St James’CE Primary School

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.

What a fantastic party! Everyone had a brilliant time at the St James' PFA school with Outalimits discos. It was a delight to see everyone dancing their hearts out for the whole evening. As always, a huge thank you to all the parents who helped to organise and support the event giving all of our children a brilliant time with dancing the nice away with their friends.

We had a wonderful day with Dorset Creative Dance who came to run dance classes for the whole of St James' from our youngest to our oldest. The adventures varied from class to class but they all had a fantastic time! We are looking forward to welcoming Dorset Creative Dance back in the Spring 2 to run an after-school club every Tuesday.

Year 4 enjoyed our visit from Mr Stevens who works for Wessex Water. During the afternoon, we explored on average how much water we use each day and discussed water efficiency. Working in small groups, we were challenged to see which group could turn the dirty water into clean water through creating our own filters. Lots of great teamwork was shown and the children listened brilliantly.

Our Reception class have been learning about technology from the past. This week we had a focus on music and talked about record players, cassette tapes, CD's and digital music. Mrs Hardyman brought in a record player and a very old record of 'The Jungle Book'. We enjoyed seeing how the music was played and had a great dance too!

Our Nursery children have been looking at the classic story of Jack and The Beanstalk this week, they've had great fun building castles in the clouds, planting beans, collaging beanstalks, and re-enacting the story in the hall with Mr Lawford using the sports equipment to climb the beanstalk and jump from the top!

It was once again a privelege to welcome Kate from Life Education Wessex & Thames Valley to St James' for a series of workshops in all classes. SCARF is our PSHCE scheme and today's focus was All About Me, Our Feelings, Expressing Gratitutude and Protecting our Body and Mind, The children had a wonderful day and loved meeting Harold, the SCARF giraffe.

Our Nursery children were so excited for the first of our new weekly Forest School sessions this morning. The children put on their waterproofs and wellies and carried their backpacks with their drinks in, all promoting independence and school readiness. These sessions are completely child led; giving them the freedom to explore, be creative, build resilience and grow a love of nature!