Newsletter - Friday 13th June 2025
- lfoster51
- 2 hours ago
- 7 min read
Issue 16 - Summer 2025
Proud to be ELSTON! Empowered, Listeners, Successful, Together, Open-Minded, Nurturing
Dear families,
Welcome to the final half term of this academic year!
We've had an incredible start. On Monday 2nd June, our School Councillors, House Captains plus our Head Boy and Head Girl visited the Houses of Parliament with our Local MP Sureena Brackenridge. It was an incredible opportunity to see the sights and the home of our democracy! We hope to repeat this experience in the future for other children. Photographs can be found here: Visit to London | Elston Hall
Phonics screening has taken place this week and we are so proud of how our Year 1 pupils approached them. Year 4 pupils have also been tackling the Multiplication Tables Checks over the past couple of weeks. We are very proud of the progress they have made over the past year. Well done to them all! Results will be sent out in July.
We've seen some fantastic learning in school including some amazing Art. See the post here for some lovely pictures: Incredible Art - Year 1 and Year 6. Year 1 also welcomed visitors from Cedar Grange who enjoyed talking to children about the past: Year 1's Amazing History Lesson.
This week, Year 5 took part in online safety workshops with Mr Flynn - thanks to all parents who attended! We are looking forward to Year 6's sessions next week. A helpful newsletter can be found here: Online Behaviours Summer Term newsletter for parents
Thank you for all your support with the recent book fair. All commission earned will be spent on new books for our children.
There's so much more to look forward to this term including Year 2's residential next week, sports days and Year 6 leaver's events.
Have a great weekend,
Miss E Foster
Headteacher
Attendance
We track attendance weekly and monitor any pupils falling below 96%. As we near the end of the school year, these last weeks are vital for learning before the children move up to the next year group as well as lots of exciting events such as trips and sports days. We want to ensure that we provide the best possible education we can and this starts with excellent attendance.
Our attendance dipped slightly this week to 95.3%, although it remains above the national average of 94.8%. We are in the top 40-50% of schools nationally.
Please could we remind families to inform school of any absences before 9am. Please call 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. Families can now also email attendance@elston.org.uk to report any absences. Families may now also report absences on the Arbor app!
If your child has a medical appointment, please bring them to school before and after wherever possible.
Year group | Up to 12.6.25 |
Whole School (Without Reception children) | 95.3% |
Reception | 94.5% |
Year 1 | 95.5% |
Year 2 | 95.5% |
Year 3 | 94.9% |
Year 4 | 95.9% |
Year 5 | 94.8% |
Year 6 | 95.2% |
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! Please note that any pupils arriving after 9:30am will receive a 'U' mark which affects their attendance.
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.
Fundraising Success!
We received the following certificate and message from Place 2 Be following our donations raised across the Trust during Dress to Express.
'On behalf of everyone at Place2Be, I’d like to say a massive thank you for being part of Children’s Mental Health Week 2025 and for raising an incredible £1264.95! To put this into perspective, your generous contribution could help 79 children book their own appointment with a mental health professional, addressing issues such as anxiety, low mood, and self-harm. Your fundraising is making a real and lasting difference!'
Thank you for all your donations.
Black Country Living Museum
Yesterday, Year 1 pupils visited the Black Country Living Museum and had an amazing time, exploring the sites and learning about life in the past. Please see our blog for more pictures: Year 1 Step Back In Time!
Father's Day Events
Today, Year 1 and Year 4 hosted father's day events are we were pleased to see so many families attending. Thank you for celebrating with us! Blogs can be found here Year 1 Happy Father's Day and here Year 4 Happy Father's Day!
Summer Reading Challenge
Year 6 Bikeability
Last week, 25 of our Year 5 pupils took part in Bikeability Level 2. This teaches them how to ride safely on the road. Well done all! See here for pictures. Year 6 Bikeability
Parent Survey
Your views are important to us!
Every year we ask that you take time to complete a parent survey in order to provide us with vital information which can then be used to inform our school improvement plan. For these to be used most effectively, it is important that you answer the questions based on where you think the school is now, rather than the past. This means we can identify any positives but also any new actions we may need to take. If you would like to explain any of your responses further, please use the box at the bottom of the questionnaire.
These surveys are anonymous and confidential, unless you would like a personal response from us.
As always, we appreciate your support with these and the more responses we receive the more effective the data produced will be, in enabling us to make further improvements.
