Our weekly message: Friday 09 January 2026

It’s a little late, but we wish everyone a happy new year.

New year, new details? If there are any new contact details for you or other contacts, please remember to let us know. We need up-to-date details for the people on our lists in case of emergencies. (The people on our lists are the ones you gave us when your child school – in most cases, this will be three different people.)

Attendance

Our attendance so far this year is 94.5% – this is a lower than the national figure for primary schools (95.1%) and lower than our attendance rate for Autumn 2024 (95.9%). Let’s hope it can rise across the Spring term.

Please continue to check the NHS site, Is My Child Too Ill For School.

Positive home-school relationships

Have you read our Positive Home-School Relationships Policy? It sets out reasonable expectations for meetings or emails with teachers and – occasionally – what we might do if we encounter unreasonable communications or unacceptable behaviour.

Staying safe online

Here’s an extract from an email from, Dame Rachel de Souza, the Children’s Commissioner:

I have recently published a new guide, What I wish my parents or carers knew: A guide for parents on managing children’s digital lives.

Supporting children’s safety is a shared responsibility between families, schools and wider society. For parents and carers, this responsibility has become increasingly complex as children’s lives are now deeply intertwined with the digital world. Many parents face difficult decisions about how to balance protecting children from online harm with enabling access to spaces that are now central to learning, socialising and play.

This guide…focuses on the challenge of managing children’s everyday online habits.

This guide was written with the direct involvement of children in England. It is a reflection of their views.

When I speak to children about what they would do differently when it comes to being online, with the benefit of hindsight, I ask them: would they give a smartphone to their own teenager? Almost unanimously, they tell me no. They want to be protected from it as long as possible.

As parents, carers, and educators, our job must begin and end with our children’s care and safety. It’s what they expect and what they want from you.

As one young person told me: “Don’t be afraid to be firm… If you are worried [that] your child is seeing harmful content and you don’t know what they’re watching and it’s affecting the behaviour, just take it that you know best – they don’t.

School dinners

In January 2025, 7,724 pupils entitled to a free school meal missed out on a free, hot lunch. School meals can be cheaper than a packed lunch. Think of the time you could save, too! All of our school meals are cooked on site and freshly prepared. Find out if you’re entitled to free school meals by applying online.

Zebra crossing

This week, we’ve had reports about cars ignoring waiting pedestrians at the zebra crossing outside our school. If your child walks to school on their own, please make sure they know how to cross carefully, still looking out for traffic as they cross. (And, if they have a mobile, please remind them how important it is to concentrate as they walk to school.)

Forest school

Your child may have noticed some recent changes to the land near the Key Stage 1 playground. These are part of our exciting plans to develop a Forest School area.

Forest School is an approach to learning that takes place outdoors. It supports children’s holistic development through regular sessions that encourage play, exploration and supported risk-taking. Through hands-on, learner-led experiences in a natural environment, children build confidence, resilience and self-esteem.

We’re pleased to be working with experienced Forest School practitioners, Børn of the Forest. They will deliver Forest School sessions to pupils across school. Our intention is for all children to experience Forest School as they move through the school – currently, this will be when children are in Year 3 and Year 5. This half-term, pupils in will Year 3 attend sessions led by a Børn of the Forest practitioner alongside a member of school staff. Next half-term, pupils in Year 5 will attend the sessions.

Sessions will take place outdoors and will run in most weather conditions, unless conditions are particularly extreme. Children will therefore need suitable clothing to keep them warm, dry and comfortable, and clothes that they do not mind getting muddy. Guidance about this has been shared in advance of your child’s first session – we’ll communicate again with parents of children in Year 5 nearer the time.

If you’ve any spare waterproof clothing or wellington boots that you would be happy to donate, we’d be very grateful. We also welcome donations of items such as pots, pans, sieves or spoons for use in our mud kitchen.

Our second Watch Us While We Work session for parents of children in Key Stages 1 and 2 is next Wednesday at 9.00am. As always, there will be two parts. One will focus on a feature of our Living and Learning curriculum that we call Feelings First, and one will focus on Reading. See you then!

