Headteacher's Message! -
Good Afternoon,
Welcome to a new school year. I hope that you were able to make the most of the summer break and enjoyed time with your families, exploring new places or rediscovering favourite haunts!
The school is looking bright and fresh. I’m very grateful for the work of all the staff in ensuring it was ready for the beginning of the new school year! The introduction of the daily mile path around the edge of the field has been a huge success however, more woodchip is needed to finish it. If you know of anyone who could donate woodchip for the path, please email parents@ with the details. Thank you for your support.
I am pleased to inform you that Ashley has been successful in meeting the requirements for the Eco-Schools Green Flag Award again. In the feedback we received, the Eco-School Green Flag Assessment Team noted: 'Your curriculum links come from a variety of year groups and subject areas, they are very good examples of innovative and engaging cross-curricular environmental education!' and 'You state that the most significant success of your Eco-Schools’ work is raising the profile of the outdoor area through the development of year group-specific growing areas, and the development of a sensory garden, and we agree that this is a phenomenal achievement!' Thank you to the staff and world caretakers who have been involved in this fantastic work - your efforts have been rewarded with an Eco-Schools Green Flag with Distinction 2024. Well done!
The whole school is focusing on our value 'Care' in collective worship and the children continue to take part in activities, in the classroom and at breaktimes, to build relationships. It is important that we spend time supporting the children with developing healthy relationships in school as studies have shown that this leads to better attendance, supports children feel a sense of belonging, reduces school anxiety, and improves their mental health and wellbeing. We will share more about what we are doing in the 'leadership drop in' on the 27th September 2.15pm - 3.15pm
I hope you have a wonderful weekend. A lot of the children will be very tired after a stimulating week so make sure they rest up for another busy week next week.
Mrs RatcliffOur Values -
Attendance-
The Education Hub is located on the government ‘blog.gov.uk’ website, which is for parents, pupils and education professionals and details all you need to know about the education system. The government have produced an article called: ‘Why is school attendance so important and what are the risks of missing a day?’ The article lists the benefits of regular attendance and how attendance affects outcomes for pupils. You can find the article here: Why is school attendance so important and what are the risks of missing a day? – The Education Hub (blog.gov.uk)
Punctuality
Frequent lateness can negatively affect your child’s mental health, learning ability, concentration and friendships. Children who frequently arrive late are at a significant disadvantage compared to those who arrive on time, every day. Children who arrive on time are able to settle quickly into class and apply themselves more successfully to their learning. 
Reporting absence -
If your child is unwell, please report their absence via study bugs or call before 8.30am
Ashley are solely moving to Studybugs as its a more efficient and secure system for reporting your child’s absence due to illness. If you haven’t already, please get the free Studybugs app, or register on the Studybugs website, and use it to tell us whenever your child’s ill and unable to attend school.
Get the app or register now (https://studybugs.com/about/parents)
Top 3 reasons to use Studybugs
- It helps us know sooner if your child is unaccounted for.
- It’s quick and easy to register and use and automatically reminds you to keep us posted.
- You’ll be helping the NHS and other public health organisations improve children’s health. (https://studybugs.com/about/schools)
'Time In' -
We have introduced ‘Time In’ which takes place immediately after lunch. During the 10 minutes of 'Time In', children will self-select the activity they undertake quietly and calmly, including accessing the prayer space, mini meditations, yoga activities, puzzles, complete a journal or mindful colouring. 'Time In' gives every child (and adult) in the school, the opportunity for reflection and mindfulness , and also gives children time to share a worry or concern with an adult in their classroom.
School Lunches -
The Autumn/Winter 2024/25 menu, is here: Menu
School lunch options can be submitted from 3 weeks through to 48 hours in advance. If you forget to order a school meal, you will be required to bring in a packed lunch for your child. Lists close 48 hours in advance and meals cannot be ordered after this time. The current cost of a school meal is £2.75 for those children in KS2. Please ensure that payments are kept up to date at all times.
Payment should be made on-line via www.scopay.com/ashley We do not accept cash or cheques. our registration code for Scopay will have been sent home with your child. This can also be obtained from the school office.
PLAYTIME SNACKS - In the juniors, playtime snacks should be a piece of fruit or vegetable. This helps to reduce our packaging waste and contributes to the children's 5 a day. Pots of chopped up fruit or vegetable sticks are ideal (not fruit winders). Infants still continue receive their free fruit or vegetable daily. The NHS Change4Life website has some great ideas for inspiration for a healthy packed lunch. Please click on the link to find out more: https://www.nhs.uk/change4life/recipes/healthier-lunchboxes
As we are a nut, kiwi fruit and sesame free school, please do not bring in any products containing these ingredients .
