Issue 10 - Spring 2025
Proud to be ELSTON! Empowered, Listeners, Successful, Together, Open-Minded, Nurturing
Dear families,
We have had a very busy Spring 1 and find ourselves half way through the academic year already!
Pupils have been working very hard and we've seen them produce some brilliant work. Our focus on handwriting is paying off and we are very proud of the progress that pupils are making! We look forward to sharing books with you at parent consultation meetings next half term.
Thank you for all your support so far. Its been wonderful to see so many of you in school taking part in our parent workshops...getting your hands dirty in some cases! Keep an eye on our website for pictures. We also welcomed Year 5 families in to see the final performances in our Year 5 Music Workshop where children played polyphones, and learned all about dynamics, pitch and tempo.
This week we've celebrated Safer Internet Day 2025 and our Digital Ambassadors led assemblies for KS1 and KS2 pupils. Children completed work in classes about this year’s theme ‘Too good to be true? Protecting yourselves and others from scams online’. Further information for parents can be found here https://saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/safer-internet-day-2025/tips-for-parents-and-carers
Last week, Year 1 enjoyed a Visit from Wolves Academy as part of their Unity in the Community topic. They also welcomed Veolia who visited children in Y1 to discuss ways to create a cleaner healthier planet! Veolia later met with our Eco-Ambassadors who had the opportunity to explore the recycling plant using VR headsets! Children loved the opportunity and we'd like to thank Wolves Academy and Veolia for their visits.
As part of ‘Children’s Mental Health Week’, children (and staff) enjoyed the opportunity to Dress to Express! last Friday. This was an exciting opportunity for children to showcase their individuality and creativity while also raising awareness and funds for Place2Be, a charity that supports the emotional well-being of children and young people. We are proud to have raised over £300! Thank you for your support.
Last Friday, we also celebrated Number Day 2025! This annual campaign organised by the charity NSPCC encourages children to get involved in number–based activities. Children enjoyed maths games, solving fun puzzles and enjoyed learning about numbers during the day. Mr Holmes also hosted the Big Trust Maths Quiz at Elston Hall. Well done to all the children who took part and well done Elston, the quiz champions! Thank you to our Year 6 helpers who ensured the quiz ran smoothly!
The Asda rewards 'Cashpot for Schools' campaign has now ended but thank you to everyone who chose to donate to us. We will receive £689!
Can I remind families that Monday 24th February is an INSET day and school is closed to pupils. We look forward to their return on Tuesday 25th February.
Wishing you all an enjoyable half term break,
Miss E Foster
Headteacher
Attendance
We track attendance weekly and monitor any pupils falling below 96%. School attendance has dipped slightly to 95.3%. This is above the most recent national average published (94.8% - 24.1.24). We are currently sitting 20th out of 71 schools in the Local Authority. We remain in the top 40-50% of schools nationally - well done! We'd love to see our attendance increase above 96%. Well done to Year 4 who continue to have the highest attendance so far! Reception and Year 3 have improved attendance - brilliant!
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 13.2.25 |
Whole School (Without Reception) | 95.3% |
Reception | 94.5% |
Year 1 | 95.4% |
Year 2 | 95.6% |
Year 3 | 94.8% |
Year 4 | 96.1% |
Year 5 | 95.0% |
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! Please note that any pupils arriving after 9:30am will receive a 'U' mark which affects their attendance.
The Well
We recently received thanks from ‘The Well’ foodbank who emailed all their supporters to say:
'Thank you so much for the donations of food and toiletries given to The Well over the 3 month period of October-December 2024.The total weight recorded for your donations is:167 KG. Your generous donations over that 3 month period contributed to the delivery of parcels to 886 households, supporting 2144 individuals, including 772 children.'
Thank you to all the families who supported with donations at Harvest and as part of our Reverse Advent Calendar.
Sports News
Girls football tournament @ Wolves & vs St Andrews
Our girls football team competed at the Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground in the Premier League Premier Stars tournament. The girls won two games and drew two games, just being knocked out in the quarter finals on penalties. They then competed in a football match against St Andrews winning 3-0.
Well done girls!
Boys football
Our boys football team competed in the finals of the Blakemore Cup playing some excellent football throughout the tournament. Sadly, the boys lost out in the final. Well done to our boys.
On Thursday, Elston played their last group game of the season, winning 6-1 against the Grammar School. This sees Elston through to the Quarter Finals in March! Well done!
Cross Country Event
Well done to our cross-country team who competed at Fordhouses Cricket club last week. Elston finished in 1st position overall, 1st place for the girls and 2nd place for the boys. It was great to see so many of our children running with smiles on their faces!
Uniform
One of our school rules is: 'We show pride in our school and the uniform we wear!' We'd like to thank families for ensuring that all pupils are wearing the correct uniform. Earrings should be removed for PE. Please can we remind families that black joggers/leggings should be worn with PE uniform with white/black trainers.
Smart watches are no permitted and should not be worn to school.
You may remember that in Autumn term we confirmed that our branded uniform should be purchased from Trutex Wolverhampton as other suppliers may not be using the correct logo or shade of green. We are pleased to share that Lads and Lasses now stock uniform in bottle green with our logo, providing more options for families.
Parent consultation bookings
Our spring parents evenings will take place on Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th April. Details of this will be emailed to parents after half term which will contain details of how to book. All bookings will be made via Arbor. Please ensure you have the Arbor app to book these meetings and ensure your email details are correct to receive email communications from school.
