Ashton Gate Primary School Newsletter

On Thursday 2nd April, Year 4 are going to be visiting the Explorer Dome. 4G and 4L are looking for parent volunteers to help walk to and from St Francis Centre. If you are able to support this trip, please contact your child’s class teacher. The timings for the sessions are below:

We will not be holding any of the SATs clubs next week due to parents evening commitments. We will resume as usual in week 4.

There was so much love for books buzzing in the air on Thursday, it was a joy to behold: hearing children recommend favourite books to one another, joining in with an online nationwide ‘Live’ lesson, participating as a whole school in ‘Drop everything and Read’, celebration assemblies and so much more. Thank you so much to the children for making such incredible efforts with all their fantastic costumes, our school came alive with words and characters!

Thank you to our fantastic community, for helping us celebrate books all week long: All of our wonderful parent mystery readers, the fabulous PTA for helping with Ashton Site Twilight Stories, book publicist and parent Kelly Pike, who explained with passion to Years 5 and 6 how book publicists help books to reach the readers who’ll love them, publisher and parent Jo Stenlake who came and talked to EYFS, and Years 3&4 about making LEGO Books, local independent bookshop Storysmith, who organised for author Josh Hicks to come and talk to KS2 about his new book, as well as donating to our school library and author Charlotte Wildgoose who came in to share her first published book with EYFS and KS1.

What a wonderful week spent celebrating the pleasure of reading!

During week 4 year 2s will be taking part in a DT day, sewing and decorating a pouch. We would love to have as many volunteers as possible to come and support us. Timings for the day will be 9.10 to 12ish. 

Please let your child’s class teacher know if you are available to attend. 

• Maple – [email protected]
• Rowan – [email protected]
• Oak – [email protected]
• Sycamore – [email protected]

We were delighted to have author Charlotte Cameron at Ashton on Monday to read her book “Sam and the Solitary Seed.  The children were excited to hear about how Charlotte has become an author and about her passion for nature. If you would like to purchase a copy of the  book you can from the following sellers.  If you would like to have your book signed, then please bring it in by the 20th of March and we will arrange for it to be signed.

Ashton Gate were involved in the local Winter Wanderland event. Some of our classrooms told the story of ‘The Promise’ by Nicola Davies a book studied in year 5. We hope you enjoyed it.

Comic Relief is Friday 20th March. Your child is welcome to come to school dressed up in something silly.

PTA Quiz Night

There are just a few tables left for our PTA Quiz Night, so gather some friends together and book yourself a table before they sell out.

Reminder of Key Info:

• Friday 20th March
• Doors open at 7pm – Quiz starts at 7:30pm with an aim to have everything wrapped up by 11pm
• Our fully stocked bar with the usual choice of wine, bubbles and a selection of the finest beers from our amazing friends at the Bristol Beer Factory
• Pre-ordered Pizza’s delivered freshly cooked to the school
• Adults only – so a great reason to call in the babysitters and enjoy the evening.

Tickets are available on the PTA website – just click the link or head over to our website where you can also order yourself a Pizza which will be freshly cooked and delivered to the School from our friends at Pimms Pizza:

Meet the PTA

This week it’s the turn of Rob who looks after all the communications that come from
the PTA.

PTA Member Q&A: Meet Rob

Name: Rob Neighbour
What Year is your child/children in: Year 6
How long have you been a member of the PTA: 3 years

Why did you join the PTA?

I have always enjoyed helping where I can in the local community so when a friend asked me if I wanted to attend the PTA AGM to find out more about what they did, I said yes, and the rest is, well history.

Having been to events before I joined the PTA, I saw all the great work they were doing but didn’t really think about joining until I met everyone and realised what a difference they made to the school.

Being a part of the PTA has really made me feel more connected with the school and I get a fantastic sense of satisfaction doing what I can – big and small – to make a difference.

What do you do in the PTA?

Many moons ago I worked in Advertising and have always enjoyed writing – something I don’t get to do so much now I work in automotive. So, when they needed some support in writing the weekly newsletter (yep, that’s me) and designing / creating the posters for the school event (also me) I thought I could dust off some old skills (I’ll let you be the judge of at what level!) and do something I enjoy.