School Journalists: 2025 is gone, 2026 is on!

Here’s a new update from our school journalists Faith and Stanley…

We had a spectacular year in 2025. One of the best things happened was making history by having our first Zoom call from Scholes, England all the way to Antarctica.

I (Faith) interviewed Ezmae to find out what her favourite moment from 2025 was.

Hi Ezmae

Hello

What was your favourite thing that happened in 2025?

The disco

Did you enjoy becoming a Year 6?

Yes, it was amazing!

What are you most excited for this year?

Starting my high school journey.

Stanley researched some crazy new year traditions from around the world:

In Italy, there’s a tradition to throw old furniture out the window to signify ‘out with the old’.

Here’s some other traditions…

Spain – grapes and polka dots

Eating 12 grapes at midnight (one for each chime) for luck, or wearing polka dots for prosperity

Brazil – jumping waves

Wearing white and jumping over seven waves at the beach to honour the ocean goddess.

And here’s some interesting facts:

January 1st became the new year in 46BC thanks to Julius Caesar honouring Janus – the two-faced god of beginnings.

The first new year celebrations are said to have been held in Babylon over 4000 years ago – although it’s believed they were held in March.

The practice of making resolutions is also said to have began in Babylon.

If you’re making a new year’s resolution, look our for the second Friday in January. This is said to be the most common day to quit your new year’s resolution – it’s often called ‘Quitters Day’.

Our weekly message: the last in 2025

Christmas came to Scholes on Thursday!  Not only did the children have an amazing Christmas lunch, we were also all fortunate to enjoy our very own inflatable winter wonderland…

Christmas productions

Thanks to everyone who came to one of our Christmas productions this week. We raised £249 for our current school charity, Woodland Trust. Thank you for all donations.

Move to Arbor

Our management information system move to Arbor is well underway. Thank you to the 94% of parents/carers who have logged into the parent portal. You should have noticed that most of the communications now come through Arbor. If you have not seen any emails for a while, please check your spam box and make sure you mark emails from school as safe.

From January, all payments should be made on Arbor. Reception, Year 1,2 and Year 3,4 all have trips coming up next term. Emails have been sent out about these, and payment can be made on Arbor.

Also, just a reminder to download the Arbor app and set up your phone so you receive notifications. Quick/short messages will be sent in-app rather than by text message (as in-app messages are free for us to send).

Get out and about over the holiday…

Over the holiday, it can sometimes be good to get out and about. There’s lots going in Leeds – check out the Child Friendly Leeds Winter Guide.

…and stay safe online

2 in 5 parents more relaxed about children’s online safety over Christmas according to this article. This might be at a time when children are even more online than normal. Check out this guide: the 12 Days of Online Safety.

Have a very happy Christmas and we’ll see you again in the new year – Monday 05 January 2026.

Our weekly message: Friday 12 December 2025

This week’s message kicks off (pun intended!) with some football news. Don’t miss the staffing update, especially if your child is in Reception, Class 2C or Class 3,4B.

Fantastic football

We’re really proud of some of our Y5,6 children who represented our school in the EFL Utilita Football Cup. They played in a competition with five other schools – and won! The team now progress to the next round of this national competition.

It was a tense affair with the final going all the way to sudden death penalties. We’re proud of their performances but we’re even more proud of their attitude: during the competition, a representative from Harrogate Town FC came over to say what ‘a credit to our school they all were’. He was particularly impressed with how well they worked as a team, how they encouraged each other and how they showed great sportsmanship towards the other teams – well done to all involved!

Staffing updates

Reception

Mrs Allen-Kelly, one of our Reception teachers, will be leaving us at the end of this term (Friday 19 December). Mrs Allen-Kelly has worked in Sphere Federation for eight years, much of that time here at Scholes (Elmet) Primary. We’ll be very sad to see her go. Whilst with us, Mrs Allen-Kelly has started lots of children off on their learning journey. Being a Reception teacher is such an important job and one that Mrs Allen-Kelly has done with dedication, patience and care. I’m sure you’ll join us in wishing her the best of luck with her new venture.

