Headteacher Message
Dear Parents & Carers,
September is always an exciting time: the start of the year welcomes everyone back to routine and friends, and we get to welcome a whole new group of families to our thriving school community. We also welcome Mrs Bladen to our amazing TA team and Mr Hughes to our teaching team in Year 5. Welcome, everyone!
I can’t remember a start to a school year so full of energy, excitement and a palpable buzz around the whole school… This has been a fantastic week and I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the children back at school. I have spent a lot of the week speaking to children, welcoming them back and finding out about everyone’s holidays – I love a holiday as much as the next person, but nothing beats being back in amongst everyone here at school.
The school is looking great with a lot of hard work over the summer on signage and the playgrounds thanks to the hard work of Miss Othen. Hopefully you have all had the chance to see the changes around the site.
Even though we have only been at school for 80% of a week, we’re already looking forward to events coming up, including the September Social on Saturday September 13th – please do come along to help kick-start the year with some real community spirit and fun. Please also look out for the open classrooms on Monday 22nd September where you can meet your new teachers and see the classrooms in a less formal setting than parents’ evening.
Well done on a great first week everyone, and thank you all for you support.
Have a lovely weekend!
Tom Larkham
Headteacher
Coming soon: The September Social
Our biggest event of the year is coming soon! Our September Social is a great chance to reconnect after the holidays and meet all our new families.
We have lots in store: Donkey rides, Farm Animals, The Garden Bar, Live Music, Smoothie Bike, Soak the Coach. Everybody is welcome so bring grandparents and family members along. Let’s hang out and have a lovely time!
We hope that lots of Year 6 pupils can help out by running stalls or coming up with a game to run. Please support your child with this if they are keen. They can chat to Miss Othen about this next week outside at Drop Off.
Friday-Non-Uniform Day
FRIDAY 12th September is our Non-Uniform Day in support of the September Social..
In exchange for non-uniform, we would be very grateful for the following donations:
- Cakes (HOME MADE ESPECIALLY but also shop bought)
- Kids’ Tombola gifts, such as: sweets, snacks jewellery, toiletries, stationery, toys, bottles unwanted gifts)
- Raffle prizes
- Soft Cuddly Toys (pre-loved)
WE WILL NOT BE COLLECTING PRE-LOVED BOOKS OR TOYS THIS TIME
Thank you for all your help!
Coming Soon Open Classrooms
On Monday 22nd September our classrooms will be open to families after school from 3:10pm and 3:20pm until 4:30pm. You can make your way in from the playground once the Teacher has gone back inside. The main door can be used to exit the school afterwards.
This is an opportunity to see the space your children are learning in, and chat to your children’s class teachers about anything at all. We’re looking forward to seeing you!
Year 5/6 Author Visit-Lisa Thompson
Dear Parents/Carers,
Booka Bookshop has arranged a brilliant Author event for Year 5 and 6 taking place on Tuesday 30th September.
Best selling novelist Author of ‘The Goldfish Boy ‘Lisa Thompson will be visiting us from Suffolk.
There will be an opportunity for a book signing in the school library.
If you would like to purchase a signed book please purchase one via Booka Bookshops website.
Click HERE
There are 3 books available at a reduced cost of £7.
Important! So Booka can compile a list for the book signing, when you get to checkout make sure you enter:
- your child’s name and surname in the ‘First Name’ box
- your child’s class and school in the ‘Last Name’ box
- select ‘Collect in Oswestry’ so you don’t get charged for shipping.
- fill in your billing address and email as normal
If you would like a book, please purchase one by Friday 23rd September.
This promises to be a brilliant visit.
Kind regards,
Miss Othen
(Business Manager who loves reading!)
E-Safety Update
Please see the latest E-Safety Newsletter
Online Safety Newsletter Sept 2025
With updates on Coverstar app, AI and Roblox gaming.
Healthy Snacks and Lunchboxes Guidance
At breaktime, children are welcome to bring in fruit/vegetables for a breaktime snack. (EYFS and KS1 have this provided to them for free). This is both much healthier and reduces the amount of litter.
Please try to pack healthy options for lunch boxes – some guidance is below:
Children need a balanced diet rich in calcium and vitamins from foods like dairy, leafy greens, fruits & vegetables, alongside water, to build strong teeth and healthy bones. It’s important to limit sugary foods and drinks and avoid snacking on them between meals, as frequent exposure to sugar increases the risk of tooth decay.
Parenting support-New Dates released
Free School Meals
If you think you might qualify for Free School Meals then we urge you to apply!
Whilst the children already receive a free lunch in EYFS, Year 1 & Year 2, qualifying for free school meals means that school receives extra money which will allow your child to benefit from free clubs and other extras.
