarding that we consider carefully – it even includes a list of support services for domestic violence and abuse
- the Join in Beyond School page includes a physical activity guide suggesting out-of-school physical activities available to families in our local area
Next week
A couple of events next week…
On Monday, there’s a topic review session at 2.30pm. This is the second of two drop-in sessions – a chance to look at your child’s topic learning. If you’re coming, please arrive promptly.
The vast majority of children enjoy sharing their learning – it’s a cause for celebration and feeling proud. We recognise there might be one or two who struggle with the change or the extra people – please consult your child’s class teacher if you’ve concerns.
Next Friday is Red Nose Day. (This is a day that wasn’t in our calendar in September because they hadn’t announced the date.) We invite children to come to school wearing red and making a donation.
As always with non-uniform days, please continue to respect our Uniform Policy. Here’s what it says about non-uniform days:
Pupils should dress appropriately and respectfully, even on non-uniform days. Clothes are inappropriate if they, for example, glorify violence, feature bad language, are very short (eg crop tops), or relate to age-inappropriate topics. When consulted (18.03.21), junior leaders described this as ‘setting-appropriate’ clothing and clothing that is ‘well-judged’. Make-up (other than face paints as part of a specific costume) is not allowed. Flipflops or high-heeled shoes are not allowed, even on non-uniform days, because they’re dangerous when running.
Personal hygiene
Our Living and Learning statement this week was I know the importance of personal hygiene, including handwashing.
This is a big area to think about! At home, it would be a good idea to break this down into a few areas, and come up with a few top tips for each. For example…
- food hygiene (eg wash hands before eating and preparing food)
- hand hygiene (eg wash hands after every trip to the toilet)
- health hygiene (eg sneeze or cough into our elbow, not into our hands – we sometimes call this the vampire method)
- oral hygiene (eg brush teeth twice a day, including last thing at night – no snacks afterwards)
Aimed at younger children, this BBC Bitesize clip called ‘Keeping clean’ is worth watching with your child.
Spirituality and Forest School
St James’ CE Primary’s vision is to be a happy and healthy place to achieve and believe. Regardless of whether you have a faith or none at all, developing spirituality plays a role in achieving this for our pupils and our staff, enabling them to flourish.
At St James’ CE Primary, spirituality means a sense of connection: this might mean connecting with ourselves, connecting with others, connecting with the world and environment, or connecting with a greater force beyond.
Our Forest School area is a very special place in our school grounds where children have an opportunity to connect with each other and with nature. It provides a space to develop spirituality. Sarah from Born of the Forest leads
our children in Forest School and she’s finding lots of ‘wow moments’ where the children can appreciate, notice and connect with the world around them.
A quote from Sarah Following a recent session, Sarah says: “We were bird spotters today and shared moments that were exciting, fascinating, and joyful. The robin birdsong and red kites were some highlights. There was a discussion today about the fact that we humans are also animals (which seemed to confuse some), and that we’re all are part of nature.”
A Year 2 pupil recently spoke enthusiastically about their time in Forest School: “Last week, we were litter picking so we could help the environment. I enjoy playing in the mud kitchen with my friends – it’s fun to get muddy!”
We’re very thankful to our PTA (Parent and Teacher Association) who help fundraise and pay towards Forest School so all children at St James’ CE Primary School can take part.
Reception parents survey
There’s a few days left to complete this short survey. for parents of children in Reception – it closes on Wednesday 18 March. It’ll only take a few minutes and your views can make a difference. (If you’d like us to follow-up any of your responses with you, we can only do this if you leave your name.)
Have a happy and healthy weekend.