Headteacher Message
Dear Families,
Welcome back to all our returning families and a huge welcome to Coleham to all our new families!
I hope you all had a fantastic summer doing exciting things; trying new adventures or even just chilling at home. I had the best summer enjoying August’s total solar eclipse in deepest (darkest!) Spain. It was my second eclipse and still as breath-taking as ever. I’ve now had a total of 3 mins 11 sec in the Moon’s shadow and am already organising the next one!
Despite a fantastic summer, I am still really happy to be back at school. It has been wonderful seeing so many smiling faces and having some routine back again! The feeling over the past few days has been incredibly positive. I spoke to the children in assembly on Monday about making this year a Golden Year: starting afresh, regardless of anything that’s happened in the past, and being our very best in everything we do. The sense of positivity across the school is palpable and I am very excited to see what we as a community can achieve this year.
Our new EYFS children have made a great start: full of kindness and curiosity – it feels like they’ve been here forever! Our new Year 6 have also started really well and I can tell they will set the tone brilliantly this year!
Please take a moment to read through this newsletter for lots of reminders about general housekeeping.
Enjoy the first weekend of the school year, and we’ll look forward to seeing you all on Monday!
Tom Larkham
Headteacher
Diary Dates: Coming Up soon
Tuesday 8th September: EYFS Parent Phonics Information session @ 2:30 pm and 5:00 pm.
Thursday 17th September: School Photographs (individual photos)
If you would like a photograph taken of siblings please complete this form HERE
Wednesday 23rd September: Open Classrooms 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm. A chance to see inside your child’s classroom and chat to their teacher.
Tuesday 29th September: Flu Clinic whole school
September Social
The September Social is back! Our biggest event of the school year where we can all catch up after the holidays, re-connect and enjoy each other’s company.
You won’t want to miss it!
- Garden Bar
- BBQ
- Cafe
- The Animal Family (snakes galore)
- Donkey Rides
- Soak the Coach
- Fun & games
- Live Music including The Belle V’ukes @12:00 Mr Williams’ Choir group @1:30pm and the finale Mr Larkham’s rock band.
Reporting Absence
absence@col.318education.co.uk
Please include your child’s name, class and the description of illness/appointment.
We are required to have this information in order to explain all absences when challenged by the Local Authority Education Welfare Officer (EWO).
Leave of Absence Requests
Every School Day Counts!
There are only 190 statutory school days in a year, leaving 175 days, including weekends and holidays, which are available for you to use for holidays.
If you do decide to take a leave of absence that has not been authorised by the Headteacher, this will be recorded in the register as an unauthorised absence.
The amount of time the Headteacher is at liberty to authorise in various scenarios is stated on the Request for Leave of Absence Form. It may be that some of the absence is authorised, and some not, but each case is viewed individually.
Special Leave of Absence Form
You may print the form HERE or call into the office to collect a hard copy form.
Procedure
Parents complete a request form for leave of absence and return it to the school for authorisation at least 1 week before the requested date.
Parents are informed of the school’s decision (ideally within 5 working days) by email.
If the holiday/absence is not to be authorised, the Local Authority Education Welfare Officer (EWO) will receive a copy of this communication with the parents at the same time and may decide to explore the absence further at the next register review.
We make sure Coleham School is a lovely place to be so that children want to come to school. Please support us in encouraging good attendance and using school holidays for family time.
School Timings
Morning Fitness
The school day starts with a wake up at 8:30 am. This is an opportunity for children (and families!) to get an active start to the day with a refreshing run around our playground track or other sports activity supported by our Sports Coach, Mr Halford. At this time, parents are still responsible for their children.
- Monday: Daily Dash
- Tuesday: Daily Kick
- Wednesday: Daily Bounce
- Thursday: Daily Skip
- Friday: Daily Dance
Please only enter the site between 8:30 – 8:40 if you are taking part in the Daily Sports activity
Start of the Day
The school gates open for all pupils and families at 8:40 am and the school day officially begins at 8:50 am when classes go inside for registration. EYFS and Year 1 children are able to enter through their classroom doors on arrival: all other years will line up with staff supervising. A swift drop off is encouraged as staff are on hand to supervise. The school site must be fully locked by 9:00 am.
