St James E-News
7th January 2022
Welcome to the St James Primary School's E-News, a weekly roundup of the latest goings on at the school.
Latest Headteachers Blog
Dear Parents,
Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed the Christmas break with family and friends, I think we were all a little bit relieved when the holidays finally arrived. During the school closure the school was completely deep cleaned, so this should help to keep everyone safe and well. At the moment cases across the school remain lower than at the end of last term, but we will continue to monitor them carefully and will let you know if things start to change.
On a brighter note, one of the things I love about working in a primary school is that every day is different. Today we had a daytime visit from one of the local deer, who spent quite a bit of time on the school field, much to the delight of Penguins and Owls! It's a great reminder of the lovely countryside around us and how lucky we are to be able to experience it.
And continuing the positive theme, we are already planning our summer production with KS2, as well as our other usual summer term events including for the Platinum Jubilee. It is important to get back to what matters after such a tricky two years and we are determined the children should experience as many of the fun activities as they can, once case numbers have dropped.
Finally, we are interested in hearing from anyone who is interested in ad hoc teaching assistant work, mainly acting as supply cover throughout the school. Typically, we can offer at least one morning or full day supply work each week, although this does vary. We are looking for someone who can be flexible in their availability and is happy to work with different age ranges. If you are interested in finding out more, please telephone or email the office to arrange a time to speak to me or Mrs Jenkinson and we can provide more detail. The supply role would be subject to satisfactory references and safeguarding checks.
http://www.st-james-elstead.surrey.sch.uk/About-Us/Vacancies/
Best wishes for a lovely weekend,
Valerie Elliott
School Notices
- Reception and Junior applications for September 2022 - the national closing date for Reception and Junior applications for September 2022 entry is next Saturday, 15 January 2022. Surrey Admissions strongly encourage online applications via https://www.eadmissions.org.uk/eAdmissions/app. Parents can apply online from a smartphone or tablet as well as a laptop. If parents are unable to apply online, they will need to request a paper application form via the Surrey Schools & Childcare Service (0300 200 1004, Mon-Fri 9am-5pm). The completed paper application form must be received by Admissions (to their Quadrant Court address) by 15 January, so parents must allow time for the post to reach them. If parents need to apply on paper, Surrey Admissions recommend that they send applications by recorded post. Full information is available on Surrey's website at www.surreycc.gov.uk/primaryadmissions. The Surrey Schools & Childcare Service can also provide impartial help in completing an application.
Applications received after the closing date without an exceptional reason will be treated as late and will not be considered until all on time applications have been processed. This may jeopardise the chance of a parent being offered one of their preferred schools for their child. - Regular School Meal Patterns - The school can order a fixed pattern of meals for your child, whether this be every day or a part-time pattern. If you would like to order meals on an ad-hoc basis, please contact the school office for further information on how to do this. You can order, amend or delete meal choices up to midnight before a meal is taken. However, any fixed meal pattern will continue until you notify the school office otherwise.
- Downloadable Forms - There are a number of forms available to download from our website including our Morning and SuperStars Joiner Pack, Consent for Medication Given at School and School Tie Order Form. Please follow this link to see what is available.
- 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. This includes offering support with:
Parenting challenges and/or access to courses/information
Families who are experiencing difficult times (e.g. financial concerns, illness, separation, addiction, domestic abuse, bereavement etc.).
Helping complete forms such as: Disability living allowance, school trips etc
Helping families access additional support or resources
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.
Letters This Week
The following classes have had letters uploaded to the Parent Portal this week. Note: You will need to login to view this area.
- Penguins
- Woodpeckers
- Whole school
Covid-19 Information
Please remember; if your child (or a member of your family) has Covid-19 symptoms please do not send your child to school - Please immediately arrange a PCR test for your child, if symptomatic, and inform the school office as soon as possible. Please do not send your child to school at least until you receive the test result and not before they are well. Whilst Government guidance no longer requires members of the household of someone testing positive to isolate for ten days, we would ask that you keep your child at home for the period of isolation to give a further level of protection to the physical and mental health of all members of our school family.
All contacts of suspected Omicron cases do not need to isolate provided they are fully vaccinated and completing daily lateral flow tests.
Weekend Results: It is very important that you continue to notify us of Covid- 19 test results over the weekend by using the below email address.
results@st-james-elstead.surrey.sch.uk
News Blogs
Blog of the Week: Click on the picture below to find out what Penguins and Owls were watching yesterday afternoon. 
Click below to view all the latest News Blogs:
Dates for your diary
View the school calendar for the latest information
Advertising Hub
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School Meals
View this weeks school meals menu: