Newsletter 3 - Autumn Term
18th September 2025
Embedded Files
-Welcome to our new school calendar-
SASM has a new calendar! We will be adding to this during the week with all of the key dates for the coming term. You can view this live, embedded calendar or add it to your phone to keep updated about what's happening at SASM. Please bear with us as we get the calendar up-and-running.
-Attendance-
Year 3 - 98%
Year 4 - 97.4%
Year 5- 97.7%
Year 6 - 96.7%
-Don't forget-
Uniform - smart black shoes or trainers. No polo shirts or summer dresses
- This Week -
SASM achieves bronze TfL Travel for Life Award
We are delighted to share that St Andrew’s and St Mark’s has been awarded the Bronze TfL Travel for Life Award, recognising our commitment to promoting safe, sustainable and active travel. This achievement reflects the efforts of our whole school community in encouraging walking, cycling, scooting and the use of pupil transport.
This year, we are aiming even higher – working towards the Silver Award! By choosing active and sustainable ways to travel, we not only care for our environment but also support healthier lifestyles for our pupils and families.
Family Hub this week - Executive Function
This Friday at 8:45am after drop-off, we’ll be holding our next Family Hub session, hosted by Mrs Crowther. The session is open to anyone in our school community. This week’s theme is Executive Function – exploring how to support your children with key study skills such as getting started, staying on track, and strengthening working memory.
Please meet us in the playground after drop-off, and we’ll head in together. We look forward to seeing lots of you there!
To help plan for these events, please express your interest here via this link:
Welcome back, Mrs Jones
We're thrilled to welcome Mrs Jones back to the teaching team. Mrs Jones, who is one of our highly experienced teachers, was due to relocate at the end of the summer term. However, she is now able to rejoin us. Welcome back, Mrs Jones!
Year 6 Sports Leaders begin lunchtime games
We are excited that, following our Sports Leaders' day last week, our new team of Year 6 Sports Leaders has now been selected! They will be running a range of fun and active games for other pupils to enjoy at lunchtimes.
A big thank you to all of Year 6 for their thoughtful applications and enthusiasm – we were so impressed with the leadership qualities you showed.
Alongside this, Moving Matters coaches are delivering sports sessions on the MUGA, and pupils also have access to table tennis and the gym.
There’s so much to do at lunchtimes – it’s a brilliant opportunity for everyone to get active, try new things, and have fun together!
Join the SASM Parent-Teacher (AGM) Association Annual General Meeting - Friday 24th October
We warmly invite all families to join us for our Joint PTA Annual General Meeting on Friday 24th October at 8:45am, meeting in the playground straight after school drop-off.
Our PTA plays a vital role in supporting school life – as a result of PTA funding, families are not charged for any day educational visits. From Y3's visit to Butser Farm to Y6 shelter building, our PTA funds so many opportunities for our pupils. The core events our PTA run include: SASM WinterFestivities, hot chocolate and lolly sales and the SASM SummerFest.
The AGM is the perfect chance to hear about the impact of the PTA over the past year, share ideas, and look ahead to exciting plans for the future.
We have been so fortunate to have a number of parents, carers and friends who are able to help during our events. However, we are also encouraging parents and carers to consider standing for a role on the PTA committee. Being part of the core committee is a fantastic way to bring new ideas, make a difference and ensure that every child benefits from the work of the PTA.
Insight worship
On Tuesday, we were delighted to welcome Insight to lead our collective worship. The theme was the well-known story of David and Goliath, reminding us that with courage, faith, and determination, even the biggest challenges can be overcome.
The children reflected on how David’s bravery and trust in God helped him face something that seemed impossible. Together, we thought about what “giants” we might face in our own lives – whether worries, challenges, or new experiences – and how we can find the strength to overcome them.
