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Friday 24th October 2025

ELLINGHAM SCHOOL NEWS

DIARY DATES

AUTUMN TERM

Half term

Monday 27th October - Friday 31st October

Inset Day

Monday 3rd November

Children return

Tuesday 4th November

Author visit

Monday 10th November

Scholastic Book Fair

Monday 17th- Friday 21st November

What a truly wonderful half term it has been here at Ellingham! For me, it has been wonderful to get to know the children even more as the term has progressed. Their warmth, friendliness and energy are unbounded, and they make me smile every day. I see our vision in action daily through their resilience, their curiosity, and the simple happiness on their faces. They are truly the heart of our school.

Excellence at Ellingham continues daily in the engaging and ambitious lessons I have seen as I pop into classes and observe learning. It's been wonderful to have children coming to me to share their outstanding work. They are rightly proud of their efforts, and I'm delighted to see their amazing work.

Experiences at Ellingham have been many across all year groups over the half term, with sports tournaments, local visits, visits further afield, and the opportunities for children to present to others being some of these real-life experiences. Seeing the Year 6 children returning from their awe-inspiring Science lesson at Chessington School buzzing with excitement was a joy! All of this exists within Ellingham’s family feel, and reinforces our vision: to see children valued, confident, independent, and successful.

I have also enjoyed meeting so many of our families. Seeing you at the Meet the Teacher events and recent Parents' Evenings was invaluable for beginning those essential partnerships. These relationships are key to nurturing happy children, and I look forward to continuing these conversations throughout the year.

As we now look forward to an exciting Autumn 2, I must stress the critical importance of attendance. Our strong academic outcomes depend on every child being in school, every day. When a child misses a day, they risk missing out on essential knowledge and the continuity of our rich curriculum. Please support this by bringing your child into school everyday and on time ready to start their lessons. Thank you.

We wish you all a wonderful half term holiday and looking forward to seeing all the children back on Tuesday 4th November.

With best wishes,

Margaret Johonnett

Headteacher

Reminders

Children return on Tuesday 4th November.

Year 6 - Transfer to Secondary School Application submission deadline is Friday, 31st October 2025. Please use the eAdmissions website to apply online for your child's secondary school place.

Flu Vaccinations - Reception, Year 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6

The School health nurses will be carrying out the Flu Vaccinations on Monday, 10th November 2025 You have been sent a letter which explains the programme and how to give or refuse your consent directly online to the healthcare team. Please read the Flu Vaccination letter carefully as it contains contact details for the vaccination team should you need further information (the school is not qualified to answer medical questions regarding the Flu vaccination). Please follow the link below to complete an online consent form (one for each child) to ensure your child receives their vaccination. Please complete the online consent form for your child whether you are giving your consent or if you are denying your consent, this will really help the healthcare team. https://cypcis.kingstonandrichmond.nhs.uk/flu/2025/kingston

Deadline for submitting consent form: Date 05/11/2025

School Lunches

We are delighted to announce a new menu after half term. All meals are free and can be booked via the Arbor app for individual days or everyday.

Click here for the new Menus

Meet our Chef Manager

Hi, I'm Lauren, the Chef Manager at Ellingham. I've been in catering for over 10 years, and have happily spent four of those at Ellingham. I'm looking forward to introducing our new, varied menu after half term. We've designed it so there's something delicious for everyone, and I can't wait to see you at the lunch counter.

Year 6 Assembly - From Dunce's Hat to Queen Victoria's Reign

A huge congratulations to our Year 6 pupils for their brilliant assembly last week! Everyone was incredibly impressed with their fantastic singing and acting skills.

We all learned so many interesting facts about the Victorians and the long reign of Queen Victoria herself. It was fascinating (and sometimes shocking!) to hear about the differences in life for rich and poor children, the harsh reality of the workhouse, the strict school conditions, and even the dreaded dunce's hat.

Well done, Year 6, for your hard work and wonderful performance!

Celebrating 100% Attendance with the Mayor of Kingston

We are extremely proud of our pupils who achieved 100% attendance last academic year. They were welcomed by the Mayor of Kingston last week in an annual event for all Kingston primaries and secondaries. The Mayor spoke passionately about the importance of attendance for the social and academic development of children. Of course we cannot prevent children from being unwell, but occasional days of absence for other reasons that are not authorised quickly add up and have a lasting impact. Thank you for your understanding of this issue, and for your support in bringing your children to school on time. And well done to the children and families above!

