Good afternoon Everyone, 

It has been an amazing atmosphere in school this week and it has been great to see everyone back in the classrooms. Children are very resilient and they have settled back in brilliantly. Thank you to all for your continued support, it really is appreciated. 

Plan for this half term

This half term, we need get all the children settled back into our daily routines, assess where the children are in terms of mental well-being and learning. If there is anything you think I or the class teachers need to know about experiences during lockdown that may be important, please let us know. All classes are doing a two week unit about a story that has been specifically designed to build stamina for concentration and working  and recap learning behaviours.

Keeping safe

As I have written above, it is great to get everyone back in school. However, we still need to take all precautions and follow government guidelines as we do not want any Coronavirus cases in our school or community. Please remember that families and children should not be be mixing outside of school. The one family bubble system is still in force. If children are visiting other peoples houses, this increases the risk of cases in school and class or even whole school closure. These are difficult times, lets keep everyone as safe as possible. 

Pupil Reports

The pupils reports normally sent in January will go out on Friday 19th March. This will include the December assessment data.  We will be continually assess the children and the main report will go out in July 2021. As always, please make contact with the teacher if you have any concerns.  Please don’t worry, we are working really hard to close any gaps in learning and the children will all be fine. 

Take care of yourselves

Mr Woodward

It is an absolute pleasure to announce that Miss Graham gave birth her beautiful daughter on 05/03/2021. 

Orla Emily Collins – 7lb 13oz.

Miss Graham and Orla are both doing really well. 

I am sure you will all join me in congratulating Miss Graham and family. 

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Hello Everybody, 

I hope you are all well and looking forward to coming back next week.  Please find an update and procedures below. The main changes from the September version are highlighted in yellow. 

It will be great to have everyone back.

Have a great weekend and take care of yourselves. 

Mr Woodward

Parent update March 2021

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Hello Everyone, 

I hope you are all well and have had a great half term break. 

As expected, Boris Johnson announced last night that school’s will return on Monday 8th March. We are really looking forward to welcoming everyone back into school.  We  will be operating in a very similar way as we did from September to December 2020 and more details will follow. 

Before and after school club

From Monday 8th March, before and after school club will start again. If you need a place, please email Miss Horrocks on nhorrocks@st-james.derbyshire.sch.uk 

It will be great to have everyone back in school. 

Take care and have a lovely evening. 

Mr Woodward

This information is really useful.

Children Sleep Routine Feb21

Parent Newsletter Feb21

Good afternoon, 

These are really strange times and we are all doing things that are out of our routines or things for the first time.  Everybody is having a different experience and I know many are finding home school hard. It feels hard, because it is hard and that isn’t because you are doing anything wrong. Children present very differently in school as they do at home. If I a £1 for every parent who has stopped me in parents evening and asked if we are talking about the same child, I would be sending this message from my own island in the pacific. We are all trying to juggle home schooling, working, family life, walking the dog, fixing the kitchen door and 101 other things.  I can’t offer advice on fixing the kitchen door but from a school point of view, please stop what you are doing and read the rest of this  message. 

Completely understandably, we are all growing increasingly anxious because we don’t know when this will all end and when we will return to normal (well a new normal). There is a lot on the news about a learning deficit and a generation of children who will be delayed academically and socially. Please ignore these stories. Learning and opportunities for social interaction have been lost but children are incredibly resilient and we as a school community will support you all in making up lost ground. 

When we came back after summer, many children had missed over 6 months of school. We assessed them in terms of learning and mental well being and assessment them again in December. I haven’t shared this with parents before but I am going to share the progress the children made last term. This is what your wonderful children and our fantastic team are capable of. 

Progress – Expected progress for one full term is 2.

As you can see, this is outstanding progress. 

We are providing lots of work to support all needs and please continue to work hard. However, when things get too much, stop, do something different. We are all different and our circumstances are different. In order to make up the ground, we need all the children happy and ready to learn when they do return. If you need anything or have any questions, please email or phone school and we will do everything we can to help. 

As you can see from the progress above, your children are very capable and will be fine.  Please take care of yourselves, find time for yourselves but above all, ask if you need anything. 

Mr Woodward

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