School News - 7th March 2025

View the latest news  and diary reminders from St Mary's School below. 

If you are a parent or carer who would like to register to receive these weekly news bulletins updates  direct to your email, please contact the school office. 

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome back! I hope you all had a lovely half-term break. It certainly feels as though spring is on the way now that we’ve seen some glorious sunshine this week—although, admittedly, it’s still a little on the chilly side!

First and foremost, a very Happy World Book Day to all! Our children have looked absolutely fantastic today in their various book character costumes today. It has been wonderful to see so many different characters from across a variety of books and genres represented throughout the school. This week has been all about celebrating and promoting a love of reading at St Mary’s, and we’ve been engaging in many exciting book-related activities.

We kicked off the week with a whole-school assembly on Monday to celebrate our reading community here at St Mary’s. The assembly featured a fun game of ‘guess the story’, and it was heartwarming to see how engaged our children were with the images shared. We also talked about the magic of books and what makes them so special and memorable. We then had the privilege of announcing the winners of the ‘Book in a Box’ competition. The creativity, imagination, and attention to detail in the entries were truly remarkable, making it incredibly difficult to select just one winner from each class. A huge congratulations to all those involved, and well done to the winners: Tiana (YR), Luca (Y1), Freddie (Y2), Finlay (Y3), Heloise (Y4), Olivia (Y5) and Jess (Y6). The entries will be on display in the school hall this evening for you to admire during Bedtime Stories.

Throughout the week, our students have participated in various reading-related activities. This morning, we were joined by M&M Theatrical Productions for their annual performance of a classic literary adaptation—this year, we enjoyed the story of Oliver Twist. As always, the performance was incredibly professional, slick, and truly mesmerising for all. Year 6 were lucky enough to take part in a workshop focusing on all the behind-the-scenes secrets that make the production happen. They learnt about the staging, props, outfits, sound and lighting. A huge thank you to the PTA for funding this wonderful opportunity every year!

On Tuesday, Year 5 had a fantastic workshop with illustrator Katie Hickey. Some classes have been working with the book The Barnabus Project and have produced some beautiful artwork inspired by its story. We were also delighted to receive a copy of Ten Red Bottoms, written by Barry Timms and illustrated by Mike Byrne, for our school library. The book even has a special dedication to the St Mary’s School community—thank you, Mike!

Tonight, we look forward to welcoming the children back to school for a bedtime story and some hot chocolate and biscuits between 5:15pm and 6:00pm. Please be sure to check the drop-off and pick-up locations for the story your child has signed up for. Additionally, the book fair will be open in the hall during this time for parents to browse and purchase some books. A big thank you to the PTA representatives for their continued support with this event.

Alongside the wonderful focus on books and reading, there has been plenty of activity in other areas too. Just before half-term, Year 2 enjoyed an exciting animal workshop where they had the chance to meet a hedgehog, a snake, a toad, and an owl, which was all part of their learning about different habitats. They are also looking forward to welcoming duck eggs to their classroom next week. Reception class also had the pleasure of meeting some animal companions before half-term when they were joined by some gorgeous pointer puppies! Last Friday, Year 6 had an Ancient Greek Day with food tasting, costume wearing, and some Olympic-style sports. Year 4 have started their swimming lessons this half-term, while Year 3 had their first workshop with a chef to enhance their Design and Technology lessons. All classes are currently chitting potatoes ready to plant next week as we are taking part in a ‘Grow Your Own Potatoes’ Project this year. We look forward to harvesting in late June.

Looking ahead, we have lots to look forward to over the coming weeks, including Year 2’s class assembly, school discos, parent evenings, our Easter Pause Day, and the Easter service—it's set to be another busy half-term!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Warm regards,

Alison Evans Headteacher

Headteacher

PARENT PORTAL and PARENTS EVENING

Please ensure that you have logged into the parent portal app and still have access.

You will require access to the Parent Portal to book on to parents evening.

