Headteacher's Message!

Good Afternoon, 

It has been another busy fortnight. Thank you for encouraging your child to wear odd socks on Monday as the start of anti-bullying week. It was amazing to see so many funky socks.

Wow, weren’t the Ashley fireworks amazing? The whole event was just lovely – to gather as a community to support our school is always a very heart-warming thing. Well done to the FoA for organising such a successful family event from start to finish. I would also like to thank you everyone who volunteered on the day to make it such a feel-good event for all to enjoy. I loved every minute!

As a school, we observed the two minute silence and remembered the men and women who gave their lives in the two World Wars and subsequent conflicts. I would like to thank year 6 for leading a respectful and compassionate remembrance service for year 4, year 5 and year 6 parents. It was fantastic to see children wearing poppies and dressed in their sea scout, brownie, beaver and club uniforms.

This week, we welcomed more visitors for tours which were led by the children in Year 6. I had so many positive comments about their behaviour, how articulate they were and how smart they looked; well done for doing the school proud! 

The virtual curriculum session for families has been rescheduled to 5:30pm on Tuesday, 28^th November. This will be an overview of our refined curriculum and will explain how the children build knowledge and skills in different subjects from reception to year 6. Specific workshops on Ashley’s approach to reading, phonics, spelling and mathematics will follow.  

Although Christmas might be 5 weeks away in real terms, in school terms it is just around the corner! Preparations are now underway for our productions, carol concerts and Christmas activities! You will receive a separate documentation relating to the dates and times of performances.

Dominic Raab, our local Member of Parliament, met with a member of our parent community, Miss Frost and representatives from the county transport team to highlight the safety challenges our families face when walking to school. Mr Raab echoed our concerns and gave assurances that he would support our quest to develop safer crossing options for families during his remaining time in office.  As a school, we will now work with the county council to update our school travel plan. Whilst I am on the topic of keeping safe, with the nights drawing in it is important the children are visible to motorists so please ensure your child can be seen.

I finish by hoping you all have a very enjoyable weekend!

Mrs Ratcliff 

Please click on the link to read an open letter to parents/carers from Liz Mills (Director of Education and Lifelong Learning) regarding provision for SEND pupils in Surrey. Open letter from Liz Mills Director of Education and Lifelong Learning Surrey County Council | Surrey Local Offer

Staffing Update - Wrap around care

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself Ms Heavens  as the new deputy manager of wrap around care, taking over the role from Miss Wood since September, I have been working at breakfast club and after school club. It has been wonderful to meet all of the children. I currently work as an LSA in year 5, although during my twelve years at Ashley, I have worked in a number of different year groups. I am passionate about providing an exciting, nurturing and safe environment for the children. I will look forward to continuing the school values through to the wrap around care clubs. 

Ms Heavens 

The Past Fortnight 

On Friday 3^rd of November, Year 5 boys played the first game of the season (away) in the knockout cup v St. Cuthberts, and the year 5's won 5-2. The boys all played extremely well. 

A week later on Friday 10^th of November, our year 6 boys played in the first round of the knockout cup, they faced Cardinal Newman. Ashley won 2-1. WELL DONE BOYS!

Y5 Team 

On Friday 10th of November, Year 2 had a special visit from Joe the puppeteer! He showed us how to use puppets properly and we had a go at trying to use the puppets too. Some children performed the song 'Who let the dogs out' with their puppets and it was very funny. In the afternoon we all made a sock puppet with Joe. We cant wait to use the skills we learnt when we perform our own puppet show. 

Y2 Puppet workshop

On Monday 13th of November, Year 3 were immersed into African drumming by their very own Djembefola. Using djembes, the children learnt how to make different sounds depending on their hand placement and bounce. They followed the call and response of the Djembefola and created a four-piece rhythm in groups. Some even got a chance to be the Djembefola themselves! Year 3 really enjoyed this workshop and look forward to using the skills in their music lessons over the coming weeks.

Y3 African drum

Punctuality

Ashley school gates open at 8.25am and registration is at 8.40am.  Children need to be in their class by 8.40am so that they can start their lessons promptly. 

