Newsletter - Friday 12th September 2025
- lfoster51
- Sep 12
- 9 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Issue 1 - Autumn 2025
Proud to be ELSTON! Empowered, Listeners, Successful, Together, Open-Minded, Nurturing
Dear families,
Welcome back! I hope that your children enjoyed the summer break. We are delighted to have the children back and are very proud of how well they've settled into school routines. A special welcome to new families! These newsletters will be published fortnightly to share news, events and important information. Our website is also a great source of information: Home | Elston Hall Primary School | Fordhouses
Children have been busy learning and have already produced some fantastic work! Year 1 and celebrated their topic Inspiration Days - blogs can be found here Year 1 Inspiration Day and here Year 2 Inspiration Day.
We've had many applications for ambassador and school councilor roles. We look forward to announcing the successful candidates next week!
Staff have been busy mapping out trips, events and workshops across the year. In order to provide families with as much notice as possible, we have published Autumn term confirmed dates below. We aim to share the rest of the year as soon as possible. Should unforeseen circumstances force us to amend any advertised dates, we will provide you with as much notice as possible.
We also look forward to sharing our extra-curricular offer next week. Arbor will be used to sign up for all clubs.
Thank you for your continued support. Enjoy your weekends,
Miss E Foster
Headteacher
Attendance
We track attendance weekly and monitor any pupils falling below 96%. From time to time you might receive letters regarding your child's attendance. These letters are sent to many families and are sent regardless of whether you have contacted school or not to inform us of the absence.
Last year, our overall absence was, 95.3%, above the national average of 94.8%. We are in the top 40-50% of schools nationally. Well done!
Please could we remind families to inform school of any absences before 9am. There are several ways you can do this:
By calling the school office on 01902 558866. If you are calling before 8am, please leave a voicemail and this will be picked up and reasons for absence recorded on Arbor.
By adding reasons for the day's absence on Arbor's Parent Portal
By emailing attendance@elston.org.uk explaining the reasons for absence
If your child has a medical appointment, please bring them to school before and after wherever possible.
Year group | Up to 9.9.25 |
Whole School (Without Reception children) | 94.1% |
Reception | 87.0% |
Year 1 | 96.2% |
Year 2 | 96.0% |
Year 3 | 93.8% |
Year 4 | 97.2% |
Year 5 | 86.7% |
Year 6 | 94.8% |
Punctuality is vital to ensure that pupils have a calm and organised start to the day, and can make the most of every minute in school! Our doors open from 8:45 until 9am. Anyone arriving after this time should enter through the dining room doors where a Late mark will be recorded. Please note that any pupils arriving after 9:30am will receive a 'U' mark which affects their attendance.
Summer Reading Challenge
Well done to pupils who completed the Summer Reading Challenge! If any other pupils completed the challenge but have not yet bought their certificates in, please visit Mrs Handley in Class 14 who will award a prize!
Reading at home
Pupils will choose/be given a reading book to take home. We'd love to see pupils reading at home every day to support their progress! Please complete reading diaries when pupils read and they will be given a house point by their class teacher. Thank you for your support!
Arbor
99% of our families use our Arbor Parent Portal! This enables payments to be made, messages to be received and key information to be updated.
Please could we request that families review the information to ensure that contact numbers and medical information are up to date. Please also ensure that all consents are complete so that staff know what permissions your child has. These include the publication of photographs and food tasting.
We require at least two emergency contacts per child. Please add on any contacts who you have given permission to collect your child and add this onto their information e.g. grandparents.
School will use email to send letters and in-app messages to rend shorter reminders. Please enable notifications and check 'junk' to ensure emails are received. A reminder of our communication methods can be found here: Communication | Elston Hall
Thank you for your support with this.
Year 6 - 7 transition
Its time for Year 6 families to begin selecting secondary schools ready for applications to be submitted by 31st October. Apply for secondary school places | City Of Wolverhampton Council
Secondary schools are hosting open events and we'd advise families to visit potential schools to support the decision making process. We've also welcomed staff from St Chad's, Ormiston, Aldersley and Moreton High schools who met with pupils to share information about their schools and upcoming open evenings.
