SUMMER TERM REVIEW 2025 2025
Nursery Life
It has been a term of exploration, celebration, and growth for all our children and their families.
The Summer Term was extremely busy across all four nurseries. Nightingale and Bridge Nursery welcomed a visit from Kent Fire Service. Children explored the fire engine and met real firefighters. Nightingale children also enjoyed visiting the local farm shop and market, exploring fresh produce and talking about how food goes from the field to the table and ‘into the tummy’.
At Stables Nursery the children have been growing their own strawberries, learning about nature and where food comes from and eventually eating the fruits of their labour. Father’s Day was celebrated across Stables and Bridge Nursery with special teas, where dads joined their children for activities and refreshments, creating precious, shared memories.
Prep Nursery children put on a wonderful ballet show showcasing their developing confidence and movement skills. Finally, our nurseries came together for Sports Day. We celebrated with races and games, marking a key moment as our 'babies' prepare for the next stage of their learning journey: Reception.
Playing with Numbers
Our Cherry Tree
Exploring puddles
Nightingale Nursery
Making Bread
Prep School Life
Summer term at Ashford Prep School was varied and very productive. The 80ᵗʰ Anniversary of VE Day was marked with a day of themed learning, including code-breaking activities and understanding Spitfire design through art and science. The presence of four vintage army jeeps added original ‘source material’ to be experienced at first hand. The day concluded with a commemorative 1945 style afternoon tea.
Year 4 pupils took part in a Wildfire Camp, developing practical skills in shelter building, firelighting, and teamwork during a ‘screen-free’ day and an overnight camp under canvas.
The Pre-Prep Choir performed at the Wealden Summer Fair, representing the school with a wellreceived programme of songs, despite the rain and slightly soggy sandwiches.
Pupils have engaged in science projects on animal classification and seed growth, German lessons and the Junior Maths Team represented Prep School in the Ashford Maths Challenge at the Senior School.
Year 6 pupils also presented their PSPQ projects, sharing their research and interests with staff, peers, and parents with clarity and confidence.
Pre-Prep Sports Day
Year 4 Campfire Wild Adventure Year 2 Learning Year 6 Bentley Copse
Senior School Life
This term has seen a range of events and interesting experiences for our Senior School pupils. We welcomed our new Heads of School, Charlie and Isabelle, who have taken over from Kate and Alex, and unveiled new House shields, designed by pupils. These add a colourful and clever visual identities to the new House system.
In an innovative first for the School, Year 8 pupils had an opportunity to link sport with Modern Foreign Language learning. Steve Eadon, a former Arsenal coach, delivered a football training session entirely in Spanish while sharing stories from his international coaching career and making a great case for studying a MFL at A level.
New Heads of School Year 5 & 7 Orienteering Day
Entrenamiento de Fútbol
Year 7 Humanities Trip
International Week - organised by Boarding Prefect, Ashley
Year 11 Study Leave Year 13 Leaver’s Day
New House Shields
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
The hugely popular musical returned to Ashford, bright, bold, and brimming with energy. Starring Noah as Joseph, Zachary as Pharaoh and with Isla, Lottie, Charlotte and Lucy as a combined Narrator.
Amazingly, it is over fifty years since Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice added their ‘Technicolor” magic to the Old Testament story of “success against the odds”.
With its uplifting themes, crowd pleasing tunes, and a stars (of-the-future) studded cast this performance, was a great showcase for musical theater at Ashford School.
Drama & Dance
This term saw notable performances in Dance at Ashford School. The Prep School Dance Group came third in the National Final of The Great Big Dance Off in Oxford, performing a piece with choreography inspired by Charlie Chaplin’s life. This was performed with great panache and brilliant character development. Closer to home, the Senior School hosted the first Mid-Kent Junior Dance Festival, with seven local schools participating and Ashford School represented by dancers from Y4 and Y7, delivering two excellent performances.
The very clear highlight of the term was the epic extravaganza ‘Heroes, Villains and Icons - One School Variety Evening’ that closed Arts Fest 2025. This huge and energetic celebration of music, dance and drama had well over 160 performers in almost 30 different performances. Mr Hall said: “When I joined the school seven years ago I had a vision for the performing arts... for me seeing Prep and Senior School pupils collaborating, working together, mentoring, looking after each other, truly as one school. That gives me more satisfaction than anything”.
Heroes, Villains and Icons - One School Variety Show
Music
Music continues to flourish across the Prep and Senior school, with pupils participating in a wide range of events showcasing their talent and dedication to practice.
At Prep School, a cello concert and musical showcases featured 25 young musicians, displaying growing confidence and skill across a range of instruments. Pupils also took part in the IAPS Orchestral Challenge Day at Benenden School, playing in a 165-strong orchestra and experiencing the collaboration needed to play in a large ensemble.
A memorable experience for Y5 and Y7 pupils was performing ‘The Magic Flute’ at the Royal Festival Hall in London. This continued the theme of collaboration, with professional soloists working with young musicians from across the United Learning group.
