News

Reading Workshop

A quick reminder that we are having a reading workshop for KS2 parents, today at 6pm. Come along if you would like more information about how we teach reading in school and how you can support your child at home.

Fab feedback!

We spotted on social media this week this lovely comment from a parent about our school:

‘I can’t recommend it enough. Lovely small class sizes. A new headteacher making positive changes. All the teachers are lovely and know all the children. Both my children are so happy and making fantastic progress.’

Thank you very much. We all appreciate this heart-warming praise.

Football Tournament

Yesterday evening, our football team competed in the local football tournament at Wetherby High School. Well done to all involved!

Coffee morning

A wonderful 'well done'!

It’s great to receive a letter from Leeds Learning Improvement Team congratulating us on how well we’re doing…

Initial analysis of attainment and progress at St James’ indicates that you have made significant improvements in your school’s reading, writing and mathematics combined results.

We are pleased that the work which your school has undertaken has had positive impact and trust that your engagement with the Leeds Learning
Improvement team has supported these improvements.

Congratulations to the whole team for their dedication and hard work which is positively affecting outcomes and will improve the life chances of all these children.

Summer writing challenge

Well done to all the children who sent in a postcard from their summer holiday. It was lovely to read about the fantastic places you visited. We had postcards from various places in the UK and a postcard as far away as Thailand! We have displayed all the postcards in the hall for everybody to read.

Well done to Lilly and Jack, who are the winners of our writing summer challenge. Their writing was clear and told us a lot about what they did on their holiday.

Friendship...

…is our Christian value this half-term.

At St James’ CE Primary School, we learn about Christian values that help us to become well-rounded citizens in society. These values have been chosen by our Church Council, a group of pupils who advise us on aspects of our provision. The values are woven into our everyday school life. Each half-term, we focus on a Christian value that is embedded into our collective worship and our reflection areas. This half-term, we consider friendship.

‘A friend loves at all times.’ – Proverbs 17:17

True friendship enables each person to grow and ensures that the unique individuality of each person is recognised. Friendship is the special relationship we have with certain people – a friend loves and cares for you at all times.

Christians believe that God’s friendship towards us will last forever. Friendship is a partnership of shared experiences, talents, interests and enthusiasms.

Why did the Church Council choose this Christian value? ‘Because Jesus is our friend and he is everyone’s friend even when we’re naughty.’ (Year 1 Church Council member)

Home challenge: We can learn a lot about friendships from the books we read. Find a book that models a good friendship. Write its title on a post-it note and stick it in the reflection area in your classroom.

Thank you

In the holidays, Mr Suttle helped the school by lending us one of his vans from his company: Suttle Transport Services Limited. He helped us to transport some materials to Scholes. We want to say a big thank you, we really appreciate your support!

Living and Learning

As we return to school, we begin our Living and Learning theme with a focus on manners: I can greet someone politely.

We’ll then continue by thinking about the ‘8 Rs for learning’. This theme is about promoting good learning behaviour for your child.

Each week, we’ll focus on two different ‘Rs’. We use an animal to symbolise each ‘R’, which might help your child remember all eight – can your child remember which animal matches the correct ‘R’?

You can support your child at home – we’ve listed a few ideas to help you below. Ask us if you’ve any questions or comments.

Download top tips for promoting the 8Rs for good learning behaviour.

I can show I am ready to learn.

Make sure your child is at school for a prompt start of 08:50.
Make sure your child has had plenty of sleep so they are alert and ready to learn at all times.
Encourage your child to ask lots of questions – that shows they want to learn!

I respond to feedback.

Ask your child if they remember their ‘stars’ and ‘steps’ in English and Maths.

I take a safe risk.

Talk about the difference between a safe and unsafe risk.  At school, we want your child to take a safe risk by having a go at answering, even if unsure; trying something new and attempting harder learning.

I take responsibility for my own learning.

Provide time and space at home so your child is able to organise themselves: their PE kit, reading book, homework, spellings and tables… Don’t organise everything for them!
Make a link between rights and responsibilities: your child has the right to a great education, but needs to be responsible for their own learning.

I am resourceful.

Encourage your child to be organised so they can play with a range of different toys.
Encourage your child to try new ways to solve a tricky problem.

I am resilient.

