St James E-News

24th November 2023

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

Executive Headteachers Blog

Dear Parents and Carers,

Believe it or not, it is a month until Christmas, and the children are now busying practising for their Christmas plays and concert. For many, watching the children perform the nativity is one of the highlights of Christmas, I hope that you have booked your seats.

The PTA is completing the final preparations for the Christmas Fair next Friday, which will be a very inclusive family event. Thank you to everyone who donated items today, the children enjoyed wearing their Mufti outfits!

Best wishes,

Valerie Elliott

School Notices

Christmas Performances - Parents will be notified by email by Wednesday 29th November the number of seats we have been able to allocate to them.
Last Day! St James Primary School PTA Christmas Tree Fundraiser 2023 - Once again, we will again be running our popular Christmas tree fundraiser. For those new to the school, Oxenford Farm in Elstead kindly supply us each year with their beautiful, locally grown Christmas trees at wholesale prices which we sell on at competitive prices, to make a profit for the school. Anyone can place an order, school families, friends, neighbours! Orders and payments need to be placed (via this link) by Friday 24th November and trees will be ready for collection from the school on the morning of Saturday 2nd December. This year we are able to offer two types of trees: Nordmann Fir and Norway Spruce. More details and prices are available on the linked order form. Thank you for your continued support!

PTA Second-Hand Uniform Shop - Danielle Sleightholme will be opening up the PTA Uniform Store at school pick-up on the occasional Friday to allow parents and carers to browse the available items. All items are good quality and much cheaper than brand new, so do set aside time to look to see if she has an item that your child needs.
Whole School Ramble for Children In Need - The weather was wonderful for our Whole School Ramble last week. We are delighted that over £300 was raised for this great cause. Thank you for your generosity! If you would still like to make a donation, please click on Pudsey to access our JustGiving page.
New Club Opportunities - please have a look at the club fliers on the Parent Portal.
GET Teaching with the GLP - The Godalming Learning Partnership of schools are proud partners with Winchester University and have been training teachers for the last 6 years. Our blend of innovative, immersive school experience and training allied to academic study is used by Winchester as a model of best practice for their new partners. We are running an online information evening on Thursday 07 December at 7.00pm for anyone interested in finding out more about our unique and bespoke School-led PGCE teacher training programme which starts in September 2024.
Register on Eventbrite for this online event using the link: GET Teaching with the GLP For more info in the meantime, see our GET Teaching website and our GET Teaching information evening flier.
We look forward to meeting you.
Supported Lodgings and Fostering - Surrey County Council encourages residents to offer Supported Lodgings/foster. Supported Lodgings, and Fostering are both incredibly rewarding experiences that can transform the lives of both the children/young people being supported and the carers themselves. Children and young people who enter the care system have often experienced trauma and instability in their lives, and a stable and supportive carer family can make a significant difference in their wellbeing and development. Nationally, there are currently over 70,000 children living with carer families in the UK. However, there is still a significant shortage of Supported Lodgings and foster carers, with around 9,265 new carer families needed in the next year alone. In Surrey, there are over 1,000 children in care and Surrey County Council have just under 400 carer families.
Supported Lodgings is targeted at young adults aged 16-21 to help them build their independence skills ready to live independently in the future, from the security of a caring, stable home environment.
Supported Lodgings Carers and Foster carers come from all walks of life and backgrounds, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to caring. Whether you are single or married, young or old, own your own home or rent, you can still become a carer. The most important thing is a willingness to provide a safe and loving home for a child in need.
This is the message that Surrey County Council is promoting in national recruitment film ‘Any of Us’. The short film has been jointly funded by over 80 councils across England and aims to raise awareness about fostering, particularly among those people who may not have previously considered themselves suited to caring for vulnerable children and young people. The film looks at the potential of three people from different backgrounds to become carers, and the potential of children they care for to grow and thrive. ‘Any of Us’ is available to watch from the 26^th September. If you have ever thought about fostering, or offering Supported Lodgings, now is the time to take that first step and find out more. The more people who consider caring, the greater the chance of finding loving, stable homes for children in Surrey who desperately need them. You can contact Surrey County Council Fostering Service on 0300 123 1620 (this is the General Fostering Duty telephone, please ask for the Supported Lodgings worker, when connected), via email at supportedlodgings@surreycc.gov.uk or by visiting the website; www.surreycc.gov.uk/fostering You can watch ‘Any of Us’ via Any of Us - YouTube and connect with the Fostering Service on social media via @surreyfostering
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.