Good Afternoon Parents & Carers

The term is speeding ahead — it is hard to believe we are only a week away from half term! We did well to make it into October before the temperature significantly dropped! Luckily the gorgeous weather at the start of the week meant that we could make the most of being outside for their learning. Please remind your child to bring in a named coat for break and lunchtime. It has been lovely to welcome parents and carers in Reception and key stage 1 into school for their child’s interactive great work and the VIP event. I’m sure you enjoyed seeing some of your child's learning from the term so far. We are looking forward to seeing parents and carers from key stage 2 in school this week – the children are excited about sharing their learning. I hope that you are all enjoying our new school website which links to our revised vision and values. A huge thank you to Mrs Athersuch who has been developing the new site and ensuring it is kept up to date. Remember you can also to follow us on Instagram and Facebook to see what is happening during the school day. We are looking forward to seeing you at one of our Parent Consultation Evenings after half term. You can book an appointment using School Cloud. Finally, a reminder that Friday 20th October and Monday 30th October are staff training days.

Jennie Ratcliff

Headteacher

INFORMATION ON MEASLES / MMR VACCINATION

Over 102,000 children starting primary school in England are at risk of catching measles With millions of children across the country going back to school this week, NHS England is urging parents to check that their children are up to date with their MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) vaccinations in the wake of measles cases rising across the country. Childhood vaccination rates have fallen over the past ten years and this week statistics show that over 102,000 children aged four and five years old starting in reception are not protected against catching measles, mumps and rubella. Measles is highly infectious and if left unvaccinated nine out of ten children in a classroom can catch the disease if just one child is infectious. If you are unsure if you or your child are up to date, check your child's red book or GP records and make an appointment to catch up any missed doses. For more information on the NHS vaccination schedule, please visit.

SUPPORT CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE TO TAKE PART IN THE BIG AMBITION SURVEY

The Children’s Commissioner for England has recently launched ‘The Big Ambition’ to hear directly from children, young people, and parents across the country. This is an opportunity to hear from all children, in every part of the country and in every setting. The survey will be used to encourage policymakers to think about children and young people’s needs, to ensure children’s voices are reflected in the decisions that will affect them in years to come. Education settings play a critical role in enabling us to hear from as many children and young people as possible. That is why we are encouraging all settings in England to take part and let their pupils have their say on what is important to them! To find out more head to The Big Ambition page. To take part in The Big Ambition survey visit: www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/thebigambition 

RELATIONSHIPS POLICY PILOT GROUP

As we continue to embed our Relationship Policy across the school we would like to establish a small parental pilot group. The group will support us in establishing the key information the parent body need and the level of interest transferring the principles of restorative practice to parenting at home. We believe that a successful approach to restorative practice within school relies on the support of you as parents and your understanding of what it looks it looks like in practice. Therefore, a pilot group would be hugely helpful in exploring these questions. If you are interested in being a part of such a group please do let me know via the usual means of communication via the school office. It will entail a commitment to meeting three times over the course of next half term, with each meeting lasting no more than an hour.

THE BIG SOUP SHARE

On Thursday, our Big Soup Share was a huge success, and the whole school community participated. It started with Gardening and Faith Group harvesting vegetables from the Ashley allotment. Then Year 3 children prepared the soup and beetroot brownies. Finally, Gardening and Faith Group set up stall at pick up time for Ashley families to donate money in exchange for soup, beetroot brownies, bread and other goodies. We managed to raise £81.16 which will be used to purchase more vegetables for the allotment and start the Ashley Hive garden. A Big thank you to everyone for your generous donations and to Year 3 parents/carers who donated extra ingredients for the soup and brownies.

Read more in the first of our Gardening Diaries this year!

CURRICULUM SPOTLIGHT ON PE

We are excited to embark on our football & netball fixtures after half term; we have over thirty fixtures planned. Mr Attenborough is offering additional coaching to our football squads at lunchtime across the week and Miss May is training with our netball club after school. We aspire for all children to have the opportunity to represent the school during their time at Ashley, across a variety of sports. Every class across Y2 - Y5 will have the opportunity to take part in an event hosted by The Walton, Weybridge & Hersham Sports Partnership (WWHSP) across this academic year, for example, athletics, dodgeball or handball and in November, we will be hosting an interhouse football tournament for children in KS2. Further details will follow. Last week, girls across Y4-6 participated in a tag rugby festival hosted by Reeds Weybridge RFC with Cleves and Walton Oak also taking part. The girls enjoyed developing their skills, showed excellent teamwork and were brilliant ambassadors for our school. Further information about the Reed Rebels can be found here: https://reedsweybridgerfc.co.uk/women-and-girls/ 

UPCOMING DATES

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Other dates and resources:

PANTO - St Mary’s and St John’s Youth Fellowship

It's panto time again... oh yes, it is!

This year's amazing St Mary's and St John's Youth Fellowship pantomime is Jack and the Beanstalk and is full of Ashley School alumni. It's a fantastic way to occupy those long days between Christmas and New Year and is fun for the whole family. For November only, there is an Earlybird discount meaning tickets, including a free hot or soft drink at the interval, are just £4 per person. To book please email yfpanto23@gmail.com or contact Zoe Byrne on 07950 932623. Performances will be at St Mary's Church Hall in Walton on: Thursday 28th December 2023 at 4pm Friday 29th December 2023 at 6pm Saturday 30th December 2023 at 2pm Saturday 30th December 2023 at 7pm

SEND PARENTS COFFEE CATCH UP Please join us on: Friday 10th November from 1.30pm till pickup at The Walton Village, Walton Hight Street for an informal coffee catch-up. All welcome Hope to see you then!