Important Updates | St. Bartholomew’s C of E Primary School

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 - 23rd January 2026

“Excellent attendance is vital for children to flourish and achieve”

Something Mrs Wainwright has enjoyed this week was spending some time watching Maths lessons, it is fantastic to see the hard work of the children and staff.

Worship – Our current theme is perseverance and this week we reflected on positive phrases from a poem that helped us keep going and how in life we all come across challenges both big and small and we need to overcome them.

We also introduced our Big Question that Mia from our Worship Council thought of, ‘Why is life like a race?’
This question was from our discussion about the quote from the bible, “Let us run with perseverance the race that lies before us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end.” Hebrews 12.1-2

We have also discussed our attribute, ‘resilience’ which links with our worship theme as we need resilience to keep going when things are difficult.

School Streets – A School Street was introduced along Strawberry Lane in September 2024 to encourage more active and sustainable travel by making the space outside schools more pleasant and safer.

As the end of the 18 month trial approaches Leeds City Council are seeking feedback on how the School Street is operating, please complete the survey -

https://surveys.leeds.gov.uk/s/Phase4Feedback/ - it should take no more than 5 minutes. The deadline to complete the survey is Sunday 1st February 2026

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

This week during First Aid workshops, Year 5 learnt about how to inform 999 responders their specific location. This can be made easier by people having the FREE What3words app.
What3words works by dividing the entire world into 3x3 meter squares, assigning each a unique and permanent three-word address, making precise location sharing simple. Even without traditional addresses, it can find your current spot or pinpoint any location by tapping on the map, which provides an easy-to-say, easy-to-share address like: table/chair/lamp

REMINDERS:

Jumpers/Cardigans – must be labelled with your child’s name in case they get misplaced (and they do!!). If you ask we can do this for you.
Wellington Boots – again we know they are great for walking to school in on a rainy day but they should not be worn in school as the children can slip in them. If your child comes in wellies please send a change of shoes, we will help them if they need it. Thank you, this is for your child’s safety.
Contacting School – if you have a concern or need to speak to someone urgently please see a member of the senior staff, we are around in a morning and after school. You could also call and we can make an appointment. If you have general questions/non-urgent matters and you email school, we will respond within 5 school days.
Sports activities and clubs – these finish at 4.30pm and children will be brought down to the front entrance. The radio is for After School Club use. Thank you.

Severe Weather (Bad ice/snow) - the forecast can often predict bad weather and sometimes it comes to us. We always do our best to stay open when it is safe to do so and staff can get to work, many of us do not live locally. If open, we expect children to be school whenever possible.

If we do have severe weather, we may have a late start giving more time to get to school safely. If we have to close school for any children, we would let you know as soon as possible.

Sometimes it is hard for us to make that decision until we can assess the school and see how many staff we have so please bear with us, we really try our best.

Late Start/Closing School – we would email/text as soon as possible so it is vital we have correct and up to date contact details and you check these in bad weather. We would also put all information on our website and social media as soon as possible. We would do the same to let you know when we would be re-opening.

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

Rain is not a reason for children to stay off school – our attendance in bad rain is often lower, we may start to challenge this, if we notice a pattern
Mondays/Fridays – these are not extensions of the weekend. We often have significantly more children off on these days. We are monitoring for patterns and may ask to speak to you and stop authorising absences, including reported illnesses.
Siblings – we have a higher number than is expected of siblings been off school ill together. At times this is unavoidable but it is unusual for it to happen all the time. Again we may stop authorising absences when we notice a pattern and will ask to speak to you.
Regular illnesses – if your child is off a lot due to illness we will ask for a meeting and may need medical evidence before we can authorise any more.
Punctuality – We are having an increasing number of children arriving after 8.50am. This is upsetting for children walking in to lessons that have started and affects their learning.
We will invite you in to a meeting if we are concerned about your child’s attendance and may home visit if we recognise one of the above patterns.