Online Safety

Online Safety remains of paramount importance. Please make time to read this article from the NSPCC on how to keep your child safe online:

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/talking-child-online-safety/

Update: Issue with emails landing in Junk/Spam

Thank you so much for your patience with this difficult issue. It required the co-ordination of three of our IT partners over many weeks to resolve. We can confirm that our emails to your will now not go to your junk folder but go straight to your inbox. Thank you again for your patience and understanding. If you have any issues please contact the school office.

During our Parent Consultations this week, we shared information on how to download the Arbour app, which is another way we communicate with you. Let us know if would this information sent to you directly.

Year 5/6 Boys' Footballers Shine with Great Teamwork at Chessington Tournament!

Last week, some of the Year 5 and 6 boys' participated in a friendly tournament against two other local primary schools in Chessington. The boys played exceptionally well in both competitive matches, showcasing great teamwork and effort. They finished the tournament having drawn both games, a fair result for their determined performance on the pitch.

Save the date

🎄 Winter Wonderland Christmas Fair -Saturday 29th November

🕛 12:00 – 3:00 pm
📍 Ellingham School

Expect seasonal stalls, tasty treats, games, music, and a sprinkle of holiday magic for the whole family.

Keep an eye out for more details and volunteer opportunities in the coming weeks. For now, just save the date and get ready to celebrate with us!

Double Your Impact! Can you access Matched Funding for the Friends of Ellingham

Did you know there's a fantastic way to potentially double the funds we raise for our school, simply by tapping into resources many of us already have access to? It's called matched funding, and it's a game-changer for PTAs like ours!

Please read the letter here for further information.

A Special Visit! Author 'Mrs P' Joins Us for Anti-Bullying Week

We are delighted to announce that on Monday 10th November, to help celebrate Anti-Bullying Week, children's author 'Mrs P' will be sharing her newest book 'Jessie and JoJo' and running workshops with the children from Reception to Year 6.

The story promotes positive strategies to deal with children’s worries and highlights the importance of friendships.

Should you wish to purchase a copy of the book for your child to get signed and dedicated (with your child’s name), it will be available to purchase via our Arbor online payment system, for £8.99. It will then be given to your child on the day of the visit.

Mrs P donates all proceeds of the book to NSPCC (UK) and Wires (Australia). For more information, please click below.

www.mrsp.me

Scholastic Book Fair

We are excited to announce that our Scholastic Book Fair is coming soon!

The fair will run from Monday 17th November to Friday 21st November.

It's a fantastic chance for your children to browse and buy a wide range of new and exciting books. Books will be available for purchase in the school library after school throughout the week.

Buying books at the fair is a wonderful way to encourage reading at home, and it also helps our school, as a portion of the sales goes directly toward buying new books for our school library and classrooms.

We look forward to seeing you at the fair and thank you for your support!

Celebration Certificates

Congratulations to the outstanding students who have been awarded Values Certificates this week and last! These children have truly embodied our school's core values, making our community a better and brighter place.

A special shout out to Year 5 who demonstrated 'Excellence' on their recent trip to Fulham Palace with their behaviour and engagement in the workshops.

Friday 24th October

Friday 17th October

Congratulations to our Young Interpreters

We are extremely proud to announce our new Year 4 Young Interpreters!

Each year, as our former Year 6 Young Interpreters 'retire', Year 4 step into the fold to take on this important role. Our Year 4 candidates needed to complete four weeks of training and complete tasks at home such as writing about the skills they have to offer to the role and the languages they speak at home. The children were keen and proactive during each part of the process, and we are honoured to have them join the Young Interpreters team!

LEARNING TOGETHER

Nursery - Pear Class - Getting Ready for Spring!

Nursery have been planting daffodil bulbs in the hope that our garden will be full of colour in the spring.

Reception - Cherry Class - Celebrating the Festival of Lights

Cherry Class have been learning all about Diwali and we worked together to make our own beautiful rangoli pattern. We also decorated our home corner with special lights and candles. We learned about the traditions of Diwali, and created our own Mendhi patterns.

Year 1 - Maple - Nature self portraits

Year 1 continued their work on self portraits in Art and linked it with their Science work, where they looked for features of Autumn in our local environment. The children collected natural resources to create a self portrait and are very proud with how they turned out!