Please follow this link to complete the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZWTK5FB
If you have any issues accessing the survey, please do not hesitate to contact us for advice.
Thank you in advance for your responses.
Summer Camps
Code of Conduct
Please can we remind families of the importance of following our Parent Code of Conduct which can be found here: 443b29_bb225aa1378141d79cb8252d7cc8b3aa.pdf
Specifically, 'posting defamatory, offensive or derogatory comments about the school, its staff or any member of its community, on social media platforms' will not be tolerated. Please do not name any pupils on social media. This could put them at risk and breaches our code of conduct.
School uniform
As we near the end of the school year, can I please remind families that expectations for school uniform remain high. On PE days, trainers worn should be white or black. You will find a copy of our Uniform Policy by clicking on the following link: https://www.elstonhall.org.uk/school-policies/64c7704f-f8ff-45b0-8655-40b9ac42812e
Also, a reminder that jewellery should not be worn for PE, including earrings. If you are thinking of having your child's ears pierced, it would be helpful if this could take place at the start of the six week holiday so that there is enough time for them to heal before returning to school in September. Thank you!
Sports News
We are so proud of some of our children who competed in a friendly football match against Palmers Cross. This was a great opportunity for children who haven't played or represented our school this year. Unfortunately, our team lost but they showed some brilliant skills of passing, dribbling and teamwork! We are so proud of all these children, some who have been given their very first opportunity of playing in a competitive football match! Well done everyone!
Our netball team played in the netball Finals at St Chads. The team finished 5th overall after playing against some very good teams meaning they miss out on a place at the Black Country Games but we are very proud of their achievements and their development as a team this year!
Well done to our rounders team! They secured a fantastic victory against both the Grammar school and Dovecotes! A huge congratulations to all the players on their hard work and teamwork.
Cricket success
Sashwat plays for Staffordshire U11s and scored an incredible 71 runs on his last match with Warwickshire! Well done - we are very proud!
Reception Starters - September 2025
This week, we hosted parent meetings for our new Reception starters in September 2025! All the information shared can be found here: Welcome to Reception Sept 2025
There are key skills that schools expect children to be learning before their first day in Reception. Practising these will make your child’s journey to Reception as positive as possible. Starting Reception
Lunch
Our regular lunch menus can be found here: Lunches | Elston Hall. Please review these with your children so that they know what is on offer each day. An allergen free menu will be launched soon - parents of children who will be eating from this menu have been contacted.
Special Menu - Friday July 4th
Key Dates
Summer term 2025
Monday 16th June - Y2 Beaudesert residential
Friday 20th June—INSET day—School closed to pupils
Monday 23rd June - Y1 sports day 9:15; Y2 sports day 10:45; Y3 sports day 1:45
Tuesday 24th June - Y4 sports day 9:15; Y5 sports day 10:45
Friday 27th June - Reception sports day 9:15; Nursery AM sports day 10:45; Nursery PM sports day 1pm; Y6 sports day 2pm
Week beginning 30th June - Transition week Y6-7. Transition mornings in school.
Friday 11th July - End of Year reports out
Tuesday 15th July - Year 6 Leavers performances
Thursday 17th July - Nursery graduation. Year 6 Fun Day. Year 6 Leavers Party.
Friday 18th July—Last day of summer term
Autumn term 2025
Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd September - INSET days - school closed to pupils
Wednesday 3rd September - Pupils return to school
Monday 27th October - Friday 31st October - Half term
Monday 22nd December - Friday 2nd January - Christmas Holidays
Spring term 2026
Monday 16th February - Friday 20th February - Half term
Monday 30 March 2026 to Friday 10 April 2026 - Easter Holiday
Summer term 2026
Monday 25 May 2026 to Friday 29 May 2026 - Half term
Community Links
IASS e-bulletin
Exploitation Awareness
Extreme Wheels Weekender
Kidical Mass
Water Safety
Park Play
ParkPlay is a welcoming FREE event every Saturday morning.
There are games and activities for all ages, fitness levels and abilities to connect make friends, have fun, and get moving outside in a local community space 😊
ParkPlay is run by volunteers from the community for the benefit of the community.
There are currently 82 Park Plays running across the UK with new ones starting every month.
People can register their interest here - https://park-play.com/pre-register/.
For more info on ParkPlay look at their website https://park-play.com/.
