Please join us for our annual Harvest Festival at St. Mary’s Church on Thursday 16th October at 9.30am – all welcome.
If you would like to make a donation to the food bank, please send your child to school with something tinned or dried. No fresh items please. I will take them to the Church on Friday 10th October so that they can be displayed in St. Mary’s Church for their Harvest Festival on Sunday 12th and in preparation for ours on Thursday 16th September.
Open Morning – Friday 26th September 09.00am – 11.00am
Come and see the new Nursery and Reception area; our newly re-vamped school hall and of course all our hard-working school community in action. We’d love to see you all. We will have taster sessions from our new Lunch Company Dolce; The Branch will be here should you need signposting to services or support; Locality and Community Support Services (LCSS); our Mental Health Team worker Rhiannon will also be available to chat to as well. The Friends of St. Mary’s and The Book Fair will all be available so please do join us for a great morning.
If you are unable to attend the Opening Morning or know someone that would like to, please get in touch and arrange an appointment for an alternative time.
School Lunches
As I said last week, school lunches are a real hit. Get in touch if you would like your child to have one. Our new reception children think they are lovely and have amazing table manners! Please remember that every child in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are entitled to free school meals and that they have to be ordered through School Grid.
Early Birds and Night Owls
Night Owls has been a huge success this week and the children have enjoyed the games and outside fun that Miss Reynolds and Mr Buzzard have provided. If you need this provision, please speak to the office and they would be happy to add you to the list.
Well, after a lot of hard work the nursery and reception area is now completely finished and it looks amazing! The children have had so much fun using all of the new equipment and as the headteacher of St. Mary’s it has been so lovely to see.
Open Morning Friday 26th September 09.00am – 11.00am
Come and see the new nursery and reception area; our newly re-vamped school hall and of course all our hard-working school community in action. We’d love to see you all. We will have taster sessions from our new Lunch Company Dolce; The Branch will be here should you need signposting to services or support; Locality and Community Support Services (LCSS); The Friends of St. Mary’s and The Book Fair will all be available so please do join us.
Chastleton Teas – Sunday 21st September at Chastleton Church in aid of St. Mary’s Primary
Thank you to everyone who has volunteered but we could do with a little more help. If you could bake a cake and/or could volunteer an hour of your time, we would really appreciate it. All cakes should be brought to the school office by the end of the school day on Friday 19th September in preparation for Sunday 21st. Please contact Sonia King if you could bake a cake or spare an hour of your time on the Sunday.
School Lunches
The feedback about school lunches couldn’t have been better. The variety of food on offer and the new recipes are a definite hit. We have noticed that a lot of children who would normally be entitled to a school lunch are still not taking advantage of this delicious offer. If you are having difficulties setting up an account, please contact the school office and remember if you are unsure whether your child is entitled to a free school meal in KS2, we can always check for you.
Also, some parents are forgetting to pre-order their child’s school meal so unfortunately will not always be given an option at the counter. To avoid any unecessary upset, please order your child’s meal in advance. Meals can be ordered a term in advance. Many parents find ordering on a Sunday evening with their child also a good option so they know what they are eating for that week.
Early Birds and Night Owls
After-school clubs are full. However, you still have the opportunity to place your child in Night Owls, which runs from 3-5pm. Please see the separate email on ParentMail for step by step instructions.
Early Birds and Night Owls – change of drop off and collection
Our wrap around care is now in full swing. Early Birds and Night owls will now run in The Orchard. Please drop your child off and collect your child from the victorian building entrance, labelled The Orchard. Press the Intercom system and someone will come to the door.
Well, we’ve had a fabulous three days back! A big welcome is extended to all the new families and children we have in reception and nursery. We would also like to welcome all the new families that joined us throughout the school too.
School projects over the summer
The school has been refreshed and lots of people have worked extremely hard over the summer holidays to get the school looking so good. Our new nursery and reception class is coming along brilliantly and we are at the last stages of our journey. Thank you so much to Adam Smith and all of his team who worked long days and at the weekend to produce such a fabulous space. Adam was able to move other commitments around to ensure that our space would be ready for the children and we can’t thank him enough. The hall has received a total revamp. After 38 years, we felt it deserved something better. The new floor and re-paint has transformed the area. It’s been a great hit with the children.
We’ve also had a beautiful mural painted on the side of the Victorian building by Ross Heywood, who was funded by Cotswolds Arts. It shows our values tree and a lovely wise old peering out of the oak tree. We were so impressed with what he had created that we asked him to do some more work in our office area and it is looking really lovely already. I can’t wait to see the area when it is finished.
