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Headteacher’s Newsletter – 6th February 2026

Written by Mrs McQueen on . Posted in Headteacher Newsletter.

Dear Parents/carers,

Rain, rain go away and unfortunately I can’t say come back another day unless it is a while away! The forecast is set to be like this next week so please ensure your child has a suitable coat and shoes.

Great sports skills at CNS on Wednesday

As always, the children of St. Mary’s were praised for their teamwork and superb behaviour. Life skills that are valued wherever you are in the world. Well done, everyone!

Year 5 workshop

We had a fantastic singing workshop on Tuesday with our visitors from the Chipping Norton Music Festival and the children sang really well! We will be taking part in the event with other schools on the 12th March in Chipping Norton Town Hall, during the school day and parents are welcome to watch the performance and details have been sent out on ParentMail.

Another Strive For 5 Winner

If you read at least five times a week at St. Mary’s your name is placed in the weekly book raffle. Kayla was a very lucky winner and got to read to Isla. Reading opens whole new worlds and gives us such great opportunities. We love a good book at St. Mary’s! What’s your favourite read?

Safeguarding

During Collective Worship, this week, we have been talking about Safeguarding and keeping ourselves safe. We talked with the children about trusted adults and the fact the children can talk to any staff member about a worry they may have.

If you have a concern or would like further information about safeguarding, please contact:

  • Mrs. McQueen – Designated Safeguarding Lead
  • Mrs Taylor – Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
  • Miss Wakefield – Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

SAFEGUARDING?

You will have likely heard the work ‘Safeguarding’ talked about at school or other settings, but not all parents are really clear on what it actually means or looks like for their child. In education settings, the term Safeguarding refers to the process of protecting children from harm. This includes protecting them from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Safeguarding processes, polices and procedures are put in place to ensure that children are safe and happy, and that they have the opportunity to reach their full potential and thrive.

As a parent, you have a vital role to play in safeguarding your child. You are the first line of defence against harm. By being aware of the risks and taking steps to protect your child, you can help to keep them safe.

Safeguarding is not just about protecting children from physical harm. It’s also about protecting them from emotional harm. This includes protecting them from bullying, cyberbullying, and other forms of emotional abuse. Parents and carers also play an enormous role in teaching children about personal safety, online safety, and dangers they may encounter in their everyday lives and by being proactive, informed, and involved, parents can significantly contribute to their children’s safety and wellbeing.

WHAT DOES SAFEGUARDING LOOK LIKE?

Safeguarding is the proactive process of planning, minimising risk and putting into place strategies to keep children safe. As a parent, you will do this every day without even thinking about it- you hold your child’s hand as they cross the road, teach them about trusted adults and make sure that they are safe in all that they do – but it goes beyond that.

Schools and education settings will have policies and procedures that set out the measures in place to keep children safe, but how can you do this as a parent? For parents, safeguarding should be a combination of proactive measures and vigilant awareness, many elements of which we will complete naturally, but it is always useful to take a step back and consider how you are maintaining the key elements of safeguarding your own children:

  • Building strong relationships with your children
  • Teaching essential safety skills
  • Awareness of potential and changing risks that you children may encounter
  • Trusting your own safeguarding instincts
  • Adapting your safeguarding rules as your child grows and matures

Attendance

Whole school attendance this week94.06%
Class with the highest attendance this weekYear 4 – 97.6%
Whole school attendance (year to date)96.1%
National average94.6%

Get Ready for a Friday Treat!

Have a lovely weekend and we look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Kind regards,

Mrs McQueen

Headteacher’s Newsletter – 30th January 2026

Written by Mrs McQueen on . Posted in Headteacher Newsletter.

Dear Parents/carers,

Eco Warriors

Mrs Pike has started a new mission within St. Mary’s with our newly appointed Eco Warriors.

Learning Vision at St. Mary’s

Thank you to all those parents who completed the google form on Parentmail about our school vision. Let’s see if we can get every family family responding. We’ve had 34 responses so far and everyone is very happy to support the school. Thank you for your comments as well – your feedback is very useful.

Wrap Around Care

Night Owls is a place to have fun and relax. If you would like to access our holiday club, please add your child to ParentMail. The link for February half term will close next Friday. We are so looking forward to it. Lots of pancake making; a pancake race; arts and crafts; sports and that all important movie afternoon.

Super sewing

Cross-stitch eggs sewn beautifully by our creative crafters.

Joining a club, learning a new skill and making new friends is such a good way to spend an hour, after
school, on a Tuesday afternoon.

Get Ready for a Friday Treat!

Attendance

Whole school attendance this week93.03%
Class with the highest attendance this weekYear 3 – 98.7%
Whole school attendance (year to date)96.4%
National average94.6%

Have a lovely weekend and we look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Kind regards,

Mrs McQueen

Headteacher’s Newsletter – 23rd January 2026

Written by Mrs McQueen on . Posted in Headteacher Newsletter.