Late Arrivals
For arrivals after 8:50 am, (once classes have gone inside) your child will need to enter through the main front door. Here, they will be greeted by office staff who will assist them to sign in electronically. This sign-in is required as it feeds into our registration system. We record a late mark from 9:00 am to 9:15 am, and if you arrive after 9:15 am, this is recorded as an absence for the morning session. If you are finding being on time a challenge, please get in touch, and we can offer some support.
End of the Day
- EYFS and KS1 finish school at 3:10 pm.
- KS2 finish school at 3:20 pm.
- School Gates need to be locked at 3:30 pm
We are really grateful to everyone for clearing the school site quickly at the end of each day. For safeguarding reasons and so extra curricular clubs can begin safely, we must have the site locked up by 3:30 pm and the road opened to traffic, so please do remind your children not to stay and play for too long on the equipment.
School Street – Daily Road Closure
School Street
We are fortunate to have one of the few operating School Street schemes. This means that Greyfriars Road is shut to traffic between Longden Coleham and Salter’s Lane each day, twice a day:
- Start of the day: closed at 8:30 am; reopened at 9:00 am
- End of the day: closed at 3:00 pm; reopened at 3:30 pm
To keep this safe and smooth for our community, including our neighbours, there are some important points to note and remember:
- Please do not move the cones yourself to enter or leave the road, or to allow others to enter or leave the road
- Please do not drive out of the closed road until it is reopened by school staff
- Please do not use Salter’s Lane for parking: several parents have blocked drives, lanes and houses which has caused upset and significant disruption
- Remember that residents in the closed section are permitted to leave & enter their properties carefully – school staff will move cones and advise
Please pass this information on to any other adults that collect or drop off your children. We will always respectfully challenge anyone driving in the closed road in the interests of everyone’s safety, so please treat staff with respect if you are challenged.
Park & Stride
We run a Park & Stride scheme where you can receive a free permit to park at St Julian’s Friars Car Park (by Stop Cafe/Gelatistry) at morning drop off and the end of the day for up to 30 minutes.
The car park permits have now arrived in the school office, so please pop to the office or email the office with your name and car registration to request one.
How to know what’s going on?
Website
Our website is live and up-to-date and the first port of call for any query you may have. The Parents’ Area section contains all Letters Home, Weekly Newsletters, Term Dates and a Calendar of events; and the Classroom pages show you trip dates, etc. Please do check as it really is our virtual office; we post to the website daily.
Email
To keep communication streamlined for parents we aim to send one weekly newsletter and any other letters each Friday so you are not overloaded with adhoc emails.
Dojo/Tapestry
Teachers will use Dojo (Tapestry in EYFS) for any class-related messages and updates re: PE days or other tweaks to their timetables. Sometimes there is the need to adjust a weekly timetable to allow for other activities or unplanned events, meaning PE days can change. Please do not worry if these messages are missed and your child is not in their PE kit!
Teachers will send a weekly message of a roundup of the week.
Social Media
Our Facebook will advertise our community events or share community news.
Our Instagram celebrates our creative curriculum.
Contacting Us
Please keep talking to us: tell us if we have done a good job or how things could be better!
Let us know if there’s anything we can support with: if you are experiencing any worries at home, or as a family, please talk with class teachers or our Pastoral Lead, Mrs Nash. Details of who and how to contact us are on our website:
https://colehamprimary.co.uk/home/about/find-us/
Mr Larkham (Headteacher), Miss Harris (Deputy Headteacher), Miss Othen (Business Mgr) and Miss Jones (SENDCo) are usually outside each morning or evening if you wish to speak with them about anything.
