Our weekly message: Friday 04 September 2026

It’s been great to see you at the school gates and to welcome the children back to school – and to welcome new children joining us, too. We’ve loved hearing children greet us happily each morning!

Summer competition

Did you enter our Summer competition this year?

Thank you to those of you who did. We invited you to re-create our school logo in some creative way. Today was the deadline to send in a creation featuring our shells logo – we’ll be deciding the winner on Monday.

Attending school

We know the Autumn term can be a time when younger children pick up a bug or two. Check out our Attending School page for advice about when you’re child might be too ill to come to school.

Last year, our attendance figure was 91.9%. Let’s aim for better this year. Watch this short clip (only a minute long) about why attending every day matters in primary school.

Dates

Here’s a list of key events across the year.

For a fuller and up-to-date picture of what’s going on, check out our school calendar.

(Have a look at our weekly Living and Learning theme at the start of each week in the calendar, too – this week, our theme’s been ‘I follow the school rules’ so please talk about these at home.)

A few updates

We’ve updated a some policies recently…

Our Homework Guide includes an update about spellings to learn and a couple of other tweaks (the actual policy on pages 2 and 3 hasn’t changed).

We’ve updated our Positive Relationships Policy to reflect a change in language when adults in school use ‘3, 2, 1, stop’ – check out our new expectations on page 2.

Our policy for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) now includes a policy around resources to support pupils (things like fidget objects).

Finally, we reviewed our Uniform Policy in the Summer term, but it might be worth a re-read to check our expectations, especially for PE days.

Our website

As it’s the start of a new school year, we thought it might be a good time for a quick ‘tour’ of some of the key pages of our website.

The Find Out section is there mainly for the key information you need to know about. Particularly useful pages are:

• the Calendar: at the start of the year, we send home a list of key events across the year but for a fuller and up-to-date picture of what’s going on, check out the calendar (have a look at our weekly Living and Learning theme at the start of each week in the calendar, too – this week, our theme’s been ‘I follow the school rules’ so please talk about these at home)
• Policies and Other Points: this page contains lots of information, including our Positive Relationships policies and our Uniform policy – important ones for you to know about

The Join In section describes lots of different ways that you and your child can get involved, from wraparound care and clubs to any job vacancies we may have. There’s information about our Governing Body in this section, too. (On the subject of governors, please contact us if you know of someone who might be interested in becoming a governor.)

The Learn More page is where to go for ways to support your child’s learning. The Class News pages are always the some of the most visited pages – they help to keep you up to date with what your child’s learning. Other pages give you information about different subjects – Reading, Writing, Maths and other curriculum subjects. If you’re a parent of a child in Nursery or Reception, check out the Early Years page, too.

Next week, we’ll talk about our new topic for children in Years 1-6. It’s a History topic – start asking your child now what they’ve been learning in History! In the meantime, have a happy and healthy weekend.

Our Christian value focus this half-term is...

…perseverance.

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.

This half term, our Christian value is perseverance.

‘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)

Endurance 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’.

Help at home by talking about and encouraging perseverance…

• How can we show perseverance in school?
• How can we show perseverance in home, or in other situations?
• Who do you know that shows lots of perseverance?
• What does perseverance look like to you?
• Tell me about a time when you showed perseverance

Our last weekly message of the year: Friday 17 July 2026

Summer support

Wetherby’s Community Cafe and Advice Hub is open every Friday, 10am to 12noon at St James’ Church Room, Church Street,. Wetherby. It’s a welcoming community space offering:

• free refreshments
• family-friendly activities and toddler area
• information and support
• access to Citizens Advice
• signposting to local services
• toddler area

Wetherby and District Foodbank is available here:

• Barleyfields Community Centre, Wetherby: Tuesdays and Fridays, 10am – midday
• Tadcaster Community Cafe and Advice Hub, The Barn: Wednesdays (term time), 10am – midday
• Tadcaster Methodist Church: Wednesdays (school holidays), 10am – midday
• Wetherby’s Community Cafe and Advice Hub, St James’ Church Room: Fridays, 10am – midday (food parcels aren’t available, but you can obtain a referral plus support from a range of services)

If you need emergency help with food, ring 07840 455 725 and leave a message.

Free Family Activities and picnic food for the summer holidays

Wetherby and District Foodbank is running a series of free community events during the summer holidays:

Market Scavenger Hunt & Picnic Giveaway: Families can take part in a free scavenger hunt around the market, with the chance to win a picnic hamper.

Thursday 23 July 2026 – Wetherby Market Square, 10am-2pm
Thursday 20 August 2026 – Wetherby Market Square, 10am-2pm

Community Picnic Events: Free food, refreshments and activities for local families.

