Newsletter
Friday 17th November 2023
DIARY DATES
AUTUMN TERM
Tuesday 21st to Friday 24th November
Book Fair
Tuesday 21st November
Rec and Year 6 Weighing and Measuring
Wednesday 22nd November
Year 2 Visit From the Fire Brigade
Thursday 23rd November
Year 2 Christmas Journey - King Centre
Friday 24th November
Non-Uniform / Mufti Day - Sweets
Wednesday 29th November
Choir Performance - Hook Library
Thursday 30th November
Choir Performance - Chessington Garden Centre
Friday 1st December
Non-Uniform / Mufti Day - Chocolates
Year 3 trip - Hook Library
Thursday 7th November
Christmas Fair
Friday 8th December
Christmas Fair
Christmas Whole School Carol Performance pm
Tuesday 12th December
Choir Performance - The Star and Garter
Wednesday 13th December
Rec and KS1 Christmas Performance 9.15 am
Christmas Singing to Nursery Parents - 11 am
Thursday 14th December
Choir Performance - Chessington Garden Centre
Friday 15th December
Year 1 Visit - Amy Woodgate Care Home
Monday 18th December
Christmas Pantomime
Wednesday 20th December
ABM Christmas Lunch
Christmas Jumper Day
Thursday 21st December
Last day of term (early finish)
Friday 22nd December to Friday 5th January
Christmas Holidays
Monday 8th January
INSET day
Tuesday 9th January
Children return
Tuesday 16th January
Year 6 Trip - Natural History Museum
Friday 9th February
Last day of half-term
Monday 12th to Friday 16th February
Half-Term
Monday 19th February
Children Return
REMINDERS
Book Fair - Tuesday 21st to Friday 24th November
Join us in the library and stock up on gifts for Christmas.
Friday 24th November
It's non-uniform / Mufti Day on Friday. Please bring sweets for the Christmas Fair, which will be held in school for children only.
ELLINGHAM SCHOOL NEWS
Supporting Friends
Odd socks marked the start of Anti-Bullying Week and the children have really been paying attention to what makes a good friends and how speaking up for themselves and others will prevent bullying.

Helpful Reception Children
As part of Anti-Bullying Week, the Reception children passed around Jenny Jigsaw and talked about a kind act they would do this week at home or school.
"I am going to help Daddy hoover the house!" said Noah.
Emma said, "I am going to share my books with my brother."
SPORTING EXCELLENCE
Paralympian Kylie Grimes and her sports colleague Courtney came along to run a fitness session with the whole school and then led an assembly about her dream and commitment to, one day, achieving gold medals. The enthusiasm and engagement from the children was amazing and Kylie was blown away by how kind and welcoming they were. They really embodied this week's value of friendship with their smiling faces and boundless energy.
Sponsorship is open for another week.
You can learn all about Kylie here. https://sportsforschools.org/athletes/kylie-grimes/
Bowled Over at the Cricket Festival
On Tuesday 14th November, a group of us from Years 3 & 4 went over to Chessington School to take part in a cricket skill tournament. Before we left, we were feeling nervous, excited and determined. When we arrived, we were sat down into our schools and put into groups. We then went around the hall completing some cricket skills, that included:
bowling
batting
throwing
catching
After spending a bit of time at each station practising the specific skill, we moved on to the final challenge of the day. The head coach called it 'The Speed Round' where all children had to stand in a circle and catch the fast paced balls. We had to display accuracy, good reaction times and confidence. If you dropped the ball you were out. There were 7 schools taking part and Max Opitz was able to win the challenge. We worked really hard as a team and are looking forward to other opportunities to do it again!
Written by Daniel, Max, Amelia and Livie on behalf on the team which also included Evie, Phoebe, Ryan and Sashen
Scholastic Book Fair
The Book Fair is on next week from Tuesday 21st to Friday 24th November, just in time for the Christmas season. The children are very engaged in our Reading for Pleasure focus and this is a great opportunity to capitalise on their enthusiasm. Last year, we raised over £700 and bought over 100 books for the school library.
The bookfair will have over 200 titles for you and your child to choose from and, with prices starting from only £2.99, there’s sure to be a book for everyone. Each class will have the opportunity to browse through the books during school time. The book fair will be in the library and will be open after school for parents to purchase books from 3.15pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
You can buy books in a number of ways:
at the fair by using the QR code, which will be displayed on posters
online at http://www.bookfairs.scholastic.co.uk/pay in advance. If online, you will need to show a member of staff your receipt email on your phone or ask them to check that the order has been received by the school
with cash
If you cannot attend the fair, you can purchase a gift card for your child online. They can bring this into school and choose a book
LEARNING TOGETHER
Nursery Learn about Diwali Celebrations and ...
In Nursery, the children started the week talking about Diwali celebrations and Siaana came dressed in a traditional outfit. We looked at pictures, watched a video and made our own diya lamps.
...the Christmas Story
Later in the week, Nursery had a visit from Insight who shared the Christmas story with the children. Some of the children got involved by dressing up as some of the characters to help retell what happened.
The Christmas Story in Reception
Reception children also had visit from Suzie from the Christian group Insight.
They had great fun dressing up as they learnt what Christians believe happened at the first Christmas.
Year 2 Materials Investigation
Year 2 have been learning all about the properties of materials and their suitability for different purposes. This week, the children tested materials to see if they could change their shape by squashing, bending, stretching and twisting them!
Year 2 Hands on Houses
Year 2 got hands on in DT this week and practised their fine motor skills by cutting out nets to make into 3D shapes. These were used to create mini models of houses like those destroyed by The Great Fire of London in 1666. The children said it was fiddly but fun!
Year 4 Keeping your teeth clean
Year four are discovering more about their teeth and how food is digested. Have a look at their informative posters on how to keep your teeth clean!
Reindeer Run!
In the summer term, Year 2 will be learning about the history of the seaside and are looking forward to having a visit from the RNLI. The children are keen to raise money for the volunteers whilst keeping fit and would love your support.
https://fundraise.rnli.org/fundraisers/kerrypeart/reindeer-run

SAFEGUARDING, HEALTH AND SUPPORT
Your Views Wanted: Parent Coffee Mornings
We have been running some very successful coffee mornings for parents led by Miranda from the Mental Health Support Team. They have focused on helping parents to support their children through such things as anxiety, resilience in friendship and also for tips on behaviour management.
It would be great to hear from parents and carers about the sort of topics that they would like to see offered and the best timings for these events. Please complete the link for you feedback. https://forms.gle/rmc93Mai3cLFyMns5
Talking to Children About War and Conflict
When there is a lot of coverage of conflict and war in the news, children can experience a range of emotions in response to it and it can be quite a daunting subject to tackle as their parent or carer.
If you would like support with this, this leaflet helps by providing information on how to talk to all children in a way that is appropriate for their age.




This is the full safeguarding team in school. They are all trained to Level 3 and everyone in the school received the annual update of Safeguarding Level 2 training at INSET.
Contact details: 020 8397 3864 or email: office@elp.rbksch.org to request a safeguarding call back. For pupil support, contact 020 8397 3864 or email: pupilsupport@elp.rbksch.org