Headteacher's Message -
Dear Parents/Carers,
I can hardly believe it, but another school year has come to an end and the children and staff are ready for some downtime! As we bid farewell to the academic year, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the incredible achievements and memorable moments that the children have experienced at Ashley this year. A huge well done to the children who have worked so hard during the year and this is apparent in the results at every data point: EYFS, Y1 phonics check, the Multiplication Table Check and year 6 SATS. A massive congratulations to the entire staff team too. You deserve to be proud parents. Full results will be uploaded to our website when the data is finalised and validated by the DfE in the Autumn term.
Not everything we do at Ashley is about academic outcomes, we are equally proud of our curriculum provision including cultural capital experiences and wider curriculum offer. This year, we have been privileged to share our work with local schools as well as those in the GST. Across the school, children have had the opportunity to participate in various sporting events and they have all performed fantastically. Artistic expression has always been a significant part of our school community, and this year was no exception. Our musicians have had opportunities to perform, whether it be singing at different events, or our year 4 concert or iRock performances. Our actors have performed at some point over the academic as well year whether it be in nativity plays or productions. Thank you to the children who created the art work that has been displayed at the River House Barn exhibition. Many thanks to the volunteers, staff and parents who support the children.
Our FoA have worked tirelessly this year to provide events for the school community and raise funds so that we can develop our learning areas and increase the resources available to the children.
The end of the academic year is always emotional because it is a time for goodbyes. As well as saying goodbye to our year 6 children, we will be saying goodbye to some amazing colleagues. We are very grateful for the time, enthusiasm and passion they have put into their work with us, but I would like to give a special mention to Mrs Rayner, Mrs Paddon, Mrs Roberts, Mrs Nunn and Mrs Rides who have worked at Ashley for a combined total of 75 years! They have made a huge difference and they will be missed tremendously. Ashley will not be the same without you. Thank you for everything.
Finally, I would like to extend heartfelt gratitude to all parents and staff for their support. Your involvement, encouragement, and active participation in school activities have been invaluable in making Ashley such a special place. To pupils, parents and staff members who are leaving us this year, I wish you all the very best. Together we wish you every success in your onward education journey. To those of you still with us in September, we look forward to welcoming you back on Wednesday 4th September, when we start enjoying the new opportunities and challenges which the academic year will no doubt bring.
All that remains now is to thank you all for your warm wishes– it is time for us all to enjoy the summer and family time. Enjoy!
Mrs Ratcliff
Dates for the diary -
Friendly reminder change to the structure of the school day from September -
Last year, the government recommended all schools offered a minimum of 32.5 hours of schooling each week which meant we changed the structure of our school day. As a result, 15 minutes was added to the beginning of the school day and the start of the day became 8:40am. Following feedback from staff and parents/carers, we have reviewed this and from September 2024 will be moving the 15 minutes from the start of the day to the end of the school day.
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Current Structure |
Structure from September 2024 |
Wrap Around Care 2024-25 |
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Metal gate opens Wooden gate opens Official start time (gates close) |
8:20am 8:25am 8:40am |
8:35am 8:40am 8:55am |
Breakfast club: 7:30am -8:35am
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Car park gate opens Wooden gate closes |
3:10pm 3:20pm |
3:25pm 3:35pm |
After school club: 3:25pm – 6pm |
From September 2024, the official start time in our school will be 8:55am. Anyone arriving after this time would subsequently be classified as late. I appreciate that these changes may affect a small minority in terms of childcare, working arrangements or after school activities but I do believe that these changes will be beneficial to the school community and will have a positive effect on your child’s education.
Penalty Notices -
The new Department for Education regulations coming into effect from 19th August 2024 which affect penalty notices issued for unauthorised absence from school.
The ‘National Threshold’, when it is appropriate to consider issuing a penalty notice, is 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks. A school week means any week in which there is at least one school session.
This can be met with any combination of unauthorised absence (e.g. 4 sessions of holiday taken in term time plus 6 sessions of arriving late after the register closes all within 10 school weeks). These sessions can be consecutive (e.g. 10 sessions of holiday in one week) or not (e.g. 6 sessions of unauthorised absence taken in 1 week and 1 per week for the next 4 weeks). The period of 10 school weeks can also span different terms or school years (e.g. 2 sessions of unauthorised absence in the summer term and a further 8 within the autumn term).