Mrs Cowgill will be taking over from Mrs Allen-Kelly in January. Mrs Cowgill has over 15 years of teaching experience, including many years working in Early Years. In Spring and Summer 2025, she worked at St James’ CE Primary, another of our federation schools, so she’s very familiar with our routines.

From January, Reception will look like this:

• Sunshine: Mrs Long on Monday and Mrs Brown for the rest of the week (Tuesday – Friday)
• Rainbow: Tuesday – Mrs Long on Tuesday and Mrs Cowgill for the rest of the week (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday)

Class 2C

From January, Mrs Paterson will work Monday – Wednesday and Mrs Wilkins will work Thursday and Friday.

Class 3,4B

In 3,4B, we welcome Miss Iveson back from maternity leave. Miss Iveson will work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and Mrs Lake will work Thursday and Friday.

How we communicate with you

After-school club – early closing

Next Friday is the last day of term. If you use our wrapround care on Fridays, please remember it closes early: 5pm.

Have a happy and healthy weekend.

Our weekly message: Friday 05 December 2025

Did you come to our Topic Review session last Friday? If so, thank you!

And did you manage to find a couple of minutes to leave us some feedback? Again, if so, thank you. One parent described the session as ‘Very informative’ – that’s great to hear!

Tree-mendous

On Wednesday, our Year 5 and 6 children were invited to go out into the local community to plant some new trees. This means there’s now an additional 90 trees in the village – each one planted by one of our Year 5 or Year 6 children.

Best start in life

The Best Start in Life website brings together trusted advice, support and guidance for parents of younger children.

Check out ‘The Story of You’, which celebrates the journey of early childhood, highlighting the vital role they play in their child’s lives and the support available.

Subscribe to the newsletter or personalised weekly emails for tailored
updates, tips, and guidance.

Chat Health (for older children and young people)

The Chat Health service is for people aged 11 to 19.

It offers support on a range of issues such as exam anxiety, self-harming, family dynamics such as parental separation, bullying, healthy eating and general health.

This is a universal service provided by Leeds Community Healthcare NHS trust. It’s available Monday to Friday between 8.30am and 4.30pm, excluding
bank holidays.

• Read more about Chat Health.
• Watch a YouTube clip.

Have a happy and healthy weekend.

Our weekly message: Friday 28 November 2025

If you came along to our Topic Review session this afternoon, thank you. We hope you enjoyed the session. If you’d like to leave some feedback, we’d love to read it. We pass compliments on to teachers and take on board suggestions.

Next up is a reminder from FOSP…

Matched funding

Many organisations offer matched funding schemes where money raised for charity by employees is matched by the organisation (usually up to a certain amount). If you work for such an organisation and are willing to help out at one of the FOSP events, we can double the amount we raise. Get in touch if you can help with matched funding.

Next up, a competition from Active Leeds…

We’re inviting children and young people across Leeds to get creative and celebrate their local leisure centres! 

At Active Leeds, we believe our leisure centres are more than just places to swim or work out… they’re spaces where memories are made, friendships grow, and confidence builds. From learning to swim to trying gymnastics for the first time, or simply spending time with friends, there are so many amazing experiences that happen every day in our centres.

We’re asking young people to share an experience they’ve had at their local leisure centre through art, writing, animation, or any creative way they like. It could be a drawing of their swimming lesson, a collage of their favourite activity, or even a short animation showing what makes their centre special.

The winning creation will receive a £50 Amazon gift voucher and be featured in our upcoming MADE IN LEEDS campaign, seen right across the city!

We want to highlight the joy, energy and sense of community that our centres bring to young people and their families. Who better to show that than the kids themselves?

Entries are open until 01 December 2025.

Simply send a photo or video of your entry to sport.webupdates@leeds.gov.uk.

Our weekly message: Friday 21 November 2025

In case you missed our earlier message… Last week was Children in Need day. Our non-uniform day raised £354.99 – thank you to all who contributed.

Attendance matters

• The national attendance rate for primary schools is 95.4% (that’s for Autumn 1 term).
• Our attendance rate is 95.5% (that’s up until 18 November).

It’s good to see that our attendance is higher, even if just a little. However, it’s lower than it was for Autumn term last year.

