Newsletter 19th December

Ashton Highlights Newsletter 12

Friday 19th December 2014

The famous song asks “so this is Christmas and what have you done?” Well, you’ll find the answer to that question when you look at the contents of this newsletter! It is our last one of the year and packed with updates from activities that have run throughout the year, activities that have taken place this week within the curriculum and the outcomes of fundraising events and competitions that have been held in school.

If you follow us on Twitter I am sure you will look forward as much as I do to the Friday night Numeracy tweet from Mr Woodcock . He is known for his skills in the Maths classroom , but he really has found his niche in Numeracy, managing to make numerical challenges, puzzles and interesting facts out of almost anything. Have look at his tweets from earlier this week; you will find his favourite numeracy facts and photographs of the year and some of them may surprise you!

One of our key areas of focus this term has been to improve the quality of homework. We have adopted the “Show my homework” package, which means that all homework can be accessed by students electronically from computers and even their mobile phones. It has proved to be really effective in helping our students remember to complete their homework, not least because it gives them electronic reminders when it is due. Parents can also have their own log on rights which link directly to their child, so if you would like to take advantage of this facility ,please contact Mrs Hoyle.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the support you have given to school this term. Our students have retained their high standards of attendance, punctuality, uniform and work ethic, which have impacted in a positive way on their progress.

I hope you all have a peaceful and enjoyable Christmas and a happy new year.

Best Wishes Sharon Asquith

Follow us on twitter @ashtoncsc

IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS This Christmas, the school production was called “A Cosy Christmas”. In total, there were 6 performances which were spread over three days from the 16th to the 18th December entertaining the Primary schools around Ashton during the day and proud parents and other visitors during the evenings. We were delighted to welcome St Andrew’s school on Tuesday, Ashton Primary on Wednesday and Lea Primary on Thursday. Father Christmas did a fantastic job of introducing all the wonderful acts which included performances from The Girls’ Choir, Year 7 boys, solo performances, acting and poem recitals. Well done and thank you to Miss McClelland, Mrs Barnes, Mrs Sanders, the staff who supported during the performances and all the students for all their hard work over the last few months.

Thursday 11th December was our Year 12 and 13 Challenge day.

The theme for the day was ‘Apprenticeships/a Taste of Higher Education’. The A*shton foci for the day were: Next Challenges, being Resourceful and being Responsible.

Students were split into 5 groups. Period 1 all students had a Life Skills asembly delivered by Billy from Barclays. One particular student in year 12 said ‘I think it was really good and made me appreciate life more’.

During period 2, groups 1-4 took part in the People Skills workshop run by Miss Halsall and Mr Corcoron. This workshop helped students to build confidence and to view challenges in a positive way.

Group 5 took part in the Work Skills workshop which focussed on interview techniques and also encouraged students to consider how to communicate effectively in a work environment. After break during period 3, groups 1-4 then took part in a selfevaluation session with Mrs Violet and Mrs Williams.

During this session, students developed the ability to provide an employer with positive information about themselves in order to obtain an interview and therefore improve their chances of securing a job. During period 4, several speakers from various external agencies came in to inspire our Year 12 and 13 students such as: Blackpool College, UCLAN, University of Manchester, Lancashire County Council, the Army and the Marines. Periods 3 and 4, Group 5 took part in a 2 hour session with Aerospace who came in to deliver a scenario based activity focussing on negotiation and communication skills. After lunch during period 5 students had an hour to begin to develop their Curriculum Vitaes and covering letters. By the end of the session students understood the importance of creating a good CV, employers’ needs and expectations and were able to complete a C.V including essential information ready to apply for their next CHALLENGE in life.

CHRISTMAS DINGBATS A little Christmas Quiz for you. Just for fun. Answers after the New Year. One has been done for you. As Roy Walker would say, “ Say what you see “

SNOW BALL

CHRISTMAS IS A TIME FOR GIVING Well done to everyone that bought a bauble for the Christmas tree at Door 4.

