St Paul's Newsletter
Friday 22nd May 2026
Message from Mrs Evans
As we approach the half-term break, I want to take a moment to say how incredibly proud I am of our wonderful Year 6 pupils. Last week, they sat their KS2 SATs, and the maturity, resilience, and positive attitude they showed was absolutely fantastic. They truly gave it their all! To celebrate their hard work, the children have been sporting their new Year 6 leavers’ hoodies around school, looking very smart indeed. They had a fabulous time on their Year 6 bowling trip, which was a well-deserved reward for their superb efforts.
There have been lots of other exciting things going on around the school too. It has been lovely in the last few weeks to hear our staff talking about the quality of the Art and DT work that is being produced by our pupils. It is a real testament to the hard work of our dedicated staff, who have developed an exciting new curriculum that lets our children’s creativity shine. Our Year 5 class has been coordinating our contribution to the local ‘E-Waste Race’, collecting old electronic items for recycling to help protect our planet, and we can’t wait to see where in the competition they end up. It has also been wonderful to see some of our families choosing a healthier, greener route to our school gates during Walk to School Week.
The PSA held a fantastic Sumer Fair. It was brilliant to see so many families enjoying the afternoon and the day really created a fabulous sense of community. The PSA continue to do a fantastic job this year in fundraising for the school but also in looking at ways to bring the community together. We are incredibly grateful for all of the time and effort that has gone into planning and running these events and are looking forward to the Fun Run in a few weeks.
Looking ahead to September, we have now finalised our teacher arrangements for the next academic year. Details of who will be teaching each year group will be shared with parents/carers today. Please share this news with your children prior to returning to school after the holidays. We know that change can bring both excitement and a few nerves, so we have planned several opportunities during the next half-term for the children to spend time with their new teachers. This will help everyone build strong relationships and feel confident and ready for a smooth start in their new classrooms.
Thank you all for your continued support, and I wish you a restful and happy half-term holiday.
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 |
|
95.50% |
98.71% | 95.83% | 96.33% | 98.33% | 90.83% | 99.48% |
Whole School - since the start of the year
| Our Target | Current Attendance | National |
| 97% | 96.04% | 95.47% |
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 looked at buzzy bees, why they are so important and how they make honey. We wrote about why they are important and even made our bee hive using bubble wrap and paint. In Maths we have been practising our number bonds to 10 using numicons to see what makes 10. This week in Reception our focus has been all things spiders. We have been learning the different parts of a spider and how they move. In our writing we have been focusing on our sentence writing about minibeasts. In our making area we have been creating our own spider web and spiders and on our fine motor table we have been practising our cutting skills.
Reception Newsletter 2025-26
Year 1
It has been another action-packed week of discovery and creativity in Year 1! In English, we proudly finished our care guides for looking after an octopus, working hard to include time words, "bossy" verbs, and even learning how to use commas in a list to show the equipment needed. We have been learning to skip count in 2s, 5s, and 10s, as well as grouping objects and cleverly deciding which number is best to count in depending on the group. Our creative side truly shone in Art as we completed our "weaving wonders" inside our loom boxes, beautifully showcasing all our new skills in plaiting, weaving, threading, knotting, and wrapping. Finally, in Geography, we became global researchers, investigating different animals and their habitats while discussing which continent they call home and what they eat.
Year 1 Newsletter 2025-26
Year 2
We had a fantastic time visiting the local Mosque where the children learned all about the daily life of a Muslim, including prayer and special features of the building. A huge well done to all the children for being so wonderfully behaved, both during the tour and on the bus. We are coming to the end of our history topic on explorers which the children have absolutely loved. They are now experts at comparing explorers from the past to those today, and they are eager to tell us all about their favourites. In English, where we are currently writing up diaries for Captain Cook and his adventures at sea. In Maths, the children are really enjoying learning all about fractions, showing great enthusiasm for finding halves and quarters. Finally, we hope you enjoyed seeing our recent Design and Technology project, 'make a chair for a bear'. Thank you so much for all of the cardboard boxes you sent in as the children absolutely loved creating, building, and problem-solving together.
Year 2 Newsletter 2025-26
Year 3
Year 3 have recapped telling the time to o'clock, quarter past and quarter to and we have worked very hard to work out the time for minutes 'past' and 'to'. We have started the 'Dream giver' in English and are writing descriptive stories. In RE, we learned the Hindu story of Rama and Sita and it's link to Diwali. We considered how we could be 'light' too. We have observed how animals have adapted to different biomes in Geography and really enjoyed constructing our castles in DT and evaluating their purpose and what we would improve.
Year 3 Newsletter 2025-26
Year 4
This week in Year 4 have been enjoying writing their final write based on the Antarctic. We've worked on using all of our skills including adverbials and conjunctions to create interesting formal paragraphs around a theme. We've been working on our pride in presentation too and are so proud of our handwriting. In Maths our fractions knowledge is growing with the use of mixed numbers and improper fractions. In our Science we've used lots of our observational skills to become nature detectives using poo, diet, skull and habitats to draw conclusions about animal food chains! In our Geography we've been studying our rivers and using OS maps to work out the features of rivers near us too !
Year 4 Newsletter 2025-26
Year 5
This week in Year 5, we have been working hard on finishing our Buddhism unit. We've thought hard about shared values in religions and the big questions that we try and answer. In English, we have been working further on characterisation of speech using action, dialogue, action. The speech sandwich has helped us to understand how to punctuate and properly use speech to move a plot on. In our Maths, we have been working hard on using our knowledge about fractions being an equal part of a whole to work out the unknown whole. This has been quite fun using the bar model and pictorials - we've worked out some easy strategies for us to visualise the problems. In our Science, we've looked at pulleys all around us and thought about how a we can manipulate a lever to get different results with the force shown.
Year 5 Newsletter 2025-26
Year 6
In Year 6 we have reached a very exciting milestone by completing our SATs. The children showed incredible determination, resilience and positivity throughout the week, and we are extremely proud of the hard work and effort they have shown over the course of the year leading up to the assessments.
Team Points
Congratulations to Year 6 and Sapphires who were the Team Points winners for the week beginning 11th May, to Reception and Diamonds who were the team points winners for the week beginning 18th May and to Diamonds who are the winners for this half-term.
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:
- Mon 1st June: INSET DAY (school closed to children)
- Tues 2nd June: Children Return
- Tues 2nd June: Swimming begins for Year 6
- Weds 3rd June: Parent Workshop at 6.30pm - 'Predictable Routines and Consistent Boundaries'
- Fri 5th June: Reception Bockett's Farm Trip
- Mon 8th June: Year 1 Phonics Screening Week
- Mon 8th June: Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check
- Mon 8th June: Swimming begins for Year 5
- Mon 8th June: Parent Workshop at 6.30pm - 'Reframing Behaviour. Seeing the Need Behind the Action'
- Friday 12th June: PSA Fun Run
- Tues 16th June: Year 4 River Trip
- Fri 19th June: Reception and Year 1 Online Postal Museum Workshops
- Thurs 25th June: KS2 Sports Day at Hollyfield Fields 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)
- 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.
