St James E-News

12th May 2023

Welcome to the St James Primary School's E-News, a weekly roundup of the latest news and events at the school

Latest Headteachers Blog

Dear Parents and Carers,

Mrs Berrill is looking forward to coming back to work after half-term. She will be on a phased return and is likely to be working for limited hours, gradually increasing her hours over the coming weeks. In the meantime, a team of staff, including myself and Mrs Jenkinson, are managing the SEND provision in school and dealing with queries that may arise.

Mrs Berrill is considering her professional future at present and whilst she is doing this, we are advertising for a SENDCo to work in both St Mary's Infant and St James Primary Schools. This does not mean that Mrs Berrill is resigning, but we want to be in a position to appoint a new SENDCo should Mrs Berrill make the sad decision to leave St James Primary School

Best wishes for a lovely week,

Valerie Elliott

School Notices

Bringing Out the Best Curriculum Newsletter - Have you read our latest Bringing Out The Best newsletter? This document is added to the Parent Portal at the beginning of every half term. It contains an outline of work planned for each class, PE days and dates for visits to the common and Forest School.
Swimming Ability Forms - preparations are under way to open our swimming pool after half term. Please see our Swimming Ability letter on the Parent Portal and complete the information as soon as possible so that our instructor, Fee, can prepare for her teaching sessions.
Sports Day Thursday, 25th May - there is a letter on the Parent Portal giving details for our Sports Day. Please read the letter carefully as our usual format has changed slightly. The letter also contains a link for parents to let us know if they are able to lend a gazebo for the day.
Mindworks Surrey Parent Webinars for Mental Health Awareness Week 2023 and Beyond - Please see the flyer on our Parent Portal for information and access to free parent webinars.
Peace Event Invitation - the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community would like to invite the school staff, parents and children to the Peace event on Saturday 13th May at 6:30 pm at Elstead Village Hall. They have organised this event in partnership with St James Church.
Parent Webinars - EIKON, a local youth charity have asked us to share details of their webinars which are free for all parents and carers in Surrey. Please see the details below:

Thursday 6^th June 2023 at 12.00-13.00pm

Supporting your Child with the Transition to Secondary School - for parents of children with SEND

Thursday 22^nd June 2023 19.00-20.00
(A repeat of the webinar hosted on 23^rd March)
Supporting your Child with the Transition to Secondary School
Register now by clicking here

Drop in sessions with our Home School Link Worker, Helen Owen - The role of the Home School Link Worker (HSLW) is to support families with a range of issues at home or at school. 1:1 sessions are available on Wednesdays. To book an appointment, email Helen on hslw@st-james-elstead.surrey.sch.uk or ring the school office to request a call back.

Letters This Week

The following classes have had letters uploaded to the Parent Portal this week. Note: You will need to login to view this area.

Puffins
Kestrels
Whole school

PTA News

Please make sure that you read the 2 PTA Letters on the Parent Portal this week.

Taskmaster takes place on Saturday 17th June! There is still time to sign up for the last remaining team spaces. Please see the PTA News page on our website for more information.