Children who arrive late are greatly disadvantaged because they miss starting the day with their peers and the beginning of lessons. This means that they are often unsettled and confused about tasks. It is also very important that children establish good routines and habits in preparation for the rest of their lives. Punctuality is a life skill that they need to develop whilst they are young.  It is essential that you ensure that your child arrives at school on time to prevent disruption to your child’s own learning and that of others. We are required to monitor children’s punctuality and attendance.

On-going lateness (after the class register has been taken) is classified as an unauthorised absence and this is contrary to The Education Act.  We understand that there may be rare occasions when you are unavoidably late due to unforeseen circumstances. High levels of unauthorised absences or poor punctuality can result in a referral to the Surrey County Council Inclusion Officer or other agencies which have a duty to investigate further and could result in legal action being taken against you. If you are experiencing difficulties with punctuality and would like to talk to us about it, please make an appointment to meet with Mrs Sawyer.

In Accordance with our values 

At Ashley we teach the children to communicate their feelings and opinions in a respectful way.  As staff we also place a lot of importance on modelling this to the children and living in accordance with the values of our school: Care, Challenge, Explore.

We try and teach our pupils that life has its ups and downs and learning strategies to deal with this is equally important.  We recognise that as parents you may sometimes have queries and frustrations. In accordance with our values please can we ask that all parents communicate with our staff in a respectful manner, and we will always aim to do the same.  All our staff are here with your children's best interests at heart, and we are more than happy to talk through any queries you have.  All our staff reserve the right to postpone a conversation if it is not being conducted in a respectful manner.  Thank you for support in this and for ensuring we model this tone to your children.  

Online School Meals via Scopay

From January 2024 we will be moving to pre ordering school meals online. This is where you can book and pay for your child’s meal in advance (paid meals for Year 3- 6). We will be sending more details out soon so please keep an eye out for this information. Children’s meals in Reception – Y2 will also need to be booked online. In order to prepare to move to pre-ordering online school meals you will need to ensure that all current outstanding balances are cleared on your Scopay account. Therefore we will be populating Scopay from 20^th November up to the end of term, 20^th December, so you can see the final amount due on your dinner account.  We will be unable to carry forward any outstanding debt so please ensure that you clear any outstanding balances as soon as possible.  From January 2024 you will need to have a credit balance on your Scopay account to enable you to book your child’s meal in advance. If you do not have a Scopay account please ensure you contact the school office to receive a letter on how to create an account.  Many thanks. School Administration Team

Girls on Board 

During one of our recent inset day some of the staff at Ashley joined two other local GST schools for training around a programme called Girls on Board.   It was a really inspiring and informative day for us all.  Girls on Board is an approach which helps girls, their parents and their teachers to understand the complexities and dynamics of girl friendships. The language, methods and ideas empower girls to solve their own friendship problems and recognises that they are usually the only ones who can.  As part of us introducing this programme across within our school, we would like to invite parents to attend a virtual workshop on Thursday 30^th November at 7pm.  Please save the date - a virtual link to the workshop will be sent out nearer the day.  In the meantime, if you are interested in finding out more about the programme please visit the website via the link. www.girlsonboard.co.uk

Online Safety!

Online safety (e-safety) is about using technology safely, especially technology that can access the internet or be used to communicate with others. While the internet offers exciting and intriguing opportunities for learning, creativity, connecting with others and entertainment, it also has potential risks that young people must understand. At Ashley, we will have refined our online safety rules and will be using SMART to support the children with their online safety learning during computing and PSHE. We have made these phase appropriate for the key stages. Each half term we will focus on one aspect of SMART. We will draw upon the other aspects when appropriate.  Next half term we will focus on  'Safe'. 

Smiles2Smiles

Just a reminder that there will be a collection at drop off and pick up on Friday 24th November 2023 for this amazing local charity Smiles2Smiles. Last year, with huge help from Ashley school,  the team at the charity gave many more ‘Smiles’ by sending out over 400 hampers and making 60 bags for the children and women in our 4 local refuges. The charity receives their nominations from churches, schools, doctor’s surgeries and local children’s services. Their aim is to compassionately and discreetly help support those in Elmbridge who may be feeling vulnerable and need an extra hand. For many families in a refuge, this may be the only present they receive so the Smiles2Smiles team would be extremely grateful to receive NEW AND UNUSED. Please see the link for what donations are required - Want to help? – Smiles2Smiles

  Panto time....

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