The School Day

Morning Drop Off

Our school day starts at 8.45am and registration occurs at 9am. The school gates are open from 8.45am - 8.55am which allows for a calm start to the day.  Our children are encouraged to enter school independently and staff are at the school gate every morning to greet them.

Entrance to St James Primary School is through the main gates at the front of school.  Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes can walk up the drive and round to their classroom by the bike and scooter park.  Years 3 - 6 enter through the same gate and turn left into the main playground to enter their classrooms by the back. 

Parents with buggies can leave them, if they so wish, in the undercover buggy park outside Year 2. All scooters and bikes must be left in the bike racks also located outside Year 2 classroom and are not allowed in either playground at any time because of the potential danger of accidents especially to our younger children.

Children arriving after 8.55am, must go via the office to be registered for the day. When the school gates are closed, if you wish to come into school after then, please press the School Office buzzer at the main gate.

School is open for 33 hours and 20 minutes per week.

Collective Worship

The school meets together at the beginning of each day across the week. These are a great way for children to share in an act of worship and a learning experience for the whole school community which develops their listening and musical skills. Class led assemblies are once a term on Fridays and parents are very welcome to attend their child’s. Every child is encouraged to have a part - no matter how big or small - as we find it develops their confidence and speaking skills enormously. Dates for these are set at the beginning of each term and are published in our newsletter.  We also have regular collective worship where children across the school can celebrate their achievements together and once a week we have a church led assembly by the team at St James Church.

Playtimes

Children in Foundation stage have free flow giving them access to the outdoors throughout the day. This allows them to judge the best time for their children to take their playtimes. In Years 1 to 6 morning break is from 10.40am – 11am.  Reception and KS1 have an extra afternoon playtime.

Lunchtimes

Lunch is catered for externally and are eaten together in the school hall.  Reception children eat a little earlier at 11.45am and all children get an hour for lunch from 12 noon to 1pm. Eating together encourages interactions between all our classes and year groups. Sports balls and games equipment are provided during lunchtime play and our children enjoy being able to use netballs, footballs, champ balls, hockey and cricket kits as well as skipping ropes, hoops, table tennis bats and ball.  They also have access to all the permanent playground equipment such as swings, monkey bars and climbing frames, swingball and table football.

Afternoon Pick Up

The main school gate is opened at 3.25pm and school finishes at 3.30pm with a prayer. Parents should collect their children from their classroom door where they can take their things and any important messages can be passed on by the teacher.

Year 6 children are allowed to leave school at this time, but only if they have had a permission slip signed by their parents/carers stating that they can do so.  

If your child is being collected by another adult who would not normally collect them, then you must email the School Office to let them know by 12 noon.  If there is an emergency and you know you will be late and cannot collect your child yourself then please contact the Office to let them know as soon as possible.  We will not release any children to an adult unless we have had your prior consent.  

Children whose parents have not arrived to collect them by 3.40pm will be taken to the School Office and parents can collect them from there.

Parents are encouraged to leave the school premises with their children by 3.45pm and a warning bell will ring just before both playground gates are locked.  This is to ensure that children taking place in after school activities are safeguarded and to reduce the likelihood of unsupervised accidents happening on school grounds.  Parents collecting their children from after school clubs can enter the school through the main entrance.

Before and After School Clubs

We have a wealth of different after school clubs for our children from fencing to chess and from drama to gymnastics.  We also have an extended after school club run by Energy Kidz that is open til 6pm, Monday to Friday and a Breakfast club that is open from 7.45am - 8.45am.  For more information on all our clubs, please click here