Is my child too ill to attend school? It can be tricky deciding whether or not to keep your child off school. Check the NHS website: Is my child too ill for school?

Thinking of a term-time holiday? 468 penalty notices for unauthorised absences have been issued in Leeds so far this year. Check out the legal consequences of term-time absences, from fines to court action.

Applying for a Reception place?

The national closing date for Reception September 2026 applications is 15 January 2026.

Check out these frequently asked questions.

MindMate

On Wednesday, the MindMate Support Team held a workshop about supporting your child with anxiety.

There are three more support sessions coming up this year:

1. Support your child’s mental wellbeing – Wednesday 11 February, 5pm to 6pm at Deighton Gates Primary School, Deighton Rd, Wetherby, LS22 7XL

2. Support your child’s emotions – Wednesday 11 March, 5pm to 6pm at Bramham Primary School, Clifford Road, Bramham, LS23 6JQ

3. Support your child with transition – Wednesday 24 June, 5pm to 6pm at our Sphere Federation sister school, St James’ CE Primary School, Hallfield Lane, Wetherby, LS22 6JS

Read more about the workshops.

Year 5 reading

Scholes (Elmet) Primary has been selected to represent England in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) research.

PIRLS is an international educational assessment study which takes place in over 60 countries. Our school will participate alongside other schools from around the world.

The assessments will involve some children in Year 5 completing a computer-based assessment and questionnaire about themselves and their educational experiences.

Read more about the research in this letter from the Department for Education.

Have a happy and healthy weekend.

Children in Need

A huge thank you to everyone!

We managed to raise £354.99 for Children in Need.

Thank you to our JLT for collecting the money from each class today and counting it up during their lunch time.

Our weekly message: Friday 14 November 2025

Last week, our Junior Leadership Team took receipt of a huge (literally) cheque from Persimmon Homes. They’ve helped us clear the space ready for the development of our Forest School. Their generous donation has helped to pay for all the equipment needed so that in January we can enjoy learning in our outside space. Thank you.

The rest of this week’s message is about the Autumn 2 topic in Key Stages 1 and 2. Last half-term, it was a Geography topic; this half-term, it’s Art…

This half-term, we’re artists. We’ll be developing our art knowledge and skills. The learning has two aspects to it. In art history and appreciation lessons, children will be learning about some specific artists and their work. In art process lessons, children will practise and develop skills by creating art.

Each phase has age-related specific knowledge, skills and vocabulary that they’ll learn, use and apply across the topic. Follow this link to the Curriculum Guide to find out more.

Years 1 and 2

Children have two featured artists who they’ll be studying across the half-term: Leonardo Da Vinci and Paul Klee. They’ll compare their art, talking about similarities and differences. They’ll discuss what they like and dislike about the art and how it makes them feel. They’ll also learn about the artists’ lives and where in the world they lived.

In practical art lessons, children will be honing their artistic skills and knowledge by sketching objects using pencil, learning about and mixing colour and then they’ll be learning how to print by creating relief prints inspired by the artwork they’ve studied.

Part way through the half-term, they’ll visit the Hepworth Gallery for a printmaking workshop to complement the learning in school.

Years 3 and 4

Children will be learning about the work of Wassily Kandinsky and Martha McDonald Napaltjarri. They’ll compare and contrast the artworks by these artists and also learn about their lives and the places they lived. In particular, children will learn about abstract and figurative art (see the vocabulary for definitions of these words).

In practical art sessions, children will develop observational drawing skills and their understanding of colour by learning about warm, cold and complementary colours. They’ll then apply what they’ve learnt by creating sculptures inspired by the artists they’ve studied.

Years 5 and 6

Children are learning about sculpture in their art lessons and will be focussing on three artists: Thomas J Price, Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. The children have already been on their school trip to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park where they’ve seen and learned about sculptures by these artists. In Art history and appreciation lessons, they’ll learn about the lives of these artists and how their localities have influenced their art. They’ll learn about classical and modern art in relation to their featured artists and in art movements more generally. They’ll also learn when and why the modern art movement happened.

