School News - 24th October 2025

sarnold932
18 hours ago
5 min read

Autumn Term 2025

Dear Parents and Carers

Today brings us to the end of a very busy and very long half term!! The children have been working extremely hard in school and they have well and truly earned their half term break.

We would like to thank parents for their support and for the lovely comments we have had following the Year 1 Harvest Presentation this morning. Thank you for all your donations of food items particularly in this current climate where we know that times are hard and we are all seeing an increased cost of living. All items donated will be taken to our local foodbank and this will help many families.

Thank you to parents and carers for attending Parent Consultations this week - the halls are working well as a venue for these meetings and parents have noted that there are less delays between appointments.

Please can I outline our procedures around parents requesting to see or speak to staff as well as our policy around parent conduct. We have seen an increase in parents demanding to meet with staff immediately or demanding a response to emails/phone calls immediately - sometimes late at night or even at weekends - and this is just not possible nor is it the expectation. If you need to speak to a member of staff or need to arrange a meeting, please contact our School Office who will organise this with the appropriate person at a time that is mutually convenient.

Whilst we know the vast majority of family members are considerate and raise any worries in a respectful manner, unfortunately we have seen a number of parents becoming abusive towards staff or other members of the school community - this has included rudeness, raised voices and intimidation. None of our staff or visitors come to school to be verbally abused and this will not be tolerated. Our Parent Code of Conduct can be found on the following link:https://www.elstonhallmat.co.uk/policies

We all want the best for each and every child and it is important that we work together in the best interests of the children.

We hope you have a lovely half term break - however you are spending it. We look forward to seeing the children again when we return on Monday 3rd November.

Mrs Arnold

Year 1 Harvest Festival

Our Year 1 children gave a lovely Harvest presentation this morning.

The children really enjoyed singing and speaking and showed their increased independence.

It was lovely to see how much parents enjoyed this too and how many of you came along. Thank you - Year 1 Staff

A few reminders!

Winter Uniform - All children should be in Winter uniform after half term (except on PE days for Rec-6).

After School Sports clubs - Children should be wearing their PE kit for this please. Before school clubs are different as we do not want children getting wet and remaining in wet PE kits during the day if it happens to be their PE day.

Dinner money - Please could all parents in Y3 - 6 check their child's Arbor account and clear any amount still owing. If you are experiencing any difficulties making payment, please contact the School Office to discuss a payment plan.

Information from WM Police about Safety during this time of Year

Street Teams for pupils aged 10-17yrs.

We are excited to let you know that Street Teams will be running free wellbeing groups for children aged 10–17 and adults (parents, carers, grandparents, etc.) until June 2026.

These sessions offer a mix of fun, creative, and supportive activities designed to build confidence, resilience, and overall wellbeing.

Childrens Session - Green Rivers Community Ass,WS3 1NQ - Every other Monday, 4:00–5:00pm

Adult Sessions - Green Rivers Community Association, WS3 1NQ – every other Monday, 9:30–11:00am

Street Teams, 1 Butts Street, WS4 2BJ – every other Monday, 9:30–11:00am

Walk-ins are welcome, however bookings are advised through this link:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScz7Nlbs8kfrxUgkovvIQ3k35WtWrfpWAe17BqX6OrwdKA-JQ/viewform?usp=preview

Or simply scan the QR code below to book:

Benchball Festival

On Wednesday 15th October we took some children to Streetly for a benchball festival. It was played in a non competitive atmosphere with teachers joining in if they wanted! All the children had a good time and showed excellent sportsmanship. They were a delight to take and represented the school well.

Mr Rosser

Information from Walsall Health Spaces

Walsall healthy spaces are delivering a host of activities throughout October half term aimed at children and teenagers across Walsall.

Families across Walsall are in for a frightfully fun October half term, with a packed programme of free Halloween-themed activities taking place in parks across the borough.

Organised by Walsall Council’s Healthy Spaces team, the events will run from Monday October 25 to Friday October 30, ranging from spooky woodland trails and creepy crafts to ghoulish games and sports sessions designed to get families moving.

All activities are completely free, offering the perfect way for children of all ages to stay active, enjoy the outdoors, and have some Halloween fun.

As part of the Halloween programme, families can look forward to:

· Haunted woodland trails with eerie props hidden among the trees 👻

· Creepy crafts and spooky art sessions 🎨

· Pumpkin carving and slime-making workshops 🎃🧪

· Spooky sports and monster multisport sessions 🏃‍♀️⚽

All sessions are free to attend, but booking is essential. To reserve a place or find out more, email the Healthy Spaces team at healthyspaces@walsall.gov.uk.

The full programme can be downloaded at https://linktr.ee/walsallhealthyspaces

Cross Country at Aldridge Airfield

At a recent Cross Country event, the achievements of 2 of our girls had not been communicated - apologies! Please can we say well done to Amayah and Shelby who came 1st and 2nd respectively amongst the girls and Fenella who also came within the top 5 - well done to these Year 5 pupils!

Assessment information links for parents and carers

Reception baseline assessment: information for parents - GOV.UK

Phonics screening check: information for parents - GOV.UK

Multiplication tables check: information for parents - GOV.UK

2025 key stage 2 national curriculum tests: information for parents - GOV.UK

Hello Yellow

We celebrated Hello Yellow Day on Friday, 10th October 2025 as part of our recognition of World Mental Health Day.  On this day, staff and children wore a yellow item and paid a £1 donation.

We hope that by wearing yellow, we made the day a little bit brighter whilst raising funds for 'Young Minds', a charity which supports young people who are struggling with their mental health.

A Shout Out to our Well-Being Champions, a team of Year 5 and Year 6 children who have completed Reflexions ‘Be A Mate Training’ as they also came up with some ideas for how to make ‘Hello Yellow Day’ even better this year.

All funds raised will be donated to Young Minds. Thank you on behalf of the Charity.