The qualifying benefits for free school meals are:
- Income support
- Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
- Income-related employment and support allowance
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- The guaranteed element of pension credit
- Child tax credit (provided you’re not also entitled to working tax credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
- Working tax credit run-on – paid for the four weeks after you stop qualifying for working tax credit. Proof of this will be required
- Universal credit – provided you have an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400, as assessed by earnings from up to three of your most recent assessment periods
Apply HERE
Coleham Keyrings!
To mark the updated school badge and the 600 years of the loggerheads, each of our new EYFS families will be receiving a special Coleham keyring with a handy QR code for the school website on the reverse!
Our website is live and up to date and can answer most questions you will have from Letters Home, to Diary Dates and Clubs.
Drama Club R&D Outing to the Flaxmill
Drama Club are embarking on a new performance project this year, inspired by the lives of the workers of Shrewsbury Flaxmill. Today, we walked to the Flaxmill to complete some ‘research and development’! We met with Lisa, the community engagement officer, who helped us learn lots about the building’s history and function, as well as the conditions of the adults and children employed there. We had a good look around the museum to get inspired and generate lots of performance ideas, as well as exploring the Dye House, which will be our performance space at the end of the year! We can’t wait to begin our exciting, creative journey!
Holiday Transformation
The summer holiday has been put to good use: it’s been a hive of activity with contractors and volunteers coming and going almost every day completing various works, and we’re thrilled with the results!
Our grounds have been smartened up with a lovely new allotment area transformed by Network Rail; a giant new tree deck protecting the massive Cappadocicum Maple tree, and recycled plastic picnic seating. Local artist and Illustrator, Matt Sewell, has painted a new mural for us showing our folly, pond and the animals that live on our grounds 🦊🦡🐇🐿🦔
We love our new logo and signage! It gives greater curb appeal and a much happier welcome into school. Well done to Mr Williams on the superb design! We also have new bike racks for the children and staff to use. Miss Lewis went on a much needed spending spree and has replaced all of the PE equipment: the shed is now fully stocked and you will see some professional new football goals on the field!
We hope you like the new improvements! There is more to come very soon with a new outdoor learning space for year 1 and bike sheds for EYFS. Watch this space…
Community Heroes transform school site
We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of Network Rail who spent this week volunteering to transform the school site and have it ready for a brand new school year! We have extensive grounds which has a lot of wear and tear from the weather 🌧, the children and even the badgers 🦡🐾
The team have fixed play equipment🔧, installed fencing⚒️, restored and built outdoor furniture🔩, totally transformed our school allotment garden🌱🌿 and more. They have strimmed, power washed, painted… you name it, they’ve done it and the school grounds are looking fabulous! We are beyond grateful for their time and effort.
It has been lovely getting to know the Network Rail staff – an organisation after our own heart❤️, a team who enjoy each other’s company and are dedicated to what they do – a great bunch of people! It’s been a week of fun and hard graft💪 Thank you so much to these community heroes; we are thrilled with the results! #kindness #colehamcommunity
Reading Ready for a new school year!
It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading… Over the holidays we’ve refreshed 14 classroom book corners and our library and checked over hundreds and hundreds of books, adding new releases, brand new phonics home readers, favourite series that are firm favourites with the children and new books that help develop empathy in children! Check out Empathy Lab UK website to learn more and find some brilliant recommended reads for your child.
For our pupils to LOVE reading, our book shelves must look like a book shop full of brightly coloured covers, emerging new authors and books that celebrate the children’s passions ⚽️🎮
We have lots in store to inspire reading for 25-26: author events are booked in for Autumn term and our picture book studies are ready to roll out! Thank you to the parents who purchased some of these last year as gifts to the school.
We’re now ready for a brand new school year!
Much Reading love from Miss Othen, Miss Harris & Mrs Stennett (Staff Reading Champions ❤️📚)
School Logo refresh – 600 years of the Loggerheads
The Shrewsbury Loggerheads and the Coleham Pumping Station flywheel has been Coleham School’s logo for generations. The faces of the three leopards started life back in 1425 as a feature on the Shrewsbury Common Seal. 600 years later and Shrewsbury Town Council have restored the loggerheads on the Quarry Gates to mark their 600 year anniversary! We thought it was an ideal time to refresh our school loggerheads for a more modern touch.
It would be madness to move away from an established and recognised mark so we’ve stuck with what we had but given it a fresher look.
So we took the opportunity to spruce up the school’s face and main gates with great big new signs.
It all looks a lot happier now we think.
Thank you to Mr Williams for his creative digital skills, we trust him implicitly with all of our branding and graphics work and are really lucky to have him as part of our team. The typography is fresher and slick, and the leopards have a teddy bear-like feel don’t you think?
We especially love the corner gate arch giving a warm welcome in the morning and showcasing our position in the Coleham Community amongst our neighbourhood businesses.
Thanks to the guys at Sign & Poster; they did such a wonderful job as always. It was touch and go at one point on fixing the lettering but we came up with a solution just in time for the new school year.
If you love local history, the loggerheads feature all over our historic town in some unusual places so keep your eyes peeled!