St Mary's Newsletter

“Love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12)

Dear Parents and Carers,

We’ve finally reached the end of the first half term of the year. We have packed a lot of things in and are truly thankful that the children have settled so well into their new classes and routines and are thriving in school.

Harvest Festival

Thank you for your very generous harvest festival donations. Hornsey and Holy Trinity Food Banks were blown away by your generosity. Have a look at some photos below.

Building Update

The contractors will be on site all over half term, finishing off the build, and snagging the little jobs, and we really hope that the works will be completed, ready for your return on Tuesday 3^rd November and we can all enjoy our shiny new school.

SchoolMoney Update

We hope that by the time this newsletter is sent out, we will have a resolution on the problems with making payments on SchoolMoney. Thank you for your patience, we know you’re trying to pay us and avoid getting in to debt. The main instruction (for when the system is working) is to delete Teachers2Parents and SchoolMoney and install EduSpot. Although it’s not working currently, that is how it will work for the future, we’ve been told, so please keep trying into half term.

Towards Christmas

Next half term promises to be even busier than this half, with the build-up to Christmas so we’d like to flag a few important dates for your diaries, in date order:

Remembrance Sunday – w/c 3^rd November – poppy selling to support veterans – look out for our pupils selling poppies before and after school during this week
Wrap-Up London – 5^th November – pre-loved coat collection to help families facing harsh winters (see poster below)
Bonfire Night – 7^th November 6-8.30pm @ RG. C
Book Fair – 9th November onwards, your opportunity to get some early Christmas gifts bought
Parent Consultations Tuesday 10^th (3.40pm-6.00pm) & Wednesday 11^th November (3.40pm-6.00pm). We will be sending out an invitation from Arbor to book your 1-2-1 meeting with your child’s class teacher (SEND families will receive a separate invite).
Individual Photos – Tuesday 17^th November – individual and sibling photos
Second-hand Fancy Dress Donations 23^rd November – collecting for our charities to sell at the Christmas Fair (see poster)
Tuesday 15th December – Hornsey Food Bank Christmassy Donations (see poster)

We will be in touch later in the term with details of the Christmas plays, carols and all the other festivities, but in the meantime, have a lovely half term and we’ll see you back on Tuesday 3^rd November.

Best wishes,

Debbie Butcher

Consultant Headteacher

St Mary’s CE Primary School

Important Dates – please make a note

Thursday 5th November – Wrap-Up London – please bring in your pre-loved coats (children & adults) to distribute to less fortunate people Wrap Up London 2026
Saturday 7th November – PSA Bonfire Night – 6,.30-8.30pm – see poster for details Bonfire Night 07 11 26
Monday 9th November – Book Fair – more details to follow
Tuesday 10th and Wednesday 11th November – Parent Consultations – more details to follow
Thursday 12th November – Y4 to British Museum
Friday 13th November – Flu Immunisation Mop-Up Day
Tuesday 17th November – Individual photos day
Monday 23rd November – please bring in pre-loved fancy dress to sell at our Christmas Fair to raise money for our school charities – more details to follow (poster below) Fancy Dress for Christmas

For Your Information

October Half Term Clubs – Jab First (our boxing club) are taking part in a week of clubs over half term – see poster below or click October Half Term Club
Free School Meals – Free school meal (FSM) eligibility is changing. This is due to the way Universal Credit is calculated. All families who receive Universal Credit are entitled to a free school meal. This is slightly complicated in London as all children receive a free school meal anyway, courtesy of the Mayor. Free School Meals checks will come back as either Expanded, meaning children are eligible for a free school meal only or Targeted, which means children will continue to receive vouchers in the holidays and access to the HAF Holiday Activity scheme. All meals are currently free for all children from Reception to Year 6 so you won’t have to start paying. If we don’t have your National Insurance and date of birth on file, we will contact you for this so that we can run the check. We have rechecked all children on roll at the moment, and some of you will have changed.
Reminder: Rectory Gardens is a School Street. This means no driving on the road between 8am–9am and 2.45–3.30pm. Let’s keep our children safe, the air clean and prevent you from getting a penalty notice

Reminders

Please make appointments for children out of school time. If this is totally unavoidable, please send through the evidence to office@stmarysn8.co.uk. If it’s for you, please try to make arrangements with family or friends to collect your child/children
Please label your child’s possessions – this company is quite cheap and effective TIGER TAGS
Please remember to call or email if your child is going to be off school – don’t wait for us to call you!
We are on Instagram – follow us to see our wonderful school @stmarysschooln8 and tell your family to follow us too!
Reminder about unauthorised absences and holidays during term time As you will know from previous correspondence, St Mary’s will be following the Government guidance with regards to fining families when a child has missed 10 or more sessions (5 days) for unauthorised reasons. Children should only be out of school for reasons that have been authorised.
We are strictly a nut-free school – please remember this for packed lunches and party treats
We are a latex-free school – this includes balloons, latex gloves, rubber bands etc

Contact Details

Are your contact details up-to-date?

If you have changed your address, telephone or email address please let us know as soon as possible. Have your personal circumstances changed? Again, please let us know. If you don’t get emails or texts from us then we may need to update your details.

