Ashley C of E Primary School

Headteacher Message!  - 

 Good Afternoon,

We've already reached the end of our first half term; where did that go? Looking back over the newsletters, social media posts and gardening diaries a huge amount has been achieved already this year. We are all ready for a well-deserved break.

Thank you for finding the time to join us for Great Works. It was lovely to see the children enthusiastically share their learning with the adults as well as see the adults join in the activities. Looking at what has been achieved by the children and parents at the Great Works, it is clear we have a very creative parent body. Examples will be displayed in the Wow corridor.

Thank you to everyone who attended the leadership drop in, an informal opportunity to chat with the leadership team and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee. It was lovely to receive positive feedback about how the front of the school is looking lovely and hear that the children are enjoying the curriculum gardening sessions, collecting ‘green dots’ and using the homework books. The next one is on 28^th November from 2:30pm, hopefully you will be able to join us.

As the evenings grow darker, I’d like to remind parents to explore the resources available on the Clever Never Goes website (https://clevernevergoes.org/). It’s a valuable tool to help you talk with your children—especially older, more independent ones—about staying safe when travelling between school and home.

At the end of the half term, we will be enjoying the legendary Ashley Fireworks. I look forward to seeing you at the spectacular event. The money raised will be paying for the rubber mulch surface which will extend the playing area from the playground to the Hive. In time, pieces of equipment will be added to this space which the sports crew and school council will discuss in their meetings next half term. Thank you again to the FOA for their incredible fundraising as it makes a huge difference to the resources and opportunities we can provide the children with.  

Finally, we say ‘au revoir’ to Miss Frost who is leaving us today to be the Headteacher at Valley End. We wish her all the best and look forward to catching up with her at hub GST events. Mrs Athersuch will be our SENCO and you are able to contact her via senco@ashley.surrey.sch.uk.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend and a restful half-term.

 Mrs Ratcliff 

Dates For Your Diary - 

 

 Reminders - 

Christmas Lunch - 

 18^th December will be our Christmas lunch. If you wish to book your child in for a Christmas lunch please book before 2^nd December via scopay

christmas menu poster 2024 gst.pdf

Lunches - 

The Autumn/Winter 2024/25 menu, is here: Menu

 If your child/ren normally has a school meal, please can we remind you to order a school meal in advance. Ordering now closes on the Friday before and meals cannot be ordered after this time.

 Should you forget to book a meal for your child/ren, we will call you and you will be required to bring in a packed lunch for your child going forward. You will not be able to book a meal on the day.

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.

Attendance -  

Attendance is another of our key priorities this year. The research is very clear that excellent attendance helps to support excellent pupil outcomes. Please support us with this mission by ensuring your child’s attendance is excellent. You can see your child's attendance on the Arbor App, anything over 96% to be good attendance. Mrs Ratcliff is  unable to authorise any holiday during term time as all families are expected to arrange this during the school holidays.

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

1. It helps us know sooner if your child is unaccounted for.
2. It’s quick and easy to register and use and automatically reminds you to keep us posted.
3. You’ll be helping the NHS and other public health organisations improve children’s health. (https://studybugs.com/about/schools)

Online Safety Workshop - 

 

Does your child spend time exploring online? The internet’s a great place for children to learn, create, chat with friends and family, access information or support and explore fun apps, sites and games. But exploring comes with risks, so it’s vital we know how to keep them safe online.

That’s why we’d like to invite you to join a NSPCC-led workshop: ‘Keeping children safe online’.

Our workshop will:

• Help you understand how kids experience the online world
• Show you resources and tools that could help keep them safe
• Empower you to guide them on their journey

There are limited spaces for this session. To secure a place, please register by reserving your place. This workshop is for adults so please arrange childcare. 

LOCATION Ashley CofE Primary School, KT12 1HX

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/ashleycofeprimaryschool1/1421694

The Past Fortnight -  

Year 5- 

On Monday, Year 5 shared some of their learning with parents as part of their Great Works. They sung a beautiful River song celebrating the importance of water and how our rivers and oceans should be protected. They then challenged their parents to write river poems, identify the features of a river as well as identify major international rivers on a world map. It was a fantastic culmination of this half term's learning and it was lovely to see so many parents there. 