I still get stuck in and help at events. Work takes me away from home so I’m not available to do as much as I would like, but the great thing about the PTA is that everyone finds the right balance and we all do what we can – nothing is expected!

What do you enjoy most about being part of the PTA?

I really enjoy the short time I spend writing the newsletter – it’s not rocket science and Jo and the others help me come up with the content and I write it in my own style.

I also like meeting up with everyone when I can – it’s always a fun and relaxed evening over a beer chatting about events, ideas and other ways we can support the school.

Do you have any favourite memories from the PTA?

Favourite memory now (maybe not at the time!) was when I found myself doing glitter tattoos during my first Christmas Fair – pressure, I thought I knew what pressure was but nothing could prepare me for the pressure of having to apply a multicoloured unicorn to an excited 7 year old while their parents look on (I think they could see the fear in my eyes ha-ha).

How do you manage your time and PTA responsibilities?

Writing the newsletter doesn’t take me too long at all, and I try and get together with Jo and the others to plan it in advance. Then it’s just the case of writing them up. Events can be a little tricky at times depending on if I have been away with work, but we plan these things in advance so I can get them in my calendar. I really enjoy the events and there is never any pressure – which makes me want to help out all the more!

Why are you leaving the PTA?

My son is in year 6 so will be leaving the school – which means I’ll need to hang up my PTA comms hat and pass it on to someone else.

Thinking of joining the PTA?

If you are thinking about then come up and speak to one of us! I’d be more than happy to talk to anyone wanting to find out more. You can also drop us an email [email protected]

Bristol City Council introduced the School Streets scheme at Ashton Gate Primary, Upton Road site, on 21^st October 2024. This involved creating a walking and cycling-only zone on a section of Upton Road. 

Vehicles are not permitted to enter the zone for 45 minutes in the morning between 8.15am and 9.00am and 45 minutes in the afternoon between 2.45pm and 3.30pm. Emergency vehicles, Blue Badge holders and residents in the affected section of Upton Road are exempt from these restrictions. 

We are now inviting local residents, parents, teachers and local businesses to share their views by taking part in a short survey.  We would like to understand what you think of the scheme, your perceptions on compliance and safety and the impact it has had on your daily life. 

Your feedback is important to us and, alongside other monitoring data, will help to determine the future of the scheme.  

The survey can be accessed online via the following link from Monday 16^th February:

The survey will close on Monday 23^rd March.  

The School Immunisation team can offer the MMR vaccine to any school aged child who has not yet had 2 doses. The MMR vaccine helps to protect your child against Measles, Mumps and Rubella and 2 doses are required for full protection A guide to the MMR vaccination for all If you are unsure whether your child has had 2 doses please contact your GP or the School Immunisation team at [email protected]

Regular school attendance is one of the best ways to help your child succeed. When children come to school every day, they keep up with their learning, build confidence in their skills, and develop good routines that set them up for the future. Every day at school matters—it helps your child stay on track and get the most out of their education.

It is also important to arrive at school on time. If a child arrives late to school every day, their learning begins to suffer. Below is a graph showing how being late to school every day over a school year adds up to lost learning time over one academic year.

Please remember to order your child’s lunch before 10pm on a Wednesday. If your child only has a meal once a week, you will still need to book this.

We are still having a lot of children who do not have a lunch booked with no packed lunch. Please remember the default meal is always salad bar. No other option will be available.

Please remember not to order a school lunch if your child is on a school trip, where a packed lunch is required. If you have already booked a meal for this date, the meal can be cancelled by the payer until 10pm on a Wednesday for the following week. As all food is pre-ordered there will be no refunds issued for non-cancelled meals.

A reminder that we are a nut free school. Please do not send your child to school with snacks/packed lunch with items containing nuts. This includes items such as Pesto, filled crepes and chocolate spread.

We are now on Facebook. Please like our page, we will be using this page to celebrate events and learning moments taking place across the school. We encourage you to invite other parents and family members to join as well, so that too can be part of our vibrant school network. Rest assured, our Facebook page will prioritise the privacy and security of our children. We will follow all the necessary precautions and guidelines to protect identities and ensure a safe online environment.

Studybugs is no longer in use. Please record any illnesses/medical appointments using the Arbor parent portal app. For planned absences please complete the online form on the attendance page of our website.