Encourage your child to keep going! Set a tricky challenge or puzzle for your child to do.
Encourage your child to think of different ways of doing things.
Don’t let your child win when they play a game – they need to experience losing, too!
Celebrate mistakes as opportunities to learn – be happy that your child found some learning hard and encourage them to ‘bounce back’ and learn from the experience.

I remember.

Make sure they have time to learn spellings, number bonds and times tables – a little practice daily is best.
Play memory games:

Kim’s game: show them objects for 30 seconds… can they remember all the objects?
Can they build up the sequence, ‘I went to the shop and I bought an apple’… ‘I went to the shop and I bought an apple and a bike.’… ‘I went to the shop and I bought an apple, a bike and a cucumber.’ etc … Take turns!

I reflect about my learning.

Talk with your child about what they’ve learnt, asking questions about:

how they learnt
why they learnt it
when they’ll use their learning
how they would teach this to someone else
what learning might link with what they’ve learnt today etc

As well as covering the 8Rs for learning, pupils will also learn about their rights and responsibilities.

Finally, we end the half term learning about democracy (one of the British Values).  All children have the opportunity to experience democracy in our annual School Council elections.  More details to follow.

Our full Living and Learning long term plan is available on the health pages and you can keep up to date with our weekly Living and Learning statements on the parent noticeboard in the playground and also on the school calendar.

High school application deadlines...

Leeds City Council writes:

Is your child currently in Year 6? If so, it’s time to apply for a secondary school place!

If your child is due to start secondary school in September 2019 you should apply for a place from 01 August 2018. The deadline for applying is 31 October 2018.

You need to make your application online at www.leeds.gov.uk/secondaryschool

If you need any more information please contact the admissions team on 0113 222 4414.

Frequently asked questions

When can I apply for a place at High School Year 7? 

The application process is available from 1 August 2018 to 31 October 2018.

How do I apply for a place?

You can apply online by going to www.leeds.gov.uk and searching for school admissions.  If you need assistance with the application you can call us on 0113 2224414 or email us at education.annual.cycle@leeds.gov.uk. There is also a video on www.leeds.gov.uk which offers advice and guidance.

What are admissions policies?

Admissions policies set out how schools will offer places, and who will be offered a place first if there are more applications than places available at the school. The criteria set out in the admissions policy will be used to rank all applications and then places will be offered from the top of the list of applicants until the year group is full.

It is important that you look at the admissions policy for each of the schools you are including in your list of preferences as different schools have different admission policies. Admissions policies for all kinds of schools (Community, Foundation, Voluntary Aided and Academy schools) can be obtained from schools directly, found on the school website, on the Leeds City Council website at www.leeds.gov.uk/residents/Pages/Admissions.aspx, or by contacting the Admissions Team on 0113 2224414.

How are places offered?

The local authority is required to co-ordinate all applications for year 7 places. This means the Local Authority receive all applications centrally, work with schools who determine their own admissions to gather information from them, and send out all the offer letters, making sure each child only receives one offer.

We consider all preferences at the same time and aim to offer your highest preference possible, but whether we can offer you the place you want for your child will depend on your circumstances, the schools you have asked for and their policies, the  number of applications they have received and the circumstances of all other applicants to that school.

I have good reasons why my child should attend my first preference school – so you have to offer them a place there don’t you?

Many parents have good reasons why they would prefer their child to attend a particular school, but while parents have the legal right to express their preference, this is not the same as free choice about where their child is admitted. School admissions policies provide very clear criteria about who can be prioritised over others for a place and you should review the policies to see whether your child meets any of these priority criteria. If they do, please tell us on your application so that the admissions policy can be applied to your application for each school correctly.

What is my priority school/catchment area?

One priority which many admission policies include is a priority for children requesting a place where they are living in the priority catchment area or where the school is their ‘nearest’ school. It’s important to look at the school policy as not all schools include this priority. You will receive a letter telling you which school is your catchment priority school.

Distance (measured in a straight line) is also often used as a tie break within each priority, so all children who meet the ‘catchment’ priority will also be ranked in order of distance from the school. There is no guarantee that you will be allocated a place at your priority catchment school if you request it – each year it depends on the number of children requesting the school who meet this priority.

It is important that you look at each school admission policy and all other available information before making a decision about your preferences as it is important to consider whether you have a realistic chance of being offered a place.

