Pupils, teachers, governors and past members of our school community joined Bishop John in a special Mass held in our school hall. In his homily, Bishop John reminded us that the school was built to have strong foundations but it did not come alive until it was filled with children. The Bishop expressed how thrilled he was to celebrate this occasion. He sent the children home with a mission to tell their families. ”Do not be afraid, you are fishers of people.” The children loved the celebration and were delighted when Bishop John led the singing of Happy Birthday at the end of Mass. This was a wonderful and fitting way to launch the 125th anniversary of our school; we are looking forward to a number of events to mark this grand occasion. ​

125th Anniversary Bake-Off 28th September

It really was a ‘Great St James’s Bake Off’! I’m not sure I was fully prepared for such a high standard of cakes as I waited in the Pilgrim Hall on Friday morning. It’s no surprise that we were left with no cake at all by 4pm. The cakes were fantastic! The 125th year was captured in so many creative forms! From newspaper cakes to cakes with Lego – we had it all. Thank you for your baking, your donations, for volunteering and for making the day really special for the children. We raised £560 for MacMillan Cancer Support.

New school prayer

To mark the school's 125th anniversary, a new school prayer has been created. The children and staff have begun to use this prayer as part of our collective worship in school. During curriculum evenings at the start of term, the prayer was shared with parents and used as an opening prayer for the meetings. 

125^th Anniversary Prayer

Bless our school where we continue to grow in the knowledge and love of Christ.

Help us to be kind and forgiving.

We pray for our parents, carers and our communities near and far.

Help us to truly put out into the deep,

As we journey through each and every day.

Amen

St James, Pray for Us.

Continuing to mark the school's 125th year, RE Captains and Year Six Mini Vinnies gathered with staff and governors to plant 125 bulbs around the school site. Like our school, we hope these bulbs will grow and flourish, and be a reminder of the important milestone we have reached this academic year.

NSPCC Number Day 2019

On Friday 8th February,  the school  supported the NSPCC by taking part in their Number Day.

Making maths meaningful

Number Day was a great way to make maths fun and bring about a positive, ‘can-do’ attitude towards it.

We used curriculum-based maths challenges designed by the NSPCC, Oxford University Press and Maths on Toast.

As the school celebrates its 125th  Anniversary, we asked the children to think about the number ‘125’ and  to complete a home learning project around this number. All the answers and information related to 125. Here are some if the examples .

To help raise money for the NSPCC, the children brought in a donation of £1.25 (125p).

As a part of our 125th celebrations, and to mark the start of the season of Lent, the PFA organised a 'Make a difference during Lent' campaign.  Children were encouraged to complete various tasks during Lent as part of the call to 'give and do more'. See below for the activities that were suggested.