Newsletter - Friday 28th November 2025
- lfoster51
- Nov 28
- 14 min read
Issue 6 - Autumn 2025
Proud to be ELSTON! Empowered, Listeners, Successful, Together, Open-Minded, Nurturing
Dear families,
We've had another busy fortnight in school with lots of exciting events taking place which are detailed below!
Thank you for all your support with our Royal British Legion poppy appeal. We contributed £380 to the Tettenhall branch; the overall raised was £8164.
We've lots more exciting events coming up including trips, Christmas events and Christmas performances! Please see the end of the newsletter for all dates and times. A letter will be sent out on Monday with more information about our performances. Our Christmas lunch will take place on Wednesday 10th December and pupils are invited to wear a Christmas jumper that day with their normal school uniform. More information will be sent out next week.
Thanks for your continued support. Have a great weekend,
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.
This week, attendance has dropped again to 94.9% - this is below the current national average of 95.4%. This is mostly due to sickness absence and some holidays. Year 1 continue to have the highest attendance so far - well done! Year 6 improved this week - great!
Year group | Up to 24.11.25 |
Whole School (Without Reception children) | 94.9% |
Reception | 92.9% |
Year 1 | 96.2% |
Year 2 | 94.2% |
Year 3 | 95.6% |
Year 4 | 94.9% |
Year 5 | 95.1% |
Year 6 | 95.5% |
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 were lucky enough to take part in an exciting drama workshop! During the session, the children participated in a variety of exercises designed to boost their confidence and help them speak confidently in front of an audience.
It was wonderful to see the pupils engaging, collaborating, and having fun while developing important performance skills. Their enthusiasm and creativity really shone through!
Year 2 thoroughly enjoyed their visit from the author Natalie Pritchard. She shared one of her stories 'Sully the Seahorse' with us and explained how to become an author. Children thoroughly enjoyed asking Natalie questions about her books and the life of an author. They also shared some of their writing with Natalie, who was very impressed!
A big thank you to our School Council for organising a wonderful Children in Need day! Children and staff joined in by wearing a Pudsey accessory, taking part in fun activities, and enjoying a fantastic bake sale. We are so grateful for your kind donations in support of this very worthwhile cause.
Teaching and Learning Opportunities
Year 3 had an unforgettable day at Tanglewood as they stepped back in time to deepen their learning about the Stone Age. The children began by grouping themselves into tribes, each choosing a unique tribe name and decorating their cheeks with matching colours—just like real Stone Age hunters!
Working together, the tribes then set about building their own shelters. They used natural materials to create structures big enough for their whole tribe to sit inside, showing fantastic teamwork and problem-solving skills. After all their hard work, it was time for a lively game of Stone Age Bingo, which brought out everyone’s competitive spirits.We even had time for a few minutes on the park.
Following lunch, the children explored more Stone Age crafts and survival skills. They shaped their own thumb pots out of clay and learned how early humans started fires using flint. The day ended on a delicious note as everyone toasted marshmallows over the fire.
The children enjoyed a fantastic day at Ormiston NEW Academy, taking part in an exciting writing workshop designed to inspire their imagination and creativity. To kick off the session, they watched A Christmas Carol – complete with popcorn – which helped spark ideas. The pupils were fully engaged from start to finish, producing some wonderfully creative writing throughout the workshop. As well as writing, the children explored their artistic side by trying folded book craft. They had great fun transforming old books into their very own Christmas trees and decorating festive baubles to take home. To top off a brilliant day, they tucked into a delicious pizza lunch – a perfect ending to a great day!
Some of our talented Year 5 mathematicians recently took part in a city-wide maths challenge held at the Girls’ High School. We are incredibly proud to share that our team was the first to crack the code and open the safe! This fantastic achievement highlights not only their determination and problem-solving skills but also reinforces the fact that we have many talented young mathematicians here at our school. Their teamwork, resilience and enthusiasm for maths truly shone through. Well done to all involved—you’ve made our school very proud!
