Ashton Gate Primary School Newsletter

As we reach the end of this long and busy term, I would like to say a huge well done to everyone for all their hard work and commitment. There has been so much to celebrate this term, from our wonderful Reception nativities and KS2 concerts, to the many trips, homework exhibitions, and the fantastic Rock Band, Rock Steady and piano/keyboard performances, alongside all the usual busy day-to-day curriculum learning that happens in every classroom. It has been wonderful to see the children grow and progress, both academically and socially.

Thank you to the entire Ashton Gate staff team for their endless energy each and every day. A massive thank you must also go to our incredible PTA for their commitment and of course for the wonderful Christmas Fair- it was fabulous and incredibly well supported. Events like this take a huge amount of planning and hard work behind the scenes, and we are extremely grateful for all that the PTA does for our school community.

This term also marks the end of my year as Interim Executive Head while Mr Jones supported at Headley Park; it has been a real honour to work with the whole Ashton Gate community and I am extremely grateful for the support shown to me over the last 12 months. Mr Jones is very much looking forward to returning full time to Ashton Gate in January, and I will be stepping into the Head of School role at Upton, with Mr Hawkins returning to his Assistant Head role alongside Mrs Goodman. Mrs Gerolemou will continue as Ashton as Head of School.

I wish you all a very restful and happy winter break.

Welcome to this preview of a new newsletter format we’re working on. We hope this new system will help make the newsletter easier and faster to read, and help make sure you don’t miss any important information. Here are a few of the improvements…

• The mobile-friendly layout means you no longer need to zoom in and pan around to read the newsletter on phones and tablets.
• Use the year group filters to hide stories that relate to specific year groups. The newsletter will remember which year groups you’ve hidden and automatically filter them when you open the next newsletter.
• The table of contents summarises the stories in this edition. Use the In this edition section to jump to specific stories.
• The new system is more accessible. It should be much easier to use with assistive technologies such as screen readers.
• Important dates for your diary stand out more and you can tap the button next to each one to quickly add the event to your own calendar.
• You can now subscribe to the term dates calendar to see school holidays and inset days in your own calendar. Once you’ve subscribed, new terms and inset days will be added automatically every year.
• Important or useful links now appear as buttons so they stand out more and you can more easily take action if needed.

This new format is a work in progress. We would really appreciate your feedback, especially if you run into any problems or have suggestions to make it even better.

At our meeting this term we voted in a new Chair, Amar Shah, to replace Sue Waller, who is standing down as she has taken up a position as Deputy Head of another school.

The Vice-Chair, Pen Williams, also stood down to focus on her PhD, and is replaced by co-Vice-Chairs Sarah Luther and Kate Jarman. A huge thank you to Sue and Pen for their many years of hard work for the school.

This term the Governors have been focusing on Reading across the School and the support for pupils in receipt of the Pupil Premium Grant.

Gareth Jones returns as Executive Head full time in January. The Governors would like to thank Laura Dowlman and the rest of SLT for stepping up in the last year, and for all their hard work.

Residents on Greenway Bush Lane have complained to the school that driveways are still being blocked by parents parking across them at the start and the end of the school day. We kindly ask that you do not block residents’ driveways. If you travel by car, you are able to park in Aldi Car Park who are the school’s Park and Stride partner if there are no spaces on the road. Thank you for your support with this.

In January, Year 2 will be given weekly spellings to take home and practise. As well as a test to complete in school every week. We will be giving you more information about this in January so please keep an eye out for your child’s spellings.

Year 3 had two fantastic DT mornings designing and making their very own castles! The children worked with great enthusiasm and creativity, producing some truly amazing final creations.

We couldn’t have done it without the support of our wonderful parent volunteers, who generously gave their time to help make the morning such a success. A huge thank you to all the parents who came along – your support made a real difference!

Over 800 Christmas lunches were served to children and staff this week. A huge thank you to our amazing catering team for cooking a lovely Christmas lunch. Also a big thank you to all the parent helpers who helped to serve, set tables and clear up. We couldn’t do it without you all.

Due to a recent incident in which a bike was stolen from the bike shed, we ask that you collect their bikes and scooters at the end of each day and not leave them overnight.

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.