Newsletter - Friday 22nd May 2026

lfoster51
2 days ago
8 min read

Issue 16 - Summer 2026

Proud to be ELSTON! Empowered, Listeners, Successful, Together, Open-Minded, Nurturing

Dear families,

We've reached the end of Summer 1! We've had such a busy half term filled with excellent learning, Year 6 SATs tests and Year 4's residential.

The sun has arrived just in time for half term. I hope children enjoy their break, whether staying nearby or venturing away.

Thank you for all your support this half term - see you all on Monday 1st June.

Have a great break,

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.

Winter bugs are going around. If you aren't sure whether to send your child into school, this information may be useful: Is my child too ill for school? - NHS

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.

For more information, see our latest attendance newsletter here: Attendance Newsletter Summer 2026

This week, attendance remains at 94.7% - below the current national average of 94.9%. We'd love to see attendance improve and thank you in advance for your support with this. Year 3 have the highest attendance so far - well done!

Year group	Up to 21.5.26
Whole School (Without Reception children)	94.7%
Nursery	88.6%
Reception	91.9%
Year 1	95.1%
Year 2	94.4%
Year 3	95.2%
Year 4	94.1%
Year 5	94.5%
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.

Personal Development

Year 4 Residential to Conwy 2026 | Elston Hall

Children had a fantastic time in Conwy on their residential! Thanks to all staff who attended to enable this trip to happen. Click the link above to see pictures from the trip!

Fun and Games!

At Fun and Games Club, the children had a fantastic time making boats using coloured A4 paper. They carefully designed and decorated their boats before putting them to the test in exciting races across the tables! The children competed to see whose boat could travel the fastest by blowing them across the table. There was lots of laughter, teamwork, and creativity throughout the activity, and everyone had so much fun taking part.

Science Club

This week, we looked at water density and managed to 'layer' the colours of water using different amounts of salt in each colour of water.

Teaching and Learning Opportunities

Year 4 Multiplication Tables Checks

A reminder for parents and carers that the Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) will take place in the 2 week period after half term. We are incredibly proud of how hard the children have been working in preparation for the check. They have shown fantastic progress, determination and resilience during their practice sessions, and should all feel very proud of their efforts. Over the half-term break, we would really appreciate your continued support at home to help keep their confidence and fluency growing. Regular practice using MTC Maths Frame and TTRS (Times Tables Rock Stars) can make a huge difference and help the children feel ready and confident for the check. Thank you for your continued support.

Walk to School

A reminder that we are taking part in the WOW challenge to encourage children to travel to school actively!

Wow Badges – April Update

Our sports ambassadors have awarded 298 Wow badges for April. Children can continue to carry out their active travelling and remembering to log this each day in class to earn their next badge. Children only have to do one active type of travelling per week to earn a badge. Don't forget to send photos of your children actively travelling to school to add to our gallery!

School notices

Bikes/scooters

Please could we remind children not to ride bikes or scooters on school site before and after school. This is to prevent accidents and keep everyone safe at a very busy time of the day.

Before/after school

Please could you ask older children to come straight into school from 8:45 and walk straight home at the end of the day rather than gathering on the park/cage. We've had several incidents recently with children falling out/getting hurt.

Dogs

Please can we remind families that dogs are not permitted on the school site, either on a lead or carried in arms. Thank you for your support with this.

Appointments / parking on staff carpark

We've recently seen an increase in requests for parents to pick up from the front of school at the end of the day. The staff carpark is extremely busy and parents are not permitted to park on there without agreement from school leaders. Please keep appointments to a minimum and park on Shelley Road carpark if you need to collect your child between 3 - 3:20pm. This is to keep everyone safe as children leave school.

Sports News

Proud to Receive the Baton

Our Sports Ambassadors (supported by our wonderful cheerleaders) received the Wolverhampton Community Games Baton as part of its journey around Primary and Secondary Schools in Wolverhampton. The torch started its journey on Monday at Ashmore Park Hub and has travelled around schools all week. Today, the torch was delivered by staff from Northwood Park who handed the baton to our Sports Ambassadors. The Ambassadors will then restart the baton's relay and deliver it to St Anthony's after half term.

Netball Team Through to City Finals!

A huge well done to representatives from our school netball team who participated in the netball tournament at St Chads. The team played 7 matches against local schools winning 5 and narrowly losing just two matches. The team showed great teamwork and determination, demonstrating an excellent standard of netball. We are immensely proud of the children who represented at this event, along with the other team members who have trained and showed dedication through the year. The team will now move on to compete in the City finals to be held next month.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Shaye who, after a successful trial period, has now officially signed as an Under-11 player with Wolverhampton Wanderers Academy. Well done!