The booking for parents evening will open on Monday 17th March @ 6:00pm.

Parents evening is taking place on:

Tuesday 25th March and Wednesday 26th March.

Please note there is no Art Club or Arts and Crafts Club on Tuesday 25th March due to parents evening.

The below Link may be of use if you are having issues with access to the parent portal. Getting started - Log into the Parent Portal and the Parent App.

SCHOOL FUND
On a termly basis, we ask for a small contribution per family in order to support some of the extended opportunities that we provide. This may be used for additional resources for specific resources i.e. Art or a piece of equipment to be used by pupils on the school site.

In today’s economic climate, I am aware that parents are concerned about requests for financial support from schools. However, the reality of the situation is that, like all schools, in our latest budget we have had to make significant savings, which reflect reduction in our funding allocation from central government. It is only through continued careful management of resources that we have been able to afford to do this and protect the core curriculum resources.

With this in mind, your on-going support for the school fund would help us to continue to support these additional resources. For the academic year 2024 – 2025, we would like to ask each family to contribute £25 per term; however, anything you can contribute would be gratefully received.

LOST PROPERTY
We have a number of unnamed items in lost property. Please come and have a look.

Any items left in lost property will be donated to the clothing bank at the end of term.

A polite reminder to label all clothes, water bottles and lunch boxes as this will reduce the risk of losing these items.

BREAKFAST CLUB

Please ensure you book your child onto breakfast club the day/evening before via Scopay. Numbers have increased over the past few weeks so it is important we have the right ratio of adults to children.

CLOTHING BANK
The clothing bank helps raise funds for the school as well as reducing waste to landfill. We are able to accept the following:
Clothes, shoes, bed linen, accessories (such as belts, hats, gloves, scarves, handbags) as well as soft toys so please keep any unwanted items for the clothing bank.

Unfortunately, we can’t take the following:
Duvets or cushions, off cuts, used underwear or socks, carpet or curtains.

ATTENDANCE

We need to remind you that there are new Department for Education regulations in place regarding children’s absences. These took effect from 19th August 2024 which affect penalty notices issued for unauthorised absence from school.

The ‘National Threshold’, when it is appropriate to consider issuing a penalty notice, is 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks. A school week means any week in which there is at least one school session. This can be met with any combination of unauthorised absence (e.g. 4 sessions of holiday taken in term time plus 6 sessions of arriving late after the register closes all within 10 school weeks). These sessions can be consecutive (e.g. 10 sessions of holiday in one week) or not (e.g. 6 sessions of unauthorised absence taken in 1 week and 1 per week for the next 4 weeks). The period of 10 school weeks can also span different terms or school years (e.g. 2 sessions of unauthorised absence in the summer term and a further 8 within the autumn term).

1. From autumn term 2024, only 2 penalty notices will be issued to the same parent in respect of the same child within a 3-year rolling period and any second notice within that period is charged at a higher rate:
   The first penalty notice issued to a parent in respect of a particular pupil will be charged at £160 if paid within 28 days. This will be reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days.
2. A second penalty notice issued to the same parent in respect of the same pupil is charged at a flat rate of £160 if paid within 28 days.
3. A third penalty notice cannot be issued to the same parent in respect of the same child within 3 years of the date of issue of the first. In a case where the national threshold is met for a third time (or subsequent times) within those 3 years, alternative action will be taken instead, which will often include considering prosecution.

If you would like any further information regarding these changes, full details can be found here:
Working together to improve school attendance (Gov.uk)
https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools/at-school/attendance-and-absence/legal-processes-used-to-enforce-school-attendance-guidance-for-parents

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance

https://www.stmaryschidd.org/key-information/parent-information/school-attendance/

CHRISTIAN VALUES

Dear Lord,
Thank you for all the opportunities we have
For the staff who help us to blossom and grow.
Please help us to always try our best and be ready, be safe and be respectful.
Amen.