Dear Parents/carers,

Learning Vision at St. Mary’s

We have been focusing on our Christian values of Integrity, Patience, Joy, Wisdom and Compassion so please talk to your child about them. You will receive a Parentmail today and a google form, where we would like to share with you our learning vision for pupils and a learning vision for how you as parents and carers can support your child and school. If we all work together, we can achieve great things!

We have also attached the learning vision for our staff and governors too so that you know what to expect from everyone at St. Mary’s. Consistency is key and we will try very hard to ensure this happens. We want the very best for everyone in our school community.

You will be asked to complete the google form to state whether you agree to support our school vision or not.

Nursery

Our nursery children have settled in so well. At the beginning of their morning session, Miss Jo has a ten minute active session on a literacy or maths rhyme. This morning it was Once I Caught a Fish Alive.

The Branch

Pop into the school library at 8.25-9.30am on a Monday morning if you need signposting or need some family support.

Please go to The Branch website for further information – www.thebranchtrust.org

Attendance

Whole school attendance this week96.34%
Class with the highest attendance this weekYear 4 – 99.2%
Whole school attendance (year to date)96.4%
National average94.6%

Have a lovely weekend and we look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Kind regards,

Mrs McQueen

Headteacher’s Newsletter – 16th January 2026

Written by Mrs McQueen on . Posted in Headteacher Newsletter.

Dear Parents/carers,

Our collective worship theme for this week has been on the topic of ‘HOPE’ and we talked about our hopes for the future and the small hopes we can wish for on a daily basis. I was running late for my child’s Parents’ Evening last night because of the rain and I hoped I would find a parking space and I was so lucky to get one in a good spot. It’s the little wins that we can celebrate just when we need them alongside those bigger wishes.

School and Packed Lunches

School lunches are a real hit with the children. If you would like your child to try a school lunch, please book on The School Grid. If you are having difficulties with this, please contact the school office.

If your child brings a packed lunch to school, please could you ensure that there are NO NUTS or items containing obvious nuts in them such a nutella products. We have a child with a severe food allergy and this could be catastrophic for him if he came into contact with any items.

We are going to be looking at what make s a nutritious lunch box in the coming weeks. Yesterday, I identified a packed lunch box that consisted of five chocolate bars only and don’t get me wrong, I love a sweet treat but five chocolate bars will mean more trips to the dentist and will also leave your child feeling hungry. If your child is entitled to a free lunch, please book online and they can try items alongside the packed lunch you provide but NO NUTS, thank you.

The Branch

Pop into the school library at 10am on a Monday morning if you need signposting or need some family support. I have spoken to some parents recently so do speak to Emma Kennedy or join them at The Branch on a Tuesday for Connect Café 1-2.30pm.

Please go to The Branch website for further information – www.thebranchtrust.org

Holiday Club

Following on from last weeks newsletter, we are delighted to give you all the details about our new holiday club ‘The Treehouse’ starting in the February half term (please see attached poster). You can now book via ParentMail on the ‘Accounts’ section. Any problems, please contact the school office.

Attendance

Whole school attendance this week95.23%
Class with the highest attendance this weekYear 5 – 96.9%
Whole school attendance (year to date)96.5%
National average94.6%

Have a lovely weekend and we look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Kind regards,

Mrs McQueen

Headteacher’s Newsletter – 9th January 2026

Written by Mrs McQueen on . Posted in Headteacher Newsletter.

Nursery News

We welcomed several new nursery children to our school at the beginning of this month. Our Early
Years area is full of happy faces that are settling in with some already familiar faces.

VR Experience

We started the year off with a whole school Virtual Reality Experience. One child said to me, ‘I didn’t really like the orangutang’s bottom in my face – it was scary’. I would tend to agree but everyone thoroughly enjoyed the experience apart from that.

Attendance is at 97%

Three years ago, when I started St. Mary’s, our whole school attendance was 90.2%. It is currently 97%. This high attendance means that children don’t miss out on some amazing school experiences. The children have stated that learning is fun; they like to play with their friends and miss school when they are not here. Our attendance on the snowiest week of the year so far, has still been a super 96.5%. We have worked as a whole school community to understand the importance of high attendance. You can’t help it
when you are genuinely ill but our parents and children have really understood the value of having a duvet day at the weekend and that holidays are taken during the school holidays.

Wrap-around Care at St. Mary’s

Meet our wrap-around team.

Mrs Austin is our lead co-ordinator and runs Early Birds, Night Owls and our soon to be holiday provision. She has worked at St. Mary’s for a number of years and comes with a wealth of childcare experience. Mrs Austin is a keen artist and has run an art club alongside one of our other teaching assistants for the past two years. The art activities she provides at Night owls are the reason why we are currently bursting at the seams!

Miss Reynolds is a new member of school and is currently taking her Level 3 Early Years Educator qualification with us. Miss Reynolds loves to cook and is looking forward to getting creative in the kitchen over the half term break with our holiday club.

