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Important Note:
This is a text and image only webpage that can be used to easily translate important updates for those whose first language is not English.
Weekly Newsletter - 9th January 2026
“Excellent attendance is vital for children to flourish and achieve”
Something Mrs Wainwright has enjoyed this week was seeing all the children return to school. I love the start of term and welcoming everyone back.
I was also very proud to see St Bart’s had been mentioned in the Yorkshire Evening Post as being one of the best schools to attend in Leeds (see the link below). No school is perfect but I truly believe ours is a fantastic school with amazing children and staff and thank you as parents for your support. It takes a team!
Worship – Our new theme is perseverance and we will be looking at how important this is in all our lives especially when we find things difficult. For example, all the staff, parents and children who persevered this week and got to school in some very bad weather.
We have also discussed our new attribute for this half term, ‘resilliance’
The St Bart’s Way – The staff have been talking about how we bring children together when they need to listen to their teacher in class. We are trying to make things in school as simple and consistent as possible for the children to make our school even better. We will be talking to the children and looking at things like using a tambourine, clapping or counting down.
IMPORTANT UPDATES
For those not paying for lunch you will be expected to send your child with a packed lunch until the dinners are paid for up to date. Again the school cannot afford to pay these outstanding debts and have not got time to chase these payments.
You could not go in to a restaurant and say you will pay next week!
Cleaner Required – We are looking for a new cleaner to work between 3.30-5.30. If you are interested, please come and see Mrs Wainwright.
REMINDERS
- Wellington Boots – these are great for outside in bad weather but are dangerous in school. Please send your child in with shoes/trainers to change in to. We are happy to help them if they need it. Thank you.
- Appointments – you should always try to make appointments for your children out of school time but we know this is not always possible. If your child does have an appointment in the school day we expect where possible for them to come to school in the morning and be collected for their appointment and for them to return after it. It means they get their mark and miss as little school as possible. We will always save their dinner for their return.
- School Streets – the restrictions are still in place even when we are not there. It is becoming more congested again which is dangerous for the children and their families. Please do not drive up Strawberry Lane during the restricted times:
8.15-9am
3- 3.45pm
Attendance
We expect all children to be in school every day and on time. 8.30am for Nursery, 12.30pm in the afternoon and by 8.50am for the rest of school. Thank you
We hope to continue with our fantastic reputation for having good attendance, this is vital for children to achieve their best and for them to enjoy school. Let’s make it a fantastic spring term!
Congratulations to all our autumn term attendance winners.
We had our half term raffles for being in school on time every day, having over 96% attendance, being in every Friday and for being in for the last week of term.
We also gave certificates and prizes to all the children who had fantastic attendance in the autumn term.
We start again every term so every child in school, has a chance of winning.
Last week’s attendance (15th December – 19th December)
- Nursery: 85.3%
- Reception: 89.5%
- Years 1 to 6: 93%
Attendance Winners for last week:
- KS1 – Class 3 - 97.6%
- Years 3 & 4 – Class 9 – 99.2%
- Years 5 & 6 – Class 12 – 95.6%
Well done to the best classes:
- KS1 – Class 6
- Years 3 & 4 – Class 10
- Years 5 & 6 – Class 15
Weekly Round Up
Nursery – Happy New Year to all! This week we discussed the transition between autumn and winter. We talked about cold weather and how to be safe in winter. We have read lots of winter stories and sang winter songs. We made snowy pictures using chalk and white paint, and white collage to make snowflakes. We fed hungry snowmen with the snowballs - matching the right amount of snowballs to the number on the snowmen. We have also opened a hair salon.
Reception – This week in Reception we have started our new topic 'Where can we go and how can we get there?' we have learnt about planet Earth and how it has land and sea. We have talked about all the different living things on Earth and we have sorted animals into land animals and sea animals. We have enjoyed looking at globes and finding the United Kingdom and other countries children have visited. We have had lots of fun exploring the ice in our Garden this week. We have been getting wrapped up warm to spend time outside and have practiced putting on our coats and gloves on independently and trying to fasten our own zip.