Friday 24 July 2026 – Community Café & Advice Hub, St James Church Room
Friday 21 August 2026 – Community Café & Advice Hub

For more information contact: [email protected]

Sphere Summer of Smiles...

Our weekly message: Friday 10 July 2026

What a busy week! We’ve seen some great performances…

This week, Year 5 and 6 put on a wonderful performance of ‘Gladis Baker, Gladiator’. The children entertained us: they made us laugh, they made us sing and they made us all very proud. Thank you to Mr Kilner and Mr Freeman for helping the children put on a wonderful show (and thanks to Lily’s mum for the pic!).

Year 2 showcased some wonderful reading yesterday in their ‘Ready to Read’ assembly. They demonstrated fluency, prosody and comprehension skills through a variety of texts. The children are now ready to take off with their reading as they transition into Year 3.

Dodgeball success

Some children in Years 3 and 4 took part in the Nerf dodgeball finals last week. This event saw them faced with finalists from other schools in a thrilling, action-packed showdown. The pupils had to show teamwork, resilience and a range of fundamental movement skills to succeed. We’re pleased to say that St James’ CE Primary came out victorious overall, winning the trophy for our local area!

What perseverance!

Perseverance is one of our Christian values.

Mr Kilner took part in an endurance running event last weekend. During Endure24, runners try to complete as many 5 mile laps as possible over 24 hours. Mr Kilner completed 20 laps, completing 100 miles in 22 hours and 45 minutes. He was raising money for the charity Tommy’s – the pregnancy and baby charity. Well done, Mr Kilner!

Our summer competition

For the past few years, our summer competitions involved taking a pic – this might be a pic of a letter spelling out ‘HAPPY’ or ‘HEALTHY’, a pic of ‘extreme reading’, or a pic of a ‘hidden’ smiley face.

This summer, it’s time to get even more creative. Over the summer holidays, we invite your child to re-create our school logo in some creative way – maybe a painting, a collage, even a mobile.

It could be anything – the only rules are:

• it needs to be ‘display-able’, so we can put it on display along with the other entries
• it needs to show our shells logo in some recognisable way (but the more original, the better

To enter, your child needs to bring along their pieces of art in the first week – no later than Friday 04 September. Entries will be displayed in a St James’ CE Primary shells logo display in school, and there are prizes for our favourites.

Have a happy and healthy weekend – stay cool!

Our weekly message: Friday 03 July 2026

This week, your child received their end-of-year report. We hope you find it a helpful summary of your child’s learning journey, perhaps with one or two areas highlighted where you can support at home.

Sports day

Also this week, we had our 2026 Sports Day. It was another fantastic event. We’re so proud of all the children taking part in the races and well done to team Brazil for achieving the highest score overall!

2026-27 classes

This section is a repeat of an earlier email, in case you missed it…

On Wednesday, your child spent the morning with their new class teacher for September. It was a great opportunity for the teachers to spend some time with their new class and for the children to experience learning in their new classrooms and get to know their new teacher.

The class teachers for next year:

• Reception: Mrs Kendrew
• Year 1: Mr Nash
• Year 2: Miss Ward and Mrs Bye – we’re recruiting someone to cover for Mrs Bye whilst she’s on maternity leave
• Year 3: Miss Hopper – we’re excited to welcome Miss Hopper to our happy and healthy place to achieve and believe!
• Year 4: Mrs Poole
• Year 5: Mr Freeman
• Year 6: Mr Kilner

Key Stage 2 assessments (SATs) results

Yesterday, we received news from the Department for Education about the SATs results:

Schools were due to receive their results on 7 July 2026. However, results will now be available on 16 July 2026.

I appreciate that schools have been waiting for these results and that this delay will be frustrating… The delay relates to the readiness of the system used to make results available to schools. Importantly, this delay is not due to any concerns about the quality of the tests or the accuracy of results.

It certainly is frustrating. we’ll aim to get results to parents and carers as soon as we possibly can.

As always, we hope you have a happy and healthy weekend.

Our weekly message: Friday 26 June 2026

It’s been a hot week and the children have coped incredibly well. The adults in school have been working hard to make the children as comfortable and cool as possible. Thank you to the PTA who kindly bought all the children and staff ice-lollies – they certainly helped cool us down.

Children across school are busy practising their sewing skills in their Design and Technology lessons. We’re looking forward to seeing the final products.

Key Stage 2 children are in the middle of rehearsals for the end of year production. It’s sounding and looking great – the audience are in for a real treat!