Class News

Nursery Pine Cones & Acorns	We have had a lovely fortnight in Acorns and Pinecones. We have been enjoying our Autumn topic, decorating leaves with natural objects and exploring outside whilst on leaf hunts. We have been learning the story of The Gingerbread Man in French with Mme Williamson. On Mondays, we have been loving our music and PE sessions with Mrs Peacock and Mr Oakley, where we practise songs, play with instruments and have been practising balancing. In Acorns we have been learning about patterns in our maths lessons, listening to them and exploring making our own. Last week, we also made our class charter in Acorns. Thank you again for your patience during the continued building work. We are looking forward to welcoming you all back after half term with everything finished. Have a restful break.
Reception	In English the children have really enjoyed a week doing work around ‘The Gruffalo’ and a week working on ‘Pumpkin Soup’. They worked together to come up with detailed descriptions and made some fantastic posters to warn others that the Gruffalo had broken into our classroom! We have been focusing on drama around ‘Pumpkin Soup’ and the children have really enjoyed getting into character as Cat, Duck or Squirrel. In maths, we have been learning about pattern, making patterns with our bodies, sound patterns and patterns with real – life objects. Children have been making pattern necklaces, working on their fine motor skills at the same time as their maths skills! We had our first trip to Wild in the Park at Alexandra Palace, where the children had a lot of fun exploring the herb garden, digging and cooking in the mud kitchen, working together to build a bridge and making their own ink out of blackberries.
Year 1	Year 1 have been working hard on their phonics and high frequency words. We have been planning and writing a letter in English, from Mouse, who is stuck in the attic to the toys in the nursery. So we have been using lots of adjectives, ‘and’ and some plurals in our planning and writing. In maths, we have been working hard on using the part whole model to add and from this finding the related family facts. In science, we continue to investigate the senses of taste, touch and smell practically which the students have thoroughly enjoyed (not so much the taste of coffee or the smell of garlic!). In RE we have been thinking about how we can look after our world and make it as good as it can be for us in the future. In history, we continue to investigate life at school through looking at playground games, toys and technology and how it has changed.
Year 2	We have had a busy term learning lots of new things. In maths, we have started to look at addition and subtraction using different strategies such as adding by making 10, using tens frames and counters. For our learning in English, we have been writing a letter to Tom based on our focus story ‘A River’ by Marc Martin, warning him of the dangers and how to keep safe as he goes on his journey on the river. We have also been learning about materials in science. We have been thinking of different properties and how they make materials suitable for different purposes. We put our knowledge into practise by building bridges and testing them to see if they could withstand weight applied. Please check out our lovely photos. In history, we have been focused on the Great Fire of London. We have learnt about the importance of Samuel Pepys and how his diary has helped us to learn about this period of history. Turning our attention to design and technology, we have been learning about healthy eating and creating a balanced meal. We will soon be making some yummy, delicious sandwiches which we will then evaluate. We have had a lot of fun!
Year 3
Year 4	What an exciting two weeks we’ve had in Year 4! In English, we became budding journalists, learning how to write engaging newspaper reports. Our imaginations ran wild as we reported the thrilling news of a giant white shark spotted near the coast! In maths, we have been developing our addition and subtraction skills, focusing on understanding exchange to solve calculations accurately. In history, we travelled back to Ancient Rome to learn about Julius Caesar and discover how Rome grew into a mighty empire that ruled much of the Mediterranean and beyond. In science, we explored our teeth, learning about their different types and the important jobs they do. Finally, in art, we put our pencil-drawing skills to the test, creating some fantastic sketches of whales. We were very impressed by the children’s creativity and attention to detail! Well done, Year 4, for another fantastic fortnight of learning!
Year 5 & Year 6	In English, we have been exploring the key features of a news report, including catchy headlines, bylines, factual information and direct speech. Look out for our finished reports after half-term! We developed our skills in multiplying two-digit numbers in maths, identifying prime numbers, and finding common factors and common multiples, using our mathematical reasoning to solve problems and explain our thinking. In geography, we have been exploring how different coastal landforms are created, including cliffs, caves, arches and stacks. We also investigated how the sea shapes the coastline through processes such as erosion and deposition, and consider how people can protect coastal areas from change.

In the news over the last two weeks…

Y1 Willow Look At Toys From the Past and Present

Children of the Week – w/e 23 10 26 & 06 11 26

Children of the Week – w/e 09 10 26 & 16 10 26

Y2 Investigate Materials

Y5/6 PSHE – Hopes, Worries and Dreams

After School Club Enjoying The Balmy Autumn Weather

Sporting Update Autumn 1 2026

As we love, we flourish
As we flourish, we aspire
As we aspire, we achieve
Together, we are a family

St Mary's Newsletter

“Love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12)

Important Dates – please make a note

For Your Information

Reminders

Contact Details

Class News

In the news over the last two weeks…

Y1 Willow Look At Toys From the Past and Present

Children of the Week – w/e 23 10 26 & 06 11 26

Y2 Investigate Materials

Y5/6 PSHE – Hopes, Worries and Dreams

After School Club Enjoying The Balmy Autumn Weather

Sporting Update Autumn 1 2026

Contact Details

Useful Links