St Paul's Newsletter
Friday 12th June 2026
Message from Mrs Evans
It has been an incredibly busy and productive fortnight here at school, and I am immensely proud of all our pupils. A special mention must go to Year 1 and Year 4, who have shown wonderful focus and determination during their phonics screening and multiplication tables checking exercises.
We also have some fantastic news to celebrate from our recent Summer Fair, which raised a phenomenal £6,875! A huge thank you goes to our wonderful PSA and to everyone who attended and supported the event. Furthermore, I am delighted to share that our school has been nominated for an ARC (Attachment Research Community) Regional Award. We have spent time this week preparing our video for the judging panel, and it has been truly lovely to reflect on the positive impact our Attached Aware Approach has had on our teachers, parents, and children alike.
Meanwhile, Year 5 and Year 6 have been working incredibly hard on their upcoming production, and the whole school is enjoying hearing them practice their songs around the building. Finally, we had great fun at our Fun Run this afternoon. Thank you to the PSA, Mrs Griffin, James, and Mr B for making it such a memorable afternoon for everyone.
I hope you all have a lovely weekend.
Attendance Overview
Attendance Overview
Next week you will be receiving an overview of your child's attendance. Please come and see the school office team if you have any queries about this.
Classes - since last newsletter
| Reception | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Year 6 |
|
96% |
96.84% | 95.77% | 95.32% | 95.89% | 95.63% | 96.36% |
Whole School - since the start of the year
| Our Target | Current Attendance | National |
| 97% | 95.97% | 93.66% |
Regular Reminders
Mobile Phone and Smart Watch Policy
A polite reminder that mobile phones are not allowed to be used on the school site - we ask that they are away in a bag or pocket during drop off and pick up times.
Smart watches are also not allowed to be worn to school by pupils in any year group.
Fidget Toys
Please ensure that children are not bringing any fidget toys into school. We have seen a number of children bringing these into school and using them in the playground. We are concerned about these getting lost or broken and causing a distraction within the classroom. If they are brought into school, we will remove them and keep them in the office until the end of the school day.
Holidays in Term Time
I would like to remind all parents that holidays during term time will be recorded as an unauthorised absence. These absences cause disruption not only to children's learning, but can also have an impact on their social interactions within the class.
Absences in term-time should only be taken for 'exceptional circumstances' which are 'unavoidable and unplanned'. The Educational Welfare Service recommends to schools that any absences that do not meet this criteria must be marked as 'unauthorised'.
Where families do apply for an absence during term-time, they may be invited in for a meeting and will receive a letter to confirm how the absence will be marked on the register.
Birthday Treats
A reminder that we do not allow cake or sweets to be given out on children's birthdays. If you are keen for your child to be able to share a treat with their class to mark the day, please provide a platter of fruit to be shared by the class or a new book to be added to the class library.
Developing Healthy Online Habits
We are aware that even our youngest pupils have regular access to devices such as iPads and phones to access activities online. We wanted to share some top tips with families to support them in helping their children to develop a healthy relationship with this technology. Parents and carers can do this by:
- Setting clear limits on the amount of time that these are being used daily
- Ensuring that devices are being used in an area that allows adult supervision at all times
- Discussing with children how to respond if they see something online that they do not like or if they are contacted by someone that they do not know
- Having regular conversations about what they are accessing
- Setting boundaries around online device use and bedtime – ensuring that there is a period of time when children are not using these before going to bed.
- Creating healthy habits, open discussion and clear boundaries early in children's lives is extremely important as it is much harder to put these in place once unhealthy habits have been formed. The following guide gives some suggestion
If you would like any further support with this please see the information on our school website here: Online Safety Advice for Parents
Alternatively, please contact Mrs Evans or Mrs Griffin to arrange a time to discuss this with them further.
PSA Updates
St Paul's PSA: ‘Bringing our school community together to create lifelong memories’
The PSA have done such a fantastic job in their fundraising over the last year which has made a visible difference to a variety of areas around the school. This year they have funded brand new libraries for both KS1 and KS2 which have made significant difference for our children. They have provided author visits, science and maths workshops and we are looking forward to having our astro turf repaired thanks to their fundraising efforts too.
Big Target: A new music room - look out for further information about this to come soon.
Second Hand Uniform
We have a large amount of good quality second hand uniform available, please use the link below and follow these instructions:
- Once on the website click on the three lines to the right.
- Scroll down to ‘find your school’
- Select Kingston upon Thames as our Local authority.
- Select St Paul’s C of E KT9 1AJ
Please carefully read the instructions on when to collect your items.
Easyfundraising
Easyfundraising turns your daily shopping into every day magic!
Easyfundraising partners with over 7,000 brands who will donate part of what you spend to a cause of your choice. It won't cost you any extra. The cost is covered by the brand.
Brands pay Easyfundraising a commission because when you start your shop from the Easyfundraising website or app, they can see we sent you to them. If you make a purchase, a commission is generated, and we turn that into a donation - magic!
Click the link above to register to use Easyfundraising - remember to search 'St Paul's Primary School, Chessington' when searching for your cause and turn on the donation reminder. Every little bit helps!