This week, Year 5 have been busy using their imaginations to write non-chronological reports about mythical creatures they created themselves! The children invented a unique creature, carefully considering details such as its appearance, diet, habitat and special abilities.
They also designed star signs linked to their creatures.
Year 6 had a fantastic time at Blists Hill Living Museum, as part of their Geography and History learning. We were transported back in time to the Victoria era, and used our skills and understanding to compare and contrast life in that time and explore the history of the buildings and local landscape. We visited Victorian shops and businesses, discussed the impact of industrialisation and used our questioning skills to find out more. We also each had some delicious chips, cooked in the Victoria Fish and Chip shop - which were needed on a beautiful but crisp November day.
One of the highlights was dressing up as a Victorian School child and experiencing an hour lesson in a Victorian schoolroom with a Victorian teacher! We enjoyed sitting in the school room with our slate and chalk and imagining what life would have been like at that time. It was quite a revelation - we all agreed we preferred our childhood in 2025!
We had a wonderful time, bringing our learning to life and behaved well. Thank you to Blists Hill and Elston Staff for making it a great day.
Festive Fun Run!
Our Sports Ambassadors are organising a Festive Fun Run taking place on Monday 8th December. This event promises to be a fun-filled day for our children, and we hope to see everyone participating in the festive spirit. The Festive Fun Run will be held outdoors, weather permitting, and we encourage all children to wear their PE uniforms on the day along with a festive accessory, such as a Christmas jumper, headband, Santa hat, or tinsel. To support this initiative, we kindly ask parents to donate £1 via Arbor (found in the school shop), or alternatively, children may bring cash donations on the day. All proceeds from this event will go directly to our school fund, helping us enhance the educational experience for all students. We believe that this event will not only promote physical activity but also foster a sense of community and joy among our students.
School Notices
As the weather has got colder, we'd prefer children to wear joggers/leggings with their PE kit rather than shorts. We've had to remind some of our KS2 girls to pull shorts down - please make sure any shorts worn are long enough. Thank you.
Shoebox Appeal
This year, we will be supporting the Wolves Foundation Shoebox Appeal. Last year, they distributed 500 gifts, an incredible achievement! This year, they're aiming even higher, supporting children and families through a range of local organisations as well as project participants and families. You can support this by dropping off donations following the instructions below. Alternatively, donations can be sent into school and school staff will arrange for donations to be delivered.
Reception Admissions September 2026
Parents can now apply for Reception school places for September 2026. Please see more information here: Apply for primary school places | City Of Wolverhampton Council. The deadline for applications is 15th January 2026.
Sports News
Elston 7 a side boys football team competed against 26 other schools from across the district. The boys were brilliant topping the group winning 5 games and drawing one. They then beat Bhylls Acre 1-0 in a tightly contested semi final. The boys then went through to the final where they met St Stephen's, the game eventually went to penalties where Ollie made a fantastic save which gave us the best possible chance. Kane scored the decisive penalty to crown us as Blakemore Cup 7 a side champions.
We are so proud of this talented group of boys who will now go on to represent Wolverhampton across the county.
Well done to our 9 a side girls football team who played a tough Bilston side. The girls were excellent showing brilliant passing, dribbling and teamwork skills resulting in another win, this time scoring 3 goals. Great goals from Alba, Daniella and Heidi saw us claim the 3 points. Special shout out to our defense and goalkeeper who yet again didn't conceded a single goal! What a talented group of players we have!
Well done to our boys football team who beat Nishkam Primary 6-0. The boys were excellent throughout the game and showcased some excellent passing football in patches of the game to give us the 3 points. Well done to our goal scorers and defence who kept a clean sheet too!
Well done to our Athletics team who won finished 1st place out of 5 schools at their hub event last night. Elston got an amazing 1750 points which is a record amount of points ever for that hub event. We are so proud of them, they now go on to represent us at the Athletics finals! Well done everyone.
