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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 - 5th December 2025
“Excellent attendance is vital for children to flourish and achieve”
Firstly, a massive thank you for your understanding and support when we had to close on Wednesday due to electrical issues. A local power cut meant we lost over half of the power in school and classrooms including heating and cookers in the main kitchen and access to the internet. The National Grid came to restore power but unfortunately the surge in power meant we had to have different electricians to repair the boilers.
REMINDERS:
• Christmas raffle tickets on sale – 10p per ticket, many prizes to be won. Good luck!
• Sports Clubs- Reminder that all sports clubs will finish at the end of next week Friday 12th December, no sports clubs in the last week of term.
Worship – Our current theme is trust and this week we reflected on trusting people to tell the truth and the impact not telling the truth can have on people.
We also reflected on our Big Question, ‘Do friends need to be trustworthy all the time?’ The children talked about how it would depend on what the friend did to break your trust.
We have also discussed our attribute, ‘Integrity’ doing the right thing, making good decisions about how you behave.
Well Done!
Laiken entered a dance competition on Saturday for North England. She won three medals and Laiken is beyond proud of herself, as are her family and so are we. We love hearing about what our children achieve out of school. Well done Laiken!
Friday 19th December – This is a non-uniform day, Christmas outfits allowed or just normal clothes. It is the day the kitchen serves Christmas lunch, if your child usually has packed lunch and you would like to order lunch ask Mrs Busby at the office. It is also the Christmas raffle draw that day so good luck to everyone who buys raffle tickets.
A request – If your child does After School Club on a Friday we are asking if you could collect them as early as possible on the last Friday of term. It would be lovely if I could send the staff off early for the start of their holiday.
Clothes Give-Away – We are planning to have a uniform/clothes give-away on Thursday 18th at 3pm on the main corridor and we would like any donations for this event. If you have useable clothes/uniform/coats/shoes that your children have grown out of, please bring them to the office so we can offer them to others.
Christmas Jumper Day - Get your festive jumpers ready! We’ll be celebrating Christmas Jumper Day on Friday 12th December this year. (We’re holding it on Friday as we have concerts and other events on Thursday.)
Children are invited to wear their brightest, silliest or sparkliest Christmas jumpers and bring £1 to support Save the Children. Let’s spread some festive cheer and raise money for a great cause!
Milk - We will be providing children in Years 1-6 with the opportunity to have milk in school for the Winter term. Nursery and Reception children already receive it free of charge. For children entitled to benefit related free school meals this will be free but you must still complete a form for the winter term requesting this for your child, for all others it must be ordered and paid for in advance for the term. The cost for the winter term will be £18.00. Forms can be collected from the office from Monday 8th December. All forms must be completed and returned to the office by Monday 15th December. Payments can be made by ParentPay or card at the office, if you would like to pay by ParentPay, please call or message the office to let us know then we can add it to your account. We cannot accept late payments, as we need to order the milk in advance. Once this has been paid, we cannot provide refunds.
Nursery Places – We have Nursery places available, if you have a child who is currently 3 years old or turning 3 between now and July 2026, please register them at the office in advance and we will contact you nearer the time they turn 3. If you need any further information, please see Mrs Drake.
Starting Primary School 2026 – Is your child due to start primary school in September 2026 if so you must Apply Now! Applications are open for Reception places to start in September 2026. You can apply online until Thursday 15th January 2026. If you need any help with applying, please see Mrs Drake. Please note that you must apply even if your child is attending our Nursery.
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
Last week’s attendance (24th November – 28th November)
- Nursery: 85.4%
- Reception: 83.6%
- Years 1 to 6: 93%
Attendance Winners for last week:
- KS1 – Class 6 - 93.7%
- Years 3 & 4 – Class 8 – 96.7%
- Years 5 & 6 – Class 15 – 97.2%
Weekly Round Up
Nursery –This week we have started to learn about Christmas. We have decorated our Nursery with Christmas trees and tinsel. The children got engaged in variety of Christmas activities. In Maths we looked at ABAB patterns and children had a go in continuing it and making their own. We explored various instruments and used them while singing our Christmas songs. We have learnt some Christmas vocabulary using Makaton language (tinsel, bauble, star, present) and played games using it. The children enjoyed filling the cups with cocoa powder and making their own hot chocolate.
