Message from Ms Jones
Dear Parents and Carers,
It is hard to believe that another academic year has flown by here at Coleham and we find ourselves on the final day of term, and for me my last day as headteacher at Coleham School.
The last 13 years have been incredible and I feel privileged to have played a small part in educating so many wonderful children, many of whom are now grown up! Coleham has a certain special-ness about it that is hard to put into words. That special-ness doesn’t come from one person or thing. Without a doubt, it is the community of wonderful staff, children and parents, who make it great and it is fair to say that I have loved every minute of being a headteacher here. I am so proud to have led such a committed, loyal and hardworking team of staff, who go above and beyond every day to ensure that all our children receive the best possible education. I would like to pass on my sincere thanks to them all for their unfaltering support and hard work. The celebrations organised by the whole team on Wednesday were incredible, I was absolutely blown away by the videos and the wonderful singing at the end of the day. In addition, thank you so much to those parents and staff who contributed to the beautiful scrap book, I was overwhelmed by all the messages. The gifts and vouchers that I have received from staff and children have been so kind and thoughtful too. I feel extremely fortunate to be remaining within our trust, which means that I will be able to pop into Coleham from time to time and see the children and staff and, of course, support Mr Larkham and the whole team moving forward. I have no doubt that the school will go from strength to strength and I wish everyone lots of luck.
Today we also say “goodbye” to our Year 6 children. The entire year group performed wonderfully well in Leavers’ assembly last Friday, and they have all had an excellent last few weeks at school. I thoroughly enjoyed presenting their cups to them today in assembly and am extremely proud of all they have achieved during their time with us at Coleham. All of our children are ready for the journey that lies ahead, full of the necessary skills needed and oozing with energy and excitement. We wish them all lots of luck in the future; their new secondary schools are very lucky to have them.
Thank you to all of the parents who join our staff to fundraise and provide lovely events for the entire school community. The Quiz night and the Plant and Craft Fair were particular highlights, supported by many parents/carers. The team have already planned their first community event next year The “September Social and some new events for next year!
All that remains is for me to thank you all for your support and to wish you all a lovely, relaxing summer break. School will re-open on Tuesday 5th September (Wraparound Care will be running on 5th September as normal).
Yours sincerely,
Ms C Jones
Headteacher
Message from Mr Larkham
Dear Parents and Carers,
As the end of a school year, and the end of an era, is upon us, we can look back on the past few years as a time of great change and drive towards a better today.
Ms Jones and I have worked to build the school we all know and love, but without her exceptional leadership, none of it would be possible. She has been an excellent example to us all, and has taught children, parents and staff how a school should be run. I am proud to have worked with her so closely these last few years and we now look to the future with positivity.
In September, a new period in Coleham’s history will begin with me as Headteacher. I’m excited to carry on the legacy of Ms Jones’ leadership and continue to develop the vision and ethos of our wonderful school. I have been part of that journey since 2009 and want nothing more than for Coleham to be a success.
There will be no great lurch to a new way ethos, no huge change: we will still be the school we all love, always looking to grow and develop for the benefit of everyone involved. The future is an undiscovered country filled with possibility and I can’t wait to lead Coleham School to its shores.
Thank you to everyone for your kindness, patience and support over the year – have a wonderful summer!
Tom Larkham
Thank you to Staff
As you know, we are also sad to be saying “goodbye” to some much loved Coleham staff this week. A big thank you to Mrs Long and Mr Russell who have been magnificent in teaching Year 4 and Year 5 over the last 2 years. You really have been brilliant! As their maternity contract ends, we will be sad to see them go but know we’ll stay in close contact. We are really looking forward to welcoming Mrs Allan back to teach in Year 2 and, of course, we are looking forward to welcoming Mrs Turner, Coleham’s new Deputy Headteacher.
Today, we also say “goodbye” to Miss Forrester, who has been teaching in EYFS this year. Luckily for us, Miss Forrester is moving to Bowbook Primary School, the newest school in our trust, which will open its doors to children in September. Congratulations to Mrs Forrester on her exciting new position as Nursery Teacher. We’ll still be seeing her lots as we’ll be working in closely with Bowbrook Primary and Miss Othen and Mrs Howson will also be using their expertise to help Bowbrook on their new school journey.
Finally, welcome to Miss Sampson-Jorge and Miss Pilsbury who join us as Teaching Assistants.
Allotmenteer Sunday 23rd JULY
This Sunday The Street Allotment Project are back at our school allotment from 9:00- 11:00am. Join them if you can! All sorts of delightful gardening shenanigans to be done 🙂
Enter via the car park gates and head to the greenhouse where you’ll find a friendly group of volunteers led by Caspar.
ParentPay Closing
ParentPay will be closing and payments and communications will be made via Arbor from September 2023.
We will transfer any ParentPay credit/debit balances to Arbor.
Please do not worry about making payment for School Meals at this time or during the holidays. Your child will still be able to receive a school meal when we return in September and payment can be made later when the system is up and running. To have a school meal, your child simply lets their Class Teacher know if they would like a dinner or packed lunch during the morning register.
We know that Arbor is a really great system for schools and parents but there may be a few teething issues during the first few weeks-please bear with us! The office staff will resolve any administration enquiries promptly but our absolute priority during the first week is making sure that children and families return to school happy and comfortable.