Does it matter what order I list my preferences?

Places are not offered on a ‘first preference first’ basis – it is against the School Admissions Code for this to happen. When schools are ranking their applications in line with their admissions policy, they don’t know which preference number you gave to that school.

Your preference order is only used by the Local Authority when they are making the offers on behalf of the school, and it only influences which offer is made where you could be offered more than one of your preferences.

The Local Authority is obliged to offer you the highest preference school which your child qualifies for so please put the schools in order of where you would like your child to attend.

If I only provide one preference, do you have to offer me that school?

No. Providing just one or two preferences does not in any way increase your chances of being offered a place at these schools as your application for each school is ranked in line with the admissions policy. If the Local Authority is unable to offer a preferred school, you will be offered a place at any school with a vacancy available after all other applications have been considered, so not using all five of the available preferences actually decreases the chances of you being offered a preferred place.

Can I find out which schools are closest to my home?

You can contact the Leeds City Council Admissions Team on 0113 2224414 or send an email to education.annual.cycle@leeds.gov.uk to ask for this information. Please remember to include your address when contacting us. Our measurements are based on a straight-line distance from the school to your address. Previous allocation maps for secondary schools are on the Leeds City Council website www.leeds.gov.uk/admissions. These show the distances from home to school for the people who were successful in gaining places last year so give an indication of your chances of being offered a place. Most online mapping tools only use postcodes and not the full address. If you want to know your nearest priority school you must ask us for details; you should also receive a letter in July which will give details of your priority school and your five nearest schools by distance but you don’t need this letter to apply.

What is the ‘furthest allocation distance’?

In the information provided on the Leeds City Council website, ‘furthest allocation distances’ are stated where this information is available.

Furthest allocation distances are the distance the last pupil allocated a place at a school under one of the distance priorities (in the Leeds City Council policy this is Priority 3 – Priority Catchment and Priority 4 – non-catchment) lived from the school.

Further details of allocation data can be found at: www.datamillnorth.org/dataset/secondary-school-allocations

When will I find out which school my child has been offered?

1 March 2019 is National Offer day. You will be sent an email on this day with your offer letter attached or if you did not apply online a letter will be sent out by second class post and you will receive it a few days after the 1 March.

What should do when I receive my offer of a place?

You should accept the offer of the school place directly with the school. Accepting a lower preference offer will not affect your position on a waiting list or your right to appeal against the refusal at any other school.

What happens if I don’t get offered a place at the school I want?

If you don’t get offered a place at the school you would prefer, you can request to go on the waiting list. You can also appeal against the decision to refuse a place at a school, although appeals can only be granted in specific circumstances.  More information will be provided with your offer letter.

What happens if I move into the area or change address?

If you move into the area or change address between the closing date in October 2018 and the start of the new school year in September 2019, you must let us know as this could affect your application. We will try our best to offer your child a place at the school you prefer. If there are no places left at any of the schools you wanted, we will offer your child a place at the school closest to your home with available places. Remember that we will find your closest school by measuring in a straight line. If you move to a new address, we will ask you to provide written proof of your new address and written proof that you have left your previous address.

Useful numbers and contacts

Leeds City Council website:  http://www.leeds.gov.uk/residents/Pages/Admissions.aspx

Admissions team: phone 0113 222 4414 email education.annual.cycle@leeds.gov.uk.

Transport:  Application forms, guidance notes, Leeds Children’s Transport policy, Under-16 Photocards and information about bus travel can be obtained at: www.metro.com/schools.  If you need information on your ‘Nearest Qualifying School’ or have other general school transport questions please contact the Leeds Education Transport Assessment Team on 0113 348 1122 or educationcustomerservices@westyorks-ca.gov.uk.

Elective Home Education: phone 0113 378 5028.

Attendance Team:  phone 0113 378 2480.

School meals: To apply for free school meals please contact 0113 222 4404.

School uniforms and other expenses parents should contact the school their child will be attending for information about help with school uniforms.

Special Educational Needs Information: For children with an existing Education Health and Care Plan (EHC) parents should contact their SEN casework officer phone 0113 378 5256.  For general information, support and advice about SEN and disabilities contact the Leeds Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Service phone 0113 378 5020.