Safeguarding Team -
If you have any concerns about a child's welfare or safety, please speak to a member of the Ashley safeguarding team (listed below) or email dsl@ashley.surrey,sch.uk:
Mrs Ratcliff —Designated safeguarding Lead (DSL
Miss Frost—Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL)
Mrs Garrick— Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL)
Mrs Athersuch - Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL)
Mrs Kent - Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL)
Children's Single Point of Access (C-SPA)
If you are a child or young person being abused or neglected, or an adult who is concerned about a child or young person's safety and well being, you can contact the Children's Services 'Single Point of Access' between 9am to 5pm on Monday to Friday.
- Phone:0300 470 9100
- Email:cspa@surreycc.gov.uk
Autumn Dates -
On 30th September Faith Group and Gardening Club will be selling soup after school . The soup will be made by the pupils using school grown vegetables. Please remember to bring a container if you would like to treat yourselves to some homemade soup!
- Mrs Nawaz
The Past Fortnight -
YEAR 6 -
Year 6 have been busy exploring reflective symmetry before reinforcing their knowledge about place value this week. Choosing numbers to describe certain aspects of their lives, Year 6 created colourful visuals to emphasise how number is a big part of all our lives. During our ‘Move Up’ day way back in July, each child from Year 6 created a part of the words ‘We are Year 6’ for our display: as we grow into our new year group and classes, we look forward to sharing more news, more quality work and more fun experiences with you.
-Miss Bardel
YEAR 5 -
In Year 5 we have started our new learning theme- What journey does a river take? We learnt the features of a river. In science, we are investigating changes in material and have been investigating exploring which materials dissolve. We loved our practical science lesson!
-Miss Hood
YEAR 4 -
In Y4 this week we have been starting our geography learning about North America. We spent some time discussing the difference between a continent and a country and learnt that North America is actually made up of 23 countries, including the Caribbean Islands! We used maps and atlases to locate the different countries and labelled them on our own maps. We've got lots of questions about North America such as 'What is the population?' and 'What is the most popular food?'. Over the course of the half term, we're looking forward to learning more and answering these questions!
- Mrs Ready
YEAR 3 -
Last week Year 3 ventured into our Forest School, heard a story and then immersed themselves into some exciting woodland themed activities; their favourites being making a home for a fairy and the woodland bingo!
-Mrs Nawaz
YEAR 1 -
Year 1 found a mysterious crash site when they arrived at school on Tuesday morning! The police had cordoned it off and there were parts of a strange vehicle strewn across our Year 1 outside area. The children had to become detectives and then try to make sense of what had happened. We then found a book that had been wrapped and left in our classrooms! After making predictions using what we knew already, we read the mystery book and found out it was about a sad and lonely alien called Beegu, who had crash-landed on planet Earth. Who on the planet will help Beegu feel more at home?
-Mrs Boyd
Reception -
It has been an exciting week in Reception. The children should all be incredibly proud of settling in quickly and well. They have enjoyed exploring their classrooms, learning the classroom routines, and discovering all the activities we have in our outside area. We look forward to watching them grow and flourish throughout the year.
-Miss Key
The Daily Mile -
This year we have introduced The Daily Mile at Ashley. The Daily Mile is a social physical activity, with children running or walking – at their own pace – in the fresh air with friends. Every year group take part in The Daily Mile once a day at a time that suits the class. We want every child to have the opportunity to do The Daily Mile at Ashley each day. So far, it's been a brilliant success and so wonderful to see so many children enjoying completing The Daily Mile alongside their teachers and LSA's. To find out more please visit https://thedailymile.co.uk
-Miss Williams
Gardening Diaries -
the gardening diaries sept 24 revised.pdf
FOA News-
PRELOVED SALE : Friday 20 September 3.25 - 3.45 at the Preloved shed. We accept cash and card payment.
ONLINE REQUESTS: For those who cannot attend the next sale and wish to buy preloved items, we will be accepting requests from Monday 16 September via our email address foapreloveduniform@gmail.com. Please ensure you use the correct email address, previous email addresses are not monitored.
PRELOVED DONATIONS: Thank you for all the back to school donations. A polite reminder: Please only donate clean items in good condition which have ALL buttons, unmarked, no holes as we cannot sell them.
DONATIONS required: Infant and Junior Jumpers / cardigans, PE kit, girls grey pinafores, summer dresses, Ashley branded coats, junior bags and hats.
Please DO NOT donate whites, or greys other than pinafores, underwear inc socks and tights, shoes or any non school related items.
Last school year our Preloved volunteers had to transport 20 black bags of unsuitable donations to the textile recycling. We are always looking for additional volunteers to help run the provision!
- Thank you for your cooperation, the Preloved Team.