Class News
Reception
Last week in Reception we started our new topic 'Animals'. We started off with learning about farm animals ready for our trip to Bockett's Farm. We discussed what we might find at a farm and why farms are so important. On Friday we had a great day out at the farm, meeting lots of animals and even going on a tractor ride. Thank you to all those parents who came to support us on this trip. In PE, we have started getting ready for sports day - this week we practised our javelin throws and in our phonics we have finished off reviewing our Phase 3 sounds ready to focus on our tricky words. This week in Reception we are continuing to learn about farms and also looking at where our food comes from. In PE we have been practising our bean bag throw for sports day and in phonics we have been looking at all our tricky words, playing a game of musical tricky words. In Maths we have been looking at patterns with numbers to 10, our table activity has been sharing between two groups equally. In our creative corner we have been painting sheep's and muddy pigs. We have had lots of fun washing our farm animals in our water tray, using sponges and soap.
Reception Newsletter 2025-26
Year 1
What an exciting and busy week we have had in Year 1! I am incredibly proud of how hard the children worked during their phonics screening; to prepare, we went on a brilliant phonics sound search around the classroom, working in teams to track down our target sounds hidden inside different words. We then sorted them into real and alien words. In Maths, we have been exploring money by identifying 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, and 20p coins, learning how to combine them to make different amounts, and even putting our skills to the test with a fun classroom shopping trip. To top it all off, we kicked off our new design and technology topic on stitching by mastering our very first simple stitch, which the children absolutely loved doing!
Year 1 Newsletter 2025-26
Year 2
It has been wonderful to see all the children return in such great spirits, showing a true dedication to working hard from their very first day. We have jumped straight into our new English book 'Where the Wild Things Are' and the children have already been coming up with some truly amazing expanded noun phrases to describe the wild monsters. In Maths, we are tackling the topic of time and concentrating hard on mastering "quarter past" and "quarter to" the hour on our clocks. Meanwhile, our Geography lessons are focusing on identifying human and physical geographical features, which will be incredibly useful for our exciting school trip at the end of the month! Finally, in RE, we are looking closely at the meaning behind The Lord’s Prayer. Well done on a fantastic return to school, Year 2!
Year 2 Newsletter 2025-26
Year 3
In Year 3, we are becoming very confident in telling the time on an analogue clock and are enjoying sharing what the time is at different points in the day with the class. We have practised using the dictionaries in English to check the meaning of some of the words we are learning to spell this week. We have thought about what sculpture is in Art and have experimented with different ways to attach pieces of cardboard without using glue or tape. In RE, we are considering the importance of words and actions and are reflecting on whether words or actions are more important.
Year 3 Newsletter 2025-26
Year 4
This week in Year 4 , we have been focusing on developing our myth writing with expanded noun phrases, fronted adverbials and really thinking about powerful verbs/adverbs to create vivid descriptions. We are getting really good at using our zones or relevance for choosing increasingly effective vocabulary. In our Maths, we have continued thinking about symmetry in triangles and quadrilaterals. We've started our topic on the Mayans - we started thinking about some of the challenges they faced living in rainforest areas including trading, food and shelter. We also spoke about how they viewed their Gods and their belief systems. Year 4 have worked incredibly hard with their Mutliplication Tables Check and we are proud of the effort they showed.
Year 4 Newsletter 2025-26
Year 5
This week, we have continued to work hard on our dragon chronological reports. We are using our relative clauses and looking at using our formal voice. We've worked really hard on our fractions work using equivalences. We now recognise that our times tables fluency has really helped with simplifying fractions efficiently. We've dived deeper into the Vikings topic where we were able to think about what materials they had available for trading and the benefits/disadvantages of the trading. On Tuesday, we had a visitor come to talk to us about his experiences in South Africa during and post apartheid as part of our topic on how Christians can uphold freedom and justice for all. The children were really interested in how different apartheid was to their own experiences and asked many very well thought out questions, before applying their understanding to how stereotyping can build to discrimination and how we can fight against it. We are also working hard on our production and had a great time in the hall practising the actions.
Year 5 Newsletter 2025-26
Year 6
In Year 6 we have been using the novel Cloud Busting as inspiration for our poetry writing. We have explored how narrative poems can tell a story and have written our own sequences of haikus, carefully choosing language and imagery to capture important moments and emotions. We have also continued rehearsing for our Year 6 production and have begun creating props to help bring the performance to life. It has been wonderful to see everyone working together, learning lines and songs, and using their creativity to prepare for the big show. In Geography, we have been learning about imports, exports and trade. We have explored how goods are transported around the world and have thought about the ways in which countries rely on one another to provide the products and resources that we use every day. In Maths, we have been practising solving problems set in real-life contexts. We have applied our mathematical knowledge to a variety of situations, carefully interpreting information and deciding which methods and operations are needed to find solutions. This has helped us to develop our reasoning skills and to see how maths is used beyond the classroom.
Team Points
Congratulations to Year 6 and Rubies who were the Team Points winners for the week beginning 1st June, to Year 1 and Sapphires who were the team points winners for the week beginning 8th June.
