Our weekly message (Friday 07 June 2024)
We’re into the final half-term of the school year – it’s always a busy one, so please keep an eye on the school calendar. Coming up soon are a few things you might want to know about…
For children in Year 1 and some children in Year 2: Next week, children in Year 1 (and those who didn’t meet the standard who are in Year 2) will take part in an assessment around their phonics skills. Check out the government’s phonics screening check information for parents.
For children in Year 4: Also next week, Year 4 children will take an online assessment to check their quick recall of times tables and division facts. Check out the guide for parents. Keep practising on Times Tables Rock Stars!
For all children: On Wednesday 19 June, the school photographer is in to take class photos.
Next week, look out for the link to our annual survey of parents and carers. too.
Attendance matters
At the start of every half-term, we review our attendance. For the full school year so far, up to the end of the Summer 1 half-term (Thursday 23 May), the whole school attendance figure was 93.9%. That’s higher than the national figure up to Friday 17 May: 93.0%. However, it’s lower than the national figure for primary schools: 94.7%.
When we look more closely, we know there’s some great attendance in school: well done to Reception (95.2%), Year 3 (96.2%) and Year 4 (96.8%) pupils for their great attendance, all well above the national figures.
Attendance matters:
- Every day matters: we can see that attendance on Fridays is lower than other days – please avoid unnecessary days off to extend weekend breaks
- Every minute matters: we can see that pupils arriving late has an impact on attendance, especially for children in Year 5 and Year 6 – please make sure your child sets off for school with plenty of time
Let’s get our whole-school attendance rate closer to the national rate for primary schools by the end of the year!
SEND support
SENDIASS support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their parents and carers to help with their related concerns or questions. They provide a free, impartial and confidential service through their website and online resources. You can self-refer to this service by contacting them directly. Find out more about SENDIASS in this short clip.
Here are the dates of forthcoming support sessions.
Have a happy and healthy half-term.
Day 2 at Robinwood
Our Year 6 children have had another busy, fun day at Robinwood.
Year 6 residential
The Year 6 children have arrived at Robinwood and having a great first day and night. They’ve been raft building, canoeing and swinging on the trapeze!
Our Christian value this half-term is...
…courage.
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.
‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.’ Joshua 1:9
One of the Hebrew words translated as ‘courage’ means ‘to show oneself strong’.
The Bible abounds with stories of courage. Moses was courageous when he confronted the Pharaoh of Egypt and commanded him to let God’s people go (Exodus 5). Joshua was courageous when he conquered Canaan (Joshua 1). Young David was courageous when he faced and fell the giant Goliath (1 Samuel 17).
The Bible says we can be courageous by having faith and confidence in the fact that God is with us and for us. This value promotes the act of speaking out against an issue of injustice, often on behalf of those whose voice is not heard.
A Junior Leader in school thinks this value is important because, ‘It’s all about being brave and you have to be brave to get through something hard in life’.
Help at home!
Talk together about a time when you have been courageous or you have seen someone being courageous.
Have a think about times that are coming up when you can show courage.
Our weekly message (Friday 24 May 2024)
Our message this week is a short one…
Positive Home-School Relationships
Governors have asked us to remind you about a recent policy – our Positive Home-School Relationships Policy. Please check it out.
And two things worth knowing about: one for Year 1 and 2 children, and the other for children in Year 4.
Year 1 and 2: Phonics screening check
In the week beginning 10 June, children in Year 1 (and those who didn’t meet the standard who are in Year 2) will take part in an assessment around their phonics skills. Check out the government’s phonics screening check information for parents.
Year 4: Multiplication tables check
Have a happy and healthy – and hopefully drier – half-term week!
PE Partner @ St James'
Just a reminder that PE Partner are running a holiday club at school next week. All children age 5 to 11 are welcome (they don’t have to attend St James’).
Brownlee Triathlon
Key Stage 2 had a fantastic day at John Smeaton Leisure Centre taking part in the annual Brownlee Triathlon. The children arrived back to school looking very happy- smiles on their faces and showing off their medals. Well done to all the children who showed perseverance, determination and courage.
