Newsletter
Friday 19th January 2024
DIARY DATES
SPRING TERM
Thursday 25th January
Year 3 Trip - British Museum
Tuesday 30th January
Year 5 Trip - British Museum
Friday 9th February
Last day of half-term
Monday 12th to Friday 16th February
Half-Term
Monday 19th February
Children Return
Monday 19th to Friday 23rd February
Year 5 - Bikeability Course
Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st February
Parent and Carer Teacher Consultations
Monday 4th to Friday 8th March
Year 5 - Bikeability Course
Thursday 28th March
Last day of term (early finish) - No Explorers
Friday 29th March to Friday 12th April
Easter break
Monday 15th April
Children Return
ELLINGHAM SCHOOL NEWS
Official Medal for Year 2
Year 2 received their official Reindeer Run medal from RNLI this week. It will go onto our Sports board which we will feature in the hall.
Meanwhile, Miss Peart is displaying it by wearing it so that all the children get to see it up close!
Survey Deadline Extended: Please Complete If You Interested in 2-Year-Old Nursery Places?
Thank you if you have completed this already. We are still keen to hear from families.
From April 2024, the government is extending free childcare for working parents to include 2 -year-olds. If your child is 2 years old, you may be able to get 15 hours free childcare per week for 38 weeks of the year (during school term time).
More information is available on this link https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-childcare-if-youre-working, which includes how to apply for a code to enable you to get free childcare. You can apply from when your child is 1 year and 36 weeks old.
We are currently looking at our Nursery offer and would be very interested to know if you would like a place for your 2-year-old at the school so that we can review and plan for it. Please complete the survey below.
Book Your Parent and Carer Consultations slot
Parent and Carer Consultations will be held on Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st February in school. The booking system via the Arbor app will be open on Monday 22nd January at 7am.
SEN Reviews will be held separately and you will be contacted directly for a meeting with Mrs Sephton.
Closing Date Monday: Parent Governor Vacancy
The Governing body have a vacancy for a parent governor and are seeking nominations for an enthusiastic and committed parents or carers to join the governing board. It is your opportunity to help Ellingham achieve its strategic vision to AIM HIGH for every child.
The core functions of the governing board are to:
Ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
Hold senior leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation, its pupils, and the performance management of staff
Oversee the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent.
The term of office for all governors is four years. Governors need to attend an average of two committee meetings per term (before or after school) and have the opportunity to visit the school to understand a specific element of the school's practice. Many companies allow time out of work for governor commitments.
Please see letter here from the Chair of Governors for more information and a form to complete for nominations. Closing date extended to Monday 22nd at noon.
Kingston-Wide Wrap-Around Care
Achieving for Children, Kingston's Educational Services team are hoping to capture parents' likely requirements for wraparound care to support their planning for September 2024. Please complete the survey on this link.
LEARNING TOGETHER
Reception Have Fun Learning
Each week Reception children complete fine motor tasks to help strengthen their muscles needed for pencil control.
It's such fun, they don't even know they're building strength and learning!
Year 2 Cold Colours!
Year 2 discussed hot and cold colours this week and how they make us feel. The children then used a range of cold colours and experimented adding white and black paint to make different shades. They will be using their cold colours to create their very own art work in the style of Alison Lester.
Budding Musicians: Class 3BR Ukulele
This term 3BR are learning the ukulele.
Mrs Pearman from Kingston Music Service is coming in weekly to teach us, and after only 2 lessons we have able to play along to songs, including 'Roar' by Katie Perry!
Many children decide to learn the guitar in school after learning and loving the ukulele.
Year 4 Research the history of London Bridge
This week in Year 4 history we looked at how important London Bridge has been over the centuries. London Bridge has been rebuilt many times but there are 4 key structures:
Roman construction- CE 50
Medieval construction - CE 1209
New London Bridge 1831–1967
Modern day London Bridge - 17 March 1973 to date
There were THREE reasons to only have ONE bridge coming into London:
Security/Defence
Control
Taxes
After researching the bridges, we made them out of carboard and discussed the new materials and technologies available for each one. As a class, we considered what had changed and what had stayed the same throughout time.
Y4 Investigate States of Matter
This week, Year 4 were investigating what makes a substance a solid or liquid. They had a range of different materials to experiment with and had to establish how the two differ.
Year 6 Trip Natural History Museum
"I really enjoyed the trip on Tuesday. We got there on two trains and walked to the museum. There were approximately six of us in each group and then half of the groups explored the museum whilst the others did the workshop. They were both fun. We all got grossed out by the jars with embalmed animals inside and the workshop (featuring evolution and inheritance) was marvellous. I loved our trip; this is definitely something I would want to do again!" Persey - 6H
SAFEGUARDING, HEALTH AND SUPPORT
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
LOCAL EVENTS
Kingston Adult Education - Courses for parent and carers
Please click here for a brochure outlining some of the courses available at Kingston Adult Education, part of Kingston Council, during the Spring Term.
A number of these courses are free.
Courses take place at various times and locations across our borough, and include:
· Reducing anxiety and developing resilience in your child
· Help your child be a good friend
· Support your child through exam stress
· Assisting your child with their math's school work
They also offer a comprehensive range of vocational and creative courses to develop your skills, increase your earning potential and improve your wellbeing.
For further information, please contact Kingston Adult Education directly on 020 8547 6700 or at adult.education@kingston.gov.uk