Elaine Primary School is part of the Inspire Partnership Trust

Elaine Monthly Newsletter

Friday 26th September 2025

Headteacher's welcome

Welcome to the New Academic Year

We are delighted to welcome all families back to Elaine for the start of the new school year. It has been wonderful to see the children return looking so smart in their school uniforms and ready to learn. We are especially pleased to welcome our new Nursery and Reception children, who have settled beautifully into their learning environment and are beginning their school journey with confidence and excitement.

Thank You for Your Support

We would like to say a huge thank you to all parents and carers for your continued efforts in ensuring the children are in school every day. Your commitment is making a real difference.

We are proud to share that attendance to date stands at 94.55%, compared to 92.67% at this time last year. This significant improvement reflects the effectiveness of our attendance monitoring strategies, increased family engagement, and the consistent promotion of the importance of regular school attendance. Higher attendance means pupils are better able to access the full curriculum, supporting their learning and progress. Thank you—please keep it up!

Positive Feedback from Our School Improvement Partner

On Friday 12th September, we welcomed our School Improvement Partner, Sue Reid, to Elaine. She praised the school for the high standards of behaviour for learning, highlighting how engaged and focused pupils were in their lessons.

She also noted the smooth transition pupils have made into the new academic year and commented on the calm, orderly, and welcoming school environment. This positive feedback reflects the impact of our behaviour management strategies and the dedication of staff in creating a supportive and structured learning community.

Thank You for Attending the RHE Session

Thank you to the parents who attended the recent RHE information session. It was a valuable opportunity to share details about the policy and curriculum. If you would like to access the curriculum content, please follow the link available on our school website.

PTA Coffee Morning

We are pleased to invite you to a PTA Coffee Morning on Tuesday 4th November, 8:30–9:30am. This will be a great chance to meet other parents, find out more about the work of the PTA, and explore ways you can support the school.

Join Our Local Community Council

We are looking for a keen parent to join our Local Community Council (formerly known as the Local Governing Body). This is a fantastic opportunity to make a positive difference in the life of our school. If you are interested, please register your name with the school office.

Rupinder Bansil

Headteacher

This month's learning...

Mondrian

Mondrian really enjoyed the food workshop where they got to make butterflies out of fruit and vegetables. What a yummy snack!

Matisse

Matisse have been enjoying exploring a variety of sensory play, including the water area.

Monet

Monet class have been enjoying their place value learning and have built on their number bonds to 10 by exploring number bonds to 20!

O'Keefe

O’Keeffe enjoyed finding minibeasts in their micro-habitats around school. We spotted ladybirds, bees, spiders, worms, and woodlice.

Van Gogh

This term Van Gogh have consolidated their understanding of place value, using base 10 and ten frames.

Gill

In Gill class, for English we have been investigating different types of pollution in our local area and how it affects the environment. We are planning to draft a letter to the local council to inform them of our discoveries, and what changes we could make as a community.

Indiana

In Indiana, we have been exploring all of the features of a good friend and what to do if we feel upset with someone. We think that friendship is made up of love, respect and kindness!

Warhol

In Science, we have been exploring states of matter. The children were able to take part in an experiment whereby they had to observe the melting process of different chocolate.

Banksy

In art, we have been exploring the work of artist Kim Guthrie. We have enjoyed experimenting with oil pastels and layering to replicate a piece of Kim Guthrie's artwork - a gorilla, which links to our core text in English 'Gorilla Dawn'.

Wiltshire

In science, we have been learning how to classify plants and animals. The children looked at common features to help them classify plants, starting with seeding or

non-seeding down to specific species: ferns, mosses, algae, conifers and angiosperms.

Sherald

In maths, we have been learning to add and subtract integers! We've remembered to place the numbers in the correct place value and remembered to exchange! We are looking forward to multiplication and division next week.

Picasso

This week in Picasso class we have been looking at skills for life in our enrichment interventions. Pupils have been show how to cut and prepare a range of ingredients to produce a variety of quick easy snack, this week we made cheesy bean wraps

Transforming children’s lives through partnership and collaboration

Attendance

Our Whole School attendance this week is: 94.49. A really good start. Our taget this year is 95%. We need your help to acheive this.

Please remember to bring your child/ren in school on time. Schools starts at 8.40. Next week we will be reviewing lateness.

Key Dates:

2nd October: Census day

Save the date: Parents evening 14th and 15th October

14th Individual photographs

School Improvement - Our Priorities

Our priorities this year are as follows:

Culture of Reading

Embed positive reading habits across the school, leading to demonstrable positive impact on reading attainment for all pupils.

Maths Mastery

Embed a deep and secure understanding of mathematical concepts and problem-solving strategies across all year groups.

Strengthening Attendance

Strengthen attendance processes and procedures to ensure that Elaine Primary School achieves national measures for whole-school attendance and significantly reduces persistent absence.

Community Engagement

Strengthen community engagement through greater participation of parents and carers in school life, fostering a collaborative and supportive learning environment.

Pupil Leadership

To empower pupils to play a greater and more impactful role in the life of the school, fostering a culture of active citizenship and shared responsibility.

School Uniform

It is great to see the children looking smart in their school uniforms. Just a reminder that all shoes should be black, earrings need to be studs only and hair bands should be small and in school colours.

Please see the link to the uniform policy:

https://www.elaine.medway.sch.uk/page/?title=Policies&pid=52

Sports

Sports clubs have now started and our first tournaments, tri golf and hockey are coming up this half term. Please speak to Miss Macklin, our PE coordinator, if you have any questions about PE or sports clubs.

All children must bring their PE kit on PE day. This must be Elaine PE kit.

Healthy School

As a school, we promote healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle. Snacks should be fruit only. Water should be sent in children's bottles and children may have squash/juice at lunchtime only. Children will not be allowed to drink squash during lessons.

As we have children with allergies at Elaine, we are a nut free school so please consider this when packing your child a packed lunch.

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