St Paul's Newsletter
Friday 19th September 2025
Message from Mrs Evans
School Development Plan 2025-2026
We have been working hard on our School Development Plan for this year which can be seen below. We will be focusing on key routines, championing the individual subjects within our broad and balanced curriculum, working towards the 'Rights Respecting School Award' and exploring the spiritual reality that God sees us even when others don't. We will be sharing further information about our work on these areas throughout the year - look out for parent sessions and coffee mornings linked to this work too.
Assessment Overview
We have had a few queries about assessments in the first couple of weeks so I thought that I would give you a quick overview of what this looks like at St Paul's. Throughout every week, our teachers are continually assessing our children's knowledge, understanding and progress. This takes many forms and is completed in a 'low stakes' manner which means that it is used to inform future planning and delivery of lessons without placing any pressure on the chidlren.
'The Big Challenge' happens in classes every week to check pupils knowledge of key sounds, spelling patterns and maths facts and again this is carried out in a low stakes fashion. All of these pieces of information support our staff in understanding what the children in their class know, need to work on further and if there are any areas or misconceptions that need addressing - which may include some additional small group supported work. It also allows us to identify those children who require further challenge in the classroom.
Our children also take part termly in more formal assessments. These are used to identify what our children can confidently do completely independently and any areas that need to be revisited in the following term. We build up to these progressively, sometimes breaking assessment papers down into smaller parts, and begin in lower KS2 to discuss exam technique with the children. All of this allows us to prepare the children well for SATs week - which is a statutory part of their primary school journey - and to equip them for the regular formal testing that takes place in secondary school.
You can find out more about the regular feedback that we are giving children linked into daily assessment on our 'Teaching & Learning Page'. If you have any further questions, please ask your class teacher or come and see me on the gate.
Parking on the Road
We ask that our parents/carers are considerate when parking in the roads local to school. We have been receiving complaints again about cars parked on double yellow lines and across drives which has made these inaccessible to local residents. Please remember that double yellow lines have been put in place for safety reasons - in order to keep all of our pupils safe we ask that you do not park on these.
New Wraparound Care - 'The Bridge' Update
Numbers at 'The Bridge' continue to be relatively stable. James and Tasmin continue to come up with some very creative themes and activities to engage the children and James and Mrs Momp continue to look out for new things for the children to try! We continue to be grateful for the support being shown by our families and hope to continue to see new families making use of the service.
Attendance Overview
Classes - since start of term
| Reception | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Year 6 |
|
99.17% |
96.97% | 87.58% | 96.97% | 98.93% | 96.55% | 93.57% |
Whole School - since the start of the year
| Our Target | Current Attendance | National |
| 97% | 95.43% | 94.5% |
Holidays in Term Time
I would like to remind all parents that holidays during term time will be recorded as an unauthorised absence. These cause disruption within the class due to children missing parts of the learning in topics which will later be built upon and can lead to children being unsettled on their return to school.
Holidays in term-time should only be taken for 'exceptional circumstances' which means that this would not be a regular (including annual) occurrence.
We are currently reviewing our attendance strategy and are closely monitoring the link between term-time absence and an increase in support needed for some of our pupils and families in school.
If you are considering a term-time holiday, I would really ask that you reflect on the confusion in the messaging to the children when they are taken out of school for a holiday having been told up to that point (and after) that they 'must' attend school.
Please look out for further updates about the changes to our strategy in the coming year.
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.
School Website
Please remember to make use of the school's website and calendar (which can be synced to your phone) for reminders and updates.
Support with Behaviour Concerns
A plea to parents/carers that if they have concerns about an incident that has taken place at school, that they avoid directly contacting other parents as this can lead to both misunderstandings and upset. We ask that any concerns are brought directly to school staff and that school are then left to deal with these. We will always follow up any concerns brought forward and would always prefer to find out more and resolve these within the school day (wherever possible) as this makes it easier for the children to accurately recall what has taken place. One of our key priorities is developing positive relationships across our community and this is something that our families can do to support us with this.
School Trips/Visits Policy
At St Paul's we have developed a rich programme of trips and visits to support our curriculum. Whilst parents/carers will always be asked for permission for their child to attend, these experiences have been carefully chosen and planned to enrich our pupils' learning and therefore we are always keen to enable as many pupils as possible to attend.
