St James’CE Primary School

Foxes have been to Launceston Farm today to support our class learning about farms. Cath always looks after us so well at Launceston, and the children have had such an amazing time digging for worms and baking bread! We found out that the more worms there are, the healthier the soil is. We also enjoyed mixing ingredients to make yummy bread rolls! Thank you to our parent helpers for supporting on our trip, we've had such a lovely day.

It was a privelege to welcome Dorset Cricket to St James' First School to lead engagement sessions with Foxes, Hedgehogs and Squirrels. Everyone had a great time practising some new skills ready for the summer season. A huge thank you to Dorset Cricket for coming and running today's sessions.

Owls class had a fantastic opportunity to work with artist @mariavinney as part of their Art Day. Children focussed on the colours of Spring and created their favourite Spring image using felting. It was such a fun day, learning a new skill with such a skilled artist and we cannot wait to display their art as part of our art exhibition. We are looking forward to welcoming Maria back to work with Hedgehogs and Squirrels in the coming weeks.

A big thank you to PC Chris for visiting Nursery today, we talked about how the police help us, looked at what a Police Officer needs to wear and the children had great fun dressing Miss Jay up. We then played a game of 'Freeze!' whilst racing too fast on our bikes, scooters and cars!

World Book Day 2026 at St James' First School was a huge success and further cemented our love of reading! The day began with such joy, guessing everyone's characters and favourite books, there was even an old busker on the school gates. After our morning worship, where we awarded prizes for our Book in a Box competition, the children were kept busy with various reading activities from scavenger hunts, to bookmark making, to sharing their favourite book with a friend and hot chocolate. The day was made extra special as we were joined by children's author, Maudie Smith who shared some of her stories with the children as well as guiding children through her own writing proces Our day ended with a special Hot Chocolate, Cake and second hand book sale hosted by the St James' PFA in the evening sun.

Owls loved sharing reading time with the Nursery children this week. They proudly chose stories from the library and read with confidence and enthusiasm, helping to inspire a love of books in our youngest children. This is a wonderful moment of togetherness, where our oldest children were able to become part of the learning of our youngest, will now take place every week.

Our Nursery children went on a Spring walk this afternoon in the beautiful sunshine, recording all the signs of spring they could see. We're so lucky to have such a lovely outdoor area to explore and enjoy.

It has been a privilege to watch the children explore and gain confidence in our Forest school area. I have seen their joy and wonder for nature flourish as they play, discover and learn outside. Their natural curiosity, creativity and imagination has been incredible to see each session. Engaging in both planned activities as well as creating their own learning opportunities. Our forest school area encourages the children to use their physical strength and problem solving skills, they have shown an amazing determination to complete tasks and manage risks whilst doing so. We have been loud and brave, muddy and wet, but also quiet and gentle, showing listening skills, respect, kindness and an inquisitiveness for the plants, birds and insects we have found. I've shared stories and moments of silence listening to the sounds of nature and we all loved the warmth of the fire with friends. Being outside each week has allowed us watch the Autumn colours give way to winter and now we can enjoy the Spring flowers blossom and warmth return. Being immersed in the seasons has given us lots of chances to explore and use descriptive language, mathematical problem solving with natural resources, exploring and taking acceptable risks each child working towards personal challenges. They have amazed me every week and I am so ready for another term of exploration and fun. Thank you to all the parents who have helped support this journey with us by volunteering to help in sessions. Mrs Shergold Forest School Lead

We were all able to take advantage of a rain free day to celebrate Valentines and Shrove Tuesday. Children dressed in reds and pinks and brought in essential supplies to support the Allendale Community Centre Food Pantry. After school, children were treated to pancakes courtesy of the St James' PFA whilst they tested their skills on our pancake obstacle course.

A huge thank you to Mrs Ryan who taught Hedgehogs, Foxes and Nursery how to make spring rolls for Chinese New Year. Our two youngest year groups gathered in the hall to try rice, noodles, prawn crackers before performing a dragon dance with scarves and masks!

On Wednesday, we welcomed Mr Shergold from the The 2 Minute Foundation to come lead a session with our School Council. The charity envisions a litter-free world where nature thrives and we want to join them on the mission. Mr Shergold came and trialed a 'litter-picking station' he's created. It's constructed of predominantly upcycled materials and the children were excited to try and guess where he'd sourced them from! It was a fantastic opportunity to trial his creation and it was a unanimous hit! This year School Council members have let me know that they are particularly keen on having an eco focus. It's great to see them taking the lead with their passions and a very worthy one that all staff are happy to support. Alongside gardening club, they've already completed an audit to gauge how well we're doing as a school at present and to help us set up an action plan for the whole school to participate in. We are hoping to submit an application for our green flag eco schools award in the summer.

Year 3 and 4 proudly represented our school at the Ellisedwardsfoundation and Rippa Rugby Rugby Festival at Chapel Gate today. They joined schools from across all of BCP, competing alongside 350 other children in this wonderful event. Both our teams completed a training session and then took part in 5 competitive games throughout the day. It was wonderful to watch them grow in confidence and learn the skills needed to work as a team.

We are looking to appoint a temporary Nursery Practitioner to join our team on the 6th March for approximately 12 weeks. This is an exciting opportunity to join a flourishing team. For more information, please contact the school office. https://mynewterm.com/jobs/148300/EDV-2026-SJCEFS-78849

Squirrels class were excited to welcome adults to their Parent Share this afternoon. Our DT learning this half term started with an y exciting visits from a year 4 parent who we were incredibly grateful for sharing her knowledge and even clothes and items she had made herself. Squirrels class led the afternoon, all standing up and reading short sections to describe our learning journey this half term. Parents joined in with finishing off the sewing on the children's final product and were impressed by the wonderful sewing skills. They were proud to present all they had done and celebrate their success - well done Squirrels class.