ATTENDANCE AT SCHOOL IS THE ONLY WAY TO LEARN AND IF CHILDREN ARE MISSING SCHOOL REGULARLY THEIR EDUCATION IS SUFFERING AND THIS WILL IMPACT THEM WHEN THEY MOVE TO HIGH SCHOOL. ANY ATTENDANCE BELOW 95% WITHOUT GOOD REASON (ILLNESS /MEDICAL CONDITIONS), DISCUSSED AND AGREED WITH SCHOOL IS BELOW THE EXPECTED LEVEL.

IF YOU WANT TO DISCUSS YOUR CHILD’S ATTENDANCE, INFORM US OF ANY MEDICAL CONDITIONS WE ARE NOT AWARE OF, OR NEED ANY SUPPORT PLEASE ASK. WE WANT OUR CHILDREN TO BE IN SCHOOL EVERYDAY ENJOYING THEIR LESSONS AND MAKING GREAT PROGRESS WITH THEIR LEARNING.

Last week’s attendance (12th January – 16th January)

Nursery: 91.3%
Reception: 91.9%
Years 1 to 6: 95.3%

Attendance Winners for last week:

KS1 – Class 3 – 96%
Years 3 & 4 – Class 7 – 98.9%
Years 5 & 6 – Class 15 – 96.6%

Well done to the best classes:

KS1 – Class 4
Years 3 & 4 – Class 9
Years 5 & 6 – Class 16

Headteachers Awards – Well done to the children who have had a great week in school.

Class 12 Raheim
Class 12 Jacob
Class 12 Emilia
Class 13 Nancy
Class 13 Libby
Class 13 Ravy
Class 14 Bernice
Class 14 Phay’zer
Class 14 Michalina
Class 15 Inaaya
Class 15 Alicia
Class 15 Zak
Class 16 Finn
Class 16 Ayana
Class 16 Hafsa

Weekly Round Up

Nursery – This week we have continued to learn about penguins. We talked about colours and matched penguins to the right colour mat. We read lots of penguin books and sang penguin songs, and our story of the week has been 'The Emperor's Egg'. We learnt that daddy penguins look after the egg and we had a go at holding a little egg on our feet making sure it was safe and warm. We also explored a new texture of slime; we moulded it and turned it into snow. We have also been predicting what would melt ice quicker: heat, salt or room temperature.

Reception – This week in Reception we have talked a lot about journeys. After learning about what maps are used for this week we have been keen to make our own maps and went on a journey around school to our reading bus and created maps when we returned. We have listened to the stories “The 100 Decker Bus” and “The Naughty Red Bus” and have enjoyed retelling the stories using pictures and props. In Maths we have been singing 5 little speckled frogs and finding different ways to make 5.

Years 1 & 2 – This week in Year 1 the children have been learning how to use a laptop in their computing lessons. They have learned how to log on and use the paint programme to move the cursor with the trackpad.

In Year 2 the children have really enjoyed their computing lessons where they have been investigating photography. They have used I Pads to take different pictures of the human face and have experimented with taking photos from different angles and distances.

Years 3 & 4 –This week in Year 3, we have been looking at the story of Moses in RE. In English, we have continued reading the Iron Man and have been re-writing part of the story as if we were a main character. In Science, we have been looking at sun safety - hopefully the weather will improve, so we can use our new knowledge! In History, we have been looking at the Romans and how they spent their free time. We also looked at the oldest document known to us from the Roman times.
This week in Year 4, we have been planning our own adventure story. In Science, we have been looking at materials that absorb water. In Music, we enjoyed learning a song about anti-bullying. In History, we enjoyed comparing the early and late Stone Age era. We looked at change between how they dressed and lived their lives.

Years 5 & 6 - Lessons: 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

The Deep - Thank you to all the families who have made a voluntary contribution, including contributions since the last newsletter – your support is greatly appreciated. We are still accepting contributions, and any amount you can give will make a difference.

Homework: Homework is given on Mondays and must be completed by the following Monday. Each week, children will be expected to complete homework on Emile (with tasks set in Grammar, Punctuation and Maths) and Oxford Owl (tasks set in Spelling). Spelling Homework will be set from Monday. Children will also be encouraged to use Reading Plus at home to support their reading development. Children who complete all their homework will be rewarded with a longer lunchtime on Friday.

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 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