St James E-News

1st December 2023

Welcome to the St James Primary School's E-News, a weekly roundup of the latest news and events at the school

Latest Headteachers Blog

Dear Parents and Carers,

Yesterday we said goodbye to Carol Portman-Parsons, who has worked as part of the office team for six years, and before that was a midday supervisor, teaching assistant and a governor as well as a former parent. Carol will be coming in for a couple more days before the end of term. We are grateful for all that Carol has done for the school over the years and we all wish her well for the future.

Helen Robertson-Smith will be taking on Carol's role; Helen already works at St Mary's School in the office and many of you will know her as a former parent at our school. She will be working across both schools from next week.

The school Christmas post box will be available outside my office from next week for the children's Christmas cards to their friends. The children can post their cards in the box once they have come in to school. Please ensure that the recipient's full name and class or year group is written clearly on the envelopes.

Best wishes for a lovely weekend,

Valerie Elliott

School Notices

Reindeer Run - your children will have brought home a letter and envelope following the Reindeer Run assembly yesterday. The run takes place in school on 14th December and promises to be lots of fun. Every child will be taking part. All funds raised will go to Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice.
Lunchtime football rules - the children can play football on the field at lunchtime provided they have an extra pair of shoes or trainers to change in to (no boots with studs please). The weekly rota for football on the field is

Monday - Year 6
Tuesday - Year 5
Wednesday - Year 3
Thursday - Year 4
Friday Years 1 and 2

New External Club Opportunities - please have a look at the club fliers on the Parent Portal.
Christmas services at St James Church - Due to the popularity of the 2022 Carol service, this year St James’ Church are having 2 services on Friday 15th December. The first service will be an interactive family focused Crib Service at 4pm featuring St James Primary School choir. During the service children will have the opportunity to help act out the nativity story (nativity themed dress up encouraged!). There will also be carols, festive refreshments and a baby play area. The second service will be a traditional Carol service at 7:30pm, featuring an adult choir made up of Elstead locals and with festive refreshments.

Tickets for the 2023 Elstead Youth Panto are on sale NOW! - Scan the QR code on the poster, click on the poster, or visit https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/elsteadyouthpanto to get your seats booked - we already have limited availibilty for all performances. All profits this year are going to our host St James Primary School and the Hascombe Ward at the Royal Surrey County Hospital - because every year we are panto with a purpose. (And if that's not enough to sweeten the deal, we have lots of St James Primary pupils in the cast!) This year we are heading to Candyland. Can Hannah and Gregory defeat the evil Baron Von Licorice or will Hansel and Gretel eat everything in sight? Perhaps only the power of the sweets can save everyone?

PTA Second-Hand Uniform Shop - Danielle Sleightholme will be opening up the PTA Uniform Store at school pick-up on the occasional Friday to allow parents and carers to browse the available items. All items are good quality and much cheaper than brand new, so do set aside time to look to see if she has an item that your child needs.
Drop in sessions with our Home School Link Worker, Helen Owen - The role of the Home School Link Worker (HSLW) is to support families with a range of issues at home or at school. 1:1 sessions are available on Wednesdays. To book an appointment, email Helen on hslw@st-james-elstead.surrey.sch.uk or ring the school office to request a call back.