Chastleton Teas – Sunday 21st September at Chastleton Church in aid of St. Mary’s Primary
The Friends of St. Mary’s are asking for help. If you could bake a cake and/or could volunteer an hour of your time, we would really appreciate it. All cakes should be brought to the school office by the end of the school day on Friday 19th September in preparation for Sunday 21st. Please contact Sonia King if you could bake a cake or spare an hour of your time on the Sunday.
School Lunches
Thank you to all those parents who have signed up to the School Grid. The kitchen staff have worked very hard with a new system and menus and have made some delicious food this week. The feedback has been great. Crunchy baked potatoes and fluffy insides was one comment. The beef pie could easily have been served up in any pub in town. If your child is not signed up, especially if they are entitled to free school meals, please contact the school office or the SchoolGrid for further support. We wouldn’t want your child to miss out.
School Clubs
Thank you to every one who has signed their child up for a school club. There are lots to choose from. There are still some places left, so please complete the google form as soon as possible. Book Club and KS2 Art Club are now full. You will receive a confimation email if your child has been allocated a place today and payment details will be added to your Parentmail account next week.
Early Birds (previously Rise and Shine) runs from 08.00am – 08.25am for £2. Your child can be dropped off in a safe environment and enjoy games or just a quiet space before the start of school.
Night Owls (new to school) runs from 3.00pm – 5.00pm every week, Monday to Friday during term-time. Please contact the school office to be added to the list for Parentmail.
3.00pm – 4.00pm £2
4.00pm – 5.00pm £4
Your child will take part in a variety fo fun activities with Miss Reynolds and Mr Buzzard. Please provide a small snack if your child is staying until 5.00pm. Once it is added to your Parentmail account you can book this up until the night before.
Music lessons
We are very lucky to be able to offer extra musical activities in school time. If your child is interested in any of these then please do jo me or email the school office.
Piano with Mrs Freeman at a cost of £12.85 for a 20 minute lesson
Guitar – The lessons are held in small groups (between 3- 4 children) and cost £9.00 per lesson. If you would like to register your interest, please could you email: info@guitarclubs.co.uk.
Irock – this enables children to become part of a band. No experience needed and all instruments provided for children to use in their session. There is a monthly charge for this but it works out at about £11 a lesson
Diary Dates
In next week’s newsletter, you will receive a list of diary dates for the whole year.
Have a lovely weekend in preparation for a full week next week.
We are pleased to announce that St. Mary’s will be getting an uplift as part of our ongoing maintenance programme. The hall will be getting painted and after nearly 40 years the hall floor will be replaced. Many of you will remember the hall from your own primary school days so it now deserves a refresh.
All of the work to transform the nursery will also take place during the summer holidays too.
We will have our usual Open Morning on Friday 26th September and would like you to join us to see all of the refurbishments.
St. Mary’s Unplugged
Wow, you all did so well at raising £1,130 for school. We are going to use this money to put towards our official den building area over the summer.
Summer reading challenge
Our children recently had the opportunity to visit the library and learn about the Summer Reading Challenge. They explored a fantastic range of books and many have eagerly signed up for the challenge.
Running from 21 June to 30 September, there are two ways to participate. Join in at your local library to receive a special sticker poster and incentives while discovering new books. Alternatively, sign up online, set a reading goal, and log your books to unlock a limited-edition badge and certificate. Happy reading! https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/
Super sewing
The children in sewing and knitting club produced some great tooth monsters. There’s nothing worse than the tooth fairy landing and can’t find the tooth you put under your pillow but with the tooth monster, she will know exactly where to get it from.
The Orchard
The Orchard is a special place in school, where a variety of our children and families use the facilities at different times during the week. Next year, some of our children will utilise this space more frequently so that their needs are met more readily. The team will be led by Miss Southeard and eagerly supported by Mrs Dunn and Mr Buzzard.
In addition to this, Mrs Townsend, who has been our SENCo for the past two years, will now step back into the classroom full-time. We would like to thank her for the time she has spent supporting children and their families. I will take on the role of SENCo for now, having been a SENCo previously. I work with many families already and look forward to working with even more of you. If you have any SEN queries please feel free to get in touch with Miss Southeard or myself.