In practical Art lessons, children will develop their observational skills and will create ‘soap sculptures’ inspired by the work of Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.

How can you help?

Talk to your child about what they’ve been learning in class. The Class News page of the school website is a good place to find out more about what the children are doing.

Familiarise yourself with the artists and the artwork that your child will be learning about in class. Look in books or on the internet for pieces by the artists and talk about them. Find art by other artists that you like and compare it to the featured artists. If you feel confident, you can go into more depth using the vocabulary. However, if not, leave that to the teachers and just enjoy looking at the pieces and asking general questions:

• What do you like or dislike about the art?
• How does the art make you feel?
• Is it life-like or not?
• What colours can you see?

The Tate Gallery has a good children’s website with games and activities which children can explore.

If you’re in Leeds, the Leeds Art Gallery and Henry Moore Institute are both free to enter.

Our weekly message: Friday 07 November 2025

We hope you had a good half-term break. This week in school has been a themed week – Me and My Money. Talk to your child about something new they’ve learnt or considered about money!

Odd socks day

Monday is Odd Socks Day.

The day celebrates that we’re all unique. Children are invited to wear odd socks to school today, marking the fact we’re all different in some way. Part of Anti-Bullying Week, the day sends an important message to pupils that they should be allowed to be themselves, free from bullying. It helps us celebrate anti-bullying day in a fun and positive way.

Help at home: Please make sure your child knows that bullying is wrong and damages children’s social and/or emotional health. Check they know our two STOP messages:

• Definition: What is bullying? Hurting someone Several Times On Purpose
• Solution: How can we stop bullying? Start Telling Other People

Bullying is often group behaviour. For older children, it would also be great if you could talk about the different roles people might play. Watch this short clip together, and link it back to Start Telling Other People.

Children in Need

Next Friday is the annual Children in Need fundraising day. Your child is invited to attend school in non-uniform with a donation to the charity. If you wish to donate at school, please donate in cash only.

Please remember that pupils should dress appropriately and respectfully, even on non-uniform days. More details can be found in our Uniform Policy.

Is my child too ill for school?

As winter approaches, schools face rising illness-related absences. We know some are unavoidable, but please refer to NHS guidance to know if your child is too ill for school.

The Department for Education has asked us to share some key messages:

1. Always ask: Is my child too ill for school? Use the NHS site for guidance – it’s easy to use.
2. Pupils shouldn’t miss school on a precautionary basis and can normally attend with a mild cough or cold, unless they have a fever or diarrhoea or vomiting.
3. Book medical appointments outside of school hours where possible. Where this isn’t possible, they should bring their child to school before, and return after, if they are well enough. Pupils can attend appointments in their school uniform.

Our new charity

This week, our children have been voting for a new charity to support.  Voted for by the JLT,  The Woodland Trust has been chosen.  Money raised through various school events will be donated to this charity which create, protect and restore woodland areas around the UK.

Times tables

The government sets out the expectation that children should know their times tables by the end of Year 4. Knowing times tables off by heart makes a huge difference to children’s progress in​ Maths. It helps them:

• ​solve harder problems more easily
• work more confidently and quickly
• ​focus on new concepts without getting stuck on basic facts

Times tables underpin many other areas of ​Maths, such as division, fractions, long multiplication, algebra and ratio. The more fluent your child is, the better prepared they’ll be for future learning.

At Scholes (Elmet) Primary, children in Years 3 and 4 take part in daily Mastering Number lessons to learn their times tables. Older children continue to practise their times tables.

In school, we chant multiplication facts by saying the smallest number first and we don’t say ‘times’ or ‘equals’. For example, for 4×3=12, children would say ‘3, 4, 12’.

Towards the end of Year 4, children do an online Multiplication Tables Check – find out more about this.

Since this national check was introduced, we’re proud that the average score at Scholes (Elmet) Primary has been higher than national each year. Thank you for continuing to help your child practise their times tables at home.

Finally this week…

Admissions consultation

Leeds City Council is running a public consultation on the 2027/28 admission policy for Leeds community and voluntary controlled schools. You can share your views until 1 December. Find out more.

Have a happy and healthy weekend.