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.
Well, what a fantastic week we’ve had despite the rain! We’ve had dance workshops, singing, Opera to name but a few.
Here’s one of the highlights – Lantern Making.
Year 3 enjoyed a trip to the Town Hall to make Christmas Lanterns. They were very well behaved and Mrs Eaglestone and Mrs Hicks were very proud of how creative the children were.
The class are looking forward to taking part in the Chipping Norton Light Switch on, on Thursday 27th November where they will take part in a lantern procession before the official countdown.
The pupils in Year 3 and Year 4 have been fortunate enough to take part in African drumming and dancing workshops for the past term. The children have thoroughly enjoyed their sessions each week. Next term, they will take part in some hip-hop and I can’t wait to see what brilliant things they produce.
The Orchard
The Orchard is a pathway for children specially developed to meet the needs of children in our school. Like adults, there are times in our lives when we need some extra support and this is where it all happens. From Emotional Literacy Sessions; one to one support and gardening sessions that feed the soul, The Orchard provides this. The children experience outdoor learning sessions, led by Miss Southeard and Mrs Dunn, and this week it was all about the sounds you could hear round the campfire.
Amazing Attendance!
Well done to everyone who has had amazing attendance this term. Whole school attendance was 98.23%, this week! We have many classes achieving 100% or extremely close to this, every week. Imagine, when I first arrived it was only just over 90% so what an achievement. Making sure your child is at school everyday (unless they are genuinely ill) and on time is so important. It is a skill for life and one worth learning at an early age so thank you.
Whole school attendance this week
98.23%
Class with the highest attendance this week
Year 4 – 100%
Whole school termly attendance
97.19%
Chocolate Tombola Contributions
Wow, that chocolate tombola is going to be something special. Thank you for all the contributions. The PTA will be very pleased.
Enjoy your half term holiday and we’ll see you rested for another busy term on Monday 3rd November.
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!
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)
If your child is being referred to CAMHS, is in the process of an EHCNA or is being supported through the school team MHST or takes part in Big Feelings this could be the workshop for you!
Please join us for a CAMHS Mental Health Support Team (MHST) Parent Workshop – Introducing ‘The Brief Incredible Years: Empowering parents to manage and understand their child’s behaviour. Part 1 & 2.
Save the date: Part 1: Tuesday 17 June 2025 from 3.00pm – 4.30pm Part 2: Tuesday 1 July 2025 from 3.00pm – 4.30pm
The workshop ‘Brief Incredible Years’ is based on the book ‘The Incredible Years’ by Caroline Webster-Stratton. This program focuses on positive parenting strategies that support emotional and social development in children. The book is available for purchase (though not required for the workshop), or through Audible and some schools may lend copies. This is a parent-only workshop.
Please let the office know if you would like to attend so that we organise staff to look after your children.
Sports Day Magic
Thank you to everyone that contributed to Wednesday’s Sports Day. The weather was beautiful and everyone had an amazing time. The children showed amazing team spirit and determination! Mrs Eaglestone added up the house points and they are as follows: – 1st place St Andrews with 2019 points – 2nd place St Patrick 1955 points – 3rd place St George 1913 points – 4th place St David 1895 points
These points will be added to the yearly total. There’s not a lot in it so keep trying hard to get as many merits as you can.
