This half-term's Christian value is...
…compassion.
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, we focus on compassion.
‘Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.’ Ephesians 4:32
The definition of compassion is a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is hurting, in pain, or has misfortune and is accompanied by a strong desire to help the suffering. Christians believe that Jesus is the greatest example of someone with true compassion. Not only did Jesus have compassion and heal people from physical suffering, he also showed the greatest compassion when he died on the cross for our sins.
A Junior Leadership Team member thinks this value is important because, ‘It helps you understand what they’re feeling and how to help them and then makes the school a happier place’.
It’s not always easy to show compassion, especially when we feel like the person deserves their misfortune, but we try to show compassion to all who need it whether they are the same as us or different.
Help at home!
Talk to your child about compassion.
- How can they show sympathy for a friend?
- Is there anyone in school who is very compassionate?
- Talk about a time when you were compassionate or someone was compassionate towards you.
Our weekly message: Thursday 24 October
This week’s message is one day early because tomorrow is a training day.
What happens on a training day?
Training days are exactly what they say on the tin – a day jam-packed with training for teachers to make sure they’re all fully skilled and prepared. In recent Ofsted inspection reports, the impact of the training we provide for teachers across Sphere Federation is rated highly:
Teachers have secure subject knowledge… The professional development available for all staff is of high quality, and they appreciate the collaborative support shared among the schools in the federation.
Scholes (Elmet) Primary Ofsted inspection report, 21-22 May
Professional development for all staff is exemplary. Leaders have planned high-quality training.
Moortown Primary Ofsted inspection report, 19-20 March
At the training day tomorrow, teachers from across Sphere Federation will gather for five different learning sessions: phonics teaching; using technology as a teaching aid; gymnastics; Art skills; and Living and Learning.
Talking of Living and Learning…
Living and Learning
‘I use what I’ve learnt in Living and Learning’ was this week’s Living and Learning statement. It’s an opportunity for teachers to return to some of the learning this half-term, including rights and responsibilities, protected characteristics, and democracy. Help at home…
- talk to your child about what they’ve learnt
- check out our Living and Learning Curriculum Guide – page 6 gives you an overview of next half-term’s mental wellbeing theme
Cooking
Across the year, we hope that every child in Key Stages 1 and 2 will learn food preparation skills. We need voluntary donations for ingredients so that we can offer this. Thank you for the donations so far – they total £100.50. If you’ve not yet donated, please consider it. A donation of £3 to £6 will ensure we can offer all three food preparation sessions:
- Year 1 and 2: fruit smoothies, overnight oats, and fruit bars
- Year 3 and 4: egg pots, chopped tomatoes and garlic, and savoury scones
- Year 5 and 6: vegetable and chickpea curry, pasta bake, and bread
You can make your donation using the School Gateway app.
For more about our Cooking curriculum, please check out our Cooking and Nutrition Curriculum Guide (we’re in Year B this year).
Our school charity for 2024-25
Each year, our Junior Leadership Team select a charity to support – we ask for donations after Christmas and Summer productions for example. Last year, our charity was Leeds Hospitals Charity. This year, the shortlist was selected by our Admin staff across Sphere Federation. Start thinking about each of these below, so your child’s ready to pass on their views to their Junior Leader representative in Me and My Community week.
- Yorkshire Air Ambulance is an independent charity providing a lifesaving rapid response emergency service to 5 million people across the whole of Yorkshire. Money raised keeps both of their air ambulance helicopters maintained and in the air.
- Leeds Mind provides help and support for people who may be experiencing issues impacting on their mental health and wellbeing.
- Willow Foundation supports young adults, aged 16 to 40, who are living with a life-threatening or life-limiting condition.
- Action Against Hunger aim to save the lives of vulnerable people affected by hunger. Action Against Hunger fights hunger and malnutrition around the world, because no child should ever suffer or die from it. Stop hunger today.
- Zarach‘s mission is to end bed poverty in England. It believes no child should live in poverty. All children should have their basic needs met so that they can achieve their full potential in life. Give every head a bed.
