News

Not long to go

Posted on Monday 29 January 2024 by Miss Beatson

Our prize draw for good attendance is taking place on Friday 09 February.

All pupils with attendance of 96% or higher next half-term will be entered into a prize draw to win a £50 Love to Shop voucher!

If your child reaches a good level of attendance – that’s 96% – by the end of this half term, their name will be entered into a prize draw. We’ll select one lucky winner on the last day of the half-term (Friday 09 February).

St James’ CE Primary is a happy and healthy place to be – and maybe even a lucky one, too!

This week’s message (Friday 26 January 2024)

Posted on Friday 26 January 2024 by Mr Roundtree

This week, we’ve messages about measles, free school meals and a couple of forthcoming events in school. Before that, a thank you…

Watch us while we work

For parents and carers of children in Years 1 -6, this afternoon we’ve had another Watch Us While We Work session – the second of the year. Thank you if you were able to come to school to find out ways to support your child at home.

Based on parent feedback, we’ve a new feedback form for planned-in visits like this – things like Watch Us While We Work, Topic review sessions and Reception Stay and Learns.

We’d love to hear your views.

Measles

This comes from the Department for Education (DfE):

There have been recent localised outbreaks of measles centred around the West Midlands. There is a risk of further outbreaks in other areas unless urgent action is taken to increase Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccination take up in areas with low MMR vaccine rates.

Measles spreads very easily among those who are unvaccinated, especially in nurseries and schools. The best protection against measles for children and adults is to get both doses of the MMR vaccine. It is never too late to have these vaccinations.

Read the NHS advice for parents and carers.

Read the DfE has published an Education Hub blog with guidance on measles and the MMR vaccine for parents.

Free School Meals

Circumstances can change for anyone, as the enormous impact from the pandemic continues to prove. Some families can suddenly find themselves trying to cope with a new financial strain and pressure, perhaps as a result of a stressful new situation: separation, loss of a job, decreased working
hours, illness etc. If your household income is low or has recently decreased, your child may well qualify for Free School Meals.

Find out whether you’re eligible.

In addition to securing free school meals, your child would also become eligible for pupil premium funding. This provides us with extra money that we use to support children.

Finally this week, a couple of events coming up…

Wear Red Day

Our school charity this year is Children’s Heart Surgery Fund.

Wear Red Day is an annual fund-raising event to support the Leeds Congenital Heart Unit, its patients and their families.

The day is still a uniform day, but we invite children to come to school wearing some red, too – how might they adapt their uniform? Red socks, red polo short, red shorts…

This is an optional event. We welcome any donations, all of which will go towards our charity.

Safer Internet Day

This is on Tuesday 06 February. We’ll be making the day in school, but you might want to check out some resources to use at home.

Have a great weekend!

A visit from Children’s Heart Surgery Fund

Posted on Friday 26 January 2024 by Miss Beatson

Yesterday, Lauren from Children’s Heart Surgery Fund came to talk to us about the charity and all the great things they do for children. Lauren gave us some good fundraising ideas including ‘Wear Red Day’ which we will be taking part in on Friday 02 February. The children had opportunity to ask questions about the charity and about Lauren’s important role as a charity fundraiser. The Junior Leadership Team are meeting today to discuss more fundraising ideas so we can raise as much money as possible for this worthy cause.

 

This week’s message (Friday 19 January 2024)

Posted on Friday 19 January 2024 by Mr Roundtree

Early in each half-term, our weekly message centres around the current KS1 and KS2 topic. The message comes from Mr Wilks, who leads on foundation subjects (see page 7 for what foundation subjects are).

What is this half-term’s topic?

This half-term, we’re historians and will be developing our understanding of Britain’s past and the wider world.

I love history. It’s one of my favourite subjects to teach. There are so many amazing stories and characters from the past and although the people and events we study can be separated from our own lives by thousands of years, there are lots of relevant connections we can make with the world today. Children will use enquiry skills to answer questions about the past that require opinions. They’ll be ‘time detectives’, using sources of evidence to help them answer these questions.

Each phase has age-related specific knowledge, skills and vocabulary that they’ll learn, use and apply across the topic. See pages 22, 23 and 24.

Years 1 and 2

In this topic, children will learn about how shopping has changed over time. They’ll develop chronological understanding by sequencing events in their own lives before learning about how shopping was different during their parents’ and grandparents’ and great grandparents’ childhoods. They’ll look at similar products from different times and try to sequence them chronologically using logical reasoning. They’ll use photographs and other sources of evidence to identify changes and similarities on the high street over time. They’ll learn about the history of a local shop, Marks and Spencer, and how it has changed over time.

The key historical concept which we’ll explore in this topic is trade. Trade is the exchange of goods and services, initially for other goods and services, and then for money.