Tremendous times tables

Every year across England, children in Year 4 do an online Multiplication Tables Check. Last year, the national average was 21 out of 25. Just over a third (37%) achieved top marks.

At St James’ CE Primary, our Year 4 pupils have achieved an average of 23.3 out of 25 – way higher than last year’s national average.

Just as impressive, 41% of pupils got top marks – 25 out of 25.

Amazing! Well done to all our Year 4 pupils and thank you for your support at home.

Leeds SEND WhatsApp channel

Leeds has launched a new WhatsApp channel for families to find out more about the Leeds local offer. There’s news about Local Offer developments, SEND service updates and information about events for families. Join the WhatsApp channel here.

Earrings

Last week, we let you know about our updated Uniform Policy, so you’ve plenty of time to start thinking about any changes ready for September. This week, we’d like to focus on just one part of the policy – earrings.

Discreet (small, not brightly coloured) stud earrings are allowed. However, earrings can cause serious injury: imagine a bang against the ear… serious accidents occur as a result of contact between pupils wearing earrings or studs and other pupils or equipment, thus damaging the ear, or where items of jewellery have caught in apparatus and torn the ear lobe.

We expect your child to remove earrings before PE lessons and put them back in after the lesson. This will be carried out by your child. If they’re unable to remove or put their earrings back in by themselves, they must not wear them on the day they have PE.

Please consider the risk of injury during other active times such as an after-school club or class trip.

If you do want to pierce your child’s ears, please do so at the start of the summer holidays so sleepers and studs can be removed in September.

Have a happy and healthy weekend.

Thank you from the PTA...

A huge thank you to all children and grown-ups who attended and helped with the PTA disco last week. We managed to raise a staggering £521.91.

Our weekly message: Friday 19 June 2026

Thanks to everyone who completed the annual survey. We’ll review the results and update you soon.

Dates for your diary

Here’s an example of how we’ve previously acted on your feedback… In previous annual surveys, you’ve said the earlier you know dates, the better. That’s why we’re busy adding dates for next year into our calendar.

Most of the 2026-27 dates are already there. On rare occasions, we sometimes have to change a date. For next year, we’ve had to move a training day due to a clash out of our control. The training days when school is closed are now:

• Tuesday 01 September 2026 – straight after the summer holiday
• Friday 02 October
• Friday 23 October – just before the October half-term break
• Monday 07 December
• Monday 07 June – just after the Summer half-term

There’s a lot going on as we approach the end of the school year. Please check our calendar for what’s going on.

And don’t forget the school photographer is in next Friday to take class pics.

Uniform update

Another thing we’ve done based on feedback in previous annual surveys… Around this time of year, we review and update our Uniform Policy. This is so you’ve plenty of time to start thinking about any changes ready for September. Please read our updated policy.

The main points haven’t changed:

• Pupils should dress appropriately and respectfully for school (including on non-uniform days)
• All clothing should be clearly labelled
• Avoid expensive items – we don’t accept responsibility for any loss or damage to an individual’s property

Staffing update

We’ll soon be letting you know the class teachers for next year. In the meantime, we’ve a couple of updates…

We’re saying goodbye to Miss Gilliland who’ll be leaving the UK in a few months to go and teach abroad. We’re so thankful for all her hard work at St James’ CE Primary and we wish her all the best with her new adventures. Last week, we successfully recruited a new teacher, Miss Hopper, who will join us in September.

Mrs Bye, who teaches two days a week in Year 2, will be going on maternity leave in the Autumn term. (Some of you might have started to expect this news!) Congratulations to Mrs Bye. We’re currently in the process of recruiting a teacher to cover Mrs Bye.

SEND inspection

Yesterday, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission published their Area SEND Inspection report for Leeds. Its inspection outcome is:

There are widespread and/or systemic failings leading to significant concerns about the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), which the local area partnership must address urgently.

The local authority fully accept the findings and welcome the report as ‘an important and independent assessment of our services and a clear starting point for the next stage of improvement’.

The report identifies areas where the wider system must improve. It does also recognise that important steps are already being taken to strengthen leadership, governance and partnership working.

We know that some parents are unhappy with the support that we’ve provided for their child with SEND. We hope you recognise we’re working in a very challenging context. Locally and nationally, we’re told systems and support will improve.

Summer savings

The Great British Summer Savings scheme starts next week. Running from 25 June to 01 September 2026, its aim is to help families feel a bit less squeezed this summer.

The scheme includes reduced VAT on days out, including tickets at attractions like soft play, adventure centres and theme parks, children’s tickets for theatres and cinemas, and children’s meals in restaurants. Children aged 5 to 15 in England will also be able to travel free on local bus services throughout August.