Lunches

Our school menus can be found here: Lunches | Elston Hall.

We have a special menu on 18th June:

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.

Please can we remind families to cut up grapes if they are sent into school for lunch or snack time.

Staff News

It was Miss Holt's last day today before she begins maternity leave. We wish her all the very best and cannt wait to meet her new addition!

Mr Green is getting married over half term. Congratulations - we all wish you both the very best day and a lifetime of happiness!

A few families have asked if they can make a donation in Miss H Jones’ memory. If you wish to make a donation, this can be done on Arbor under ‘School shop’. All donations would be gratefully received. The money would be used to fund a memorial for Miss Jones within school as a special place to remember her.

Uniform

You may be starting to think about uniform for September! A reminder that our policy can be found here: 957aab_387b42d178814764935630f765384e60.pdf

The Big Future | Children's Commissioner for England

Arbor

100% 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 send 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

Key Dates

Please note, all dates are subject to change.

Inset days:

Friday 19^th June
Monday 20^th July

School will be closed to all pupils on these days.

Monday 25^th May – Friday 29^th May	Half term – school closed to all pupils
WC Monday 1^st June	After School clubs continue
Monday 1^st June	Y4 MTC window Year 6 Bikeability
Tuesday 2^nd June	Year 6 Bikeability
Wednesday 3^rd June	Year 4 Bikeability
Thursday 4^th June	Reception Trip to Theatre
WC Monday 8^th June	Y1 Phonics Screening window
Monday 8^th June	Sports Day – Y4 – 9.15am, Y5 – 10.45am, Y6 – 1.45pm Reflexions: Transition - Year 6 Children’s workshops
Tuesday 9^th June	New Reception Parent meeting 3.30 KS1 hall
Wednesday 10^th June	New Reception Parent meeting 3.30 KS1 hall
Thursday 11^th June	New Reception Parent meeting 3.30 KS1 hall
Friday 12^th June	Sports Day – Y1 – 9.15am, Y2 - 10.45am, Y3 - 1.45pm
Monday 15^th June	Sports Day – Reception – 9.15am, Nursery am – 10.45am, Nursery pm – 1.45pm Reflexions: Transition – Parent workshop 2-3pm
TBC	Nursery trip
Wednesday 17^th June	Year 1 Conkers Trip
Thursday 18^th June	Year 1 Father’s day events
Friday 19^th June	Inset Day – School closed to all pupils
Monday 22^nd June	Last week for After school clubs Year 4 Father’s Day events
Tuesday 23^rd June	New to nursery parent meeting 3.30
Wednesday 24^th June	Y6 Trip (all day)
Thursday 25^th June	Reception to Year 1 transition parent meeting 3.30
Monday 29^th June – Wednesday 1^st July	Transition sessions (am only) Reception – Y6
WC Monday 29^th June	Transition week Y6-7
Tuesday 30^th June	Rocksteady Concert
Thursday 2^nd July	Yr 5 trip to Safeside
Monday 6^th July	Last Y6 top up swimming session
Monday 6^th July – Tuesday 7^th and Wednesday 8^th - Thursday 9^th July	Y2 residential
Friday 3^rd July	EYFS Colour Festival
Thursday 9^th / Friday 10^th July	Y6 Summer Fete
Friday 10^th July	End of Year Reports sent home
Thursday 16^th July	Nursery graduation
Wednesday 15^th July	Y6 Leaver’s Performances
Thursday 16^th July	Y6 Leaver’s events (during school day & BBQ after school)
Friday 17^th July	End of academic year
Monday 20^th July	Inset Day – School closed to all pupils

Please note term dates for next academic year:

2026 - 2027

School will be closed on the following INSET days:

Tuesday 1^st September 2026
Wednesday 2^nd September 2026
Monday 4^th January 2027
Friday 28^th May 2027
Monday 7^th June 2027

Autumn Term 2026

Term Time: Tuesday 1 September 2026 to Friday 23 October 2026
Half term: Monday 26 October 2026 to Friday 30 October 2026
Term Time: Monday 2 November 2026 to Friday 18 December 2026

Spring Term 2027

Term Time: Monday 4 January 2027 to Friday 12 February 2027
Half term: Monday 15 February 2027 to Friday 19 February 2027
Term Time: Monday 22 February 2027 to Thursday 25 March 2027

Summer Term 2027

Term Time: Monday 12 April 2027 to Friday 28 May 2027
Half term: Monday 31 May 2027 to Friday 4 June 2027
Term Time: Monday 7 June 2027 to Wednesday 21 July 2027

Community Links

https://eequ.org/book/goals-blackcountry-make-and-move-camp-with-goals-28211

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