Lunches
Our new school menus can be found here: Lunches | Elston Hall.
Our Christmas lunch will take place on Wednesday 10th December! We'd love as many children as possible to enjoy a festive meal with their teachers. Look out for a letter on Monday containing more information. Children are also welcome to wear their Christmas jumpers on that day with their normal school uniform.
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.
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 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
If you are having any issues accessing the Arbor app, please contact the school office.
Key Dates
Please note, all dates are subject to change.
Inset days:
Monday 23rd February
Friday 19th June
Monday 20th July
School will be closed to all pupils on these days
Date | Event |
Wednesday 3rd December | Snow Globe in school |
Thursday 4th December | Year 1 and 2 Christmas fayre |
Friday 5th December | Reception trip |
Monday 8th December | Festive Fun Run |
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 |
Monday 5th January | School reopens to all pupils |
Monday 5th January | Swimming Y5 resumes (Class 17) |
WC Monday 12th January | After School clubs / Y6 Boosters Start |
Thursday 22nd January | Year 3 History workshops |
Friday 23rd January | Year 3 History workshops |
TBC | Reception Phonic parent workshops |
TBC | Year 1 care home visit |
TBC | Year 1 Community Day |
Tuesday 3rd February | Year 4 DT workshops |
Friday 6th February | Number Day |
Monday 9th February | Children’s Mental Health Week |
Tuesday 10th February | Safer Internet Day |
TBC | Reception Mother’s day assembly |
TBC | Year 1 Phonics workshops |
Friday 13th February | Dress to Express day (to celebrate children’s mental health week). Red Nose Day. |
Monday 16th February – Friday 20th February | Half term – School closed to all pupils |
Monday 23rd February | Inset Day – School closed to all pupils |
WC Monday 23rd February | After school clubs resume |
Monday 2nd March | Y5 Swimming for Class 18 starts |
Friday 6th March | World Book Day – fancy dress Year 4 Reading workshop |
WC 9th March | Last week for extra-curricular clubs (due to parents evening & Laches Wood) British Science Week |
TBC | Year 3 Mother’s Day workshop |
TBC | Reception Mother’s Day assembly |
TBC | Year 1 Dinosaur Day |
Friday 13th March | |
Tuesday 17th March | Rocksteady Concert |
Wednesday 18th March | Parents Evening (4.00pm - 6.00pm) |
Thursday 19th March | Parents Evening (3.30pm - 5.00pm) |
TBC | Nursery/Reception Easter bonnet parade Nursery parent Easter singalong |
TBC | Year 2 trip |
Monday 23rd March | Year 6 Mock SATs |
Wednesday 25th – Friday 27th March | Y6 Residential Visit to Laches Wood |
Friday 27th March | End of term |
Monday 13th April | School reopens to all pupils |
Monday 13th April | Swimming resumes (Class 18) |
WC Monday 20th April | Extra-Curricular After School clubs begin |
TBC | Year 4 Rainforest workshops |
Monday 4th May | Bank Holiday – School closed to all pupils |
WC Monday 11th May | Y6 SATs Week |
Monday 18th May | Y6 Top up swimming sessions start (selected pupils) |
Monday 18th May – Wed 20th May | Y4 Conwy residential – no extra curricular clubs this week |
Monday 25th May – Friday 29th May | Half term – school closed to all pupils |
WC Monday 1st June | After School clubs continue |
Monday 1st June | Y4 MTC window Reception trip Year 6 Bikeability |
Tuesday 2nd June | Year 6 Bikeability |
Wednesday 3rd June | Year 4 Bikeability |
WC Monday 8th June | Y1 Phonics Screening window |
Monday 8th June | Sports Day – Y4 – 9.15am, Y5 – 10.45am, Y6 – 1.45pm |
Friday 12th June | Sports Day – Y1 – 9.15am, Y2 - 10.45am, Y3 - 1.45pm |
Monday 15th June | Sports Day – Reception – 9.15am, Nursery am – 10.45am, Nursery pm – 1.45pm |
| Nursery trip |
Thursday 18th June | Year 1 Father’s day events |
Friday 19th June | Inset Day – School closed to all pupils |
Monday 22nd June | Year 4 Father’s Day events |
TBC | Year 1 trip |
Monday 29th June – Wednesday 1st July | Transition sessions (am only) Reception – Y6
|
WC Monday 29th June | Last week for After school clubs Transition week |
Tuesday 30th June | Rocksteady Concert |
Monday 6th July | Last Y6 top up swimming session |
Monday 6th July – Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th - Thursday 9th July | Y2 residential |
Thursday 9th / Friday 10th July | Y6 Summer Fete |
Friday 10th July | End of Year Reports sent home Reception colour festival |
Monday 13th July | Nursery graduation |
Wednesday 15th July | Y6 Leaver’s Performances |
Thursday 16th July | Y6 Leaver’s events (during school day & BBQ after school) |
Friday 17th July | End of academic year |
Monday 20th July | Inset Day – School closed to all pupils |
Community Links
Please see below the EEQU link for the next online henry workshop – Eating well for less.
