News - 5th June 2025
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back to St Mary’s following the half-term break. It has been a joy to see our children returning with enthusiasm, quickly settling back into the familiar rhythms of school life. We are already immersed in what promises to be a vibrant and eventful term.
This week has brought a host of exciting opportunities for our children. On Tuesday, we were pleased to welcome Dave from Feltham Construction, the developers currently working on the Queensmead site in the village. As site manager, Dave introduced himself during assembly, marking the beginning of what we hope will be a rewarding partnership. Over the coming weeks, each class will take part in STEM workshops funded by Feltham and delivered by SATRO, an educational charity based in Guildford. These sessions are designed to spark curiosity and broaden horizons through hands-on learning. Years 5 and 6 have already enjoyed the first of these workshops, using KNEX to construct bridges—a thoroughly engaging experience.
All children will also have the chance to visit the construction site and observe real-world engineering in action. As part of this collaboration, Feltham will be enhancing our school grounds over the summer holidays, carrying out general maintenance, but also redeveloping the outdoor area of our library.
Our playground continues to evolve into a nurturing space. The newly installed sensory garden has quickly become a favourite among children, offering a peaceful area for reflection and supporting emotional wellbeing—an invaluable addition to our outdoor learning environment. I’ve said it before, but thank you again to our PTA for their fundraising efforts that contributed towards this!
On Wednesday, our Year 6 school council representatives attended the termly Super School Council meeting at Woolmer Hill, joining peers from across the Haslemere Confederation of Schools. They proudly shared highlights from our recent VE Day celebrations and enjoyed hearing about how other schools had marked this historic event.
This afternoon, over 30 of our Key Stage 2 children are taking part in the inaugural Haslemere Confederation Swimming Gala. This wonderful event offers the chance to engage in friendly competition and celebrate sporting achievement. We are grateful to the parents who have assisted with transport to enable this event to go ahead – thank you! We deeply value our partnerships with local schools and eagerly anticipate coordinating more sporting events in future.
With Year 6 SATs now behind us, our focus shifts to other key assessments. The Year 4 Multiplication Check is now underway, and Year 1 children are preparing for their Phonics Screening next week.
Meanwhile, Year 6 are enthusiastically rehearsing for their end-of-year production and eagerly anticipating their residential trip to Chidham next week—fingers crossed for good weather as they enjoy outdoor and water-based activities!
Next week promises even more excitement back at school too. Year 5 will take part in a drama workshop at school and a Design Technology taster session at Rodborough. Year 1 are looking forward to their Victorian Seaside workshop, while Years 3 and 4 will participate in their SATRO workshops and site visits. Reception will also be visiting Queensmead on Wednesday afternoon.
There’s a real buzz of excitement as we look ahead to this weekend’s village fete—a highlight in our community calendar. Our talented Year 4 pupils will be taking centre stage with their Maypole dancing performance, the result of weeks of dedicated practice and teamwork. Their enthusiasm and commitment have been truly inspiring, and we can’t wait to see them bring colour and joy to the event. We’ll also be proudly showcasing a beautiful collection of sunflower artwork, inspired by Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, created as part of our collaboration with the Chiddingfold Horticultural Society in celebration of their 175th anniversary. Some of our young gardeners’ sunflower seedlings will be on display too—we hope they’re thriving at home in preparation for the grand competition finale in September!
Later this month, the village community will come together once more for a midsummer celebration, including an outdoor service and community picnic hosted by the joint churches of Chiddingfold on Sunday, 22nd June. Please see the attached invitation for details—we hope to see many of you there.
We are also thrilled to share some joyful staff news: Mrs Hayes is expecting her first baby in early October! Now that the news is out there, she is happily embracing her growing bump! We send our warmest congratulations to her and her husband.
Finally, a reminder that tomorrow is a mufti day for children in Amber House, who earned the most house points in the first half of the summer term—well done to them!
As always, thank you for your continued support and involvement in school life. We are proud of all that our children are achieving and
look forward to sharing more of their successes with you in the weeks ahead. Wishing you all a restful and enjoyable weekend.
Warm regards,
Alison Evans
Headteacher
SPORTS DAY
Preparations for Sports Day are underway!
This is taking place on Thursday 26th June.
Instead of hot meals on this day, the children will be having a picnic (provided by Caterlink). Alternatively, you can provide your child with a packed lunch from home.
Please complete the form in the link below by Friday 6th June with your child's picnic preferences.
(Please complete this form, even if you are providing a packed lunch from home).
https://forms.office.com/e/HhSZsa3uDN
You do not have to do anything on Scopay – The office will update this.
Please note if you have more than one child at the school, please complete a form per child.
More information regarding sports day timings will be sent out shortly.
MOBILE PHONES
We have noticed that there has been an increase in mobile phones being brought into school and handed into the school office.
Please urge your child not to bring their phone into school unless it is absolutely necessary.
Your cooperation is appreciated.
PARKING
After several reminders there continues to be issues with parking on School Lane and access for residents. Staff at school are also 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.
Please do not, under any circumstances, park across the gates which access the school or on the corner of School Lane as this causes traffic on the Petworth Road and obstruction.
Thank you for your cooperation.
CLOTHES BANK
Reminder: we have a clothes bank onsite, by the school office.
If you have any unwanted clothing, shoes, belts, bedlinen, soft toys, handbags, please bring into school and place in the recycling bin.
ACCIDENT FORMS
From next week, accident forms will now be emailed home.
You will no longer receive a paper copy.
If your child has an accident (slip, trip, bump) at school an accident form is completed by a member of staff.
You will receive a call from the school if your child has bumped their head, or any mark to his/her face.
If you require a paper copy, please do let us know.
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:
1.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.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 | 95.1% |
| Year 1 | 91.3% |
| Year 2 | 97.3% |
| Year 3 | 94.1% |
| Year 4 | 91.2% |
| Year 5 | 99.1% |
| Year 6 | 94.1% |
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.