From autumn term 2024, only 2 penalty notices will be issued to the same parent in respect of the same child within a 3-year rolling period and any second notice within that period is charged at a higher rate:
1. The first penalty notice issued to a parent in respect of a particular pupil will be charged at £160 if paid within 28 days. This will be reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days.
2. A second penalty notice issued to the same parent in respect of the same pupil is charged at a flat rate of £160 if paid within 28 days.
3. A third penalty notice cannot be issued to the same parent in respect of the same child within 3 years of the date of issue of the first. In a case where the national threshold is met for a third time (or subsequent times) within those 3 years, alternative action will be taken instead, which will often include considering prosecution.
If you would like any further information regarding these changes, full details can be found here: Working together to improve school attendance (Gov.uk)
Extended Care -
This is a reminder that the cost for Wraparound Care provision will be increasing from September 2024.
Breakfast Club
2024-25 fees: £6.50 Cost per session (including breakfast)
After School Club
2024-25 fees: £14.00 Cost per session (including snack)
Please note that we will require payment in advance from September 2024, as any current outstanding balances need to be settled by the end of August 2024. Children with any outstanding balances in September will result in cancellation of your place.
REMINDER Absence Reporting - StudyBugs
From September Ashley will be 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)
The Past Fortnight -
Year 6 -
Year 6 have been recovering from their amazing Aladdin production. We have had our props on show in the corridor - you may even see some of them coming home! A huge well done to all of Year 6 for a simply wonderful series of performances. The children have reviewed their show and this should be coming home along with their wonderful programme covers. What a seriously talented group of children! We had a wonderful, fun-packed party on the field yesterday afternoon: dancing, obstacle courses and, of course, a magnificent water fight. Oops! Nearly forgot... We also enjoyed an ice lolly!
-Miss Bardel 
Year 5 -
Ancient Greek Plays -We are so proud of our dramatic Year 5 pupils who worked in groups to turn ancient Greek myths into plays that they performed to Year 3. The audience was blown away by their props, costumes and performances, all created by the children. We were very impressed by the rhyming choruses, the action and of course, the mythical beasts!
Design & Technology moving models - This half term, Year 5 have been designing and creating some excellent moving models using cams linked to their learning theme - What was the legacy of the Ancient Greeks? The children used a range of skills to ensure their design fitted the brief and entertained the Year 3 children who came to share them.
Year 4 -
Y4's bread making! As part of our D&T project, Y4 designed, made and tasted their own bread! We had a fantastic D&T day following a recipe to make the dough and making sure that we proved it for the right amount of time! We discovered that after the proving, the dough had nearly doubled in size! It was amazing! After that, we added different flavours, each creating our own little bun, ready to be cooked. The school kitchen were amazing and cooked all our bread for us. Once it was cooked and cooled, we tasted and were really pleased with our efforts! Finally, we evaluated our finished products against our intital designs, commenting on what we learnt, what skills we developed and what changes we would make next time.
-Mrs Ready
Year 3 -
On Monday afternoon, Year 3 welcomed parents for their Great Works. This term, Year 3 have been leaning all about the impact of the Roman Empire on Britain. Children marched, in formation, to the Harmony Centre with their own shields. They shared their knowledge and demonstrated how the Roman soldiers followed instructions to make a defensive 'tortoise' formation. Year 3 finished off with a stirring rendition of a Roman motif, describing how Roman roads were built. A wonderful celebration of all their hard work. Well done Year 3 and a huge thank you to all the parents who attended.
-Mrs Donaldson
Year 2 -
Our wonderful Badgers, Foxes and Otters have officially come to the end of their key stage 1 journey. To prepare the children for their move we had a special tie ceremony where all children staying on at Ashley School have received a school tie. A certificate was given to all of those who will sadly be leaving us at the end of the academic year.