DoodleMaths Summer Challenge Winners
Well done to Jack (4R), Liam (4M) and Oscar (5J) who completed the DoodleMaths summer challenge. This means that they earned over 600 Doodle stars and completed learning in 14 days of the summer break. They were awarded a certificate and badge to celebrate their commitment to learning.
If you missed out this time, don't worry: the Doodle 'back to school' competition starts this week and encourages every pupil in your class to work in the green zone (achieve their target number of stars) for 14 consecutive days from Friday 19th September to midnight on Thursday 2nd October.
Exciting Author Visit – Dermot O’Leary at SASM, with a film crew!
Last week, we shared that, SASM will be welcoming TV presenter and bestselling children’s author Dermot O’Leary on Wednesday 1st October. Dermot will also be bringing a film crew with him, who will be capturing pupils asking Dermot questions. Only pupils with parent/carer consent will be filmed - please access the 'Trips' section of your Arbor portal to give consent for your child to be filmed as part of the event.
All year groups will enjoy an inspiring talk from Dermot about his much-loved books, followed by the chance to ask him questions. Dermot will also be introducing his brand-new adventure in the Toto the Ninja Cat series: Toto the Ninja Cat and the Pirate Treasure Hunt.
To celebrate, Regency Bookshop is offering Dermot’s latest title – along with his other books – at an exclusive SASM-only discount (not available directly through the shop). Please look out for an email with details on how to pre-order.
Important: All pre-orders must be submitted by Thursday 18th September.
We can’t wait for this special day of reading and inspiration!
Home learning - parents/carer can sign up for DoodleMaths information about your child
Parents and carers - you can link your email address to your child’s Doodle account by logging in; tapping on the menu arrow in the top left-hand corner; selecting Settings and then selecting Parent details. You’ll then be able to view your child’s progress by visiting parents.doodlelearning.com or downloading the free DoodleConnect app on Apple and Android devices.
Doodle are running free webinars to help parents get started with the programme. You can access them here: doodlelearning.com/live-webinars-for-parents/
If you have any questions about Doodle, please visit help.doodlelearning.com or click on the green chat icon on the website, Parent Dashboard, or DoodleConnect app to find articles and how-to videos on everything you need to know, or to chat with the helpful Parent Support Team.
'Helping children with....' Webinars for parents 2025-2026
Achieving for Children’s Mental Health Support Teams are delivering a series of webinars for parents of primary-aged children. The ‘Helping Children with …’ series of webinars will cover a range of common difficulties experienced by children and will aim to share evidence-based strategies to help parents and carers support their children with these difficulties. We have included a list of webinars on offer over the coming months. Click here to book your place
Copy of 2025_26 - Helping children series flier.docxSmartphones
Pupils are not be permitted to bring a phone to school unless families have attended Smartphone Awareness Training. If your child brings in a smartphone, we will ask for it to be collected from the office by an adult.
The aim of the training is to explain the school's approach and some emerging concerns about smartphone use for young people and to provide key tips about how to keep your child safe online. The training video will run in the Science Lab at key school events and your first opportunity to view this will be at the Parent Consulation Evenings in October, where the training will be on shown on a loop in the Lab. The flowchart below explains the process:
SASM has been working with parent representatives from the Smartphone Free Childhood Movement. You may wish to sign the SASM Parent/Carer Smartphone Pledge , where 134 families have pledged to not give their children a smartphone until at least they are in Year 9.
-School Reminders-
Healthy School Snacks
For our break time snack, we ensure pupils only have fresh fruit or a savoury snack which is full of goodness and will keep pupils full until lunch!
Whilst our team makes every effort to check and speak to pupils about snacks, our healthy approach places trust in parents and carers working with us to ensure this takes place.
Examples of permitted snacks include:
Fresh fruit and vegetables
Plain rice cakes
Plain breadsticks
Pure fruit, such as 'Yo-Yo Bears'
Plain crackers
Ryvita crackers
Bagels
Cream cheese
Marmite
Hummus
Babybels/Cheese triangles
Examples of snacks not permitted are:
Cereal bars
Cakes, biscuits or sweets
'Lunchbox' chocolate bars
Crisips
'Belvita' biscuits or 'Go Ahead' Bars
PE Kit
School PE kit to be worn only on PE days.