Details can be found here: School open days | City Of Wolverhampton Council
Drop off/collections
Please can we request that Key Stage Two families drop pupils off at the top of the playground near the dining room. Staff will be on duty from 8:45 to pass on any key messages. Staff at the bottom of the playground will then be free to support any pupils into school. At collection time, families should wait in the football/basketball pitch to enable classes to line up outside safely. Staff will then dismiss pupils one at a time. Thank you for your patience while staff become familiar with new families!
Please can all families ensure that pupils do not ride bikes or scooters until they are off the school site to prevent accidents.
Dogs are not permitted on site, either on a lead or in arms.
We'd also like to remind families to park considerately. The resident bays in front of the barrier on the Stafford Road should not be used. Shelley Road carpark gets very busy - please drive carefully and avoid blocking in other cars to enable families to arrive and leave safely.
Dining room
Thank you to Mr Bourke who completed many tasks across school over the holidays, including a new dining room wall! This has brightened up the space. We'd love to upgrade our seating to pull out tables like the ones in KS1 hall. We will hold fundraising activities throughout the year to enable this to happen!
Staff news
We are delighted to announce two of our members of staff had babies in August! Mr Humphries welcomed his new baby Poppy Dot and Mrs Vickers had baby Oliver. Both are doing very well. Congratulations from everyone at Elston Hall!
Miss Edwards had her baby earlier in the summer term and Miss Darlington will cover her role as Behaviour Mentor for this academic year.
Year 6 Leavers events
It feels a long way off but we wanted to give families as much notice as possible to announce a slight change to Year 6 leavers events. For many years now, Year 6 families have arranged for special transport to take Year 6 pupils off site on the last day of term. While we welcome the special send off, this tradition does pose a risk to the health and safety of families (and vehicles in some cases!) at a very busy time. Instead, we'd welcome vehicles to drop off/collect pupils from our leavers BBQ and disco. This will enable the tradition to continue but in a more manageable way. Staff will still applaud Year 6 pupils on their final afternoon to ensure their last exit from school is a memorable one.
Sports News
Football trials
We were delighted to have over 80 children participate in the boys and girls football trials this week. The children played lots of competitive football and showed great skill and enthusiasm. Understandably, there are a very limited number of places on our school football team. The children who have been successful to train as part of a squad will receive an invite via Arbor to attend the weekly training sessions.
We know some children may be disappointed not have been selected on this occasion, but we will be offering a separate football training as an afterschool club that parents will be able to book when clubs go live next week (a further letter with details will be sent next week). In addition to this, we will continue to seek opportunities to offer other football matches alongside participation in a wide range of other sports which will provide other children with the opportunity to represent Elston Hall. We thank parents in advance for their support with this.
Donation from Micro Scooters
Our school is delighted to have received a generous donation from Micro Scooters, featuring a variety of safety gear for bikes and scooters. Their fun range — including scooters, baby trikes, and air hoppers — has something for every child to love.
Lunches
Our new school menus can be found here: Lunches | Elston Hall
For parents who pay for school meals, please could payment be made the week before meals are taken to prevent debts accruing. Please be aware that, should your child's debt reach £30, then school will no longer provide school dinners until the debt is cleared.
Two special menus are detailed below:
Golden ticket prizes will be awarded to one child per year group who has a school meal on Thursday 25th September.
Nut free school
Just a reminder that Elston Hall Primary School aims to be a Nut-Free school. The school aims to protect children who have allergies to nuts while also helping them as they grow to take responsibility for what foods they can safely eat and to be aware of what foods may put them at risk. We do not allow nuts or nut products in school lunch boxes or for after school club snacks.
Key Dates
Please note, all dates are subject to change.