We are always keen to hear from parents/carers if they have any concerns about a trip or visit and will then invite them to come in and meet with us to discuss this concern further in the hope that together we can create a plan of support which will enable their child to take part.
Please do not be surprised to be asked to come in if you have not given permission for a trip/visit - we really value these opportunities to have conversations about concerns and to consider what can be done to support.
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.
With Me in Mind - Mental Health and Wellbeing Support for Families
This newsletter is a place where we can share with you: resources, strategies and thoughts to consider. We are keen to reach more families with messages and resources that we use with your children at school. We look forward to receiving feedback on this new venture for us.
- So what do you want to know more about?
- Are there challenges that you are facing that you would like to consider differently? Please let us know your thoughts on this Google Form
In this issue:
A Book, A Hook & A Look:
Book..
Hook...
Look...
|
|
Our Mental Health Team...
Sharon Griffin Lianne Cook
Mental Health Lead Emotional Support
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.
Remember to check out our events guide on the PSA page which is a guide for families about what our different events involve and how you can help:
Look out for upcoming events
PSA Store
Don't forget to head over to our PSA store to get involved in the latest events using the link below:
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
Over the last two weeks Reception have settled very well into school and have been practising new routines. We have enjoyed meeting our teachers and new friends and have enjoyed exploring our classroom. We really love going on the bikes and scooters and playing outside! We have also looked at the zones of regulation, looking at the different emotions that we may feel and what they could look like. We did some painting of some autumn trees and have enjoyed using our stage in class for performances and dressing up.
Reception Newsletter 2025-26
Year 1
Year 1 have had a fantastic start to the autumn term and have settled in brilliantly. In English, we have explored writing labels and had lots of fun labelling our classroom. We have also written lists of things that make us happy, inspired by our class stories Ruby's Worry and My Monster and Me. These books have helped us to talk about different emotions and how we can manage them. In Maths, we have been practising counting up to 10 and exploring the different amounts that we can find all around us, even sounds can be counted! In Geography, we began our topic on the local area, discussing the different places that we visit near school. In Science, we have started learning about animals and humans, looking closely at the different body parts and bones that make up our bodies.
Year 1 Newsletter 2025-26
Year 2
We have had an exciting couple of weeks in Year 2! In English, we have been working hard on using verbs, adverbs and conjunctions - using some drama to help us - and we have created some beautiful sentences. We have created some delicious restaurant menus in DT, which has also had us thinking about healthy food choices. In History, we have been learning about our wonderful local heroes, including Enid Blyton and Harry Hawker. Our school trip to the church to visit the resting place of Harry Hawker and Enid Blyton's home was a great success and we were able to ask lots of questions! In Maths, we have been looking at representing numbers 20-99, and our first Big Challenge booklet test had some fantastic results - thank you for all of your hard work helping us at home! In RE, we have been discussing promises and commitment, and what it means to make promises to ourselves, others and to God. We have had a wonderful start to the term with lots of enthusiasm, creativity and hard work!
Year 2 Newsletter 2025-26
Year 3
Year 3 have had a great start to the new school year. We have learned how to identify paragraphs in writing and are beginning to write some of our own extended writes in paragraphs too. We are enjoying linking English to our Victorians topic and are working on information texts about Queen Victoria. We have recapped methods to represent addition and subtraction with 1-digit numbers in maths and showed this with counters, on number lines and as written equations. We have learned some French words and numbers which has been a lot of fun. In RE, we are thinking about the big story of the Bible and have made our own mini Bibles which tell the overall story of the Bible too.
Year 3 Newsletter 2025-26
Year 4
In Year 4, we have enjoyed reading Zeraffa Giraffa. We have been writing descriptively to describe where Zeraffa lived, using lots of different features to make our writing more interesting. We have been building on our dictionary skills, becoming more confident at finding definitions of new words from our guided reading texts. In Maths, we have been recapping the column method for both addition and subtraction, including when to exchange and regroup. In Geography, we have enjoyed our topic of Our World; we enjoyed using atlases to locate different countries, learning about the two hemispheres and how the equator is related to climate. We also recapped how to use scratch in Computing, programming it to be able to check and answer questions.