For concerns and general queries, please either email the office, or speak to a member of staff outside at drop off or collection. Please do not use Dojo for important messages as the Dojo ‘chats’ are not routinely checked by staff and messages can be missed.
Lunch Payments
The price of a school meal is £2.66. Children in EYFS, Yr 1 and Yr 2 all receive a free school meal and we encourage all children to take this.
Parents should top up their Arbor Meals Account for each child. Parents can top up their account, any time, with any amount but accounts should always remain in credit.
Children tell their teacher each morning at registration if they are having school dinners or packed lunch.
The daily charge is then deducted from your Arbor Meals balance.
Free School Meals
Children in EYFS, Year 1 & 2 automatically receive a free school lunch. This is known as Universal Infant Free School Meals.
Whilst children already receive a free lunch in EYFS, 1 & 2 we still urge you to apply for FREE SCHOOL MEALS entitlement as school might receive extra money and your child may benefit from free clubs and other support.
Who is entitled?
- Children whose households receive Universal Credit with annual household earnings of £7,400 or less will be able to receive Free School Meals. In addition they receive Holidays and Activities & Food (HAF) Clubs and also attract extra funding for the school to support your child.
This is known as Targeted Free School Meals.
Households may also be entitled to a meal if they:
• are in receipt of Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
•receive the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• meet criteria set out in separate guidance for families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) families with no recourse to public funds.
2. NEW All children whose household receives Universal Credit (of any amount!) are now able to get a free school meal. This is known as Expanded Free School Meals.
Apply here via Shropshire Council’s online portal HERE
Allergens & Food in School
Our School Menus are on the website HERE
Dietary Requirements
If you would like support regarding your child’s allergies or special dietary requirements then please email the Catering Manager, Mel Perry at: ca.colehamprimary@ocs.com. Alternatively, you can contact the School’s Business Manager and School’s Allergen Lead, Tracy Othen, at: tracy.othen@col.318education.co.uk.
‘Sesame, Celery and Nut Free’ School Kitchen
Our catering team does not order, accept, nor serve sesame, celery and nuts due to specific pupil anaphylaxis risks in our school. This means that our caterers have agreements in place with suppliers so we cannot order products that “contain nuts, sesame or celery” or “may contain nuts, sesame or celery” for school meals served at lunchtime.
There is no restriction on any foods regarding packed lunches. We foster a culture of strong allergy awareness in school. All staff are allergen-trained and we have safeguards and control measures in place to protect at-risk children. We regularly remind children that they must not share food and only eat the food that has been provided to them by staff or Parents/Carers.
Families can help us maintain a culture of allergy awareness in school by:
- informing us of your child’s allergies and keeping us up to date with any changes
- regularly reminding your child not to share any food you have provided in their packed lunch.
- to only send in fruit as a healthy breaktime snack. (EYFS & KS1 children each receive a free portion of fruit at break)
- be responsible for what your child eats at any school community events where families are responsible for the supervision of their child.
We carefully control food coming into school for allergy and nutrition reasons, therefore we do not allow birthday treats to be shared with the class. Instead, we recommend donating a book to the classroom book corner to be shared before home time.
Healthy Packed Lunches
If you prepare your child a lunchbox, then please see the recommended guidance below.
Children need a balanced diet rich in calcium and vitamins from foods like dairy, leafy greens, fruits, and 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.
Lunchboxes are unable to be refrigerated in school. Please consider whether your child requires an ice-pack in their school lunch box to keep the food fresh until lunchtime.
For more Healthy Lunch Advice & Inspiration click HERE
Spare School Jumpers
Our Drop and Swap trolley in Reception Foyer is over whelmed with spare school jumpers!
Please help us recycle these by popping in and helping yourself to extras.
2027-28 Term Dates
The Term Dates for 2027-28 for The 3-18 Education Trust are out!
27 – 28 Term Dates
Please only check these on our website as we have different term dates to other schools in Shropshire.
Community Zumba
Screenshot