Headteacher Message
Dear Families,
Here we are again at the end of another jam-packed week at Coleham School!
I’ve managed to spend a bit of time in and out of classes this week and seeing what is going on in classrooms which is always a treat! There’s always something terribly dull and important for me to do, but there’s always time later on for that – being amongst that energy is what it’s all about!
This week I’ve seen two class assemblies (which were amazing!) seeing some fantastic poetry; I’ve seen an incredible football match with our second team through to the County Finals; popped in to hear some amazing singing in Mrs Porrett’s assemblies; heard about our fantastic swimmers at the local gala; catching up about Y4’s fantastic overnight trip to PGL and I’ve given a tour of the school to David O’Toole, our Trust CEO who loved speaking to the children about our art competition to produce work for the Trust offices (the only thing on the wall in the Trust offices so far is a signed Everton shirt – they need something worth looking at…)
I have also spent some time to present our parent / carer survey data. You can now view our response here: 2025-26 Parent & Carer Survey.
One of the outcomes of this year’s survey is the new idea to hold a termly Family Forum: an open opportunity for parents and carers to meet with school leadership to ask questions and find out more about operational matters that can sometimes seem mysterious. We will let you know in advance when that will be and what format it will take.
We are also excited to start getting ready for Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday on the 8th May. We have a couple of things planned, including a song at the end of the day and an assembly from Shropshire Wildlife Trust. We’ll be able to give you all more information next week when we have finalised plans – it’s very exciting!
Have a lovely weekend!
Tom Larkham
Headteacher
What’s on next week?
Monday
Dolphins Class Swimming (afternoon)
Foxes class- Local outing St Mary’s Church (afternoon)
Tuesday
Year 5 Local Outing Longden Cemetery (morning)
Turtles Class Swimming (afternoon)
Wednesday
Badgers Class Local Outing St Mary’s Church (afternoon)
Friday
Leopards Class Swimming (afternoon)
Monday 4th May -BANK HOLIDAY
Launching Plant & Craft Fair Competitions- 2 weeks to go!
On Monday, Mr Larkham will announce in assembly the competitions that the children can enter for the Plant & Craft Fair on Saturday 9th May
The competitions are a huge focal point of the fair with judging taking place by the Belle Vue Arts Festival. We all enjoy browsing the incredible entries in the School Hall.
Get ready at home with your ideas or crafting, your entries will need to be brought to the School Fair on Saturday 9th May by 11am.
This year’s theme is FANTASY. Think of Fantasy lands and creatures, dystopian worlds, magic and sorcery, kingdoms and quests, heroes and journeys, myths and legends, let your imagination go wild.
Children can be as creative as they like, there are no limits put on our competitions and children can interpret the competitions in any way they choose!
Potion & Spell– Enjoy potion making and add some writing for a label or spell.
Fantasy Bake-Off -Cakes big or small, as long as its edible!
Fantasy Garden-Enjoy scavenging natural items to make a mini garden and design it with a fantasy twist. Use any container big or small to display your garden.
Fantasy Land in a Box– Create a fantasy world in a box. Any box, any size, any material.
Fantasy Art Work– Use any art materials and media you like to depict a fantasy scene or image, sketching, painting, doodling, design a comic strip, blend with chalk or pastels, make a collage…
Below are some Fantasy ideas to inspire you.
We can’t wait to see your ideas!
Every child is an Artist at Coleham School!
Next Friday Sir David Attenborough’s Birthday Celebration
We’ll be having a whole school Celebration Day to celebrate Sir David Attenborough’s 100th Birthday! Here’s a few snippets of the day
- Shropshire Wildlife Trust Assembly
- Non-Uniform
- Outdoor Picnic Lunch
- Green activities
- 3:00pm Whole School Song to families on the middle playground.
- Birthday cake at 3:00pm. We’ll be selling slices after the song for donations to Shropshire Wildlife Trust (first come, first served)
Plant & Craft Fair Volunteers Wanted
Can you or a friend or family member help us to man a stall at our Plant & Craft Fair?