Year 2 - Oak - Master the Art of Following Instructions

In English Year 2 have been looking at instructions. We started by reading some different instructions, then we looked for time adverbials and used these to put some other instructions in the correct order. Once we had done that we followed the instructions to make our bird feeders and hung them outside for the garden birds.

Year 3 - Meet Reptiles and Farm Animals at St Philip's School

Last week, Year 3 visited the farm animals at St Philip's school. This linked to their history learning on early Neolithic farming in the Stone Age and upcoming science topic on animals. The children were very excited and some were brave enough to handle the reptiles.

Year 5 - Year 5 Invades Fulham Palace: Vikings Take Over!

Year 5 really enjoyed their trip to Fulham Palace this week. They had a workshop all about the Vikings who had a settlement on the palace grounds. They enjoyed dressing up, exploring different artefacts and reading Viking Runes (their alphabet).

"The trip was fun. I really enjoyed looking at the Great Hall and the Chapel. It had stained glass."- Maverick 5CS

"The trip was impeccable. I enjoyed looking around at the Chapel and learning facts about the Vikings. The Vikings and Anglo Saxons lived nearby to the palace and even fought on the grounds!"- Darcie 5CS

Year 4 I'm an Anglo-Saxon... Get Us Out of Here!

Year 4 survived the ultimate historical challenge day and emerged as true Anglo-Saxon champions!

This week, the classroom was abandoned for the unforgiving landscape of early Britain as Year 4 faced a series of survival tests for their themed day. They tackled five key challenges designed to test their knowledge and ingenuity:

Rune Master: The children had to decipher the mysterious runes to crack an ancient code, proving their mastery of Anglo-Saxon script.
Shelter Scramble: Working in teams, students had to become master builders! They engineered and constructed miniature Anglo-Saxon shelters using wooden structures and authentic thatched roofs, competing to build the most sturdy and realistic home.
The Warrior Forge: Every great warrior needs protection! Children got creative designing and decorating their own magnificent battle shields, ready to face the Viking threat.
Vegetable Verdict: Their knowledge of Anglo-Saxon diet was put to the test in a fun challenge where they had to guess the mysterious Anglo-Saxon vegetable (a trickier task than you might think!).

The children displayed amazing teamwork, resourcefulness, and focus. Congratulations to all of Year 4 for conquering the challenges and for being a brilliant credit to their clans!

Year 6 - Morse Code and Circuits

Last week, Year 6 visited Chessington School for an exciting morning of practical science, to consolidate their learning from this term. They were able to apply their skills to fix circuits and used buzzers to communicate in morse code! The children really were fantastic ambassadors for our school and impressed the high school teachers with their scientific vocabulary and resilience when problem-solving!

SAFEGUARDING, HEALTH & WELLBEING

Important Safeguarding Notice: Children’s “Spy” Books by Andy Cope

We want to make you aware of a recent issue affecting some popular children’s books by Andrew Cope, including the Spy Dogs, Spy Cats, and Spy Pups series.

Some editions of these books include a printed web address at the back. This link used to go to the author’s website, but the domain is no longer under his control. It has since been taken over by another party and now leads to inappropriate adult content.

The publisher, Puffin, has paused sales and distribution of the books and is working with schools, libraries, and retailers to remove copies from circulation. They have stressed that the website has no connection to the author or publisher.

What this means for you:

If your child has any Spy Dog, Spy Cat or Spy Pups books at home, please check the back for website links and make sure they do not try to visit the site.
It is safe for children to continue reading the stories themselves — the concern is only with the outdated link.
We recommend talking with your child about the importance of not following web addresses in books without checking with an adult first.

Parent Detectives & Navigating Inclusion

Understanding neurodiverse children with sensory & communication needs

Further information available here

Action-attainment CIC provides families and teachers with practical, evidence based inclusion strategies. We work with neurodiverse experts by experience, therapists and coaches to deliver active learning through sport, in the community and in schools. We believe partnership working between families and schools supports best outcomes for neurodiverse young people.

"Action-attainment has a strong track record of delivering high quality programmes," Sarah Herbert, Lead school improvement advisor (SEND), Achieving for Children

2025_26 - Helping children series flier.docx.pdf

Understanding autism seminar flyer November 25.pdf

Let’s talk about SEND in Kingston (1).pdf

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