Reception - This week in Reception we have been listening to the story stick man. We have talked about how stick man was feeling when he was lost and made predictions about who might be stuck in the chimney. We have used our talk tokens to share if we liked the story and really tried hard to listen to the person speaking and look at the person to show active listening. We have enjoyed decorating our classrooms for Christmas and have set up our own Christmas shop. In Maths we have continued to think about how whole objects or amounts can be split into parts. We used cubes to show the different parts of amounts. We have been working really hard to learn our Christmas nativity and have done an amazing job. We can’t wait to share it with you next week!
Year 1 & 2- As part of their topic on weather and climate in Geography, Year 1 have been looking at the polar regions of The Arctic and Antarctica. They have located these areas on a map and learned about features of their climate and how they differ from the climate in the UK. The children enjoyed learning about the different animals who live in these cold places and how they have adapted to be able to survive.
In Year 2 The children have been investigating a range of different climate zones and have used a key on a map to identify the climate zones of a range of countries. They used their oracy skills to have a discussion about what it would be like if there was only one type of climate zone in the world.
Year 3 & 4 –Thanks to all of the parents that attended our Christmas show this week, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
Year 3: This week, Year 3 have been finishing their end of term assessments. We have also been looking at what makes us unique, and in PSHE, we have been looking at bullying. We discussed what bullying is and acted out some scenarios. We also looked at the Hindu creation story in RE.
Year 4: This week Year 4 have been designing their own cities in Geography, looking at what key things they have to have. In Science, we have been looking at the dangers of electricity and in PSHE, we have been looking at how to manage feelings and emotions. In English, we have been reading diaries and looking at their features.
Year 5 & 6 - Lessons: We have all tried really hard with our tests in Reading, GPS (Grammar, Punctuation & Spelling) and Maths. In Geography, we have completed a post topic assessment on rivers. In Science, we have enjoyed learning about friction and completing our own surface investigations.
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 - The last swimming lessons of this term have taken place.
Please note: there will be no swimming lessons during the final two weeks of term (week beginning 8th and 15th December). Swimming lessons will resume in the second week of the Spring Term (week beginning 12th January). Thank you to all the children for their fantastic efforts in the pool this term!
Year 6 SATs Week - Year 6 SATs week will begin on Monday 11th May 2025. It is vital that all children in Year 6 attend school that week. The test timetable will be as follows:
- Monday 11th May: Grammar, punctuation & spelling
- Tuesday 12th May: Reading
- Wednesday 13th May: Arithmetic & Reasoning
- Thursday 14th May: Reasoning
School Dates 2025 -2026:
- Monday 8th December 2025 Reception Christmas Concerts 2pm
- Tuesday 9th December 2025 Rock Steady Concert 2.30pm
- Wednesday 10th December 2025 Performing Arts, Choir & Ukulele Club Concerts 2pm
- Wednesday 10th December 2025 Nursery Christmas Concerts 10.40am & 2.30pm
- Thursday 11th December 2025 Years 1 & 2 Christmas Concerts 9.30am & 2pm
- Monday 15th December 2025 Reception Christmas Party
- Tuesday 16th December 2025 Years 1 & 2 Christmas Party
- Wednesday 17th December 2025 Nursery Christmas Party
- Thursday 18th December 2025 Years 3 & 4 Christmas Party
- Thursday 18th December 2025 Years 5 & 6 Christmas Party
- Friday 19th December 2025 School Closes at 3.30pm
- Monday 5th January 2026 School Opens at 8.30am
- 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
