Friday 13th February 2026

ELLINGHAM SCHOOL NEWS

DIARY DATES

February half term

Monday 16th to Friday 20th February

Children return

Monday 23rd February

Great Athlete event

Wednesday 25th February

Year 6 Fundraising - Hot Chocolate Sale after school

Thursday 26th February

Parent Consultations

Tuesday 24th and Thursday 26th February

Year 5 Easter Experience, The King's Centre

Tuesday 3rd March

World Book Day

Thursday 5th March

Year 5 Class Assembly

Friday 6th February

STEM Week

9th - 13th March

Year 4 Cooking at Chessington School

Thursday 12th March

Year 4 South Bank Trip

FOE Spring Disco

Friday 20h March

Year 4 Local Trip

Monday 23rd March

Year 5 to watch Shrek Performance at Chessington School

Tuesday 24th March

Year 5 Trip to the Science Museum

Wednesday 25th March

Last day of term (early finish at 1.15pm)

Friday 27th March

Easter Holidays

Monday 30th March until Friday 10th April

Children return

Monday 13th April

Dear Parents and Carers,

I write this newsletter with a huge smile, thinking back to all the events this week and seeing the children's wonderful smiles! Each day has been full of events, including external trips and exciting activities in the classroom bringing the curriculum alive.

There is no teaching to the test here at Ellingham. So much thought and planning goes into providing creative approaches and mastery thinking into every lesson in every subject. Children love learning here. Moreover, they remember, build and apply this knowledge onto new learning, honing their skills along the way.

This is why academic achievement at Ellingham is so very strong. Year on year, our pupils leave Year 6 achieving their full potential. Last year, 74% of our pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. This is against the national average of 62%. This is an incredible achievement, and it is one that has been acknowledged by the Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson.

In her letter of the 23rd January, she congratulates Ellingham on the excellent outcomes achieved, particularly for disadvantaged pupils, last academic year. As she states, Ellingham's performance places it among the very best nationally, and this is a significant achievement. This is a result of the hard work, personalised learning and genuine pastoral care that goes on in every year group for every child, every day.

The whole staff team here at Ellingham are dedicated practitioners who should feel deep pride in their achievements. I am certainly proud and honoured to work with such an outstanding team.

They deserve the most restful half term, as do you, so I wish you all the most wonderful break.

With best wishes,

Margaret

Letter from minister.pdf

Margaret Johonnett

Headteacher

Well Being Week.mov

Children's Mental Health Week

It's been an absolutely wonderful celebration this week of how to do you! Celebrating how we are both unique, yet how much a sense of belonging we have at Ellingham, was a powerful spotlight on the environment provided here to support our children's mental health. Mrs Steed has put together the most wonderful video of the events this week. Thank you, Mrs Steed!

We are very excited to welcome top athlete Jodie Williams to the school on Wednesday, 25th February 2026.

We previously held a similar event in 2023 with Kylie Grimes, which was a great success. We raised a significant amount of money that enabled us to purchase new sports equipment for our pupils.

Jodie Williams will be leading a sponsored fitness circuit with all pupils, followed by a motivational assembly, and Q&A session. The aim of the event is to inspire the pupils to be more physically active, but just as importantly, encourage them to discover and pursue their passion in life.

A letter has been sent home this week with more information and a sponsorship form.

Thank you for supporting this event.

STEM Week: Cardboard Tubes Wanted!

We need toilet roll, kitchen roll and wrapping paper tubes for our upcoming STEM challenge on Friday 11th March.

Please send any spares into school—there are collection boxes ready in every classroom.

Thank you for your support!

TTRS Battle!

Well done to the girls who won the recent TTRS battle! A special shout out to Eden and Joseph in Year 5 for being the most valuable girl and boy players.

There is a new battle between the classes for over half term. The showdown starts Friday 13th at 3:30 and ends Thursday 26th at 7:30 so be sure to take part for the chance to win!