This session is being held 17th December 1-2.30pm via teams.
This workshop helps the whole family to eat well for less including:
Tips for a cheaper, healthy shopping basket
Healthy meal planning to make the most of the food you buy
Recipes for tasty, simple and healthy low cost meals.
Pantomime at Fordhouses Cricket Club £4 a ticket - tickets available from FCC.
Yo! Wolves HAF programme is all set for the Christmas school holidays
The Yo! Wolves HAF Christmas programme is open for booking from 28th November. Offering hundreds of activities, events and food for the city’s children and young people and their families during the Christmas school holidays.
Running from Friday 19th December to Monday 5th January 2026, all activities are fully funded and will include a meal.
The holiday activities are free for all children and young people of school age receiving benefit related school meals, and with SEND or EHCP (are working with a Social or Family worker). The activities include arts, crafts, fun days out, dance and drama workshops, photography and much more. Booking places is easy at www.yowolves.co.uk
Dog, Duck and Cat
Dog, Duck and Cat want to teach you and your child(ren) about some of the things in life that could potentially cause some bother. Children and adults have accidents, that's just a fact of life, but if we can cut down their opportunities to hurt themselves then we can help keep them out of emergency departments, or worse! We also want to help children to develop their core skills, skills that will be needed by them today and for the rest of their lives. These are things like managing their emotional wellbeing, the way they feel, and building their resilience so they can bounce back when life gets tough. These are key factors in them staying healthy and well.
And, we want children to understand what good friendships and relationships are, so if they ever feel they are in a bad spot, they will come and talk to a parent, carer or other trusted adult in their lives, such as a teacher or teaching assistant.
Please enjoy all we have to offer and if you have any questions let us know by using the Contact button above, thank you.
All our Dog, Duck and Cat stories and quizzes are also available for Parents and Carers to access free of charge.
Parent and Carers Workshop
Our wonderful partners from catch22 are holding 2 free online parent and carers webinars around County Lines and Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE).
This session is aimed at parent/carers(including foster carers/grandparents) to gain a understanding on the important issues surrounding county lines, as well as the impact that it can have on young people and their families, and the support that is available to young people who are impacted/suffering from County Lines and Criminal Exploitation.
Topics will include:
County Lines, child criminal exploitation (CCE) and financial exploitation,
Stages of recruitment,
Push and pull factors,
The National Referral mechanism,
The psychological impacts,
Social media, and
Debt bondage.
Dates are
Wednesday 10th December 10am-1130am – link to book a space is here - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/county-lines-webinar-session-parentscarers-only-tickets-1974964772800?aff=oddtdtcreator
Thursday 11th December 530pm-7pm - link to book a space is here - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/copy-of-county-lines-webinar-session-parentscarers-only-tickets-1974965111814?aff=erelpanelorg
