St JAmes' Association
The St James' Association (SJA) is a voluntary parent teacher organisation run by the parents of St James' CEC primary school, Emsworth. We are a registered charity (Charity commission number 1041405).
The SJA works hard to fundraise throughout the school year bringing pupils, staff and parents together through enjoyable events like the Autumn Disco, Christmas Shopping Day, Parent Quiz Night and the Summer Fayre. In 2023-2024 we raised an incredible £11,315.
We hold meetings that are open to all parents / caregivers and staff in the school and actively encourage everyone to get involved and support our fundraising efforts and activities where they can.
Due to primary school budget cuts to our school the SJA funds are increasingly needed to supplement facilities for key areas of learning and development for the children. Our funding helps to provide educational resources and activities, social events for the children, and support the wellbeing of our wonderful teachers and staff.
We work very closely with the Head Teacher in order to understand the needs of the 226 children who attend St James’ School and ensure all funding provided by the SJA will directly benefit the children.
Recent benefits and activities enabled by the SJA include:
- Educational: provision of an outdoor early years play area, IT infrastructure, library renovations, books and classroom resources
- Social: welcome event at the start of the school year, coat swap, Christmas jumper sale, Christmas shopping day, wreath making, cake sales, cafes before class assemblies, a school disco and our popular parent quiz night
- Community: the school Summer Fayre
- Experiences: leavers’ gifts and hoodies for Year 6, pre-SATS breakfasts along with the Year 6 production and visits from arts and cultural groups
Our volunteers also run our pre-loved uniform shop, enabling families to purchase second-hand school uniform items at an affordable price, supporting the SJA at the same time. We host regular sales, but you can also get in touch if you would like to purchase items directly.
Email: stjames.sja@gmail.com
Who We Are
Our three elected officers are:
- Chair: Natalie Sanders-Corridan
- Treasurer: Caroline Offord
- Secretary: Kate Gratton
We also have a team of regular volunteers who contribute their time and skills to help us fundraise and support our activities and events.
How to Get Involved
There are so many opportunities for parents to get involved and help us provide more interesting, fun and exciting resources and experiences for our children.
We meet about once every half term and alternate between in-person meetings and online. All parents and caregivers are welcome - you are all automatically members of the SJA and we’d love to meet you and get your input. There’s no commitment expected, you can do as much or as little as suits you.
You can also volunteer to help at any of our events, we always need extra hands to help prepare, set up and run things like cake sales, the school disco, pre-assembly cafes, our Christmas shopping day and the summer fayre.
If you have any specific skills that you can offer, for example accounting, fundraising, grant application writing, communications etc, or if you have connections with local businesses or organisations who could support our school, please get in touch.
Keep an eye on the SJA school notice board at school, our newsletters, your class WhatsApp and our social media channels for details of our upcoming meetings and activities, or contact us at: stjames.sja@gmail.com
Follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/stjamesassociation)
Follow us on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/st_james_association_emsworth/)
Key dates for 2025
- February 14th - Cake Sale and World Book Day Costume sale
- February 28th - SJA Quiz Night (£13 per person, for tickets email stjames.sja@gmail.com)
- March 10th - SJA Meeting (in person, 7.30pm, school hall).
SJA Newsletters & Event Info
February 2025 NewsletterMake a Donation
Please consider making a monthly or one off donation to the SJA. Your support and generosity makes a huge difference.
Donate today by clicking on the button below:
Ways to Fundraise
We want to continue to help the school thrive this year and have an ambitious fundraising target of £14,000 to support a wide range of learning and enrichment activities for children and teachers.
Here’s some easy ways you can help fundraise this year, some without costing you a penny!
Raise Funds When You Shop Online:
Sign up to Give as You Live and raise free funds for the school when you shop online at most major retailers. Select the ‘St James' Association’ (search by Charity number: 1041405 to find us) as your charity of choice. Honestly, there’s no catch, just free funds for the school!
Sign up to EasyFundraising and donate part of what you spend online to a cause of your choice. Sign up and choose the St James’ Association Emsworth (Charity number 1041405). It won't cost you any extra. The cost is covered by the brand.
Stocking up on uniform name labels? Buy online from ‘Stikins’ and add our school code - 19731 to your order when prompted and we’ll get a small donation. We can vouch for their ‘stickiness’.
Take on a Challenge or Host an Event
Could you or your child sign up for a challenge, or create your own to raise money for the SJA? By asking friends and family to sponsor you, you can raise extra cash for the school.
What about baking with the kids to host a cake sale at home? Join up with classmates and organise something together to help make it more fun.
If you’re organising any fundraising activities, check if your employer offers a ‘matched funding’ scheme. This can double the funds you raise and help them go even further!
Contact the SJA and we can help you with some tips and support. Email us at stjames.sja@gmail.com or speak to your class rep or another SJA volunteer.
