Newsletter 9

Ashton Highlights Newsletter 9

Thursday 27th November

Dear Parents/ Carers We have had an eventful week in school again; even though this newsletter is coming to you early because we are closed on Friday, we still seem to have crammed an awful lot into four days.

The staff and students arrived safely back from their New York trip, looking shattered but absolutely full of enthusiasm regarding their visit to the Big Apple.

Those of you who follow us on Twitter would have seen their updates on our Twitter feed and you can see some photos on page 2. There will be more information in next week’s edition.

Thursday evening was our Celebration Evening, which is one of the highlights of our school calendar because it gives the staff and governors chance to catch up with former students and share in their success and stories of life beyond Ashton. Scott and Dave Fitzgerald were our guests of honour and they really did us proud. This father and son team are truly inspirational and it was amazing to hear their individual stories and appreciate how hard these two men have worked to realise their dreams. Read more about the evening on page 4.

As if Celebration evening wasn’t enough to look forward to, we also attended an event at Preston Playhouse Theatre with the Broughton Music Academy and our performers were fabulous. More of that on page 4 too.

As we hurtle towards Christmas, please encourage your child to take part in events celebrating this, including carols, Christmas Dinner and the Christmas show. These events are always well attended, but the more the merrier!

Best wishes, Sharon Asquith, Principal

We held our annual Celebration Evening for last year’s Year 11, 12 and 13 students on Wednesday 26 November at Preston North End Football Club. We were delighted to be joined by Scott Fitzgerald who presented the certificates to the students.

Scott is a member of Savick and Larches Boxing Club and is trained by his father who is also the owner of the club, Dave Fitzgerald. Scott won a Gold medal in the welterweight division (69kg) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games defeating Mandeep Jangra in the final.

The Expressive Arts Department provided two performances to help celebrate the achievements of our students. BTEC Performing Arts year 10 student Shannon O’Rourke performed “River Flows in you” on the piano. Shannon has performed on numerous occasion over the past 3 years including more recently at Open Evening. New year 7 student Lily Burrows performed a vocal piece “Sweet about me.” Lily is a talented singer and attends a popular drama club outside of school.

Lily Burrows

Shannon ORourke

Pupils having instrumental lessons in school will be performing Wednesday 26th November 2014 at Preston Playhouse Theatre alongside other schools in Lancashire. New year 7 students Sam Marshall, Lewis Seaward and Alice Jenkinson will be performing on the piano. Abigail Renfree in year 7 will be singing and year 8 student Ella Roberts will also be performing on the piano. BTEC Performing Arts year 10 student Georgia Craig will be performing on the guitar and singing. Georgia has performed many times for the Expressive Arts Department including at our PNE celebration evenings. The Expressive Arts Department wish them the best of luck!

FOOTBALL CLUB A new extra curricular activity has been introduced on a Friday night to promote the sixth form and build relationships with current students. The result of last weeks top of the table clash was 5-1. Captain (Mr) Barrow lead Ashton Staff FC to a comfortable win over the Sixth Form Team. The Staff team dominated the game throughout, which is clearly visible from the score line! This will be a regular activity due to the feedback and support from both staff and students. The next fixture will be 5th December. Can the Sixth Form seek revenge and regain some bragging rights? Watch this space for further updates!

ENGINEERING CLUB In Engineering club this week we started our final project of constructing a model house and building a solar powered pumping station to remove flood water from the surrounding area.

We split our team into 2 sections. One section made the model house and designed the structure of the piping, whereas the other section used their skills to build the electrical circuit connecting the solar panel.

SCAMPS AWARDS In last week’s newsletter we ran an article celebrating the students who have taken part in the most SCAMPs activities. Here are some photos of the winning students.

Year 7 Sam Marshall 7A, Lorren Simpson 7A, Jonathan Vickers 7A, Year 8 Tristyan Roberts 8S, Jodie Reed 8O, Caitland Richardson 8T Year 9 Lauren Powell 9N, Katie Lee 9A, Gabrielle Kelly 9T, Chloe Bennett 9A Year 10 Emma Ashworth 10N, Anna-May Johnson 10S, Alex Cottam 10A, Ellie Yeung10A Year 11 Megan Goulding 11H, Holly Mawdsley 11S, Sophie Ashworth 11H, Charlotte Heir 11H

Life is Like a Box of Chocolates As this week’s running club left the school gates it was a scene reminiscent of Forrest Gump; a man with limited intelligence heading a group of enthusiastic runners towards Ashton Park. A mild Thursday afternoon provided perfect conditions for the 31 strong group of students and staff to run off the troubles of the week and chat about plans for the weekend.

There were three noticeable runners this week.

From the students, Grace McGarvey, who came home first on her first outing. A great effort Grace! Also, Arran Baldwin, for the runner with the widest smile! From the staff, Miss Koerten, who led the long group home with a sensational sprint finish. Running club remains in its usual slot of Thursday this week. We will be sticking to our Ashton Park with a longer and shorter option to suit all abilities. Thank you to all this week’s runners – please feel free to join us next time.

WEEKLY LITERACY AND NUMERACY CHALLENGES

Y

NUMERACY

LITERAC

Congratulations to last week’s winners Danyaal Abdul, 8S

Congratulations to last week’s winners Lorna Barnes 7T Megan Gregson 10S

ON THE FIELD Results (*Man of the Match) Football: Ashton A v Archbishop Temple won 2-1 Ashton A v Christ The King won 3-0 Ashton A v Corpus Christi won 5-0 Netball:

Year Year Year Year

Ashton B v Corpus Christi won 2-0 Ashton B v OLCHS A lost 2-1 Ashton B v Corpus Christi A lost 4-0

7 V Corpus (Home) Player of the match Grace McGarvey 8 V Corpus (Home) Player of the match Samantha Robinson 9 V Our Lady's (Away) 11 V Our Lady's (Away)

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FREE Gents haircuts throughout December

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FREE Ladies haircut with any semi-permanent colour

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Book a half leg wax and receive a free eyebrow wax Full body massage only £10

Always remember when washing hair to concentrate more on shampooing the roots, and put conditioner mainly on the ends. Only put conditioner on the roots if really needed as it can cause your hair to look flat and lank!

THEME OF THE WEEK Students are asked to reflect on weekly themes during form time and assembly time.

Week 12 — “INDEPENDENCE”. The Oxford dictionary states that independence is “The fact or state of being independent”. Students have been asked to reflect on what this means for them as learners and how being independent can help them become more effective learners.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 28 November

INSET day—school closed to students

1 December

INSET day—school closed to students Year 12 and Year 13 Parents’ Evening 5 pm

4 December

Year 11: Post 16 Masterclass Day

8 December

Trip to the Clothes Show Post 16 Community Day

10 December

We welcome Mary and Joseph as part of Ashton Methodist Church's Advent Posada Year 7 and Year 8 Drama visit to the Dukes in Lancaster National Save the Children “Wear a Christmas Jumper Day” £1 donation

12 December

School Christmas Dinner day £2.20

16, 17, 18 December

The Christmas Show 6 pm. Refreshments from 5.30pm

16 December

Post 16: The Physics Lecture at UCLAN

18 December

Rewards Day

19 December

School closes Year 7 & 8 assessment data/Year 11 subjects reports home

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