Our weekly message (Friday 17 May 2024)
This week has been SATs week – the end of Key Stage 2 assessments. Well done to all the Year 6 children for coping so well. Well done also to adults in school for supporting our children, making sure the week isn’t a horrible one. Thanks to one of our governors who visited school to ensure the assessments were being managed effectively, going through a checklist of points to ensure robust procedures are in place.
Healthy eating
Our recent Living and Learning healthy eating sessions have included reference to the 5 a day message and the Eatwell Guide. Linked to this, the Just One More campaign, currently running across Leeds, aims to encourage increased vegetable intake by ‘just one more’ portion per day.
The campaign is to help people eat more vegetables by:
- Consuming vegetables as snacks
- Adding more vegetables into meals
- Adding more vegetables when shopping
- Growing vegetables at home or in community spaces
- Sharing vegetables with friends and family
- Choosing more vegetables at school
Give it a go – try ‘just one more’!
Handwriting and spelling
This comes from Mr Catherall, based at Scholes (Elmet) Primary but our Writing Leader across Sphere Federation…
When it comes to writing, children have to think about a whole range of things in order to get their ideas down onto the paper. Some people liken writing to playing multiple games of chess at the same time – the demand on the brain is huge.
That’s why handwriting and spelling are so important. If children can write neatly and legibly without having to concentrate on this, it frees up lots of brain space for them to concentrate on other aspects of writing – like choosing the correct vocabulary.
It’s similar for spelling. If you can spell words automatically, your brain doesn’t need to waste power on thinking about this which significantly reduces the cognitive load on your brain.
In school, we place a huge emphasis on what we call the ‘Must Dos’
for writing – the basic skills needed to be an effective writer. A recent publication by Ofsted found that this isn’t always the case in primary schools.
With this in mind, we really appreciate the effort that goes into learning the weekly spellings at home – please encourage your child to learn these words. Also, if you’d like some help with how to support your child with their handwriting, check out our handwriting guide or speak with your child’s class teacher.
Finally this week, with just one more week of the Summer 1 half-term to go, you might like to check out the activities going on within Active Leeds this half term.
Our weekly message (Friday 10 May 2024)
We hope you’ve enjoyed the great weather this week. Check out the NHS guidance around sun protection for your child.
In case you missed it, last week’s message had a link to a useful NHS website with advice to support your child if they’re feeling anxious about any assesssments.
The rest of this week’s message is about Relationships and Sex Education.
Coming up in the weeks commencing 03 June, 10 June and 17 June, children from Year 1 to Year 6 will take part in Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) lessons.
We want parents/carers and pupils to feel assured that RSE is delivered at a level appropriate to both the age and development of pupils, and to feel safe to voice opinions and concerns relating to the provision.
The lessons are led by children’s class teacher. They take place in a safe learning environment and are underpinned by our school ethos and values.
Nationally, all primary schools are required by law to teach Relationships Education and Health Education. In Sphere Federation schools, we’ve provided RSE lessons successfully as part of Living and Learning for many years.
- Section 9 provides a list of the vocabulary that will be used (pages 7 and 8)
- Section 11 includes an overview of the topics that will be covered (page 11 includes a table to show the learning across each year group)
We know that you might have some concerns. If you’d like to find out more, discuss any concerns, or speak to someone in more detail about the teaching and learning planned for this important aspect of your child’s education, please contact Miss Beatson.
Similarly, you have the right to request that your child be withdrawn from some or all of the lessons that can be regarded as ‘sex education’. For our school, this comprises lessons in Year 6 on what human reproduction is and how babies grow. Please see the government’s factual guide to RSE for parents: Understanding Relationships and Health Education in your child’s primary school: a guide for parents. If you wish to withdraw your Year 6 child from RSE, please contact the Head of School to discuss the matter. See page 6 of the RSE policy for more information about your right to withdraw your child.
We’re committed to working in partnership with parents/carers. Feedback has indicated that the overwhelming majority of parents/carers are highly supportive of our Relationships and Sex Education programme.
Playground equipment
This week, we’ve been enjoying our new playground equipment which the PTA have bought for the school. Thank you to everybody who has been part of fundraising for school- it enables equipment like this to be provided for all the children to use so they can have happy and healthy playtimes.
