News - 19th June 2025
Dear Parents and Carers,
What an incredibly busy and exciting fortnight we've had at St Mary's! Our pupils have been out and about, embracing wonderful learning opportunities across our local area and beyond.
Last week, our Year 6 pupils had the most amazing time on their end-of-year residential to CYE in Chidham. They threw themselves wholeheartedly into a fantastic mix of land and water activities, including sailing, rafting, kayaking, archery and tunnelling. It was absolutely wonderful to witness their enthusiasm as they embraced new challenges and stepped outside their comfort zones. They were all simply brilliant throughout the experience. My heartfelt thanks go to Miss Hampshire and the entire Year 6 team for ensuring that great fun was had by all.
Year 3 ventured to Wisley Gardens on Monday to enhance their fascinating learning about rainforests. Despite the scorching heat and some areas of the glass house being closed to visitors, they made the most of their experience and will undoubtedly bring valuable insights back to the classroom to deepen their understanding of this captivating topic.
Our Reception class had their own adventure on Wednesday at Painshill Park, where they went hunting high and low for minibeasts, and delved into a grotto. Another gloriously sunny day provided the perfect backdrop for their exploration, and a truly great day was had by all.
Our Year 1 pupils enjoyed a wonderful Victorian Seaside workshop here at school last Tuesday. This immersive experience brought their history and geography learning to life through a range of engaging, hands-on activities. It was a fantastic opportunity for the children to deepen their understanding of the past while having lots of fun along the way!
Year 5 have been busy visiting local secondary schools for various workshops as they begin to prepare for their important choices next year. Today, they've embarked on their residential trip to Imbhams Farm in Haslemere, where they'll be staying overnight. They're looking forward to an array of exciting activities including den building, whittling, enjoying a campfire, participating in a lamb workshop, engaging in craft activities, bat watching, and receiving a wonderful introduction to how our local land is used to grow food. We eagerly await hearing all about their adventures when we welcome them back tomorrow.
Tomorrow promises to be another scorcher for Year 2's trip to Arundel Castle—a perfect opportunity to consolidate their summer term learning about the monarchy and castles.
I'm delighted to celebrate some wonderful achievements from the past fortnight. On Monday, our Key Stage 1 athletes represented our school brilliantly at Confederation Sports at St Bartholomew's. They demonstrated excellent teamwork and outstanding sportsmanship, achieving a very respectable joint third place overall. Well done to all involved! Thank you to Mr Hanson and our parent volunteers for their invaluable support and transport assistance.
On Wednesday afternoon, I had the privilege of joining Year 6 at their Leavers Service at Guildford Cathedral, hosted by Guildford Diocese. It provided a wonderful opportunity for reflection on their primary school journey whilst looking ahead positively to the exciting changes that lie ahead.
Over the past two weeks, Years 1, 2, 3 and 4 have participated in inspiring SATRO workshops—engaging STEM activities generously funded by Feltham Construction. Additionally, Years Reception through to 4 have all thoroughly enjoyed their Queens Mead site visits, with some classes witnessing a crane in action and learning about site safety and construction materials.
Looking ahead, this Sunday brings our Midsummer Community Picnic—an outdoor service and community picnic hosted by Chiddingfold's joint churches on 22nd June. During last summer's Art Week, our pupils decorated triangles that were stitched into bunting, which will be proudly flying at Sunday's event. All children are warmly invited to see their creations displayed. A video of the children creating these during Art Week last summer can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LkZPI8bRus
Next Thursday marks our much-anticipated Sports Day, and we look forward to seeing many families join us. Please see the information sent out on Tuesday and below for further details about the day.
We're also excited to welcome our new Reception intake for their first 'stay and play' session next Wednesday. For the rest of the school, we're currently finalising staffing arrangements for next year and will share this information with parents ahead of Moving Up Day on Tuesday 1st July.
Next week, we'll bid farewell to Mrs Sadler. We thank her for bringing such fabulous fun and energy to St Mary's as our Year 4 teaching assistant— she will be greatly missed, but we wish her and her family the very best of luck on their new adventure in Florida!
Finally, thank you to all the parents and carers who took the time to complete our recent Parent View Questionnaire in the Spring Term. We’re incredibly grateful for your thoughtful feedback and continued support. On the whole, the responses paint a very positive picture of life at St Mary’s, with the vast majority of families agreeing or strongly agreeing that their children are happy, feel safe, and are well supported in their learning and development. We’re especially pleased to see such strong endorsement of our school’s values, community spirit, and the dedication of our staff. Your feedback is invaluable in helping us celebrate what’s working well and identify areas where we can continue to grow.