- Mrs Van Der Schaff
Fox class attended the mini olympics held at Cleves this month and they all worked together brilliantly to compete in a variety of events. Their kindness and courage allowed them to succeed and we returned back to school as the first Ashley school winners! Well done Fox class, we are so proud of you.
- Miss May
Year 1 -
Year 1 have been studying birds in science. As part of our great work we made bird feeders, visited the bird hide, went litter picking and made nests out of natural materials. We loved having our parents visit so we could share our learning with them. We were so incredibly lucky to help build the garden for the birds that was donated by Brian who we met at The RHS Hampton Court Flower Show. We put some of our bird feeders there to try and attract them.
-Mrs Rayner 
Reception -
Reception Great Works Last week, all three classes in Reception performed a fabulous show to their adults, which told the story of their first year of school. They brought back memories by singing Christmas songs and songs from the previous learning enquiries. They worked really hard to learn their lines and where to stand on the stage. The adults were also treated to a brand new song, sung to the tune of Bryan Adams' 'Summer of 69' but more aptly titled 'Summer of 24'! All of the reception children did a fantastic job and their teachers were very proud of their achievement.
-Mrs Atkinson
It has been a busy final week in Reception. The children have been learning about Pirates. They have made their own treasure maps and had a go at programming the Probots to follow their maps. They have written a pirate letter to put in a bottle and they have learnt lots of pirate songs and dances. We are extremely proud of all our Reception children and wish them all the best in Year 1
- Miss Key 
Art Exhibition:
The Riverhouse Barn hosted an exhibition of Ashley School artwork over the weekend. Work from every year group was displayed, ranging from self portraits in year 6 to bees in reception. Comments from visitors included phrases such as 'amazing'. 'magnificent' and 'inspirational'. It certainly highlighted the creativity and talent of all our children.
Gardening News -
the gardening diaries july 24.pdf
Many thanks to Brian Youngblut (@brianandthebloom), Kate Campbell (@katecampbell_gardens), Annie Shepherd (@annieshepherddesign) for their incredible work installing the garden for the birds!
Our Wonderful World photo challenge
I hope over the holidays you get a chance to explore our parks, gardens, forests or beaches with your family and friends. If you do - we have a challenge for you! We would like you to take a photograph of 'nature' - could be an insect, animal, plant, view - whatever wonder of our world you see! We would like you to then share with us. Please email in with title 'Our Wonderful World photo' for my attention by the beginning of September. When we return to school, our World Caretakers will judge the 12 best images. These will be shared in an assembly and in turn make up our 2025 Ashley Our Wonderful World Calendar. Enjoy your Summer and we look forward to seeing your pictures.
-Mrs Winstanley Fisher
Dyslexia-Friendly Books for the Junior Library
As suggested by some children in Year 5, we have created a dyslexia-friendly section of our junior library. Using the money we raised from our book sales, the girls chose a range of books suitable for children with difficulties reading. Jessica and Elsie presented to all of Key Stage 2 during our Monday assembly and the books will be ready to borrow in September. Thank you to all our library lovers and keen volunteers who make reading possible across our school.
Summer Reading Challenge -
We are excited to invite all our children to take part in the Summer Reading Challenge https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/ either online or with their local library. Children can pick up a booklet at the library or sign up online to take part - you read books, earn rewards, become a better reader! We'd love to see where you are reading on your holidays and at home and can tag us @ashleyschoolUK on Instagram and Facebook.
Summer Holiday Support -
summer holiday support for children and families.pptx
Pop Up Uniform -
Three Rivers Open Evening -
Bark Chip Request -
Ashley is carrying out a project over the summer break and we are looking for any spare donations of bark chip. If you are having any works being done during the summer and you have spare bags of bark chip, they would be gratefully received. If you would like to drop some off during the summer please contact our caretaker to arrange delivery, contact number: 0756 477 8974 . Please note the school is closed w/c 29 July and 5 August.
Well Done! -
Congratulations to Rosie (Y6) who has successfully been chosen to be in the Under 12 Surrey county Girls Football Team. Over 120 girls trialed out for it. WELL DONE!
Well Done to Oscar (5) for his achievement for placing second in his chess tournament.
