St James’CE Primary School

A huge thank you to Tradpots who treated Owls class to a wonderful afternoon of Christmas pottery. It was a fantastic opporunity for children to learn a new skill and be guided by a team of pottery experts! Our Christmas decorations are off to the kiln to be fired and we'll come back together to glaze our final products.

In Cottage our Nursery children have been inspired by Andy Goldsworthy art, making beautiful patterns in nature. How amazing do their creations look?! If anyone is off for a woodland walk this weekend why not have a go!

Despite the torrential rain, it was wonderful to see so many children, parents and carers coming back to buy cakes as part of our BBC Children in Need bake sale. Assisted by our wonderful St James' PFA, school council members took some huge sales, with the mufti total from earlier in the day, we raised a huge £300. A massive thank you to everyone who baked cakes and braved the mud to come and support such a worthwhile cause.

On a day where we are also raising funds for BBC Children in Need, it is wonderful to see so many Christmas Shoeboxes ready to send to children across the world as part of Operation Christmas Child. We so delighted to see so many shoeboxes this year, thank you for incredible generosity - let's hope Miss Roberts can fit them all in her car!

Over the last two weeks, we have welcomed Sports Leaders from St Michael's CE Middle School who, as part of their leadership training, had prepared a series of fun Tag Rugby activites for Year 3 and 4 to enjoy. A huge thank you to those leaders who planned and delivered such fun activties for our children.

Today, the children of St James' First School and Nursery - Wimborne and the wider community joined together to remember those we have lost and all those have served our country as part of the armed forces. During our Remembrance Service, everyone was invited to plant a poppy in our Peace Garden which the children had all had a chance to make over the last week. Thank you to all the children who took part in the service, read poems or led our prayers of reflection. Thank you to the parent team who came together to help paint and construct this beautiful display.

As term came to a close before the half-term break, the St James' PFA hosted our annual Autumn Festival. As part of the celebration, children decorated and carved pumpkins, took part in a colouring competition and then enjoyed an afternoon of Autumn festivities. Whether it was welly wanging, apple pressing, Autumn crafts or a photo opportunity on a vintage tractor, we all had a great time. Once again, thank you to all those involved who made the event so special and well done for another £700 raised for the PFA pot.

For the last half-term, children across the whole school have been given specialist tennis coaching from Wimborne Tennis Club. This is a fantastic opportunity to enhance our PE provision and it was wonderful to see Squirrels class making use of our new nets. At break and lunch, the children have been playing tennis together and we have a large crowd staying for tennis club on a Friday afternoon. A huge thank to Coach Justin who has made the sessions so enjoyable.

Year 4 had a fantastic time performing with all the Year 4's from the Diocese of Salisbury Academy Trust as part of the ISingPOP performance at Salisbury Cathedral. With over 700 children on stage, the children sung about hope, community and love. Thank you to all the parents who came to support us, we hope you enjoyed the concert. #DSATFamily

It was lovely to welcome so many families into our Nursery setting yesterday for a stay and play. Thank you to St James' PFA for providing refreshments. Thankfully the weather held out long enough so we could all enjoy the outside space!

Earlier this month, six year 4 children joined first schools from across Dorset to take part in Play Leader Training. They will be taking they newly learnt leadership skills out onto the playground to support our lunchtime play by leading activities and games for children across the school.

We are delighted to announce that our wonderful school has been recognised in the Edurio National Awards 2024 - 2025. We won the Parent Choice Award in this years national survey, placing St James First School and Nursery top in our region and within the top 10 performing schools nationally. Our school flourishes because of our strong relationship with parents and we are continually grateful for your support - in fact we couldn't do it with out you.

Over in Cottage the Nursery children are in the full swing of Autumn. Last week we took a walk to explore signs of Autumn and came back with our pockets full of conkers and acorns, the children were especially excited to discover the Forest School area. This week we're busy making autumnal cakes!

What a fantastic trip! A huge well done to Squirrels and Owls class who enjoyed a wonderful history day out at Hooke Court. For Squirrels , the trip was all about life and culture in the Stone Age. The day began learning how round houses were made by weaving a willow wall and apply a mud plaster. They explored Stone Age cooking, making different types of bread, vegetable soup and even cooked fish in clay pots over the fire. The day culminated with wool weaving and pottery work which immersed them into how clothes and jewellery were made. Owls class were learning all about the Romans. In the morning, they explored Roman battle techniques from marching to formations. They tried their hand an Roman writing before finishing the morning with some cookery which involved a delicious sweet bread, pottage and sausages. The fantastic new Roman Villa experience was the perfect venue for exploring Roman clothing, doing some weaving and making Roman jewellery. Thank you to Hooke Court for hosting such an action packed day and for our parent volunteers who made our trip possible.

It was once again a privilege to gather at Holtwood Methodist Church for our annual Harvest Festival. Our theme this year was 'Stewarding our World' and how we are called to care for all creation. Whilst we might be small, the small things we do can make a huge difference. Thank you to all those who gave generously to support the work of the Wimborne Food Bank who were hugely grateful for their donations. As part of our reflection, every child made a hand that they came and placed on our Rainbow of Hope. Well done to all those who helped lead the service and a huge thank you to everyone who came out and support us.