As part of our ongoing commitment to listening and improving, we’ve been reflecting on some of the common themes raised by parents and carers. We’re exploring ways to expand the availability of after-school clubs—especially for our younger pupils—enhance opportunities for participation in competitive sport, and ensure our reward systems are as inclusive and meaningful as possible.
While these developments may take time, please rest assured that they are a priority for us, and we’re actively working on solutions.
If you know of any individuals or organisations who might be interested in running an after-school club at St Mary’s, we’d love to hear from you. Your suggestions and connections could make a real difference to what we’re able to offer our children.
Thank you, as always, for your continued support. Have a wonderful weekend in the sunshine!
Warm regards,
Alison Evans Headteacher
PARKING
After several reminders there continues to be issues with parking on School Lane. This has recently increased during Breakfast club dop off.
Staff at school are having issues parking on arrival. Parents should not be using School Lane for drop off and/or pick up, inclusive of breakfast club.
Please park either at the Catholic Church or the back of the school and walk to the school gates.
Thank you for your cooperation.
SPORTS DAY
This is taking place on Thursday 26th June.
Children who have selected to bring in their own packed lunch, can bring this into school in the morning.
Children who have selected a school packed lunch will be provided with their pre-selected packed lunch prior to the picnic.
TIMINGS FOR THE DAY:
| 9.00am | Key Stage 2 Field Events - carousel of 6 activities |
| 10.20am | Year R and KS1 events - a carousel of activities and then running races |
| 11.45am | Picnic lunch on the field (children will be out to join by 12.00pm) |
| 1.00pm | Key Stage 2 Track Events |
| 3.00pm | Pick up from classrooms as normal |
If your child is in KS1 or Reception: Your child will be taking part in their activities from 10:20am until 11:45am. You may also stay to have your picnic with them on the field until 12:30pm.
If your child is in KS2: The field events start at 9am. You are more than welcome to watch this, but we kindly ask that you don’t gather around individual activities. Parents may prefer to come for the picnic and stay for the afternoon track events.
If you would like to attend the school picnic, please arrive at 11:45. The KS2 activities start at 1-3pm.
If you have children in KS1, Reception and KS2: You are going to have a busy day! Please arrive at 10:20am-3pm!
SUPPORT YOUR TEAM
Please make sure your child is wearing their PE kit with coloured house t-shirt and trainers. No school shoes or studs.
DON’T FORGET
Please make sure your child has sun protection, a hat and a water bottle if the weather is good.
Spectators will be very welcome to sit in the designated areas, but remember to keep a safe distance away from the marked track! We request that parents remain on their side of the track throughout the afternoon. The public playground will be out of bounds for school children during the day.
KEYBOARDS
We have some Keyboards which are no longer required.
If you are interested in having one of these, please contact the school office.
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).
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.
- 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.
- 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/
| Week Commencing 19th May 2025 | |
| Reception | 96.7% |
| Year 1 | 99.3% |
| Year 2 | 99% |
| Year 3 | 97.3% |
| Year 4 | 95.9% |
| Year 5 | 95.2% |
| Year 6 | 100% |
ST. MARY’S SCHOOL VISION
Reflecting the virtues of Jesus’ Mother, Mary, our vision is for every member of our school community to be inspired to blossom and grow in order to fulfil their potential in all aspects of learning. By exploring the underpinning core values of wisdom, hope, respect and community, our pupils understand how to live out this vision and become kind, respectful and resilient social advocates, playing their part in building a better world.
Wisdom
Wisdom is a core Christian value in our school because we believe through wisdom good choices are made, that it encourages us to learn from our mistakes and encourages us to live our lives wisely for the benefit of all.
"And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’’ John 8:32
Hope
Hope is a core Christian value in our school because hope gives us energy and supports us through difficult times.
"Be happy because of the hope you have. Be patient when you have troubles. Pray all the time.’’ Romans 12:12
To act with hope is to aspire to greater things, to promote positivity and courageous advocacy.
Respect
Respect is a core Christian value in our school because we believe that all life is precious within the image of God and deserves to be valued.
"Do to others as you would have them do unto you." Luke 6:31
Our Christian value of respect means living up to the image of God with our school, our community and ourselves.
Community
Community is a core Christian value in our school because we know that together we are stronger and can achieve more.
"Live together in peace with each other. Don’t be proud but be willing to be friends with people who are not important to others. Don’t think of yourself as smarter than everyone else.’’ Romans 12:16
Everyone in our school, local and global community are needed and valued.
