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 week
96.34%
Class with the highest attendance this week
Year 4 – 99.2%
Whole school attendance (year to date)
96.4%
National average
94.6%
Have a lovely weekend and we look forward to seeing you on Monday.
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.
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 week
95.23%
Class with the highest attendance this week
Year 5 – 96.9%
Whole school attendance (year to date)
96.5%
National average
94.6%
Have a lovely weekend and we look forward to seeing you on Monday.
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 am
3:00 – 4:00 pm
4:00 – 5:00 pm
Early Birds £2
Night Owls £2
Night 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.
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.
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.
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.
We have had a lovely festive start to December this week. Here are a few things we have been doing:
Our School Christmas Tree
This year, we wanted our children to decorate our tree with their beautiful creations and doesn’t it look stunning! Here are two of our winning entries for the decoration competition.
Singing Club
On Saturday, our singing club sang some festive classics at the Christmas Tree Festival and they have been to visit the residents of Southern Down Care home today.
Christmas Dinner
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.
Free School Meals
Just a reminder that all children in Reception, Year 1 & 2 are entitled to free school meals – if you don’t already and your child would like to try one then please order via School Grid. If you need any assistance with this then please contact the school office.
Winter certainly has set in but we have had a lovely week in school. Here are some highlights:
Year 3 – Stone Age Project
Year 3 had a great time in Computing this week bringing their Stone Age stories to life using IMotion to create a short animation.
Netball Tournament at CNS
Some Year 5 & 6 children represented our school at a Netball tournament at CNS – Mrs Hornsby was very proud and said that they represented our school beautifully.
Piper and Theo presented a report to Assembly this morning ‘It was really fun to take part in the tournament. We all played brilliantly and showed great team work & communication. It was a fantastic opportunity.’
EYFS – Castle Role Play
EYFS have been enjoying castle role play this week and dressing up in some wonderful costumes.
Poppy Appeal
Thank you to everyone that supported the Poppy Appeal in school, we raised £242.78 for the Royal British Legion.