Clubs for next year
PARENT NOTE:
The Club Schedule for next year is now on the website so you can look at what will be available:
Clubs – Coleham Primary School
As you know, ParentPay is closing and we will be moving to a new Payments & Booking system on Arbor. We will need time to set this up on return to school in September so we hope to start clubs running during the second week.
We will release clubs during the first week back at school, we can’t give a specific date or time for club release just yet in case we run into technical/set up issues but will tell you as soon as we are able too during the first week in September. The payments and bookings on Arbor will be a big improvement on ParentPay but like anything new we fully expect to run into teething issues. Please be patient and support the office staff, any issues can be resolved and ironed out. The first week back to school is always very busy and with a host of new systems being implemented in school we would appreciate your patience and support.
Thank you
The School Office
Website Work Underway
Our website will be refreshed next week with everything you need ready for September 2023.
View the classrooms to see the staff working with your children, PE days and Arrival and collection points. Clubs and lunch menus are also available and school uniform can be purchased from the School Shop Direct.
September Social
Save the date! We look forward to welcoming you all back to school in September. This is the perfect opportunity for us all to get together for a ‘Coleham Catchup’ after the summer holidays.
We will need lots of volunteers (children and adults) to help man stalls on the day and get involved in any way you can. Please think about joining staff to help for an hour or two. Children are welcome to run their own stalls if they have an idea over the holidays.
Year 6 Leavers
Our Year 6 Class of 2023 is a special one and we will be sad to see them go but we know they are full of ambition and ready for the next chapter as young adults!
Our last day of school is always dedicated to them and our special assembly has seen them off in style. They shared their dreams for the future and sang to us for the final time and we felt such joy and pride for the brilliant young people they have become.
Ms Jones popped in to award our Year 6 cups.
Farewell Ms Jones!
Today we said farewell to Ms Jones, our Amazing Headteacher who has made our school the wonderful place it is and always led with compassion and integrity. She has been an inspirational leader and we feel blessed to have been part of Team Coleham under her leadership. Congratulations to Ms Jones in her new role as Deputy CEO for The 3-18 Education Trust, we are thrilled for her but will miss her lots too. Lucky for us, she will still be around and part of our trust family.
Here’s a video the staff made for Ms Jones Celebration Assembly. Talented staff re-wrote the song and recorded the vocals secretly at lunchtimes! (FYI the Sound of Music is one of her favourite films!)
The Parents say goodbye!
Our Celebration Day to say farewell to Ms Jones wouldn’t be complete without the whole school community coming together. Our children performed two special songs and parents presented a scrapbook of memories . A day we’ll all remember for a very long time.
PLATINUM Sports award!
We are so proud to announce that we have been awarded the PLATINUM SCHOOL GAMES AWARD! This has been over 5 years in the making, started by Mrs Young as PE Co-ordinator before handing the baton over to Miss Lewis who presented our final case study of How we make Sport accessible to all pupils at Coleham.
We have so many highlights from 2022-23, Netball County Champions, Winners of the Yr 6 Football Crossbar Cup, 2nd in the Area Athletics, Amazing Sports Days, Line Dancing in the rain, our Junior Park Run Takeover and lots of successes big and small for everyone.
Sport has the power to inspire, unite individuals, teaches teamwork and values and instils self-belief and pride.
Thank you to all our children, staff and parents who have joined us on our sporting journey and participated with us as a School Community!
2022-23 House Cup Winners
Wow, 103,280 Dojo points have been awarded to pupils this year for displaying our School Values.
Quarry who have come 2nd place so many times were the overall House Cup winners for 2022-23!
1st- Quarry 25,937 Dojo points
2nd- Severn 25,863 Dojo points
3rd- Greyfriars 25,762 Dojo points
4th Darwin 25,718 Dojo points
Severn win Summer Cup!
Severn win the House Cup for Summer Term! Congratulations Severn.
Year 6 @ Jump In
Year 6 celebrated the end of their Coleham Journey at Jump In and it was a chance to let their hair down, have fun and make some memories before they all head off in different directions to their new schools. Even Mr Edwards loves Jump In!(especially the free socks!)
Starfish visit Arts Trail Exhibition
We had such a lovely trip to Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery this morning. What a fantastic display of work by some world famous artists such as Matisse, Banks, Damien Hurst, Salvador Dali and many more! How lucky are we to have this world famous art in Shrewsbury! The children were inspired to do some art of their own. We recommend you visit in the school holidays!
A massive thank you to SM&AG for opening early for us!
Staff vs Yr 6 Netball Match
As part of Ms Jones Celebration Day we watched a very competitive netball match between our Staff and our Yr 6 County Champions. It was close but staff pipped it by one goal. We are so proud of our 2023 Year 6 Leavers.
Madhatters Tea Party
Badgers and Foxes enjoyed a crazy day at their Madhatters Tea Party! What a fun finale to their first year in school.
Yr 5 Campfire Party and Bunny Visit
Leopards celebrated the end of the school year with a campfire party complete with s’mores as part of their Woodland Work. We held a ‘Golden Leopards Award’ ceremony and invited a special guest: Coco the Bunny!
Green Flag Award
The Eco Council are pleased to have renewed our Green Flag accreditation for our commitment to Eco pledges in school.
