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Headteacher’s Newsletter – 5th September 2025

Written by Mrs McQueen on . Posted in Headteacher Newsletter.

Dear Parents/carers,

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.

Kind regards,

Mrs Christine McQueen

Headteacher’s Newsletter – 11th July 2025

Written by Mrs McQueen on . Posted in Headteacher Newsletter.

Dear Parents/carers,

St. Mary’s Summer makeover

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.

Attendance

Class with overall best attendance100% EYFS Acorn Class & Year 2 Chestnut Class
School overall attendance96.70%
Unauthorised attendance1.32%

Dates for your Diary

School Calendar

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

Kind regards,

Mrs McQueen

Headteacher’s Newsletter – 4th July 2025

Written by Mrs McQueen on . Posted in Headteacher Newsletter.

Dear Parents/carers,

Transition Day on Thursday

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!

Attendance

Class with overall best attendance98% EYFS – Acorn Class
School overall attendance96.42%
Unauthorised attendance0.57%

Dates for your Diary

School Calendar

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

Kind regards,

Mrs McQueen

Headteacher’s Newsletter – 20th June 2025

Written by Mrs McQueen on . Posted in Headteacher Newsletter.

Dear Parents and Carers

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

HeadteacherMrs McQueen
Deputy headteacherMrs Taylor
EYFS teamMrs English (teacher Monday and Tuesday)
Mrs Keyzor (teacher Wednesday, Thursday and
Friday)
EYFS practitioners to be confirmed
Year 1Mrs Brunt (teacher)
Mrs Austin (TA)
Year 2Mrs Townsend (teacher)
Miss MacDonald (TA)
Year 3Mrs Eaglestone and Miss Thorsby (teachers)
Mrs Hicks (TA)
Year 4Ms Hollander (teacher)
Mrs Harrison (TA)
Year 5Mrs Pike (teacher)
Mrs Hornsby (TA)
Year 6Miss Philpott (teacher)
Mrs Jordan (TA)
The Orchard teamMr Buzzard
Mrs Dunn
Miss Southeard

Attendance

Class with overall best attendanceYear 5 – 98.81% Mrs Pike’s Class
School overall attendance97.65%
Unauthorised attendance0.14%

Dates for your Diary

School Calendar

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

Kind regards

Mrs McQueen

Headteacher’s Newsletter – 13th June 2025

Written by Mrs McQueen on . Posted in Headteacher Newsletter.

Dear Parents/carers,

Parent Workshops at St Mary’s – creche available

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.

Attendance this week

Class with overall best attendanceYear 5 – 99.11%
Overall school attendance97.45%
Unauthorised attendance0.14%

Dates for your diary

School Calendar

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

Kind regards

Mrs McQueen

Headteacher’s Newsletter – 6th June 2025

Written by Mrs McQueen on . Posted in Headteacher Newsletter.

Dear Parents and Carers

The Branch

Please see the programme, at the end of this newsletter, from The Branch. They support and signpost a variety of children and adults in our community. If you are in need of support, please reach out, either through school or popping along to The Branch directly (it is just along from Sainbury’s). Emma Kennedy is available on a Monday morning from 8.30am in school. You will catch her at the school gates.

Parent Workshops at St Mary’s – creche available

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 3.00pm – 4:30pm
Part 2: Tuesday 1 July 2025 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.

St Mary’s Unplugged – 24 hours

A child told me the other day that he had so many sponsors. I responded with a very well done. The child told me that his parents and family didn’t think he could survive without technology for 24 hours. He said to me, ‘I can do anything I tell myself, even giving up my Xbox!’

Our FIRST platinum award winner!

Well done Ethan – 500 merits!

Multiplication and Maths End of Term Reward

Do you want your child to enjoy ice-cream and a bouncy castle treat for learning their multiplication tables? An afternoon of fun is on offer at St. Mary’s.

By the end of next term, your child will receive this reward if they:

  • Reception – know doubles to 10 (1+1, 2+2, 3+3 etc)
  • Y1 – can count in 2s, 5s and 10s
  • Y2 – can multiply by 2, 5 and 10
  • Y3 – know their 2,3,4,5,8 x tables in under 6 seconds
  • Y4, Y5 and Y6 – know ALL of their tables to 12 x 12 in under 6 seconds

If your child has already received a certificate, their name will already be on the treat list. If you are concerned that your child has SEN but you have been trying hard at home regularly, this will also be recognised by the class teacher as they will have had the data for TTRockstars across the year.

Year 4 in action

Year 4 have been looking at still life in art (Cezanne). They arranged their own still life, photographed it, drew it and now onto painting.

School Photos

You will have received some beautiful class photos this week. We were very lucky with the weather and were able to take them outside. Please do purchase a lovely reminder.

Piano Lessons – 9 pupils have already signed up!

Piano lessons are now available with a music teacher during school hours or lunch breaks, with rotating times each week so children do not miss the same class regularly. A fun and flexible way to build confidence and learn piano-perfect for beginners. Lessons are 20 minutes long and cost £12.50.

If your child would be interested in this, please leave a message at the office for Mrs English.

Sports day is next Wednesday 11 June 2025

All parents are welcome to attend from 9.30am until 12.30pm.

Every child will compete in some sporting events to gain house points before doing two individual races which will start about 11.00am.

At 12.00 noon you are invited to eat lunch with your child on the field so please bring your blankets and your picnics!

