St james Primary e-NEWS

9th January 2025

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

Executive Headteacher's Blog

Dear Parents and Carers

Happy New Year! We hope you all had a lovely break and enjoyed the festive season. We are pleased to welcome you back to school for the start of the new term.

As we move into the winter months, we wanted to remind you about our procedures regarding school closures due to severe weather conditions. Should we experience heavy snow or other extreme weather that impacts safe travel to and around the school, we may need to close for the day.

If a school closure is necessary, we will endeavour to inform everyone as early as possible, aiming to have a decision made and communicated by 7:30 am. We will use multiple methods to notify you and to keep you informed:

Text message alerts
Email: Please ensure your contact details are up-to-date.
School Website Updates: You will find the latest information on our school website

Please keep an eye on these channels in the morning if you are concerned about the weather.

Finally, we are delighted to extend a very warm welcome to three new members of our teaching team. Mrs Coulter joins us as our new Nursery teacher alongside Mrs Phillips, and Mrs Squires will be teaching Year 3. Miss Halliday, a student teacher, will be working in Year 6 this term.

We look forward to a happy and productive term ahead.

Best wishes,

Valerie Elliott

School Notices

School Nurse Visit for Puffins - the school nurse will be visiting school on Wednesday, 26th February to weigh and measure the children. Please would the parents of every child in Puffins read the letter on the Parent Portal and respond to let the team know whether or not you would like your child to take part in the checks.
Inter-House Photography Competition - Please read the letter on the Parent Portal which gives details of our current competition which will be explained to the children in tomorrow's assembly.
KidzQuest Easter Holiday Camp - Please see the flyer on the Advertising Hub regarding the Easter Holiday Club being held at St James Primary School.
TRAIN TO TEACH in Godalming schools with Winchester University and the Godalming Learning Partnership - Join our hour-long webinar to learn all about starting your teaching career, training in local schools, with an outstanding PGCE provider. The Godalming Learning Partnership has partnered with Winchester University and its outstanding PGCE programme for the last 7 years and maintained a 100% pass rate. Many of our graduates work in GLP schools and are already reaching middle and senior leadership positions. Our school-led model combines practical, hands-on, real world experience with cutting edge academic study to set trainees up to succeed so that our children make excellent progress in their learning. Our philosophy ensures trainees are supported and encouraged to become resilient and reflective teachers who manage their workload effectively and understand the importance of good mental and emotional well-being in themselves and in their pupils. We are running an information webinar on Wednesday 15 January 2025 at 7.00pm for anyone interested in finding out more about our distinctive teacher training programme which starts in September 2025. Register on Eventbrite for this online event using the QR code or link below:

Train to Teach 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.

Trick Box Focus - the trick that children are will be focusing on over the next two weeks is Mirror, Mirror. Please see below:

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.

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
Whole school

View letters and deadlines

PTA News

Click on the link below to see the latest news from the PTA including the release date for Stars tickets and request for feedback regarding Mini Ministry v School Disco