Finally this week…

Some of our Year 6 children led a collective worship based on David and Goliath this week. They focussed on our Christian value of courage. Throughout the assembly, they spoke clearly, displaying oracy skills they have developed this year. They invited the rest of the school to reflect on the ‘giants’ in their own lives. This could be worrying about SATS, feeling lonely or being afraid to try something new. Finally, children were sent away from the hall with something to remember:

Whatever your giant is, take one small brave step, just as David did.

Have a happy and healthy weekend.

Our weekly message: Friday 12 June 2026

You’ve still time to complete our parent/carer survey – it closes on Monday at noon. We really want to hear your views, especially about mobile phones in school.

Near the start of each half-term, we like to give you an overview of the topic in Key Stages 1 and 2…

What is this half-term’s topic?

Design and Technology is the driving subject for this half-term. It’s a great topic to finish the year! The focus for all classes this year is textiles (next year, it’s construction). Children will be busy designing and making products using fabric.

A key aspect of the Design and Technology curriculum is the understanding that products don’t just get made. Instead, they go through a design process that includes three key elements: evaluate, design and make. Think of this process as a cycle. For example, Sphere Motors want to create a new family car. Before the car is made, they need to evaluate existing products and talk to customers so that they’re clear about what the new car needs to have. They will then design the car and evaluate those designs. They may make a prototype of the car to help them evaluate the designs. Next, they’ll decide on a final design that will go into production and get made. This finished product will be evaluated and the whole process starts again.

Each phase has age-related specific knowledge, skills and vocabulary that they’ll learn, use and apply across the topic. See page 14 and 15 of the Topic Curriculum Guide.

Years 1 and 2

The product the children will be designing, making and evaluating is a hand puppet. They’ll start by learning about the design process before looking at and evaluating existing hand puppet products. They’ll then learn to use an over stitch and practise threading needles and tying knots. Following this, they’ll be introduced to all the materials they can use to create their puppet. Once they’re familiar with the materials, they’ll design their puppet. Next, it’s on to the making stage. They’ve already honed their sewing skills so they should be confident making and then decorating their puppets according to their designs. Finally, it’s evaluation time: children will compare their designs to their finished products. They’ll reflect on successes and things they’d do differently next time.

Years 3 and 4

The product the children will be designing, making and evaluating is a pouch. The function of this pouch is entirely up to them. It could be used to store some pens, trading cards, a shell collection. Children can be as creative as they like – as long as the pouch can be made using a 20cm² piece of felt!

Before they begin to design their pouch, they’ll learn about a famous designer and how they became a designer. They’ll also learn some important skills that a designer needs to have. Children will then evaluate existing pouches, with a focus on fastenings, and then design their pouch. They’ll practise their sewing skills, becoming proficient using a running stitch. They’ll then begin to make their pouches. First, they’ll create a template which they’ll use to cut out the pieces. Next, they’ll join the pieces using their running stitch and create a fastening for their pouch. Finally, they’ll evaluate their designs by comparing them to their designs, testing whether they’re fit for purpose and reflecting on their successes and areas to improve.

Years 5 and 6

The product the children will be designing, making and evaluating is a cushion. However, before they get stuck into their cushion, they’ll learn about some designers who changed the world. They’ll learn about their creations and their impact and look for things that link the designers. Following this, children will learn about the importance of design criteria when designing a product. After this, they’ll be practising their sewing skills and develop their skills in using a running stitch and possibly a backstitch. Next, they’ll evaluate existing cushions to get inspiration for their designs. They’ll then decide on the specific design criteria for their cushions and create their designs using an annotated sketch, detailing the dimensions of their product. They’ll learn about the importance of using sustainable materials when researching the filling used for their cushion (the plan is to use old, unwanted pieces of fabric to stuff the cushions rather than Polyfill so please have a look through your wardrobe and keep hold of any old t-shirts or other clothes as we’ll need them later in the half-term).

Children will use a template to cut out the shapes, use a running stitch or backstitch to applique decoration to their cushion before finally sewing the pieces together and stuffing them. The final stage is to evaluate the designs against the design criteria.

How can you help?

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.

The school library and local libraries will have some books about Design and Technology which your child will be able to borrow and develop both their reading skills and design knowledge.

Finally, there’s a lot of programmes on CBBC and CBeebies with a Design and Technology focus:

• Bitz and Bob
• Grace’s Amazing Machines
• Junk Rescue
• Maddie’s Do You Know?
• The Dengineers