We would love some help on the Plant Stall and Refreshments or even to help us tidy away.
It always feels good to lend a hand and get involved.
Please sign up HERE
Thank you, your support means we can put on fabulous events for the children.
Shrewsbury in Bloom Competition
You may remember that last year Polly won Shrewsbury Town Council’s Planter in Bloom competition! Here she is with her actual design planted making Shrewsbury look beautiful.
The competition is open again this year and we encourage lots of children to enter!
Children can find copies on the display outside the office. We are able to email entries on the children’s behalf. Please hand in to the office.
3-18 Education Art Competition
The deadline has been extended to Friday 1st May 2026!
Competitive Swimming Gala Success
We took part in another swimming gala recently, which was highly competitive and acted as the selection event for the County Finals in June.
All of the children did exceptionally well and swam brilliantly throughout the event. Some fantastic swimming techniques were on display, and every swimmer should be proud of their efforts.
We had a number of children progress through to the finals, and although most narrowly missed out on qualification, Harper was outstanding and won both of her races in the final! She will now go on to represent us at the County Finals.
A huge well done to all of the children for their fantastic efforts!
WOW – What an incredible time we had at PGL!
Year 4 had the most amazing time at PGL last week, making memories that will last a lifetime! For many of the children, it was their first time sleeping away from home and being away from their families, and they should all be incredibly proud of how brilliantly they did.
They embraced every challenge with huge smiles and fantastic enthusiasm, taking part in raft building, aeroball, microscooters, problem solving, the sensory trail, and finishing the day singing songs around the campfire. Every activity was met with energy, determination and a real sense of adventure.
Their behaviour throughout the trip was absolutely exemplary, and they were a true credit to Coleham. It was a real privilege to watch the children grow in confidence, support one another, persevere when things felt tricky, face their fears and achieve things they never thought possible.
Trips like this are so special because they show just how incredible our children are, and Year 4 certainly did us proud.
A huge thank you to all of the staff who gave up their time, energy and care to make this experience possible – it would not happen without you!
Bookfest’s Grand Finale
Year 5 have been busy devouring six brilliant new novels for Shropshire Bookfest and voting for their favourite like true critics— today the adventure continued at Theatre Severn for the big winner reveal. Wildlands took the crown, with author Brogan Murphy there in person to celebrate. Extra applause for Juliet, who scooped a prize in the Bookfest competition.
U9s are through to the County Cup Final!
The U9s have only gone and done it — they’re through to represent Coleham in the County Cup Final, joining the U10s!
The boys secured their place with a fantastic 5–3 win against Whittington in today’s semi-final at home. Some brilliant football was on display, and we are incredibly proud of their performance, teamwork, and sporting abilities.
We can’t wait to see how they perform in their next challenge!
Orienteering at Carding Mill Valley
Back last term, we took a group of Year 6 students to Carding Mill Valley to take part in an orienteering event. The children were sent out in groups to follow a route covering over 3km.
They really enjoyed themselves and, other than a few trips and slips, the day was a huge success! Although we didn’t place in the top three, all of our teams completed the course without missing any checkpoints and finished in impressive times of between 40–50 minutes.
Better yet, they loved spending the afternoon hiking in such a stunning area as Carding Mill Valley.
Well done to everyone involved! 
Window Art for BVAF
Six of our Year 2 Owls spread their wings today and swooped down to Greyfriars Bridge to meet Artist Richard — then painted beautiful blooms onto a shop window. This artwork will showcase all the events for this year’s Belle Vue Arts Festival. The countdown is officially on!
Cook Stars Club
Fantastic to have Cook Stars ✨️ with us for our brand new Cookery Club!
The children made the most delicious soda bread! Delicious, warm straight from the oven and with a recipe card so they can make it at home again for their family. Great effort everyone!
Nothing beats learning practical skills you can can use for the rest of your life!