Years 1 & 2 – Welcome back to a new term! Over the next few weeks’ children have lots of exciting things to look forward to. Year 1 are learning about the polar regions - focusing on the Antarctic and the famous explorer Robert Falcon Scott. Children in Year 2 will be learning about The Great Fire of London and will enjoy an exciting workshop later this half term. Please can all children come to school with their reading books every day so we can hear them read in school. This is really important as we do not have enough books to provide replacements. New reading books are unable to be given to take home if current books are not returned. Remember that there are lots of other books available on the Oxford Owl online learning platform.
Years 3 & 4 –Year 3 - This week, we have started our new History topic about the Romans, and we learned why they came to Britain. In PSHE, we have been looking at new beginnings and have been looking at making resolutions. In English, we have been starting to read our new class text, The Iron Man, and have started to write character descriptions. In Maths, we have continued to look at multiplication, moving on to formal written methods.
Year 4 - This week, we have been dissecting Stone Age Poo! We have been finding out what things they ate and found out that poo was sometimes preserved in ice! In Science, we have been looking at states of matter. In English, we have been reading Kensuke's Kingdom and have been looking at a message in a bottle sent to our classes. In Maths, we have continued to look at multiplication.
Years 5 & 6 - Lessons: In Art, we have enjoyed learning about the artist, Angela Haseltine Pozzi and how she collects plastic off beaches and creates sculptures from the plastic. In English, we have started looking at explanation texts – how volcanoes erupt. Click on the following links below to catch-up on the latest news in Years 5 & 6:
https://www.st-bartholomews.leeds.sch.uk/blog/category/year-5
https://www.st-bartholomews.leeds.sch.uk/blog/category/year-6
Swimming - Swimming lessons will resume next week (week beginning 12th January).
- Mondays: Class 15
- Tuesdays: Class 12
- Wednesdays: Class 14
- Thursdays: Class 16
- Fridays: Class 13
The Deep - Thank you to all the families who have already made a voluntary contribution – your support is greatly appreciated. We are still accepting contributions, and any amount you can give will make a difference.
The Deep Trip dates:
- Thursday 15th January – Class 15
- Monday 19th January – Class 16
- Thursday 22nd January – Class 13
- Monday 26th January – Class 12
- Thursday 29th January – Class 14
School Dates 2025 -2026:
- Thursday 15th January 2026 The Deep Class 15
- Monday 19th January 2026 The Deep Class 16
- Thursday 22nd January 2026 The Deep Class 13
- Monday 26th January 2026 The Deep Class 12
- Thursday 29th January 2026 The Deep Class 14
- Tuesday 3rd February 2025 Year 2 -Classes 5 and 6 Great Fire of London Workshops
- Friday 13th February 2026 School Closes at 3.30pm
- Monday 23rd February 2026 School Opens at 8.30am
- Friday 20th March 2026 Training Day – No Children in School
- Wednesday 1st April 2025 Year 1 Farm Visits
- Thursday 2nd April 2025 Year 1 Farm Visits
- Thursday 2nd April 2026 School Closes at 3.30pm
- Monday 20th April 2026 School Opens at 8.30am
- Monday 4th May 2026 School Closed May Bank Holiday
- Monday 11th May 2026 Year 6 SATs Grammar, Punctuation & Spelling
- Tuesday 12th May 2026 Year 6 SATs Reading
- Wednesday 13th May 2026 Year 6 SATs Arithmetic & Reasoning
- Thursday 14th May 2026 Year 6 SATs Reasoning
- Friday 22nd May 2026 School Closes at 3.30pm
- Monday 1st June 2026 School Opens at 8.30am
- Friday 12th June 2026 Training Day – No Children in School
- Monday 15th June 2025 Seaside Visit - Class 5
- Thursday 18th June 2025 Seaside Visit - Class 6
- Friday 17th July 2026 School Closes at 3.30pm
FAO Families - Reception Places 2026
For parents who are making enquiries about applications for Reception places, please follow the link below to a video guide on how to apply for a Reception place:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRU1SrS7iJE
There is also a detailed page on our website with information:
https://st-bartholomew-s-cofe-primary-school.schudio.com/parents/admissions-attendance