St Paul's Newsletter
Friday 7th March 2025
Message from Mrs Evans
Our New Libraries
Our new libraries are up and running! The KS2 children have already been making use of their space and KS1 are looking forward to being able to do this again from next week too.
The children and staff have all been delighted to see how these spaces have been transformed!
We met this week as a staff to think about ways that we can make use of these spaces to promote 'reading for pleasure'. Listen out for your child telling you about:
- Whole class storytime in the library;
- Writing reviews of books they have enjoyed to share with others;
- Creating work for new library displays;
- 'Fact Finding' sessions;
- A new reading award (being introduced by our governors).
New Playground Equipment
This term we have focused on increasing 'purposeful and active play' within our playgrounds.
Working with the Junior Leadership Team, we have introduced some new equipment into the playgrounds and we have 'zoned' the KS2 playground so that greater variety of activities can be taking place at once.
Updates to equipment: nets for volleyball, new 'Champ' squares, basketball nets and balls, space hoppers, long skipping ropes, bouncy balls for group games and large connect 4 for the 'Calm Corner'.
It has been fantastic to see the children engaged in so many active games during break and lunchtimes. Year 6 have done a wonderful job of supporting our younger pupils with how to play effectively with this new equipment. A big thank you to Mr B for painting the new 'Champ' squares which are already getting a lot of use and to the PSA for funding the new equipment.
PSA London to Brighton Cycle
On Sunday 15th June, a group of our parents/carers will be cycling from London to Brighton. This is a fantastic community event which will raise money for our school. Further details about the event can be found here: Go Fund Me: PSA Pedallers and you can also use the QR code below to donate:
A huge thank you to the parents/carers taking part!
| Parent/Carer | Year Group/s Represented |
| Mark Bottell | Reception and Year 3 |
| Mick Edwards | Reception and Year 3 |
| James Elvy | Year 3 and Year 4 |
| Ian Curd | Year 3 |
| Dave Holdaway | Year 3 and Year 5 |
| Antony Baxter | Year 1 and Year 4 |
| Aron Sibley | Year 3 and Year 6 |
| Bea Wlodarczyk | Year 2 and Year 4 |
| Alannah Sandham | Year 1 and Year 2 |
| Tom Harvey | Year 3 and Year 6 |
| Ed Sillars | Year 2 |
| Simon Erith | Year 4 and Year 6 |
| Mike Underwood | Reception and Year 1 |
Attendance Overview
Classes - since last newsletter
| Reception | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Year 6 |
|
96.78% |
95.89% | 95.44% | 97.11% | 95.29% | 95.71% | 94.36% |
Whole School - since the start of the year
| Our Target | Current Attendance | National |
| 97% | 95.41% | 93.3% |
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 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 reflecting on all the different feelings we can experience and what they need from us.
A Look:
A Hook: What for you is the most important thing to experience in life?
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. We are so excited that we will soon be having our new libraries fitted which we have been raising money for.
Upcoming PSA Events
- KS1 Disco and KS2 Movie Night - 14th March
- KS2 Disco - 21st March
- Adults Social - 22nd March
- Summer Fair - 7th June
- London to Brighton Cycle Ride - 15th June (see details below)
- Picnic in the Playground - 4th July
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
We have started our new topic 'Who can help?'. We started off by looking at who helps us at school and what we can do to help at home. In Maths, we looked at ordering numbers 1-10, also role playing in our new 'vets' corner looking after the animals. In PE, we have started our superhero training starting off with target practice - throwing bean bags at targets. Using our fine motor skills, we have pretended to be jewellers to make necklaces and bracelets out of string and beads. This week in Reception, we have enjoyed a visit from James's dad who is a Police Officer. We got to ask questions about being a Police Officer and look at the equipment that he brought in. We also had another visitor who was an author called Hannah Shaw who came in and spoke to us about her books and read a story. As the sun has been shining, we have had lots of fun playing outside, and exploring the dressing up box and making stories up. Our writing this week has answered the question: 'What does a Police Officer do?', after a discussion as a whole class of the different jobs they have to do.
Reception 2024 Newsletter
Year 1
Year 1 Newsletter 2024
Year 2
Year 2 have had an exciting start to the new spring term. In art we have begun to discuss making a 3D ariel model of an island. Please save a newspaper for us to use in our papier mache. We have been working on shape and defining 2D and 3D properties. We made nets into 3D shapes, which were cunningly disguised as aliens! We have had an author visit from Hannah White, with her help we drew our own Unipiggle! Then we designed our own island and the characters who lived there! In history we are learning about the recent past. We may ask lots of questions about holidays and what they were like for an older relative or family friend.
