At last, the summer is here and what a scorcher – well it is Blazing June.  Thank you for sending your children to school with hats, shorts, dressed, water and sun cream. I am so glad we were able to afford air conditioning in KS2 this year; lucky them.  KS1 next, Nursery already have it.

School Dinners  

Our new caterer begins from 4th July. Details of the new menu can be found on our website and on the HC3S Website and on Scopay; we start with Week 1.   Children have 4 choices per day: Hot meat meal, Hot vegetarian meal, Jacket potato meal or a Packed Lunch (Jacket potato/packed lunch fillings change daily and children choose from the daily options).

All of the following children will have their meal provided from 4th July:

1. Children in Reception to Year 2 classes as the government pay for their meal as part of the universal offer
2. Children in Years 3 to 6 who are entitled to a Free School meal as their parents/carers work/benefit package qualifies them for the Pupil Premium allocation.

Parents who pay for their children’s meals in Key Stage 2, can choose to order a meal or packed lunch provided by the new caterer or provide a packed lunch from home.

You can continue to choose your child’s lunch in advance through Scopay, or alternatively your child can select their choice during registration on the day.

School dinner payments must be made in advance. The cost of a school meal remains at is £2.45 per day, it is free for children who qualify for Pupil Premium and all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 Children.

Medical special diets are prepared by a dietician for children at HC3S schools who have been advised to avoid a certain food by a medical professional. Special diets are managed through their dedicated special diet portal. As you can understand this is a lengthy process so your child's information needs to be on your account by 20th June 2022 so that they can prepare the menu for the start of September new term. Please create an account and upload your medical evidence by 20th June 2022 at specialdiets.hants.gov.uk There will be a limited offer until the individual specialised menu is in place. 

Staffing

Mrs Chantler is getting ready to start her maternity leave on Friday 1st July (this is her last day).  We are so excited to meet the new baby Chantler.  Miss Bemmer will be the class teacher for the remainder of the term, she currently covers 1.5 days a week in Y5C. 

We have been enjoying lots of wonderful events in the last few weeks:

Jason Robinson

Rugby legend Jason Robinson OBE, who was the only try-scorer in the England Rugby World Cup final 2003, visited our school in May.

At the end of their sports session each child was given a sports certificate presented to the children by Jason himself!  A huge thank you to Jason and his team for taking the time out and visiting our children and Heathrow and Balfour Beatty for their generosity. www.ash-grange.surrey.sch.uk/jason-robinson-visit-may-2022/

New Reception 2022-23

We had a lovely welcome evening meeting for our new (and returning) parent/carers of Reception 2022-23 class. Our Year 6 superstar children were there as tour guides, models on the cat walk and experts in all things Ash Grange as they hosted table discussions with new parents/carers.

Guildford in Bloom

Thank you to everyone who helped create our wonderful competition entry, from donating items to growing plants at home. Mrs du Plessis, Ms Skinner and the children showed the judges our table fit for a queen and then they had a look at all of the gardens in the school. They were very impressed, we hear how we did in September.

Sports Day

The sun shone on Ash Grange last Friday, it was wonderful to welcome so many parents to witness our Sports Day.  Watching the children enjoying the activities and cheering for one another; with Year 6 choosing to be Sports Leaders for the day – what a treat. 

The Team Competition was won by Blue House with an amazing 7620 points - Well done to them!

In addition, we presented Sport Day Superstar Certificates for excellent effort, sportsmanship, and sporting performance for Y1 to Y6.

Well done to Mr Barnett for such a well organised event.

Photos of the day can be found on our website at www.ash-grange.surrey.sch.uk/sports-day-june-2022/

Elite Cross Country

Ash Grange was delighted to host the event on Tuesday. Our children tried their best and we were proud of how hard they tried. Well done to all who took part. www.ash-grange.surrey.sch.uk/elite-cross-country-june-2022/

Parent/Carer Council Meeting

Parent Council met on 14th June to share ideas and views, the link to the minutes on the school website are here- www.ash-grange.surrey.sch.uk/news/detail/parent-council-meeting-meeting-of-14th-june-2022/

A key highlight to mention:

The Governors and I have decided to use the curriculum budget next year 2022-23 to cover the cost of trips. Each class will have 3 allocated trips that will be paid for.  This is a one year special use of funds to help all families manage huge financial pressures with cost of living rises.  The Council members suggested having a donation facility on Scopay for those families able to contribute to trip costs, which we will set up for September.

Governance

Peter Jackson our co-opted governor from the local community is standing down after many years of service. This opens up the chance for a member of our community to join our Governing Body. 

We want our Governing Body to be fully representative of our community and so seek someone from our multi-cultural community. It is so important for children to see adults in all roles of life so that they can be inspired to achieve this for themselves. 

This role is not open to a parent of the school or nursery in September 2022 so if any of our Nursery or Year 6 parents, who are not continuing to be at Ash Grange after July and have a business or work in the community wish to be considered, then please talk to me further. Here is the link to find out more: 

www.nga.org.uk/Knowledge-Centre/Governance-structure-roles-and-responsibilities/Roles-and-responsibilities/Essential-resources-for-clerks/Appointing-governors-and-trustees-(1).aspx

PTA News

Friday 24th June is a Mufti Day to raise funds for prizes in the Summer Raffle. Children can come to school in their own clothes if parents have paid £2 online through Scopay. This is an optional event and children should wear their school uniform if you choose not to donate. This money will be used to buy great raffle prizes.

The Summer Raffle Tickets have been sent home with your child. Please return all tickets to the office by Thursday 14th July, the draw will take place at the Year 6 production on 20th July.

Whole School Charity Day 1st July 2022

As you know each class has an adopted Charity that they find out about and support over the year. Details of the class charities can be found at www.ash-grange.surrey.sch.uk/school-council-1/
So that parents/carers do not get lots of money requests the School Council are running a special day on 1st July.

There will be several activities for the children to take part in during the school day including

• YR - Come and play in their outside area
• Y1 - Used toy sale
• Y2 - Penalty shoot out
• Y3 - Guess the number of sweets in a jar
• Y4 - Cake sale after school/Basketball scoring
• Y5C - Hoop scoring
• Y5G - Name the teddy
• Y6 - Fun run around the field

Nursery will have their own events.

If you have any good condition used toys, please drop them off at the school office or to the Year 1 teaching staff.

We ask all families able to donate to pay £2 (or more) on Scopay for the day. 

Dates Ahead

• 24th June – Mufti Day for PTA (On Scopay)
• Clubs finish week commencing 27th June
• 1st July School Council Charity Day (see above)
• Project Homework due 8th July
• Class Exhibitions after school Tuesday 12th and Thursday 14th July
• 15th July New Class teacher day – Find out who will be teaching them in September!
• 20th July Year 6 performance to their own families
• 21st July Year 6 Fun Day
• 22nd July 9-10am Year 6 Leavers Assembly a special celebration for Year 6 parents/carers and the school children.

Our School Calendar is regularly updated so do keep checking at www.ash-grange.surrey.sch.uk/diary/

Summer Reading Challenge

The Summer Reading Challenge starts on 9th July and has a Gadgeteers theme.

Children have to be a library member to take part, but participation is completely free, and they can collect special stickers and rewards including a certificate and a medal along the way. The aim is to read up to six books, and children can read whatever they like from Surrey Libraries' excellent range, including eBooks and eAudiobooks!

For those children with younger siblings there is also good news: there is a Mini Challenge for children aged 3 and under, so they can also take part in a special reading adventure this year.

More details at https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/libraries/children/5-to-12-year-olds/summer-reading-challenge

Next newsletter Friday 15th July 2022