St Paul's Newsletter
Friday 4th October 2024
Message from Mrs Evans
It is getting very busy at St Paul's this term. We have trips and workshops planned for many year groups in the coming weeks and are getting ready to wave off Year on their residential trip to Hindleap Warren next week! On Thursday, we had our Harvest Festival led by our wonderful Faith Reps and Mrs Griffin. It was a fabulous service - thank you to all of the parents/carers and other family members who joined us. There were over 40 additional visitors for the service which was brilliant! Thank you also for all of the generous donations for Harvest Festival.
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. It was wonderful to see some watermelons being cut up for Year 4 this week - delicious!
School Website
Please remember to make use of the school's website and calendar (which can be synched 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 book that considers what we know or think we know about each other and how we can come together.
A Look: This week there is an introduction from our newly appointed Positive Relationship Mentors. We are very proud of them and the work they are already doping in our school and the impact it is having. Watch this space for future videos on; relationships, mental health, worries and techniques for being an active listener.
A Hook: What do we want? How are we building our relationships? Where do we see success?
Book..
Look...
Hook...
Our Mental Health Team...
Sharon Griffin Lianne Cook Fahmida Wadud
Mental Health Lead Emotional Support Mental Health 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. Our current focus project is updating of the two libraries. We have had some initial designs completed for these spaces and will be looking at these with the staff and children before picking our final designs.
Along with the improvements outside, here are some other examples of the fabulous resources that have been purchased for the school through last year's fundraising:
PSA Purchases
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:
Events to look out for this term:
- Quiz Night (adults only): Friday 15th November
- Christmas Fair: Saturday 30th November
Donation days
Please bring donations of the items shown in red on the following days. Children should dress to match the theme:
Friday 25th October (donations of bottles of drink): Wild Hair and Funky Feet (socks or shoes) - worn with uniform.
Friday 15th November (donations of sweets): Wear Your Team Colours
Friday 29th November (donations of homemade cakes): Christmas Comes Early
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
In Reception we have been learning all about different types of homes. We have been looking around the world at different homes and even looked at our area on Google maps seeing if we could spot our own home. As a whole class we drew our own homes on a roll of paper to make it look like a road. In Maths, we have been counting to 5 looking at different ways that we can represent each number. We have also been putting our fine motor skills to work with threading and play doh disco.
Reception 2024 Newsletter
Year 1
This past two weeks in Year 1 we have been learning all about butterflies in English. We have been writing sentences to describe photos of butterflies, trying to remember to include capital letters, finger spaces and full stops. In Maths, we have been enjoying looking at number bonds to 5, 6 and 10 and finding one more and one less than given numbers. We really enjoyed our trip out to Kingston Museum, taking part in a treasure hunt to find the missing pieces of Kingston and sticking them back on the map. In Science, we have continued learning about humans, thinking about making healthy choices with our food and why it is important to eat lots of different types of foods.
Year 1 Newsletter 2024
Year 2
Over the last weeks, Year 2 have been exploring poetry types including looking at features such as alliteration. We've got so many great examples including dreamy, delightful, delicious descriptions for the sensory writing. In our DT topic, we have continued to delve into healthy foods and wraps. Our PE sessions have also allowed us to show collaborative working and active listening. In our History, we tried hot seating activities thinking about how Enid Blyton would have responded today. We really enjoyed thinking about questions we would want to ask her. Finally, in our Maths, we've been looking at shapes (including symmetry) and we are now focusing on developing fluency in identifying greater than and less than.
Year 2 Newsletter 2024
Year 3
Year 3 have started reading 'I was a Rat' in English and used pages from the book to find adjectives that describe Roger as well as thinkinng of some of our own. We have been learning about the composition of 100 in Maths and representing one hundred in lots of different ways, such as using dienes, colouring in sections of a hundred square and in written forms as well. In Science, we can identify and name some of the bones in our bodies and describe different joints. In History, we have been learning about the life of Mary Seacole and considering the challenges that she faced and how she overcame them.
Year 3 Newsletter 2024
Year 4
This week in Science, Year 4 have been looking at changing states of matter. We found out what happens when you melt and freeze different materials. We then investigated how salt impacts the speed that ice melts at. Did you know that salt helps disrupt the bond between the particles in ice to make it melt faster? In RE, we have been looking at the beatitudes. We did a freeze frame about each beatitude to show and explain what each one means. In English, we had a class debate about whether Zeraffa should have been sent to France or if she should be sent back into the wild. We also had a visit from the Southborough Sports Leaders which we thoroughly enjoyed!