- Leeds Hospitals Charity has been nominated again. The charity aims to support patients, families and staff. They fund for lifesaving equipment, treatments, research into rare diseases and home comforts.
Finally… Over half-term, why not get involved in Leeds Festival of Play. Check out the list of organised events.
Harvest Festival at St James' Church
Thank you to all the families who joined us for our Harvest Festival at St James’ Church. We are really proud of the way the children read the prayers, performed the poems and sang our songs of celebration.
Thank you too for the food donations, it is wonderful to be able to support the local community in this way.
Applications for Reception 2025
Applications for a Reception place for September 2025 can be made from 01 November 2024 to 15 January 2025.
Guidance on applications can be found on Leeds City Council’s You Tube video about applying for a school place.
If you’d like to come and have a look around our school, our next open sessions are on Thursday 14 November at 1.30pm and Friday 29 November at 9.30am. No need to book – just turn up!
Our weekly message: Friday 18 October
As a teacher, one sign of getting old arises when a parent tells you they were in your class as a child. This happened to me the other day. Crazily, I think I’ve still got the tea-towel (now more of a rag, I admit!) with all the pupils’ self-portraits on that the PTA sold back in 2000 or thereabouts. Perhaps I should hunt it down to show his children their dad’s artwork of the time!
This week’s message has four articles: an overview of how we teach Reading in our school, news about the Junior Leadership Team, news about a Leeds competition, and an article linking attendance with social and emotional development.
Reading in our school
At St James’ CE Primary, we teach reading in a variety of ways in order to promote a love of reading, to develop decoding skills and fluency, or to develop specific reading skills. Each element forms our Reading Diet – all the different learning, activities and skills that we do over the week that involve reading.
For children in Reception and Key Stage 1…
Story time is a hugely important part of our Reading Diet. Enjoying books together and listening to an adult read out loud enables children to access texts that they can’t necessarily read themselves. We often ‘narrate’ what we are thinking as we are reading; wondering out loud what a character might be feeling, describing what a word means or what we think might happen next. We also enjoy reading non-fiction (fact) books in this time, too. They’re often linked to our Topic or Science learning and children can listen to and learn new facts that they can share and discuss.
Our daily Phonics lesson is crucial to children’s reading journey. Words are split into phonemes (sounds) that are matched to graphemes (written letters). This helps children break down words (decode) and begin to read. We follow a systematic phonics programme that has a huge amount of built-in practice. Repeating and revisiting sounds and words helps children learn to read quickly and effectively.
Our Reading Practice sessions happen four times per week. They give the children repeated opportunities to read the same book at least four times, developing their phonics skills. They’re also used to develop decoding skills, fluency, prosody (expression) and comprehension throughout the week. The books are matched to the child’s secure phonic knowledge so they should be reading fluently and with increasing pace as they progress through the books. The fifth session of the week involves a visit to the school library where children can choose a book to share at home and to promote their love of reading.
Our Daily Poem gives us an opportunity to really celebrate our love of reading. We choose all different sorts of poems. Children really enjoy trying to memorise it over the course of the week or read it with the teacher by the end of the week – especially if it’s a funny or silly one!s
For children in Key Stage 2…
Reading is still a big feature right across Key Stage 2. Each class has dedicated Class Novel time where children enjoy simply being read to and discussing language. We develop fluency by reading the same short text again and again over the course of the week. To develop specific skills, Reading Skills lessons happen four times a week and often include learning in other subjects, too. Every class visits the library once a week so make sure you check in with their child about their current choice. Children enjoy a weekly Book Club where they enjoy some relaxed independent reading and complete a directed activity.
Help at home by reading every day with your child for around ten minutes and discuss the words and phrases the writer has used and what they mean. If a child is read a story or book daily, by the time they are 5, they’ll have heard approximately 296,660 words – imagine how many more words a child will have heard by the time they’re 7, 11…!