Second Hand Uniform Sale
If you have any good quality, used school uniform you would be happy to donate, please bring to the Orchard (entrance opposite lower gates) at morning drop off on Monday or Tuesday morning next week or leave at the office for Miss Southeard. We will be holding a second hand uniform sale before the end of term. Many thanks.
As we said goodbye to the Y6 who were transitioning to CNS today, the rest of the school spent time with their new teachers. Everyone is looking forward to what next year will bring.
St. Mary’s Unplugged
Thank you to everyone for their contributions. If anyone has anything further to collect, please make sure it is at school by Monday 7th July. The children are very proud of what they achieved!
Dolce Dinners in September
I am pleased to announce that our new school lunches will be provided by a firm called Dolce. You will be required to pre-order your meals online (more information to follow) whether you are entitled to free school meals or you pay for lunches. School lunches have been £2.10 for many years and currently the school has been subsisidising these meals by paying 82p per meal, per child, per day. Unfortunately, as you can imagine, this does not make financial sense. If you receive free school meals, your child will continue to do so but this does mean that if you pay for your child’s school lunch we will now need to increase this. The cost for a delicious school meal will now cost £2.95. Dolce cook with fresh ingredients and your child will get a choice of four options online – a meat, a vegetarian, a baked potato with choice of fillings or a sandwich bag. Many of our free school meal children were choosing to bring in a packed lunch but with this new company, your child will be able to have great choice. Before the end of term you will receive further information about this so I hope you’ll ditch the homemade packed lunch and choose one of the many delicious meals on offer.
Guitar Lessons
We are hoping to begin guitar lessons starting in September 2025. The lessons will be available for the children from Years 3-6. The lessons are held in small groups (between 3- 4 children) and cost £9.00 per lesson. If your child would be interested in this, please contact the school office or Dojo Mrs English.
Super Assemblies from Y2 and Y3
Y2 taught us all about Space and Y3 talked about all their Egyptian learning – fascinating stuff!
So, we all survived the day! Can you survive the evening as well? Well, let’s hope so. This will raise lots of money for the school if you do. Yes, St. Mary’s was very much unplugged for the day. What we didn’t all realise, teachers alike, is how much technology is a necessity in our everyday lives and how much we use it to make our lives easier.
Y4 Maths day at Kitebrook
Our Y4 mathematicians were lucky enough to take part in an extremely fun maths adventure day at Kitebrook School.
Friday Family Fun
Some of families took part in some family fun sessions today run by Cheryl Huntbach and Ms Southeard. Everyone went home very happy for the weekend!
Y3 Singing in Churchill
The children had a beautiful day on Thursday singing with other schools. We are very grateful that Cotswolds Arts were able to support the children with some fabulous lessons before their performance at church and be taught by a professional music teacher.
Have a lovely weekend and we look forward to seeing you on Monday.
t’s been an extremely warm week for us all but thank you to everyone for equipping their child with a hat, sun cream and a water bottle. This weather is set to continue next week so please continue with these protective measures.
School uniform
We have noticed that some children are wearing colourful trainers. We appreciate that little feet grow – especially at this time of year and families do not want to purchase new school shoes so although we have noticed, we have not asked any family to purchase the correct footwear. However, when your child returns in September, the expectation will be to have the correct shoes. Also, we have noticed that there are girls wearing thick grey tights with summer dresses. Please ensure white socks are worn with the school dress. I had two children with tights and leggings underneath a summer dress the other day and they were very uncomfortable.
Y6 Winchcombe visit
The children experienced an amazing trip to Winchombe railway yesterday. Although warm, they had an excellent time and the public were witness to the war songs they all sang on the train. I was also given a sneak preview of a beautiful song for the Year 6 upcoming show – just beautiful! Tickets for the theatre will be on sale soon.
Reception and All Things Wild
The children in Reception had an amazing day out this week to All Things Wild. They saw lots of animals and had a wonderful experience riding on a tractor round the dinosaur field! They cooled down in the afternoon with an ice cream.
New classes for September 2025-2026
Headteacher
Mrs McQueen
Deputy headteacher
Mrs Taylor
EYFS team
Mrs English (teacher Monday and Tuesday) Mrs Keyzor (teacher Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) EYFS practitioners to be confirmed
Year 1
Mrs Brunt (teacher) Mrs Austin (TA)
Year 2
Mrs Townsend (teacher) Miss MacDonald (TA)
Year 3
Mrs Eaglestone and Miss Thorsby (teachers) Mrs Hicks (TA)
