Embedded Files
ELLINGHAM SCHOOL NEWS
ELLINGHAM SCHOOL NEWS
DIARY DATES
DIARY DATES
Year 5 Class Assembly
Friday 20th March - Please note change of date to help Year 5 be show ready.
STEM Week
9th - 13th March
Year 4 Interventions start
Year 4 Swimming lessons start
Monday 9th March
Year 4 Cooking at Chessington School
Thursday 12th March
Year 4 South Bank Trip
Year 5 Class Assembly
FOE Spring Disco
Friday 20th 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,
What a spectacular, imagination-fueled week we have had at school. The corridors have been buzzing with energy, and it has been a joy to see our school community embrace our value of the week: Inspiration.
Yesterday, the school was transformed into a living library. The children arrived in a truly wonderful array of costumes to celebrate World Book Day. It wasn't just about the dressing up, however; the day provided a fantastic spark for reading for pleasure. Seeing the children share their favorite stories with one another was a testament to how books can transport us to new worlds and inspire us to dream big. Thank you for your incredible efforts with the costumes.
Adding to our week of wonder, we were delighted to welcome a visiting theatre company for a very special performance. They performed an original adaptation inspired by Alice in Wonderland. The production followed a young girl as she journeyed through a vibrant and imaginative world, meeting a diverse range of characters and learning important lessons along the way. The story explored key themes such as friendship, positive relationships, trust, diversity, and equality, all presented in an engaging way.
As we end the week, we can see that the weekly attendance percentages for some classes have gone down. In February, we had moved up to the 10-20% of attendance rankings nationally, but attendance remains the one area of concern for us as a school. Please let us know of any barriers you may face to attending school - we always want to work with you.
I can see it's time to get the waterproofs out again. Take care and have a lovely weekend.
With best wishes,
Margaret
Margaret Johonnett
Headteacher
Year 1 event
Year 1 event
Year 1 parents and carers are warmly invited to their Book Nook on Wednesday 11th March. Please see details of the event and inform the office by Monday 9th if you will be attending.
Artist of the Month Competition
Artist of the Month Competition
March 2026 Yinka Shonibare
March 2026 Yinka Shonibare
We are very excited to introduce Yinka Shonibare as the artist of the month for March. To enter, make a piece of artwork inspired by Yinka that celebrates being a citizen of the world.
STEM Week
STEM Week
Cardboard Tubes Wanted!
Cardboard Tubes Wanted!
We need toilet roll, kitchen roll and wrapping paper tubes for our upcoming STEM challenge on Friday 13th March.
Please send any spares into school, there are collection boxes ready in every classroom.
Thank you for your support!
Kingston Borough Champions representing Kingston at the London Youth Games
Kingston Borough Champions representing Kingston at the London Youth Games
Huge congratulations to the Key Stage 2 Tag Rugby stars! Winning a regional tournament is a massive achievement for the children and for Ellingham! From lightning-fast sprints to perfectly timed "tags," these pupils have shown what true teamwork looks like. Winning the tournament means they have secured a spot to represent Kingston at the School Games. What a prestigious honour!
Congratulations to 4RS & 6H for their attendance this week. They were selected to have a workshop with the theatre company from Nescot, who were in this afternoon as part of our World book day events.
Congratulations to 4RS & 6H for their attendance this week. They were selected to have a workshop with the theatre company from Nescot, who were in this afternoon as part of our World book day events.
Attendance matters - Every school day counts!
Attendance matters - Every school day counts!
There is a wide range of international evidence that tells us that children who attend school regularly go on to achieve better outcomes, live healthier, wealthier and more enriched lives - and we want to make sure we are all doing everything that we can to make that happen for all of our children.
This chart shows us that an attendance rate of 90% is equivalent to missing 18 days of school. This is a huge amount. 90% in a test is an achievement, but 90% and below in attendance is persistent absence. An attendance percentage of 96% - our school target - still equates to 7 days off school. So we can reach our target whilst having leeway for illness. We've got this!
Congratulations to our Hot Chocolate Attendance Award children this week. They really enjoyed their hot chocolate with Mrs Steed this afternoon.
TTRS Half Term Showdown!
TTRS Half Term Showdown!
Well done to 4G, 3BP and 5CS for ranking 1st, 2nd and 3rd in this week’s battle with a special shout out to Tosia, Imogen and Elodie for being the most valuable players this week.
This week’s battle is children vs. teachers! Make sure you take part to be in with a chance of being champions.
Please see this weeks recipe for Sausage and Mash we hope you enjoy them.
A5 DIGITAL - CHICKEN SAUSAGE AND MASH.pdfA5 DIGITAL - VEGGIE SAUSAGE AND MASH.pdf
LEARNING TOGETHER
LEARNING TOGETHER
Nursery
Nursery
In nursery the children were really excited to dress up for world book day! They enjoyed talking about their characters and making up adventures for them to go on.
The children have also been making the most of the sunshine this week playing outside in our spring garden centre role play area. They have enjoyed using the binoculars to search for birds and identify them on their tick list.
Year 1 - Balancing Act!
Year 1 - Balancing Act!
Year 1 went to the hall for English this week! The children completed a balancing course to generate verbs for our story. The children shook, wobbled, balanced and tiptoed their way around the course.