Well done to 6JC for 100% attendance this week!

Attendance

This week the Brite boxes have been chosen to celebrate: Shrove Tuesday (Pancake day) and the Lunar New Year on the 17th February. Lunar New Year, marks the start of the Year of the Fire Horse, which represents energy and big dreams. Shrove Tuesday (or Pancake Day),is the traditional day to use up rich ingredients like eggs, milk, and sugar before the start of Lent which is a time when Christians reflect and prepare for Easter.

We hope everyone enjoys these special recipes—Happy flipping and "Xīn Nián Kuài Lè" Happy New Year.

A5 DIGITAL - CHICKEN EGG FRIED RIDE (1).pdf

A5 DIGITAL - EGG FRIED RIDE.pdf

A5 DIGITAL - PANCAKES.pdf

LEARNING TOGETHER

Reception

Cherry Class celebrated the end of our topic ‘Whose Footprints are these?’ with an ‘Animal day’. The children dressed up and took part in a number of special animal themed activities! We also raised £50 for the RSCPA to support all the amazing work they do, so thank you to all the parents for your generous contributions!

Year 1

Year 1 continued to investigate materials in Science this week. The children learnt about waterproof and absorbent materials and tested some objects to find out if they were waterproof or not. There were lots of shocked faces when we took the rubber gloves off to discover our hands were still dry underneath! But the rest of our predictions were right.

Year 2

On Monday, Oak Class and 3BP visited the Kingston Muslim Centre. Jan, our guide for the morning, explained the preparations that Muslim’s make for their prayers, and how they pray. There was the opportunity to have a go at Arabic writing, to look at some artefacts and to dress up. Jan was so impressed by the knowledge that both classes displayed and the questions that they asked in response to a short power point about Islam. Thank you to all the parents who came with us - we hope that they enjoyed it as much as we did!

Year 3

Year 4

In Year 4, our budding designers have been diving deep into the world of mechanisms, specifically mastering the art of levers and linkages. Their mission? To design and build a functional toy that brings a classic story to life, specifically tailored for our toughest critics: 3 to 5-year-olds. The children worked incredibly hard and were extremely proud of their final products.

Year 6

This week Year 6 recently headed to Chessington for the Junior Citizenship Scheme, an action-packed afternoon run by TfL and various community agencies. The session was designed to empower our students as they become more independent. By rotating through high-energy workshops, the pupils learned how to:

Handle emergencies with confidence.
Navigate public transport safely.
Make responsible decisions for a healthy lifestyle.

Our Year 6s threw themselves into every challenge and came away with a toolkit of skills for the future! They had a brilliant time. Thank you so much to our parent helpers- Edna, Jodie and Caroline. Without you the trip couldn't have gone ahead.

Well done to our pupils awared the celebration certificate for Friendship this week!

Celebration certificates

Year 6 Hot Chocolate Sale

Year 6 parents will be selling Hot Chocolate after school on Thursday 26th February to raise money for the Year 6 leavers celebrations at the end of the summer term.

Friends of Ellingham

Tickets for the Spring Disco will be available from Monday 23rd February - please look out for an email from the school office.

If you can help at the Spring Disco please email: friendsofellingham@outlook.com or contact the school office.

We can only run these events if we have the support of volunteers - Thank you in advance.

FOE Committee members

A big thank you to all the parents who helped at the Love Ellingham sale after school today and to all the parents & chidren for buying lots of lovely balloons, flowers and donuts. It was a great success.

Spring disco 26.pdf

Safeguarding, Health & Wellbeing

Wellfest

Year 6 Wellbeing Ambassadors and the Year 6 Play Leaders went off to Southborough Secondary School to the Wellfest event on the 29th January. The children had fun exploring different stalls, all promoting good mental health and wellbeing. They painted, they participated in yoga, played the drums and much more! The children were a credit to our school.

The Safeguarding Team

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. If you are worried about a child, please let one of the team know.

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