The Magic Flute at the Royal Festival Hall (Y5&7)
IAPS Orchestral Challenge Day
Steinway Piano Grand Final Friday Factor
Art
This term, the school celebrated an array of creative achievements, from the youngest ‘mark making’ in Nursery, to Sixth Formers winning awards in national competitions. The inspirational vision of the Art Department is of a classical studio where pupils develop creative ‘ways of seeing’ and the techniques required to make them real. The studio ethos encourages senior students to take a pivotal role in mentoring younger peers, while working on their A level exams and portfolios.
Seven years since its inception, the pioneering Artist-in-Residence programme remains an important source of inspiration and technical expertise for pupils.
The Summer Art exhibitions enable pupils from across the school to showcase their work, while gaining invaluable experience by talking to adults about their work. This reflects the deep and thoughtful engagement in art across all year groups.
Art Exhibition
Year 7 Clay Pots
Raku Pottery Firing
Art from the Environment
Raku Pottery Firing
Sport
A long, hot and sunny term brought impressive team results in Cricket, Swimming and Athletics. As well as notable achievements for individual sports players.
U10A Girls SVS Cricket Cup Winners
three
at the
Aleiya (Y8) won
medals
British Junior Para Swimming Championships
U15 Outdoor 8s Winners
Kent Outdoor 8s Cricket U13 Girls 2ⁿᵈ
Tamsin (Y11) selected for Wales U18 Hockey Team as goalkeeper
IAPS Athletics Relay Teams
Sereniti (Y8) Won the Corden Cup for Outstanding Performance at the National Prep Schools Championship
Ava (Y10) Selected for European and World Championships for Modern Pentathlon
Biathlon is Back
Boarding Life
Summer as a boarding pupil sees a balance between the academic rigor needed to prepare for exam season, continued physical and personal growth, along with moments of relaxation, sitting in the sun, chatting with friends from around the world.
The close knit community of 107 boarders at School also contribute a huge amount to Sports, Music, and Drama co-curricular activities.
At 101 days Autumn term was a very long term. It started with the arrival of Mrs Archer, our new Head Teacher, and a brand new pupil leadership team for 2024 –2025. Early in the term Y5 had a Campfire Wild Adventure, while parents were invited to talk to Mrs Archer and Mr Hall about the School’s Strategic Objectives.
Evenings are filled with study sessions, social events, and relaxation, encouraging strong friendships among students from diverse backgrounds. Weekends are busy with outings, from local trips to cultural excursions further afield.
At 101 days Autumn term was a very long term. It started with the arrival of Mrs Archer, our new Head Teacher, and a brand new pupil leadership team for 2024 –2025. Early in the term Y5 had a Campfire Wild Adventure, while parents were
Highlights of the Summer Term were the impressively fashionable and glamorous turn out that the Y13 boarders made for the Summer Ball and the hugely competitive evening badminton competition.
Thorpe Park Trip
Margate Trip
Theatre Trip
Upper Sixth Ball
Co-Curricular & Enrichment
Once again, the Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Award at Bronze, Silver and Gold levels provides a solid foundation to the wider co-curricular life at School. Over 30 pupils achieved the Gold Award this year and were invited to the DofE Garden Party to celebrate.
Participants in DofE and CCF engage in adventurous activities, developing resilience, determination and strategic thinking. The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) offers students rigorous training and opportunities to show leadership, teamwork, and discipline. This helps develop the interpersonal skills valued in both military and civilian contexts beyond school.
The development of personal ‘grit’ is just one part of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award programme. Pupils undertake phone and GPS free expeditions which challenge them mentally and physically. Expeditions help them build social connections with team members and the award goes on to encourage a more holistic approach to personal growth through volunteering, skill-building and a focus on physical fitness and sport.
Co-curricular activities at School continue to thrive. A new scheme for recognising and rewarding pupils for their engagement with projects outside of the academic is in the pipeline. Something to look forward to next year.
DofE Gold Award Ceremony at Buckingham Palace
Padel Club
Gardening Club
DofE Silver Expedition
Partnerships
Ashford School continued to strengthen its links with the local community through a number of partnership initiatives. Year 12 students, Vivi and Katie, created a mural for Pilgrims Hospices, cleverly designed as an interactive board game to support the charity’s fundraising efforts.
The school hosted the 25ᵗʰ annual Ashford Maths Competition, welcoming local primary schools for an afternoon of brain stretching problem-solving and numerical teamwork. The event saw a very close finish, with Repton Manor Primary School emerging as the winner.
The last week of term sees pupils taking part in the Activities Programme. Pupils visited Winchelsea Beach on a plastics and litter pick, tidied churchyards in Great Chart and Ashford town centre, supported the admin team at Pilgrims Hospices and built wigwams and cleared scrub from the Forest School area at Prep School.
These initiatives highlight just some of the school’s commitment to building meaningful connections within Ashford and supporting local causes through creativity, collaboration and shared learning.
A mural for Pilgrims Hospice
VE Day
Wigwams at Forest School
Churchyard Tidy up
Forest School Restoration
Clearing at Forest School