Year 2 Newsletter 2024
Year 3
Year 3 enjoyed learning how to knead bread in DT at the end of last half term. We designed our bread rolls first and chose which fillings and toppings we would have. We evaluated these afterwards and thought about what we might do differently next time. We have been writing recounts in English about a topic of our choice, organising our work carefully into paragraphs and starting our sentences in different ways using fronted adverbials. In Maths, we have been learning some mental methods for addition and subtraction and have begun to solve some 2-step problems with addition and subtraction. We started our new History topic on the Stone Age and have studied artefacts to observe differences between the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods. We have had a lot of discussion in class about what life would have been like for the people living in the Stone Age too.
Year 3 Newsletter 2024
Year 4
This week Year 4 started our new topics for this term. In geography we started our topic of rivers and spoke about how they are formed. We learnt that they start with rain. We went outside to explore what happens to rain when it falls on different surfaces and we discovered it either runs down or gets infiltrated and that's how rivers form. The children were very interested and asking lots of questions about it. We finished off our canopic jars from last term and they look amazing! In English, we have been writing balanced arguments. We have had a few class debates, considering the arguments both for and against like should people be allowed to climb Mount Snowdon. In indoor PE, we have started doing Step to the Beat which has been really exciting. We are all really good at stepping to the rhythm of the beat! In science we explored food chains, producers and consumers.
Year 4 Newsletter 2024
Year 5
We have had an excellent two weeks in Year 5! We have certainly enjoyed the sunshine and have taken the opportunity to do some drama and science experiments outside. In English, we have started working on the Mayan creation story, using both art and writing to retell this myth. In science, we have begun learning about forces, identifying push and pull forces before starting to explore gravity. In maths, we have started a unit on multiplying and dividing by 10, 100, and 1,000, explaining the effects we have noticed. Finally, in DT, we have been taught how to use blanket stitches and running stitches to create our own Easter egg stuffed toys.
Year 5 Newsletter 2024
Year 6
Year 6 have worked hard this half term on their new topics. We have been delving into our new topic of protecting our earth. We really enjoyed using the atlas, Google Maps and even drawing our own maps. We looked at tipping points that have been recorded in the Living Planet report produced by WWF and we listened to the documentary by David Attenborough. It was really important that we could look at global, national and individual choices and how we impact our environment. We looked at how tipping points are actually positive because they can help us to identify changes we need to make. We already discussed how some damage is already being undone by global policies such as the Paris Agreement. In our science, we have been looking at the way we can classify organisms from around the world including how we use our observational skills too. We recapped how vertebrates and invertebrates can be grouped and started to even think about micro-organisms.
Year 6 Newsletter 2024
Team Points
Congratulations to Year 5 and Sapphires who were the Team Points winners for the week beginning 10th February, to Year 2 and Rubies who were the Team Points winners for the week beginning 24th February and to Year 2 and Sapphires who were the Team Points winners for the week beginning 3rd March. Well done to Sapphires who were the team points winners overall for last half-term.
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!
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
- Weds 12th March: Year 5 at 'The Easter Experience'
- Fri 14th March: NSPCC Workshops - Year2, Year 5 and Year 6
- Fri 14th March: PSA KS1 Disco
- Fri 14th March: PSA KS2 Movie Night
- Mon 17th March: Year 5 Rivers Trip
- Tues 18th March: Year 4 Rivers Trip
- Weds 19th March: Rec - Year 4 Science Workshops
- Thurs 20th March: Year 5 and Year 6 Science Workshops
- Thurs 20th March: Parent/Carer Meetings - 4:00pm - 6:30pm
- Fri 21st March: Comic Relief Day
- Fri 21st March: Year 1 Drama Workshop
- Fri 21st March: PSA KS2 Disco
- Mon 24th March: Reception and Year 6 Height and Weight Check
- Weds 26th March: Early Finish - 2:30pm
- Weds 26th March: Parent/Carer Meetings - 3:00pm - 6:00pm
- Mon 31st March: iRock Concert for Parents/Carers at 2:45pm
- Mon 31st March: Year 6 Parents/Carers' Secondary Transition Meeting at 6pm
- Fri 4th April: Last day of term - 2:00pm finish
- Tues 22nd April: Children Return
- Sat 26th April: London Schools Mini Marathon Event (children must be signed up through school to take part) - subject to confirmation of successful application
- Fri 2nd May: PSA Donation Day (Bottles) - 'Wear the Rainbow': Brightly coloured outfits - how many differnet colours can you wear?
- Mon 5th May: Bank Holiday Monday (school closed)
- Fri 9th May: PSA Donation Day (Sweets) - 'Show Your Style': Wear non-school shoes with your uniform.
- Fri 9th May: Class Reps Meeting 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.