-Miss Hood

Year 4 - 

This week, Y4 were engineers as they created used their D&T skills, as well as their science skills, to build a torch with a working circuit. The collaboration and perseverance was excellent as we realised that not everything can work out first time! There was some frustrations and help was needed from the adults but in the end, all of us were able to produce a working torch with a switch that lit up. We were really proud of our efforts and evaluated the outcome against our specification to see whether it met the needs of the user and the function. 

-Mrs Ready

 Year 3 - 

Year 3 enjoyed having their parents and carers in to help us create a natural piece of art in the style of Andy Goldsworthy. We created a picture frame with natural resources using PVA glue to create a collage. 

 - Miss Williams 

 Year 2 - 

Over the last 2 weeks, Year 2 have been bulb planting. They have discussed features, how they’re planted and how they grow. They have also discussed why we plant them now (need a period of cold to germinate) when they grow and what they will grow into. The children know that these are spring bulbs and edibles (garlic and onion) which we hope to use for our healthy wraps later this year. 

-Mrs Van Der Schaff 

Year 1 - 

Year 1 celebrated all they have learned this half term in their Great Works.  The children performed a poem to their parents and carers and then they shared a series of activities relating to their learning from the half term.  These included a collage in the style of Henri Matisse, creating maps with a key, designing a Sukkah (looking at Harvest in Christianity and Judaism) and Autumnal leaf artwork and a nature hunt.  We are very proud of how hard the Year 1 children have worked this half term and hope you all have a well-deserved rest!

-Mrs Boyd

 Reception- 

This week in Reception we have been learning about bees and why they are special to us at Ashley. The children all enjoyed a talk from Mrs Winstanley-Fisher, learning about how we can help bees. We also had a honey tasting session, a lot of honey was consumed. 

-Miss Key 

Faith Group - 

Faith group ran a pop up prayer space in the Lunch Hall this week. Children were able to choose from a variety of activities linked to this term's collective worships exploring the beatitudes. 

Harvest - 

Thank you for all your generous donations this year.  The donations were shared between Rentstart, The Bridge and The Foodbank. Faith group made and delivered hampers to Rentstart, and a big thank you to Mrs Martin for delivering the donations to the Food Bank.

- Mrs Nawaz 

 

Gardening News - 

Our new banner arrived this week to promote our fundraising for our eco project with Rethink Waste scheme. If you have not yet signed up to collect 'Green' points to donate to Ashley, please do! There's a new set of activities on the site this week for everyone to do. We have until 17^th November - We will update our leaderboard placing regularly - Were currently in 4^th place!!

 

the gardening diaries october 24 revist.pdf

Sponsored Walk - 

Thank you for everyone's sponsorship donation towards some new play and sports equipment at Ashley. We raised a total of £3,337.24. We are pleased to announce that Fletcher did a total of 1717 laps. Berkely completed 1635 laps, Portland completed 1397 laps and Shannon completed 1419 laps. Well done to all the children for completing their laps and coming together to support each other. 

-Miss Williams 

PE Lead 

Smiles2Smiles - DONATION 

ashley school donation letter 2024.pdf

October Half Term Social Stories - 

We recognise that changes in routine can cause some children distress. We have put together some resources to support with the half term break, including some social stories and daily routine planners. 

October Half Term

Free (or reasonably-priced) Half Term Activity Ideas:

There are lots of things happening in the local area over half term for free (or reasonably-priced). 

Pets at Home: My Pet Pals Autumn Workshops

https://community.petsathome.com/events/child-workshop/my-pet-pals-autumn/

 Walton Library: Museum Explorers & Create a Creature Workshop

https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/libraries/your-library/find-your-nearest/walton/events-and-activities

 Hobbycraft: Half Term Crafting workshops (various stores)

https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/stores/staines?useStorePosition=true&storesSearch=true#lat=51.38699&lng=-0.48921

 Get a free Lego magazine!

https://LEGO.com/get-magazine

 Kids Eat Free - various places

https://kiddoadventures.com/2024/10/08/restaurants-and-cafes-where-kids-can-eat-free-october-half-term-2024/

 Local ideas with Jules in the Know

https://www.instagram.com/p/DBVa__TtmPv/?hl=en-gb&img_index=1

Ashley Celebrates - 

We would like to wish our Hindu families - a very happy Diwali. This special Hindu festival of light takes place on Friday 31st October over half term. 

Faces Newsletter - 

newsletter november 2024.pdf