St Paul's Newsletter
Friday 20th March 2026
Message from Mrs Evans
It has been another busy fortnight and I can't believe that we are almost at the Easter holidays! The classes have been incredibly busy and it has been wonderful seeing them making use of the outdoor area when the sunshine has been out! The PSA ran a successful KS1 disco and held the KS2 movie night too and KS2 are looking forward to their discos. It was great to welcome parents and carers in for our consultation evenings and I know that the staff enjoyed the opportuntiy to celebrate the children's learning and achievements. We have had assessment week this week and will be meeting next week to look at intervention groups for the summer term for those pupils who need a little bit of extra support in certain areas. We are really looking forward to the Easter service at St Paul's on Friday at 9:15am and hope to see many parents and carers there to join us.
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 |
|
96.20% |
96.65% | 95.88% | 95.57% | 96.26% | 96.09% | 96.28% |
Whole School - since the start of the year
| Our Target | Current Attendance | National |
| 97% | 96.13% | 94.88% |
Regular Reminders
Mobile Phone 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.
Holidays in Term Time
I would like to remind all parents that holidays during term time will be recorded as an unauthorised absence. These asbences 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 conifirm 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 our focus book for the week was 'Julian is a Mermaid'. We looked in detail at the different emotions that Julian displayed throughout the book. We labelled these emotions and related them back to ourselves and when we might feel these emotions. In Maths, we have been looking at 2D/3D shapes making them out of lollipop sticks, counting the sides and corners. We have been reviewing some of our digraphs over the week to help us with this we have played a sorting game with digraphs. In Maths we have also looked at sorting our counting animals into groups, discussing the different ways that we can do this. This week in Reception our focus book is 'Hair Love'. We have been looking at each other's hair looking at the differences and similarities. We have been writing about why we love our hair and drawing pictures to go with this. In our outdoor area we have been making potions with different fruit and vegetables, discussing what we can smell and see and looking at the changes when we mix them.
Reception Newsletter 2025-26
Year 1
Year 1 Newsletter 2025-26
Year 2
It’s been a brilliant few weeks in Year 2! We were transported back to 1910 during a visit from the Freshwater Theatre group, where the children discovered the stark differences in school life. We discussed forms of school punishment, the curriculum now and then and the expectations on children. While we loved the experience, we definitely prefer our modern-day classroom! In Maths, we’ve been exploring 2D and 3D shapes, mastering terms like vertices, polygons, and faces. We have enjoyed working with the shapes and discussing their similarities and differences. In English, we have been using conjunctions and powerful adjectives to create impactful work about saving the whales. Our science lessons have focused on survival and the essentials needed for humans and animals to thrive. We are also loving the warmer weather and we are hoping it continues so we can enjoy more outdoor learning!
Year 2 Newsletter 2025-26
Year 3
Year 3 have enjoyed learning more about the Stone Age to the Iron Age over the last few weeks, noticing the changes that took place and the ways life developed in prehistory. We have studied some Stone Age art in our Art lessons too and used charcoal to create and smudge our own drawings of British animals in Stone Age style. In RE, we have learned the days of Holy Week in order and have thought about the characters' thoughts at the time and what it would have been like to be the different characters in the Easter story. We are enjoying learning the French vocabulary for items in a classroom as well as classroom instructions too.
Year 3 Newsletter 2025-26
Year 4
In English, we have finished writing our stories; we followed the structure of the book FArTHER and enjoyed creating our own endings to achieve the dream. We use lots of fronted adverbials and expanded noun phrases to add description. In Maths, we have been looking at coordinates. We described how polygons have been translated (moved) and then have begun using coordinates to plot polygons on a grid. In Geography, we looked at how rivers cause erosion and create valleys. We learnt about how V shaped valleys and U shaped valleys are created and the difference between them. In Science, we enjoyed creating our own classification keys and playing "guess who" to find out each others' animals.
Year 4 Newsletter 2025-26
Year 5
Year 5 have been working hard this week in English on their formality and tone. We've looked at how word choices can impact our work including how the audience perceives an idea. We wrote our own landing breaking news extract using passive voice to show our formality. In our Science we actually calculated mean averages for the effect of shape of playdough models on how quickly they sank. We worked out that this was important to stop other variables skewing our results. In our History, we've been looking at how Mayan inventions have impacted us today and how ancient civilizations were innovative! In our Maths we've continued to work hard on arithmetic skills including multiplication with decimals. We've also started discussing how to use related facts to help us be efficient in maths. In our RE, we've started to look at our Easter symbols and the significance of them on our lives today.
Year 5 Newsletter 2025-26
Year 6
In Year 6 we have been developing our understanding of Geography by learning about minerals, including how they are used in everyday life, where they come from and the consequences of extracting them from the Earth. We have also explored where our energy comes from and have learned about the difference between renewable and non-renewable energy sources, thinking carefully about the impact that each can have on our world. In Maths, we have been interpreting a range of different graphs, including line graphs and pie charts. We have practised reading and comparing information carefully and have also begun constructing our own pie charts, using our knowledge of fractions, percentages and angles to present data accurately.
Year 6 Newsletter 2025-26
Team Points
Congratulations to Year 4 and Rubies who were the Team Points winners for the week beginning 9th March, to Year 5 and Diamonds who were the team points winners for the week beginning 16th March.
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!
Miss C's Half-Marathon
Miss C is running the London Landmarks half-marathon on 12th April She is raising money for 'Hope and Homes for Children' who work to get children from orphanages back to their families. She is raising money through a just giving page - the link is here if you would like to support her:
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
- Mon 23rd Mar: Height and Weight Check for Reception and Year 6
- Mon 23rd Mar: iRock Parents/Carers' Concert at 2:30pm
- Weds 25th Mar: Year 4 River Trip
- Fri 27th Mar: Easter Service at St Paul's Church 9:15am
- Fri 27th Mar: End of Term 2pm Finish
- Mon 13th April: Children Return
- Mon 13th April: Swimming begins for Year 3
- Tues 14th April: Swimming begins for Year 4
- Fri 17th April: PSA Donation Day - wear own jumper or Cardigan with uniform
- Fri 17th April: PSA Year 5 and Year 6 Disco
- Mon 27th April: Mock SATs Week
- Fri 1st May: PSA Donation Day
- Mon 4th May: Bank Holiday (School Closed)
- Thurs 7th May: Choir at Star and Garter
- Fri 8th May: Class Photos
- Mon 11th May: Year 6 SATs week
- Mon 11th May: Learn to Ride Course all week
- Fri 15th May: PSA Donation Day
- Fri 15th May: Year 6 Bowling Trip
- Sat 16th May: PSA Summer Fair 12pm - 3pm
- Tues 19th May: Class Reps Meeting at 10am
- Fri 22nd May: End of Half-Term 3:15pm Finish
- Mon 1st June: INSET DAY (school closed to children)
- Tues 2nd June: Children Return
- Tues 2nd June: Swimming begins for Year 6
- Mon 8th June: Year 1 Phonics Screening Week
- Mon 8th June: Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check
- Mon 8th June: Swimming begins for Year 5
- Fri 19th June: Reception and Year 1 Online Postal Museum Workshops
- Tues 30th July: Year 1 Trip to Chessington
- 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
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.