Inset days:
Monday 1st September
Tuesday 2nd September
Monday 23th February
Friday 19th June
Monday 20th July
School will be closed to all pupils on these days
Date | Event |
Tuesday 16th September | Y6 Parent meeting 3.30pm |
WC Monday 22nd September | Extra-Curricular After School Clubs Start |
Tuesday 23rd September | Individual and sibling school photographs (all children to wear full school uniform) |
Wednesday 24th September | Year 1 trip |
Monday 29th September | Y6 height and weight (School nurse) |
Tuesday 30th September | Y6 height and weight (School nurse) |
Thursday 2nd October | Census lunch – special menu |
Friday 3rd October | Book fair |
Monday 6th October | Book fair |
Tuesday 7th October | Reception parent workshop (details to follow) Year 5 trip |
TBC | Y4 residential meeting |
Thursday 9th October | Y2 Harvest celebration (Details TBC) |
Friday 10th October | Hello Yellow day (uniform with an optional yellow accessory) |
TBC | Nursery parent story share |
TBC | Y1 DT workshop |
WC 20th October | No clubs all week due to parents’ evenings Year 6 mock SATs |
Monday 20th October | Flu immunisations |
Tuesday 21st October | Parents Evening 4.00 – 6.00pm |
Wednesday 23rd October | Parents Evening 3.30 – 5.00pm |
Monday 27th October – Friday 31st October | Half term – School closed to all pupils |
WC Monday 3rd November | After School clubs resume |
Tuesday 4th November | Y2 Residential meeting 3.30pm |
Wednesday 5th November | Y4 Lego workshop |
Monday 10th November | Nursery rhyme week Anti-bullying week Odd socks day Diversity Celebration (invite only) |
Wednesday 12th November | Year 4 cinema trip |
Friday 14th November | Children in Need |
Monday 17th November | Last week for after school clubs |
Thursday 20th November | Y6 trip |
Monday 24th November | Y5 Swimming for Class 17 starts |
Tuesday 25th November | Flu immunisation catch up session |
Tuesday 25th November | Rocksteady Concert Year 3 trip |
Wednesday 26th November | Year 3 trip |
Friday 5th December | Reception trip |
TBC | Year 1 and 2 Christmas fayre |
Monday 8th December | Reception height and weight (School nurses) |
Tuesday 9th December | Reception height and weight (School nurses) |
Wednesday 10th December | Reception height and weight (School nurses) |
Wednesday 10th December | Christmas Dinner day / Christmas Jumper day |
Thursday 11th December | Year 1 Christmas Performance 9.15am & 1.30pm Year 2 Christmas Performances 10.15am & 2.30pm |
Friday 12th December | Nursery Christmas Performance 9.15am & 1.30pm Reception Christmas Performance 10.15am & 2.30pm |
Monday 15th December | Y3 Christmas Performance 9.15am & 1.30pm Y4 Christmas Performance 10.15am & 2.30pm |
Tuesday 16th December | Y5 Christmas Performance 9.15am & 1.30pm Y6 Christmas Performance 10.15am & 2.30pm |
Friday 20th December | End of term |
Community Links
Starting School - NSPCC
🔥⚠️ Parent & Carer Alert: The “Salt & Ice Challenge”
A dangerous online trend is resurfacing where children put salt on their skin and press ice on top.
👉 This causes serious cold burns (like frostbite).
👉 Injuries can need hospital treatment and even skin grafts.
👉 Young people may not realise the damage until it’s too late.
✅ First Aid: Cool with lukewarm running water for 10+ minutes, cover with clean cling film, and seek medical help.
❌ Do NOT use ice, creams, or fluffy dressings.
Best Start in Life website and brand launch |
As part of our Plan for Change and our strategy to give every child the best start in life, on 1 September we launched a new Best Start in Life website. This improved support for families builds on the proud legacy of Sure Start and will help more children be ready to start school.
The Best Start in Life Website (beststartinlife.gov.uk) has officially replaced the Childcare Choices website as the main source of information for early education and childcare support - offering a broader range of resources for families, including eligibility for childcare offers, information about free breakfast clubs and Best Start Family Hubs in their area and support on pregnancy through to starting school and beyond. |