Year 4 Newsletter 2024
Year 5
Year 5 have had a busy couple of weeks. Last week, we enjoyed looking at some of our work on the Tudors during our visit to Hampton Court Palace. In English this week we wrote a character description about Henry VIIIand when publishing this work, we stained our sheets with tea bags and wrote with feather pens which was great fun. In Maths, we have continued our work on decimals and have started using column addition and subtraction for questions including decimals. Finally, in DT we have created our own cases for Micro:Bits. We had to consider different functions whilst also trying to create a design for a target audience.
Year 5 Newsletter 2024
Year 6
Year 6 have been working hard this week on their first set of assessments and showed their resilience. We are also delving deeper into our local area during World War 1. We discovered that many of the roads today did not exist and that it was not really a residential area that was heavily populated. This meant that when conscription started, the young men of Hook left and there was hardly anyone left in the village. We looked at a range of primary sources of evidence with our resident history expert and deduced facts such as: which families lost family members and the attitude of the locals to the war. It was a very different time where there was little news and we considered how biased the information was.
Year 6 Newsletter 2024
Team Points
Congratulations to Diamonds and Year 4 who were the Team Points winners for the week beginning 23rd September and to Rubies and Reception who were the Team Points winners for the week beginning 30th September.
Wider Community News and 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!
Local Dental Health Check 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.
Attendance Information
| Reception | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Year 6 |
|
98% |
96% | 98% | 97% | 96% | 97% | 98% |
| Our Target | Current Attendance | National |
| 97% | 97.17% | 95.5% |
Holidays in Term Time
We would like to remind all parents that holidays during term time will be recorded as an unauthorised absence. Families may be asked to meet with Mrs Evans before their form is signed and/or may receive a letter from the school outlining the impact of their absence in line with our attendance strategy. Please see further information on the school website by following this link:
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 7th Oct: Year 6 Hindleap Warren Residential (all week)
- Weds 9th Oct: Year 3 Freshwater Workshop
- Mon 14th Oct: Reception Parents/Carers Phonics Workshop - 5:00pm
- Weds 16th Oct: Year 3 & Year 4 Football Tournament
- Fri 18th Oct: Year 3 Victorian Day
- Fri 18th Oct: Year 4 International Food Fair
- Fri 18th October: Year 5 Chessington School Science Workshop
- Tues 22nd Oct: Work Share - 3:15pm - 4:00pm
- Weds 23rd Oct: Year 2 Trip to The British Wildlife Centre
- Fri 25th Oct: PSA Donation (bottles) - Wild Hair and Funky Feet (with school uniform)
- Mon 28th Oct: Half-term
- Mon 4th Nov: Children Return
- Mon 4th Nov: Individual School Photos
- Fri 15th Nov: PSA Donation (sweets) - Wear Team Colours
- Fri 15th Nov: PSA Quiz Night
- Mon 18th Nov: INSET DAY (school closed to pupils)
- Thurs 21st Nov: Parent/Carer Meetings - 4:00pm - 6:30pm
- Tues 26th Nov: Early Finish at 2:30pm
- Tues 26th Nov: Parent/Carer Meetings - 3:30pm - 6:00pm
- Weds 27th Nov: Year 2 Polka Theatre Trip
- Thurs 28th Nov: Class Reps Meeting - 10:00am
- Fri 29th Nov: PSA Donation (homemade cakes) - Christmas Comes Early
- Sat 30th Nov: PSA Christmas Fair - 12:00pm - 3:00pm
- Weds 4th Dec: Year 3 & Year 4 Polka Theatre Trip
- Mon 9th Dec: KS1 Nativity - 9:15am (siblings welcome)
- Tues 10th Dec: KS1 Nativity - 9:15am (adults only)
- Weds 11th Dec: PSA Children's Christmas Market
- Thurs 12th Dec: PSA Children's Christmas Market
- Thurs 12th Dec: Choir singing at John Lewis, Kingston
- Fri 13th Dec: PSA Children's Christmas Market
- Mon 16th Dec: KS2 Choir singing at Trafalgar Square
- Tues 17th Dec: Reception & Year 1 Christmas Movie Treat
- Weds 18th Dec: KS2 Christmas Concert - 9:15am
- Thurs 19th Dec: KS2 Christmas Concert - 9:15am
- Thurs 19th Dec: Christmas Jumper Day
- Thurs 19th Dec: Whole School Christmas Lunch
- Fri 20th Dec: End of Term - 2:00pm
- Mon 6th Jan: INSET DAY (school closed to pupils)
- Tues 7th 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.