Years 3 and 4

Children will learn about the Roman Empire and its invasion of Britain. They will examine how life changed for the people living in Britain at the time of the invasion. They will learn about the Celtic warrior, Boudicca, and how she resisted the Romans. Children will also consider what we know about Boudicca, how we know it, and whether we can trust it.

They’ll learn about the amazing inventions and advances that the Romans brought to Britain. Finally, they’ll find out why the Romans left Britain and who the Anglo-Saxons were.

There are two key historical concepts which we’ll explore in this topic: empire and invasion. An empire is a large group of countries or states ruled by an emperor or empress. An invasion is when a country or region is invaded by an armed force. 

Years 5 and 6

In this topic, children will learn about Viking Britain and an Early Islamic Civilisation centred around the city of Baghdad around 800AD.

During this period of time, Baghdad was the largest city in the world and was the centre of the world’s trade routes. Trade between Vikings and Baghdad happened and provides a real link between these two societies.

Through studying the Vikings, children will again learn about how people invaded and settled in Britain. Invasion is also relevant as it brought an end to the Islamic Golden Age.

The Islamic Golden Age was a period of great innovation. Learning and knowledge was key to their success. They built the world’s first hospitals, universities and observatories, as well as studied writing from scholars around the world. The contrast with Viking Britain during the Dark Ages is stark!

There are three key historical concepts which we’ll explore in this topic: trade, invasion and innovation. Trade is the exchange of goods and services, initially for other goods and services, and then for money. An innovation is an improvement or replacement for something. An invasion is when a country or region is invaded by an armed force.

Help at home

Talk to your child about what they’ve been learning in class. The class news page of the school website is a good place to go to find out more about what the children are doing.

Find some books from the library which match what the children are learning. This will be quite easy for children in Key Stage 2 as there will be plenty of books about Roman Britain and Viking Britain. You should also be able to find some about the Islamic Golden Age. For children in KS1, you may find it more difficult to find books about shopping over time. However, any book that looks at how an aspect of life has changed over time will be good. For example, you may find KS1 history books about toys and games, houses, transport, holidays. These will all help your child to sequence chronologically and explore similarities and differences.

Watch television shows about history. Horrible Histories is great – regardless of your age!

d:side visit

Posted on Friday 19 January 2024 by Miss Beatson

This week, our Living and Learning statement is ‘I know that some drugs can be harmful’.

Dave from d:side came into school to speak to individual classes about drug and medicine awareness. In Reception and Year 1, he spoke to the children about taking care of our bodies and all about medicines; in Year 2, they talked about how our bodies work; in Year 3/4, they discussed smoking and vaping; and finally in Year 5/6 they talked about different types of drugs and if they are medical or not medical.

“I enjoyed the session with Dave and found out things I didn’t know such as solvents and how they are harmful.” Y5

“Dave explained all about drugs in a really clear way. He told us the drugs that are legal and illegal.” Y5

“He showed us what people look like when they take drugs and they didn’t look well. We then saw a picture of someone 10 months after not taking drugs and they looked a lot better.”  Y6

Don’t forget…

Posted on Monday 15 January 2024 by Miss Beatson

…our attendance competition.

All pupils with attendance of 96% or higher next half-term will be entered into a prize draw to win a £50 Love to Shop voucher!

So… for the full Spring 1 half-term, Monday 08 January to Friday 09 February (five weeks), if your child reaches a good level of attendance – that’s 96% – their name will be entered into a prize draw. We’ll select one lucky winner on the last day of the half-term (Friday 09 February).

St James’ CE Primary is a happy and healthy place to be – and maybe even a lucky one, too!

This week’s message (Friday 12 January 2024)

Posted on Friday 12 January 2024 by Mr Roundtree

Welcome to our first message of 2024! It seems a little late to wish you a happy new year, but we’ll do it all the same: best wishes for a happy and healthy 2024. This week’s message has quite a few things, but we’ve tried to keep them fairly short…

Dates for your diary

This Spring term is a short one – just five weeks in Spring 1 and just a day short of six weeks in Spring 2. As always, please check our school calendar to know what’s coming up (amongst other things, a Watch Us While We Work session in Years 1-6 and Stay and Learn sessions in Reception, plus parent-teacher meetings).

Did your child get an electronic device for Christmas?

…If so, then do make sure parental controls are all in place. Here’s a handy guide from the NSPCC.

Attendance matters

Our whole-school attendance for the Autumn term was 94.2%. How does your child’s class compare?

  • Reception – 94.8%
  • Year 1 – 93.0%
  • Year 2 – 96.1% – well done!
  • Year 3 – 96.3% – brilliant!
  • Year 4 – 96.8% – amazing attendance!
  • Year 5 – 87.8%
  • Year 6 – 90.7%

The low attendance in Year 5 and 6 is clearly a concern for us. We know some people in the class have high attendance, but the absence rate means about a week and half of lost learning as an average.

