Our school charity
On Friday, we all reviewed our whole-school homework on charity. We shared examples of charities we know and which charity we thought would be good to support this year.
Children brought some fantastic ideas to the table and could confidently speak about why they had chosen a certain charity. Some children liked the work the charity did, whereas some children had been directly affected by their chosen charity.
Through good discussion and then a democratic voting process to reinforce British values, we narrowed a large list of charities down to just a few which were taken to School Council for the final vote: Cancer Research UK, Starlight, The Leeds Children’s Heart Surgery Fund, St Gemma’s Hospice, the NSPCC and many more.
Last year, our whole-school charity was Unicef– an international children’s charity. The School Council felt that this year it might be a good idea to support a national or even a local charity. After three different votes, we finally settled on our whole-school charity to be Dogs Trust. The voting was extremely close.
The School Council were happy with the overall decision and are looking forward to organising fundraising events!
The Town Mayor’s visit
On Friday, it was a very foggy, grey day but we were brightened up by having a very special visitor at St James’. The Town Mayor, Cllr Galan Moss, came to our school to help us celebrate our recent successes.
This year, he is supporting school PTAs in order to create links between the local council and schools. He officially opened our new gym equipment, which is the result of the tremendous efforts of our PTA, who raised funds to buy it.
Afterwards, Cllr Moss spoke to the Year 5 and 6 children about his role as the Town Mayor and answered questions from the children, such as: How did you become Mayor? What changes have you made to Wetherby? What’s the best thing about being the Mayor of Wetherby?
It was wonderful to meet the Town Mayor and show him around our fantastic school.
Remembrance Sunday
Thank you to our Year 5 and 6 children, who attended the Remembrance Sunday parade in Wetherby this morning. It was lovely to see familiar faces walking with the Brownies too.
Achievement Assembly
Well done to all the children who received a certificate this week.
Staying safe to and from school
We want our children to be happy and healthy learners. For older children, walking to and from school, perhaps with friends, can be a good way to incorporate some physical activity into the school day. It’s also a way to develop independence as they approach secondary school.
If your child walks, scoots or cycles to and from school without an adult, please do make sure you regularly check that they understand how to stay safe.
Are they crossing roads in a safe way?
It can be easy to become distracted, perhaps with their friends or, even more likely, if they’re using a mobile. Make sure you’re confident your child knows the importance of crossing roads safely.
Do they know what to do if they encounter a stranger who’s behaving suspiciously?
Perhaps when you were growing up, the message was ‘Stranger danger’. However, this message doesn’t recognise that sometimes approaching a stranger is a way to stay safe – if your child were to get lost, seeking help would be better than becoming more lost, for example. A new campaign is promoting a new message: ‘Clever never goes‘. Does your child know to never go off somewhere with an adult (whether a stranger or not)? Does your child have ideas about what to do if an adult is following them?
If you’ve any specific questions, comments or concerns, please do ask.
Anti-bullying week- odd socks day
Next week is Anti-bullying Week. This year’s theme is ‘Choose Respect’ and we will be joining in with Odd Socks Day on Monday 12 November.
This day is to raise awareness of our differences, individuality and personal choice. There is no need for any payment – your child should simply wear odd socks and join in the fun!
Thank you for your support.
Let’s have a fresh start!
In the last couple of years, St James’ CE Primary has had lots of change – all for the better!
We’re the second most improved school in Leeds. (This is based on 2018 KS2 outcomes for pupils.)
How have we achieved this? New teachers, new Head of School, new policies and procedures, a new curriculum… In so many ways, St James’ CE Primary is a new school! We’re proud of our pupils and our lovely spacious school – we wouldn’t want to change either of those things! However, we’re also proud of the great improvements we’re making to make St James’ a happy and healthy place to learn.
You might have noticed a new sign outside our school. We thought it was important to show to Wetherby our fresh start!
This half-term’s Christian value is…
…perseverance.
Every half-term, we focus on one of our six Christian values.
Perseverance is needed when standing firm in the face of any difficulty. It is the special gift that we have when life is difficult or painful that helps us not to give up. Difficulties might include hardship, persecution or scorn, although we hope these difficulties do not arise in our school. We use it more in the context of ‘keeping going’ and ‘not giving up’. Which of our 8Rs for learning is it most similar to?
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9)
Why did the Church Council choose this Christian value? ‘Because Jesus always said to try our best.’ (Year 4 Church Council member)
Home Challenge:
- How can we show perseverance in school?
- How can we show perseverance in home, or in other situations?
- Talk about a time when you showed perseverance.
Parent-teacher meetings
Thanks to all the parents and carers who came along to the first of our parent-teacher meetings. It was great to see so many people attend, taking an active role in supporting their child’s learning.
Thanks also to the parents and carers who spoke to the governors who were around. Here are some of the comments:
- ‘It’s a lovely school. I came here. It’s small and friendly. The teachers feel close to us and the children – we all know each other well.’
- ‘I couldn’t say anything bad about it! I like it being a church school; I like the prayers; it gives them something to hang on to.’
- ‘You can tell on a first walk round that it is a church school. People in the area say negative things about the school, but it’s not like that.’
- ‘He comes to school much more happily now and challenges himself.’
- ‘It was a good school, then had a dip but it’s now much better.’
It’s especially great to read that parents and carers are recognising that St James’ is a school that’s quickly improving!
On that subject, last year, St James’ CE was the second fastest improving school in Leeds in terms of Key Stage 2 outcomes!
Staying safe and secure in our school
At St James’ C of E Primary School, we take safeguarding and safety very seriously. It’s important that we continue to review all our procedures, taking into account even those events that are very unlikely to occur. As part of this process, we’ll shortly practise a new procedure called ‘lockdown’.
What is a lockdown and when would we carry it out?
A lockdown procedure is a standard health and safety procedure similar to a fire drill.
Our lockdown procedure would be used when there is a threat to the safety of pupils, staff and others in the school, and when it is safer for everyone to remain in school than evacuate. The aim is to keep people safe by confining them to a secure place of safety.
We’ll practise this procedure soon.
Before we do, staff will take time to talk to pupils about lockdown procedures and explain why they are important. They will reassure pupils after the drill that they are safe, and will emphasise that practising procedures like this will make sure the school remains a happy, healthy and safe place to learn.
If you have any questions or concerns please speak to Miss Beatson or Mr Roundtree.