The Friends have kindly arranged for some refreshments to be available for purchasing throughout the morning. We would prefer card payments for this or small change.

I look forward to seeing lots of you there and we may even get time for Parents races!

Please make sure your child has full PE kit in school on Wednesday that includes trainers and their coloured house T-shirt and a water bottle. If it is set to be hot, please apply sun cream before school and provide a sun hat.

Many thanks for your help with this.

Attendance

Class with overall best attendanceYear 2 – 100%
Overall school attendance97.26%
Unauthorised attendance1.10%

Dates for your diary

School Calendar

Kind regards

Mrs McQueen

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Headteacher’s Newsletter – 23rd May 2025

Written by Mrs McQueen on . Posted in Headteacher Newsletter.

Dear Parents and Carers

Sean Woodcock MP

We were visited by our local MP today to discuss our plans for the new nursery. Mr. Woodcock was very impressed with our school and development ideas. If you know anyone coming to the area or considering a school for their child we would be more than happy to show them around St. Mary’s.

School Photos

We thought we’d try something different today so class photos were taken outside, on the school field. We have such beautiful school grounds. I’m sure they will look lovely when they are produced.

Piano Lessons

Piano lessons are now available with a music teacher during school hours or lunch breaks, with rotating times each week so children do not miss the same class regularly. A fun and flexible way to build confidence and learn piano-perfect for beginners. Lessons are 20 minutes long and cost £12.50.

If your child would be interested in this, please leave a message at the office for Mrs English.

iRock Thursday 10 July at 9.30am

We are inviting parents and carers of those children that have just started their iRock sessions to come along to a small concert, where the children would like to show you what they have been learning. If any other parents were thinking of signing their child up for next year, please join us too.

Multiplication and Maths End of Term Reward

Do you want your child to enjoy ice-cream and a bouncy castle treat for learning their multiplication tables? An afternoon of fun is on offer at St. Mary’s.

By the end of next term, your child will receive this reward if they:

  • Reception – know doubles to 10 (1+1, 2+2, 3+3 etc)
  • Y1 – can count in 2s, 5s and 10s
  • Y2 – can multiply by 2, 5 and 10
  • Y3 – know their 2,3,4,5,8 x tables in under 6 seconds
  • Y4, Y5 and Y6 – know ALL of their tables to 12 x 12 in under 6 seconds.

If your child has already received a certificate, their name will already be on the treat list. If you are concerned that your child has SEN but you have been trying hard at home regularly, this will also be recognised by the class teacher as they will have had the data for TTRockstars across the year.

St Mary’s Unplugged – 24 hours

A child told me the other day that he had so many sponsors. I responded with a very well done. The child told me that his parents and family didn’t think he could survive without technology for 24 hours. He said to me, ‘I can do anything I tell myself, even giving up my Xbox!’

So, who else is taking up the challenge? It doesn’t have to be a lot of money but the fact you complete the challenge is so important.

Athletics achievements

Our athletics team were fantastic on Wednesday. They all
competed in the 75m sprint, 300m run, long jump and howler throw.

We unfortunately didn’t win overall but we had some amazing performances, notably from Annabel, Ellie, Alfie Lee and Ethan for coming first in their long jump event! Every child in our team managed to come 1st, 2nd or 3rd in at least one event!

Mr Buzzard and Mrs Eaglestone were very proud. Thank you for representing St Mary’s so brilliantly!

Attendance

Thank you to all those parents who supported us this week in bringing their child to school on time. Even with all of the mayhem at the beginning of the week, the lates this week has reduced significantly. If you received a letter last week, we will be monitoring this on a weekly basis.

Class with overall best attendanceEYFS – 99.05%
Overall school attendance95.14%
Unauthorised attendance2.62%

Staff changes

Miss Gardner will be leaving us at the end of the summer term to fulfil her dream of being able to walk to work. I would like to thank Miss Gardner for her lovely whole school events at the Church and her fabulous face painting on VE day. We wish her all the best with her new adventure.

With Miss Gardner leaving us, we will be recruiting for a new class teacher. Please find more information on the DFE and OCC jobs website.

We are also recruiting 3 teaching assistants. We are able to offer two permanent and one temporary contract. If you or anyone you know is interested in this position, please contact me for an informal chat. You would be joining a happy, motivated team who work hard to give the children of St Mary’s the best every day.

Once the recruitment of all staff has been made, classes and their teaching assistants will be announced.

School Lunches

Thank you to those parents and carers who completed the school lunch questionnaire last week. We listened very carefully to your responses. The process of school and packed lunches have not changed for a number of years. The school has also been subsidising those families who pay for their meals for many years too. However, this has had a detrimental effect on the choice of meals on offer. I stated in a previous letter that we will be increasing our charges from September. We have just been informed that
our current provider will now make this change after half term. However, we feel this is too short notice and will continue to subsidise this increase as well.

From September, we will be looking at a different company, who will provide us with a range of choices that you will be able to pre-book. The increased choice, quality and ease of booking will come at an increased cost and we will unfortunately be unable to subsidise this.

We will keep you informed about all of this next term and thank you for your continued support.

Parent Workshops at St Mary’s – creche available

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 WebsterStratton. 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.

Dates for your Diary

School Calendar

Have a lovely half term holiday and we look forward to welcoming you back on Monday 30 May 2025.

Kind regards,

Mrs McQueen

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