We know that winter is one of the peak times for adults and children to come down with mild illnesses such as colds, coughs and sore throats.

Your child should stay at home from school if they’ve a high temperature (fever) and are unwell, and wait until it has passed before going back.

If they’ve just got a runny nose, sore throat or slight cough – without a high temperature – your child should still attend school. Children should stay at home if they’ve a high temperature (fever) or if they have diarrhoea and/or vomiting – this helps stop the spread of stomach bugs.

If in doubt, check the NHS site: Is my child too ill for school?

Read this BBC article for five top tips to help.

The national attendance rate for primary schools in Autumn was 94.7%. Our figure is just a bit lower here at St James’ CE Primary. Let’s see if we can beat the national figure at the next review.

Talking of attendance…

Don’t forget…

All pupils with attendance of 96% or higher this half-term are entered into a prize draw to win a £50 Love to Shop voucher!

So, for the full Spring 1 half-term, Monday 08 January to Friday 09 February (five weeks), if your child reaches a good level of attendance – that’s 96% or more – their name will be entered into a prize draw. We’ll select one lucky winner on the last day of the half-term (Friday 09 February).

DT: Cooking and nutrition

We sent this message earlier in the week, but in case you missed it…

Our updated long-term plans for Cooking and Nutrition were introduced at the beginning of this school year. Last term, your child took part in a practical lesson where they did some cooking in school and were able to eat what they had made. Hopefully, they’ll have come home and told you all about it!

So we can continue to offer this to all children in Years 1 to 6, we’re asking you for a small voluntary contribution towards the cost of ingredients. This will help to cover the costs for the full year – that’s three recipes. We suggest a contribution between £3 to £6, although we really appreciate anything you can offer. Payment for this can be made online on the School Gateway app.

By the way, please remember to tell us if your child has an allergy so that we can adapt the recipes we’ve planned.

The Big Ambition survey

We’ve mentioned this before, too, but we’ve been asked to communicate a final reminder which comes from Dame Rachel De Souza, the Children’s Commissioner for England…

I have been overwhelmed by the response the survey has received so far. More than 300,000 children, young people, parents and carers have participated, making it one of the largest surveys of its kind, but I want to give even more people the chance to have their say.

Complete The Big Ambition survey. It closes on Friday 19 January.

Finally, I don’t often offer a personal recommendation, but a highlight of the holidays for me was a trip to the cinema to see Wonka – I loved it! Have a good weekend, whether that involves a cinema trip or whatever you and your family get up to. 

Our Christian value this half-term is…

Posted on Monday 08 January 2024 by Mr Roundtree

honesty.

At St James’ CE Primary School, we learn about Christian values that help us to become well-rounded citizens in society. Each half-term, we have a new Christian value that will be embedded into our collective worship and our reflection areas.

What is honesty? Honesty is being trustworthy and truthful in our friendships, our relationships, our school and our community. We understand that we need to be honest and truthful with others when working together as a team. There are challenges for us:

  • How can we be honest in our daily lives?
  • How can we encourage people to be honest?
  • What can we do to fix it if we forget to be honest?

‘Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.’ (1 John 13:18)

In the Bible, we hear about Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10), the tax collector, who was dishonest and stole money from others. Jesus went to visit him and he realised he had made a mistake. He saw the error of his ways. He had a total change of heart and got rid of his dishonest ways to follow Jesus.

Help at home!

Talk with your family about the consequences of not being honest or write a story or draw a picture to show what happens when people are dishonest. Bring it in to add to your class reflection areas.

Don’t forget…

Posted on Friday 05 January 2024 by Miss Beatson

…our attendance competition.

All pupils with attendance of 96% or higher next half-term will be entered into a prize draw to win a £50 Love to Shop voucher!

So… for the full Spring 1 half-term, Monday 08 January to Friday 09 February (five weeks), if your child reaches a good level of attendance – that’s 96% – their name will be entered into a prize draw. We’ll select one lucky winner on the last day of the half-term (Friday 09 February).

St James’ CE Primary is a happy and healthy place to be – and maybe even a lucky one, too!

This week’s message (Friday 22 December 2023)

Posted on Friday 22 December 2023 by Mr Roundtree

Following an earlier message this week, this one is just to say all of us here at St James’ CE Primary wish you a very Happy Christmas and New Year.

We look forward to seeing you all again on Monday 08 January. And don’t forget our Attendance Competition… All pupils with attendance of 96% or higher in the Spring 1 half-term will be entered into a prize draw to win a £50 Love to Shop vouchers!