Red PE sweatshirt with the school logo
OR
Plain red PE sweatshirt with NO visible branding.
White t-shirt with the school logo
OR
Plain White t-shirt with NO visible branding.
Red Shorts
Plain black jogging/tracksuit bottoms with NO visible branding.
White or Grey Socks
Black Trainers. NO football studded shoes.
PE Days
3B - Thursday (indoor and outdoor)
3H - Wednesday (indoor), Friday (outdoor)
3N - Tuesday (indoor and outdoor)
4M - Wednesday (indoor), Thursday (outdoor)
4R - Tuesday (indoor and outdoor)
4S - Monday (indoor and outdoor)
5J- Thursday (outdoor), Friday (indoor)
5L - Wednesday (outdoor), Friday (indoor)
5S - Monday (indoor and outdoor)
6G - Wednesday (indoor and outdoor)
6M - Thursday (indoor and outdoor)
6MC - Tuesday (outdoor), Friday (indoor)
Pupil Premium Grants
All pupils at SASM are entitled to receive a free school lunch. To enable your child to access this, you must book your child's lunch via ParentPay.com.
If you were previously eligible for means tested free school meals or are in receipt of any of the following benefits...
income support
income-based job seeker's allowance
income-related employment and support allowance
the guarantee element of state pension credit
support under part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
child tax credit (but not working tax credit) and have an annual income of less than £16,190
working tax credit run-on – paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying for working tax credit
Universal Credit - if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)
...your child maybe eligible for a Pupil Premium Grant. This will gives your child access to:
This gives your child access to:
A free after school club every half term
A free 'stay and play' session in our Wrap Around Care each week
A free place at Breakfast Club every day
A discount on school residential visits
... and much more!
Please contact the school office if you have any issues with activating an account.
Lost Property
Please remember to label your child’s uniform, lunch box and water bottle. All named lost property will be returned to your child by the next school day. Unlabelled property will be kept for one week only in the school office.
Please send a water bottle with your child
It's important to ensure that our pupils stay hydrated throughout the day. Please remember to send your child to school with a water bottle. To avoid any mix-ups, kindly label the bottle with your child's name. Thank you.
Parking outside SASM
If you are driving to drop your children off or pick them up from school, please park considerately on the surrounding roads. Please don't park over driveways or over the zig zag lines. This helps keep everyone safe.
Whilst the school is not responsible for enforcing street parking, we have advised our local community to report all instances of poor parking or behaviour to the police.
Uniform donations warmly welcomed!
If your child has outgrown their school uniform over the summer break (including shoes, plimsolls or trainers) and they are still in good condition, please consider donating them to our uniform shop. You can drop off any unwanted school uniform or shoes at the office.
Thank you for your continued support and generosity.
No toys in school please!
No toys in school please!
We would like to remind parents and carers that pupils are not permitted to bring their own toys or collectables into school. Not only do toys provide a distraction from pupils' learning, there is a potential for personal items to be misplaced. Please be aware that any lost toys, collectible cards or other play items are beyond the responsibility of the school.
No jewellery in school please!
No jewellery in school please!
Children can wear watches to school but the wearing of jewellery and earrings of all types is not permitted on safety grounds. Any child wearing earrings to school will be asked to remove them. If they are unable to remove them, they will be required to stay inside during break and lunch times and will not be able to participate in any PE or physical activities.
No smart watches in school please!
No smart watches in school please!
Fitness trackers without smart watch capability are permitted but St Andrew’s and St Mark’s accept no responsibility for the loss or damage of these items. Smart watches, including iWatches, are not permitted due to their messaging capabilities.
Report abuse