Reception - World Book Day
Reception - World Book Day
Cherry Class had a wonderful time celebrating World Book Day. The children came to school dressed as their favourite book characters and were excited to share the stories they love with their friends. Thank you to families for helping the children take part in such a special day celebrating the joy of books.
Year 2
Year 2
This week, Year 4 hopped into a time machine to explore the incredible—and sometimes slightly chaotic—history of London Bridge.We discovered that for centuries, this wasn’t just a bridge; it was the beating heart of the city. Here is what our young historians uncovered:Did you know there has been a crossing here since Roman times? For generations, if you wanted to cross the river in London, this was the only way to do it! To wrap up our week of discovery, our mini-engineers were split into teams. Using real primary sources and modern research, they were tasked with the ultimate challenge: reconstructing these iconic bridges.
Year 3
Year 3
Year 3 are learning about light and shadow in science this half term. In this week’s lesson, they explored reflections (the returning of light from a surface) and how well different materials reflect light using torches. As you can see, the children enjoyed putting their scientific enquiry skills into practice…and reflecting light onto the ceiling!
Year 4
Year 4
This week, Year 4 hopped into a time machine to explore the incredible—and sometimes slightly chaotic—history of London Bridge.We discovered that for centuries, this wasn’t just a bridge; it was the beating heart of the city. Here is what our young historians uncovered:Did you know there has been a crossing here since Roman times? For generations, if you wanted to cross the river in London, this was the only way to do it! To wrap up our week of discovery, our mini-engineers were split into teams. Using real primary sources and modern research, they were tasked with the ultimate challenge: reconstructing these iconic bridges.
Year 5
Year 5
This week Year 5 went on a trip to the King’s Centre for their Easter Experience. The children loved the actors and being immersed in the Easter story. They were very well behaved and we were very proud of them!
Year 6
Year 6
Year 6 had a re-book-able World Book Day diving into the dark world of the Brothers Grimm! We started by mapping out classic tales with detailed storyboards. The drama then moved to the courtroom for an oracy showdown: The People vs. The Woodcutter! With a full cast of prosecution, defense, and witnesses, the jury had to decide if the Woodcutter was truly a hero or just a cut above the rest! We had so much fun being in role. We eventually "booked" some quiet time to end the day, creating intricate Zendoodles inspired by our favourite Grimm Brother characters. It was a day for the history books, and we’re proud of how Year 6 spine-d the truth in court!
Celebration certificates
Celebration certificates
This week our value was Inspiration. We looked at the quote by Mahatma Gandhi, "Be the change you wish to see in the world", as a source of inspiration. Gandhi's wish for a peaceful path to change also demonstrates the resilience people who inspire us often need to have.
Resilience, hard work and fantastic team work is certainly the behaviours our Tag Rugby teamed showed when they won the Kingston league! We are so proud of you - you a definite inspiration to the rest of the school!
Friends of Ellingham
Friends of Ellingham
Tickets are now available to purchase on Arbor for the Spring Disco.
Tickets are £5 each. Please log into your Arbor parent portal and click on ‘School Shop Products’.
There are 3 discos by age group:
RECEPTION, YEAR 1 & YEAR 2 - 4.15 to 5.00pm (Parent/one adult to accompany their child)
YEAR 3 & YEAR 4 - 5.15 to 6.15pm (No parents to accompany) YEAR 5 & YEAR 6 - 6.30 to 7.30pm (No parents to accompany)
Tickets will not be issued but your child's name will be checked off a list on arrival.
Spring disco 26.pdf
Friends of Ellingham - Class prizes!
Friends of Ellingham - Class prizes!
Just a reminder that over the next few Fridays, Friends of Ellingham are asking you to raise money for your child's class. This is a really nice way for parents to contribute towards an item is specifically for their child's class. It will be an item that is something the class wants or needs, and is age-related.
We've changed the date for Year 1 so that you don't clash with STEM week dress up!
The schedule for the rest of term is as follows:
Friday 20th March - Year 6
Friday 27th March - Year 4 and 5
Friday 17th April - Year 1
Safeguarding, Health & Wellbeing
Safeguarding, Health & Wellbeing
Spring 2 25_26 Parent information leaflet.pptx.pdfThe Safeguarding Team
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
Margaret Johonnett
Headteacher & Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL)
Jacqui Malherbe
Pupil Support & Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL)
Sally Sephton
SENDCO & Designated Teacher (LAC/PLAC) Safeguarding Team Member
Esme Winn
Deputy Headteacher & Designated Safeguarding Team Member
Lorraine Davis
Pupil Support & Designated Safeguarding Team Member
Natalie Harris
Kirsty Ruthven
Designated Governors for Safeguarding and Child Protection
Spring Sounds 26
Spring Sounds 26
Join Spring Sounds – a free day of music fun on Sunday, March 22, 2026 (10am–5:30pm) at Kingston University’s Town House! Try instruments, join workshops like gamelan or video game composing, enjoy talks and performances – all ages welcome, no experience needed. It's relaxed, drop-in style with family zones. Register free for entry and updates (workshops limited). Supported by Arts Council England and Kingston Music Service. Children must be accompanied.
More details and booking: springsounds.co.uk
Selection of SS26 flyers_posters.pdfPage updated
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