Mr Buzzard is our sporting member of the team and he can be seen with our PE coach during daily afternoon sessions. He is a keen watcher and player of football as well as loving several other sports. He
is eager to support the whole school by looking for grant opportunities and has secured several pieces of
equipment and kits for the school so far.

Charging for Clubs

8:00 – 8:25 am3:00 – 4:00 pm4:00 – 5:00 pm
Early Birds £2Night Owls £2Night Owls £4
After-school clubs £2

Due to the high demand for Night Owls, we have had to recruit an extra member of staff. This will mean
that after half term, we will have to increase the cost to £4 from 3-4pm and to £8 3-5pm. Our afterschool provision is the cheapest across the county and all of the money goes to paying staff wages and resourcing. We will also be sending a google form to ascertain whether parents would like the times
extended.

Late pick up

If you are going to be late picking up your child, please ring the school office and let us know. We have
noticed that several parents during the Autumn term were regularly picking up their child/children from
school late and without prior warning. It has recently come to our attention that this is to avoid The Green
at the end of the school day. If you are late and you do not give us any warning, your child will be placed in Night Owls and you will be charged accordingly. If you are late for Night Owls, you will also be charged £10 for every 10 minutes you are late.

Holiday Club – Monday 16th – Friday 20th February

We will also be offering a holiday club during the half-term February break. There will be physical activities, cookery, art and crafts and that all important ‘chill time’. You will need to provide your child with
a packed lunch and snacks for throughout the day. Please email the office to register your interest, more
details will follow.

Attendance

Whole school attendance this week97.48%
Class with the highest attendance this weekYear 5 – 100%
Whole school attendance (year to date)96.4%
National average94.5%

Have a good weekend.

Mrs Christine McQueen

Headteacher’s Newsletter – 19th December 2025

Written by Mrs McQueen on . Posted in Headteacher Newsletter.

Dear Parents/Carers,

What a great final week we’ve had to the term. With parties galore, a Christmas lunch that made us all smile and a Church service that showed us all what a great school we are and a school that I am so proud to be part of. Thank you to everyone that contributes to making St. Mary’s the great place it truly is!

Christmas Service

The children performed beautifully in our Christmas Service, which told the Christmas story through song.
Thank you, Mrs Taylor and Mrs English, for organising this and to the teachers, parents and Church members who eagerly support us – the Church was packed!

Christmas Lunch

A lovely lunch was had with crackers and laughter. We also thanked our volunteers with a lunch afterwards. Thank you to Natalie and Raquel in the kitchen.

Christmas Artwork

Here is some lovely Christmas artwork that our Year 3’s have been working on today.

Attendance

Whole school attendance this week96.5%
Class with the highest attendance this weekYear 4 – 100%
Whole school attendance (year to date)96.5%
National average94.6%

Dates for your Diary

School Calendar

Have a lovely Christmas break. Please do something that makes you very happy and we’ll see you all refreshed in the New Year for another term of creative learning.

Kind regards,

Mrs McQueen

Headteacher’s Newsletter – 12th December 2025

Written by Mrs McQueen on . Posted in Headteacher Newsletter.

Dear Parents/Carers,

We’ve had another lovely week at St. Mary’s. The EYFS nativity was just lovely and our iRock stars were shining brightly. Thank you to all the parents and carers that attended the performances – the school was packed!

PTA Disco

The PTA disco was just amazing! The music was loud, the games were fun and all the parents were well-behaved! No seriously, the children had an amazing time and thank you so much to all the parents that helped out to make the event such a success. The PTA are so amazing at giving up their time to provide so much for the children of St. Mary’s.

EYFS Nativity

Seeing your child in their first nativity performance is a very special experience and this week it wasn’t any different for all of our families.

Church Celebrations, Christmas Dinner and Christmas Jumpers – a bumper day!

Our Christmas dinner will be on Thursday 18th December 2025. You can view the full festive menu and order on School Grid.

Christmas Jumper Day

We will be holding our Christmas Jumper Day on Thursday 18th December 2025. Children can wear a festive jumper instead of a school jumper but must be in school uniform otherwise. Please bring in a £1 donation to go to Save the Children.

We’d love to see you at Church for our Christmas Carol service at 9.30am on yes, you guessed it, Thursday 18th December.

Staffing Update from January 2026

We are delighted to welcome new staff to our school from January 2026

School Business Manager – Mrs Tinkham, who will be in the office Monday, Thursday & Friday

Administrator – Mrs Strick who will continue to be in the office but on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning.

Year 1 Teacher – Mrs Leah will be teaching our Year 1 class Thursday and Friday along with Mrs Brunt who will be teaching Monday – Wednesday.

Nursery Lead – Mrs Jocefcuk

SENDCo – Miss Wakefield (Monday-Friday)

Attendance

Whole school attendance this week96.62%
Class with the highest attendance this weekYear 3 & Year 6 – 97.4%
Whole school attendance (year to date)96.6%
National average94.7%

Dates for your Diary

School Calendar

Have a lovely weekend and we’ll see you all on Monday for our last week of term.

Kind regards,

Mrs McQueen

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