Junior Leadership Team
‘I take part in democratic decisions’ has been our Living and Learning statement this week. This is in readiness for next week, when we have our annual Junior Leadership Team elections.
Our Junior Leadership Team is one of the ways that children are encouraged to take an active part in school life. The election process allows children to develop an understanding of one of the British Values, democracy.
This week’s whole school homework is all about the election and democracy, ready for the elections next Thursday (24 October).
We’ve been asked by a parent to publicise Recycle Week…
Rescue Me – Recycle!
Did you know it’s Recycle Week?
It’s not too late for your child to get involved by designing a Leeds Recycling Superhero! They can create their very own recycling hero and show everyone how to see recyclable items as treasures, not trash.
And for the rest of us, it might be worth reminding ourselves of what we can recycle here in Leeds. The latest Recycle Now research shows that about nine out of ten people regularly recycle, but nearly eight out of ten of us put one or more items into the rubbish bin that could have been recycled. (Did you know we can now recycle glass in our green bins?)
Finally this week, the first of a series of messages about what a child misses if they’re absent for a prolonged time. We know children are sometimes ill and have to spend time out of school – that’s inevitable – but if we factor in regular holidays, children really struggle…
If your child was absent for five days in a row…
…they’d miss out on loads of opportunities to develop their social and emotional skills. They’d miss out on at least 5-6 hours of pure social time at playtimes and lunchtimes – time to play and chat with their friends. This is time when children can stay physically active, and also time when they learn to interact – making friends, choosing games to play, agreeing and learning to disagree. This is all valuable time to develop confidence, resilience and simply to have fun!
The impact of low attendance…
- Children who miss school miss out on not only learning and education, but also spending time with other children and friends, which helps with developing social and emotional skills.
- Children who miss school more than others can find it difficult to keep friendships.
- Children who stay away from school tend to struggle more with their mental health later on.
By going to school, children can meet with their friends for social and emotional development and not become isolated at home.
Being in school is important to your child’s academic achievement, wellbeing, and wider development. There is evidence to suggest that regular school attendance is a key mechanism to support children and young people’s educational, economic and social outcomes. Schools can facilitate positive peer relationships, which is a contributes to better mental health and wellbeing.
A Service of Thanksgiving
Today, some of our Year 5 and 6 pupils took part in a Service of Thanksgiving marking 200 years since The Great Sale of Wetherby. It was a very proud moment listening to the children confidently read a poem about what Wetherby means to them. A big thank you to the children and their families taking time on their Sunday to be part of this commemorative service at St James’ Church.
Self-esteem workshops
Thursday was World Mental Health Day. We invited MindMate Support Team into school to deliver workshops to the children about self-esteem and how to get help if they’re feeling sad or have low mood. On Friday, the same team delivered a workshop to parents about supporting children with self-esteem and the feedback was positive.
If you would like more information about this topic then please speak with Miss Beatson.
Our weekly message: Friday 11 October
Most of this week’s message is about our first themed week of the year…
Me and my community themed week
Our next whole school themed week is all about identity, diversity and community. It takes place in the week beginning Monday 04 November. This is the first of two themed weeks in the year.
Children will learn about what it means to belong to a community, from family to national or even international communities. Importantly, our children will also learn to respect and celebrate different communities. A variety of events and visitors are planned to help us deliver this key aspect of our Living and Learning education.
Events and learning during the week will include looking at our own identity including belonging and self-esteem, diversity of people around us including race, age, religion and disability, and children will also be getting out into the community, working with local organisations and taking pride in the local area for example by litter picking.
Active travel in the community
We encourage children to get out in the community in an active way on their way to and from school, with prizes available as part of the themed week. By walking/scooting/biking to school, families will be keeping our community safer and healthier by reducing congestion at the school gate. Maybe even pick up a piece of litter on the way! Even by parking further away from school your child could then do the final part of their journey by foot, bike or scooter. Bike and scooter storage facilities are available on the school grounds.
