Thursday, 17th October 2019
Dear Parents and Carers,
Autumn Term Newsletter No. 7
OUR VALUE THIS HALF-TERM: BEING RESPONSIBLE
‘At Ashley School we want to be responsible’
CLOSING DATE FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL APPLICATIONS
A reminder for all Year 6 parents that the closing date for secondary applications is Thursday 31st October.
YEAR 6 FOOTBALL DISTRICT TEAM – MR. CRINALL
Thank you for nominating pupils for the Year 6 Football District team this year. I am delighted to confirm that the following were selected: Max T and Charlie H. The standard was really high and we were delighted with the effort and attitude on display from the pupils from our school.
YEAR 4 TAKE PART IN A MINI OLYMPICS AT CLEVES
On Friday, 11th October 30 of the year 4 children had the chance to compete in Mini Olympics, at Cleves School. The children took part in a number of different races, including an obstacle race and a relay race. They demonstrated many different sporting techniques and showed fantastic sportsmanship. The children really pushed themselves, placing 1st in 3 races out of the 7. Their determination was extremely evident, so much so we even had a boy lose one of his shoes due to running so fast! Unfortunately, they just missed out on 1st place overall, by 1 point! However, it did not matter as the children had a fantastic afternoon and were beautifully behaved. They represented Ashley School extremely well. Congratulations to all of those who were involved!
HARVEST FESTIVALS
A big thank you for the whooping £709.52 that was raised at our Harvest Festivals. The cash and food donations were delivered to Walton & Hersham Food bank who were very extremely grateful for all our donations.
NO NETBALL CLUB NEXT WEEK
As there is a fixture Wednesday there will be no netball club next Thursday 24th October
SPORTS MUFTI DAY
On Friday 8th November we will be having the first of this year’s sports fundraising opportunities. In exchange for a donation of £1, children in all year groups are invited to wear their favourite sports kit to school for the day. The money raised will then be used to raise the profile of sport and PE at Ashley. Funds from the mufti day will be used to go towards school sports kits and replenishing the classroom bags for the whole school.
SUPER HEROES DAY
It’s ‘superhero’ day tomorrow in Year 1 – look out every one for all those ‘Superheroes’ who will be rushing into school in the morning ready and prepared for a busy day of jobs.
VISITING TEACHERS FROM THE MALDIVES
As many of you are aware we have a long-standing relationship with GIS School in the Maldives. On Monday to Thursday next week we have 4 teachers from the school paying us visit. They will each be allocated to a year group (Year groups 1 to 4) to find out all about the children’s Enquiry-based learning, with a particular focus on how we teach phonics, reading and maths. It is great also for the children to learn about other cultures and be able to share their learning with other teachers who live on the other side of the world. Please do make them feel welcome if you see them on the playground. Ask them lots of questions, they’ll be delighted to talk with you.
CONKERS
Do not forget to send your child into school tomorrow with a conker for our traditional ‘conker’ competitions. We will have some spare for those children who do not have one. ‘No baking or dipping in vinegar now!’ J
INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHS
This is to remind you that individual and family photographs will be taking place on Tuesday 5th, Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th November. Please do put these dates in your diary to remind yourself to send your children into school looking neat and tidy (as always). Next week we will give you more information on the actual days that will involve each year group.
MORNING DROP OFF
We are aware that with so many new staff joining us recently that not all parents will know some of the faces you see in the playground. At morning drop off you’ll usually see myself (I think you all know me!), Miss Holder, our Assistant Head Teacher for Teaching and Learning (Miss Holder has been with us for 4 years, previously as a Year 6 teacher), Mrs Hopkins who joined us this term as Assistant Head Teacher for Inclusion, Mrs Rebbeck (Sendco) and Mrs Harker, our Office Manager. Most of you will not have met Mrs Hopkins or Mrs Harker so please come and say hello to them in the playground. Miss Holder is very excited about her forthcoming wedding, during half term, and will return next half term as Mrs Harding.
DATES FOR CHRISTMAS PRODUCTIONS
Please add the following dates in your diary for this year’s Christmas performances:
Years 3 and 4 – Monday 9th December and Tuesday 10th December (afternoon)
Years 1 and 2 – Wednesday 11th December and Thursday 12th December (afternoon)
Reception – Friday 13th December (afternoon)
Years 5 and 6 - Monday 9th and Tuesday 10th December (7pm in the church)
VACANCIES FOR BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL PLAY WORKERS
We are still looking for staff to join both the Breakfast Club and After-school Club teams. Please do pass this message on to all your friends and family members who you think might be interested in joining the staff at Ashley.
BLUE PETER MUSIC BADGE
Are you interested in music? Do you play an instrument? You could receive and incredible looking music badge designed by the one and only music sensation Ed Sheeran.
We are very proud at Ashley School of our children's musical talent and we would like to make them aware that they can apply for a 'Blue Peter Music Badge'. Please follow the link below to complete an application. Good Luck!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/joinin/bp-music-badge
INSET DAY
A reminder that next Friday 25th October – is an INSET day and so there will be no children in school on that day. Some staff will be completing the third day of their TEEP training at the GST, others will be having training sessions in school on Phonics, ASD, Intervention and Physical Restraint and the EYFS staff will be updating their Paediatric First Aid training.
UPDATE FROM THE FOA
Calling all artists! Cover Competition: The children are invited to enter a competition to design the front cover of the Christmas Bazaar programme! To enter please create an A4 picture on paper or card and return to the entry box in the school hall. The children can draw, paint, stick, glue…. Whatever they would like to do! The artwork needs to be related to Christmas but it is up to each child to choose which part of Christmas they would like to show. Entries close on Tuesday 12 November and please ensure your child’s full name, age and class are written on the back of the entry. Please note: the overall winner will feature on the cover, a winner per year group will feature in the programme and ALL entries will be proudly displayed at the event!
Preloved Uniform Sale – Thursday 24 October 2:45pm - 3.15 (weather permitting). Time to stock up on winter uniforms! Lots of branded and non-branded items available. Bring your bag and coins! Please note a pricing change: branded items £2.00, non-branded items just 50p. Please sign up to the Doodle poll to help set up and sell the preloved items: https://doodle.com/poll/tyq4vgqkdwins5sq
Ashley Fireworks - book your tickets for 3 November! Thank you to those who have signed up to help with Fireworks. We need just a few more helpers please: Bar: https://doodle.com/poll/33ddibuxd468z86i Glow Stall: https://doodle.com/poll/xcgwzirhni33b5ky. We hope to see lots of you at the event; tickets are on sale at https://tinyurl.com/ashleyfireworks
Next FOA meeting will be on 7 November 2019, 7:45pm for 8pm start. Everyone welcome.
PARENT CONSULTATIONS
Thank you to all the parents who came along on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings for Parent Consultations. I hope that you found the session informative – the teachers certainly did. If you did not manage to attend then please do e-mail the school office and they will help you to make arrangements to meet with your child’s teacher.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs J. Stevens
Co-Headteacher
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