News from St Paul's Church
St Paul’s Church hold an all-age service every first Sunday of the month. It is a great introduction to Church with an interactive service lasting around 50 minutes with refreshments afterwards. Our children’s group (from age 3+) is run on the other Sundays of the month with an experienced team of leaders; babies and younger children are very welcome to stay in Church with their parents.
We will be holding our Church Welcome Sunday for new Reception starters (and other St Paul’s pupils and their families) at 10am on Sunday 5th July. This will be an opportunity to meet your new classmates and have an introduction to the Church.
Wider Community News and Events
Mental Heath Support Team at a Glance
Further information about the services provided by the Mental Health Support Team to support families can be found here: MHST Information
Junior Parkrun comes to Chessington
The Junior Parkrun is a 2k fun run which takes place weekly at many different locations across the country. We are excited to announce that they have launched a weekly event at Lovelace Primary School on Sundays at 9am. It is a free event, but you do need to register in advance using the link here:
https://www.parkrun.org.uk/lovelaceprimaryschool-juniors/
It would brilliant to hear about some of our families taking part!
Family Support Workshops
Achieving for Children’s Mental Health Support Teams are delivering a series of webinars for parents of primary-aged children. The ‘Helping Children with …’ series of webinars will cover a range of common difficulties experienced by children and will aim to share evidence-based strategies to help parents and carers support their children with these difficulties. Please use the link below to find further information.
New Swimming Company at our Pool!
Aqua Babies & Kiddies Surrey are excited to share that swimming lessons are returning to St Paul’s C of E Primary School! We are a 5.0 star swim school that has proudly served families across Surrey for over 8 years, and we’re excited to now welcome families back to our newly opened and refurbished pool!
For primary school-aged children, our lessons focus on building confidence and water safety, whilst also progressing swimmers through structured stages that build strong technique across all strokes. Children develop the confidence and competency expected at each level while fostering a lifelong love of swimming.
Aqua Babies & Kiddies lessons are supportive and conducted in a small-group environment - helping children feel calm, capable and happy in the water.
For further details, or to enrol in our March launch lessons, please visit: www.aquababiessurrey.com/swimming-lessons-chessington or send us a WhatsApp on 07766 242 572.
We can’t wait to welcome St Paul’s families back to the pool and see it thriving again at the heart of the school community.
Safeguarding Information
What if I have a Safeguarding Concern?
A reminder to parents and carers that if you have a safeguarding concern about a child this should be brought to Mrs Evans (Designated Safeguarding Lead) or Mrs Griffin (Deputy DSL).
There is lots of information on the school’s website to support parents in keeping their children safe (particularly linked to online safety) which can be found by clicking on the link below:
Road Safety Around Our School
We ask that parents and carers are considerate of the other members of both our school and local community when parking for drop off and collection. Please do not park on yellow lines or on the corners of local roads - markings have been placed on the road in spots where it will become dangerous if a vehicle stops. Parking in these places makes it very difficult for families to check that roads are safe for crossing and we are aware that this also applies to our Year 6 pupils who are walking home alone. Please leave time to find a suitable place to park safely and work with us to make the local roads as safe as possible for our pupils and families.
Key School Policies
Please take some time to familiarise yourself with our School Policies: 'Separated Parents Policy' and 'Communication and Conduct Policy'. These have been put together in consultation with the governing body who have now adopted these. Click on the links below to access them; they can also be accessed on the 'policies' page of the school's website.
Separated Parents Policy Communication and Conduct Policy
Key Dates for Your Diary
New or changes to dates shown in blue:
- Tues 16th June: Reception St Paul's Church Visit
- Tues 16th June: Year 4 River Trip
- Fri 19th June: Reception and Year 1 Online Postal Museum Workshops
- Weds 24th June - Year 3 Hindu Temple Trip
- Thurs 25th June: KS2 Sports Day at Hollyfield Field 9:15am - 11:45am
- Thurs 25th June: Year 2 Races Event Hollyfield Field 1:15pm - 2:15pm
- Fri 26th June: KS1 Sports Festival (Rec: 9:15am-10:00am; Year 1: 10:15am-11:00am)
- Mon 29th June: Year 6 MFL Session at Southborough
- Tues 30th June: Year 1 Trip to Chessington
- Tues 30th June: Year 2 Forest School Trip
- Weds 1st July: Whole School 'Move Up' Morning
- Fri 3rd July: Year 5 Taster Day at Chessington School
- Fri 3rd July: Year 6 Leavers' Service at Southwark Cathedral
- Fri 3rd July: PSA Picnic in the Playground at 3:15pm
- Sun 5th July: New Reception Parents/Carers welcome Church Service at 10am
- Thurs 9th July: Y5/Y6 Production (adults only) at 9:15am
- Fri 10th July: Y5/Y6 Production at 9:15am
- Monday 13th July: Year 6 Dough Shack Pizza Treat
- Friday 17th July: End of Term at 2pm
Remember to visit the calendar page using the link above and to link our school calendar to the calendar no your phone for automatic updates.