Email us (stjamesoffice@
New school charity
During the themed week, classes will have the chance to discuss our charity shortlist*. After class discussions, the Junior Leadership Team will have the final vote for which charity they’d like our school to support, replacing our current charity, The Children’s Heart Surgery Fund.
*This year, we’ve invited all the Sphere Federation admin staff to suggest a charity each.
Can you help?
Maybe you speak another language and you’d be happy to speak to children about this or you’d like to share about your own family culture and heritage. If so, please contact the office to pass on your details. Also, do you have any local community links that may support our week?
Governor election outcome
Thank you if you voted in the recent parent governor elections.
Mr Craig Barker will become the new Parent Governor when Mr Matt Hick’s term of office ends on 19 November 2024. Mr Barker’s period as governor is 4 years from 20 November 2024. His appointment is subject to satisfactory DBS checks.
Please remember…
We’ve two policies that are especially important for you to remember. The first is our Uniform Policy – please make sure you check it out, especially details about what to wear on PE days, what jewellery is allowed, and typing back long hair, too. The other is our Attendance Policy – this is important because it reflects recent national changes around penalty fines for unauthorised absence.
Finally this week, a reminder well in advance… Our parent-teacher meetings will be on Tuesday and Thursday in the last week of the term. Please save the date!
Our weekly message: Friday 04 October
Watch us while we work
Thank you to everyone who came along to our Watch Us While we Work session – it was great to see so many of you. And thanks if you found the time to fill in our online feedback form – here’s one of the comments:
It was really useful to see the teaching of times tables and how to make practising it fun. All the children were engaged and interested.
We take your feedback really seriously. One thing we’re often asked is whether we can organise this differently to help children who are in different year groups. We’ll keep exploring whether this would work, but in the meantime, do remember to next Watch Us While We Work session on Thursday 23 January.
Class trips
Previously, you’ve told us you’re keen for class trips to happen. We value trips as a way to enrich learning and broaden children’s learning experiences. Our list of the main trips we’ve got planned are on page 4 of our Topic Curriculum Guide (but please remember we sometimes have to re-arrange or even cancel based on availability, or reluctantly if we don’t receive enough in voluntary donations).
The rest of this week’s message comes from our Writing Curriculum Leader…
Spellings
By now, you’ll be familiar with the homework arrangements. Every week in Key Stage 1, or every half-term in Key Stage 2, your child is given a set of spellings to learn as part of their homework.
But why? They’ll probably just use autocorrect on their computer or tablet when they’re older, won’t they? You, like many others, might have found yourself asking these same questions. And, to an extent, there’s some truth in this.
However, we believe spelling is a really important life-skill that is crucial to your child’s success in education. We find that children who can spell more accurately feel more confident about their writing – and we want all our children to feel proud and confident of their learning.
Also, research shows us that thinking about spellings takes up a large part of your working memory when writing (or typing). This means that if you’re able to have to think less about spelling, you’ve more brain power to think about other things: word choice, thinking creatively or pitching your written communication at the right level for your reader.
Help at home by helping your child learn their spellings. This doesn’t need to be for long and it doesn’t need to be boring. Here are some practical tips for effectively learning spellings at home…
- Ask your child to spell their words on the way to school, driving to the shops or walking the dog
- Use some ideas from our Super Spelling Strategies to make learning spellings more creative
- Place the words on Post-It notes around the house so your child is reading them regularly
- Practise them whilst doing something active (throwing a ball, kicking a football, playing tennis etc)
- Most importantly of all, remember that little and often is much more effective than one big session: five minutes every day will lead to much better outcomes than one 30 minute session each week
If you’d like any help about how to support your child with their writing, please speak to their class teacher.
Next week, we’ve the school photographer in to take individual pics (the class pic is taken later in the year. There’s also a Reception Stay and Learn session. Have a good weekend.
Forest school
We’re so happy our forest school is back!
This term, it’s the turn of Year 5 and Year 6 to have their forest school lessons. Today, they’ve been building dens, making wishing wells and climbing trees.