Year 4 Newsletter 2025-26
Year 5
Year 5 Newsletter 2025-26
Year 6
Year 6 have had an amazing start to the new school year. We have been writing some fantastic setting descriptions about the frosty world of Narnia and thinking hard about how to make our creative writing flow. We have started new topics in Science - learning about light and how we see, History - learning about the impact of the first and second world wars and Computing - learning more about algorithms. In Maths, we have been working really hard on improving our Arithmetic skills and working on place value with numbers up to ten million. We have also really enjoyed having some cricket coaching and learning how to bat and field.
Year 6 Newsletter 2025-26
Team Points
Congratulations to Year 5 and Rubies who were the Team Points winners for the week beginning 1st September, to Year 3 and Diamonds who were the team points winners for the week beginning 8th September and to Year 4 and Sapphires who were the Team Points winners for the week beginning 15th September.
Wider Community News and Events
MacMillan Coffee & Cake Event - St Paul's Church
Saturday 27th September: 10.30am - 2.30pm - There will be Tea, Coffee, soft drinks, homemade cake & biscuits, soup & roll, raffle & conversation!
Join us for a very worthy charity with tasty treats!
Local Author Events
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.
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
- Thurs 25th Sept: Class Reps Meeting at 10am
- Fri 26th Sept: PSA Picnic in the Playground 3:15pm - 5:30pm
- Tues 30th Sept: PSA AGM (at school) at 7pm
- Weds 1st Oct: Year 5 Hampton Court Trip
- Weds 1st Oct: Year 3 Victorian Day
- Fri 3rd Oct: Harvest Service at 9:15am
- Tues 7th Oct: Year 5 National Portrait Gallery Trip
- Mon 13th Oct: Year 6 Hindleap Warren Residential
- Mon 20th Oct: Workshare 3:15pm - 4:00pm
- Fri 24th Oct: PSA Donation Day - wear own clothes
- Fri 24th Oct: PSA Donuts Sale
- Fri 24th Oct: End of half-term (3:15pm finish)
- Mon 3rd Nov: Year 5 and Year 6 Talk Consent Workshop
- Weds 5th Nov: Year 4 'Future Makers' at Royal Albert Hall
- Mon 10th Nov: Whole School Nasal Flu Immunisation
- Fri 14th Nov: PSA Donation Day - wear own clothes
- Tues 18th Nov: Class Reps at 10am
- Weds 19th Nov: Year 2 Christmas Journey
- Fri 21st Nov: Year 2 Polka Theatre Trip
- Mon 24th Nov: Year 5 Bikeability (all week)
- Tues 25th Nov: Year 4 Science Museum Trip
- Weds 26th Nov: Parent/Carer Meetings 4pm - 6:30pm
- Fri 28th Nov: PSA Donation Day - wear own clothes
- Sat 29th Nov: PSA Christmas Fair 12pm - 3pm
- Tues 2nd Dec: Early Finish at 2:30pm
- Tues 2nd Dec: Parent/Carer Meetings 3pm - 6pm
- Fri 5th Dec: Reception Postbox and Library Trip
- Fri 5th Dec: Year 3 and Year 4 Polka Theatre Trip
- Mon 8th Dec: iRock Parents/Carers Concert at 2:30pm
- Tues 9th Dec: KS1 Nativity at 9:15am (adults only)
- Weds 10th Dec: PSA Children's Christmas Market
- Thurs 11th Dec: KS1 Nativity at 9:15am (siblings welcome)
- Fri 12th Dec: PSA Children's Christmas Market
- Mon 15th Dec: KS2 Christmas Concert at 9:15am (adults only)
- Tues 16th Dec: KS2 Christmas Concert at 9:15am (siblings welcome)
- Tues 16th Dec: Whole School Christmas Lunch and Christmas Jumper Day
- Thurs 18th Dec: Reception and Year 1 Christmas Film
- Fri 19th Dec: End of Term (2pm finish)
- Mon 5th Jan: INSET DAY (school closed to children)
- Tues 6th Jan: Children Return
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.