Arbor and communication
As you know, we use Arbor to share key information. 99% of our parents are signed up and use Arbor regularly! Attendance, clubs and trips can all be viewed on there. Please remember to enable notifications in order to receive in-app messages. Emails will also be sent via Arbor. These may have gone into Junk recently so please check and mark us as a 'safe sender' to ensure no emails are missed. Thank you for your continued support with this!
Inclusive Play
On Tuesday, 30 Year 5 pupils received Play Leader training from Helen Bourton and Wayne Clark from ConnectEd. They were taught how to work collaboratively to support and include all pupils in PLAY at lunchtime.
After half term, Year 5 Play Leaders will launch a range of activities on KS1 playground - a mixture of structured and semi-structured activities to encourage the application of our ELSTON values including nurturing, together and listening.
Their aim is to provide an environment that pupils feel safe and able to PLAY outside enabling every pupil to be active and social.
Reading at home
Reading is a vital skill which enables our children to learn across the curriculum and the key to future success. Daily phonics lessons for our youngest pupils ensure they learn to decode words and have the skills needed to become fluent readers. Pupils are provided with opportunities throughout the day to read, share stories and listen to adults read. We appreciate all your support at home to ensure pupils develop a love of reading! Please can pupils bring their individual reading books and diaries into school each day.
Additional clubs
After half term, two additional afterschool clubs will start (Choir and Cheerleading). Please note that Cheerleading club is for girls in Y5 and Y6 only – apologies for any confusion for others who had been able to book onto to this club. These places have now been removed. Choir has now been opened to Y4 pupils also – please sign up via Arbor.
As the lighter nights begin, we will begin to allow our pupils in Y5 and Y6 to walk home following afterschool / booster clubs after half term if this is their usual home arrangement. Please ensure children know whether to walk to a meeting point or walk home on these nights and notify school if there are any changes. Thank you for collecting children during the winter months.
Golden Ticket
We recently sent out copies of ‘My Story Corner’ to children in Y4 and Y5. One copy of the magazine includes a special GOLDEN TICKET for one lucky child to find (See below). We are still awaiting someone to claim the prize. Please can you check if your copy has the golden ticket inside. The prize needs to be claimed by Tuesday 25th February. Please contact the school office if you have the copy with the golden ticket.
Playgrounds
Please can we remind families that bikes and scooters should not be ridden on the playgrounds at the start and the end of the day in order to keep everyone safe.
Dogs are not permitted on the school site. Vaping/smoking is also not permitted. Thank you.
Lunch menus
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. Thank you.
Key Dates
Spring term 2025
Monday 17th February—Friday 21st February—Half term
Monday 24th February—INSET DAY—School closed to pupils
Tuesday 25th February - Pupils return to school
Wednesday 26th February - Y3 Art Workshops
Thursday 27th February - Y4 Mosque visits
Thursday 6th March - World Book Day, Book fair in school
Friday 7th March - Book fair in school
Thursday 13th March - Year 1 Dinosaur Day
Tuesday 18th March - Class photos
Friday 21st March - Comic Relief
Monday 24th March - last week for boosters and clubs
Thursday 27th March - Reception Mother's Day assembly
Monday 31st March - Wednesday 2nd April - Y6 Residential to Laches Wood
Friday 4th April - Animal Man to visit Year 2
Tuesday 8th April - Parent consultations 4-6pm
Wednesday 9th April - Parent consultation 3:30-5pm
Monday 14th April—Friday 25th April—Easter break
Summer term 2025
Monday 28th April —Pupils return to school. Swimming resumes.
Monday 5th May - Bank holiday - school closed to pupils
Monday 12th May—Thursday 15th May—Year 6 SATs
Monday 19th May - Wednesday 21st May - Y4 Conwy residential
Monday 26th May—Friday 30th May—Half term
Monday 2nd June—Friday 6th June - Year 4 Multiplication Checks
Monday 9th June—Friday 13th June - Year 1 Phonics screening and Year 4 Multiplication Checks
Monday 16th June - Y2 Beaudesert residential
Friday 20th June—INSET day—School closed to pupils
Friday 18th July—Last day of summer term
Community Links
NHS
Catch 22
Catch 22 are offering 3 free online awareness sessions for parents and carers to learn more about county lines and criminal exploitation.
The free County Lines Awareness Webinar is aimed at parents and carers to gain a understanding on the important issues surrounding county lines, the impact that it can have on young people and their families, and the support that is available to young people.
The session will cover:
• 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
• Debt bondage
Parents and carers need to register below to sign up for the sessions (3 options - same session)
19th February 12:00-13:30: https://ow.ly/o1EL50UQWKr
20th February 12:00-13:30: https://ow.ly/HHpC50UQWKp
20th February 18:00-19:30: https://ow.ly/OAHX50UQWKq
Innovate UK with Wolverhampton College
We are pleased to announce that as part of the Innovate UK project, we are offering free self-paced online courses to all primary and secondary schools (public, private, or academy) within Wolverhampton, including staff, (students 15 -19), and the wider community. These courses are designed to enhance digital literacy, introduce foundational concepts in emerging technologies, and provide practical skills for all participants.
The courses will be available free of charge from now until 31 August 2025. Below are the details of the offerings. On successful completion certificate and for some courses digital badge also will be gained.
For Parents and the Wider Community
To support digital literacy in the community, we are also providing free access to the following:
Digital Awareness (6 hours)
Using Computers and Mobile Devices (6 hours)
Discovering Entrepreneurship (20 hours)
These courses aim to build confidence in using technology for everyday tasks, creating a more digitally aware community.