We raised £32.20 which was split between The Space Centre and Barnardos, each receiving a donation of £16.10 each. Thanks also goes to Mrs Long & Miss Ascroft, who organised the event and also made the fabulous paper chain tree.

Astronomy Factoids Astronomy - There are three key features that distinguish the Earth from all the other planets in our Solar System are:its atmosphere of mainly oxygen and nitrogen; liquid water (covering about 70% of the surface); life - in all its diverse forms.

Astronomy - Did you know?

The Earth has an average diameter of 13,000km and it is flattened slightly (by 42km) at the poles, making it a shape called - an oblate spheroid!

Apparently there are still some people who think the Earth is flat. However there is overwhelming evidence that it is spherical: ships disappear over the horizon; the curvature of the Earth's shadow during a partial lunar eclipse; satellites orbit the Earth - impossible with a flat Earth; we now have images of Earth from space!

The first two facts were even observed by the ancients!

Did you also know?

Aircraft fly in arcs rather than straight lines because this is the shortest distance on a curved surface!

Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day On Friday, December the 12th Ashton staff and students joined the Woolly revolution along with millions of others in the country.

The brief was to come in either a Christmas jumper you had lying around or decorate one. The event was well attended and we had some fabulous creations. In total the school raised £260.00 which will be doubled by the Government so a massive £520.00 will go towards this year’s fund. Thank you staff and students for taking part.

WEEKLY LITERACY AND NUMERACY CHALLENGES Congratulations to last week’s Literacy winners: Oliver Hornby 10O Layla Wilson 7O

Congratulations to last week’s Numeracy winners: Elli Westwood 9T Murray Marshall 11A That's it, the end of a year full of numbers and the results are in. There have been 2927 entries this half term and 6815 since we came back in September. The winners this week were Elli Westwood 9T and Murray Marshall 11A. Year 7 just held on to take their 2nd consecutive win in the year group championship this half term, well done to them! Year 11 bounced back after a tough first half term by finishing 2nd only 2 entries away from the win which was a fantastic effort, Year 8 were 3rd with year 10 4th and Year 9 in last place.

Our final challenge of the term is above. It's a nice festive end to the year. The uptake over the weeks has been fantastic, but a final push would really make a brilliant end to the term.

Thank you for the entries last week. There were 251 entries with the correct answer of 4 similes.

In the form group competition there was once again some tough competition. The top 10 featured 3 Year 7 forms, 1 from Year 8, 3 from Year 10 and 3 from Year 11. The top 3 were: 10S in 3rd place, last half term's champions 8S in 2nd and our new champions were 7T, congratulations to Miss Scott and her form!!

Mr Woodcock

WEATHER BOMB High wind and hail could not stop this week’s 15 runners, bolstered by a good staff turnout and, as always, a superb representation by year 7s. Once again, Darren Minchella represented the Sixth Form in fine style and was only narrowly outpaced on the home leg by a bearded man twice his age!

Runner of the week goes to Olivia Healy for supporting the tail runners all the way round the long route. A great effort by Oscar Hudson, who made the lap of the park look easy with a long stride making him comfortably the first boy to finish.

Jess, Kathryn and Caitlyn Golightly are all showing real improvement with a much more consistent pace being evident in their running.

Our next run will be the Santa dash today (18th December), please feel free to join us then or in the new year. Newcomers are always welcome.

PERRY’S CHRISTMAS CARD COMPETITION

Perrys garage, Preston organised a “Design a Christmas Card” competition amongst all the schools in Preston. Out of all the entries Ella Ashworth from Year 7 won. She was so excited as she received a £50.00 Toys R Us voucher and 12 of her designs as Christmas cards. As an added bonus the school won £100.00. Perrys have been great supporters of Ashton over the Christmas period welcoming our choir singing Christmas carols in their garage last week. Thanks go to Mike Mansfield-Clark and the team at Perrys Preston.

Special Offers HAPPY NEW YEAR – HAPPY NEW YOU!

H a ir & B e a u t y

Now the festive season is over, treat yourself to some real ‘me time’ in our Hair & Beauty Salon with the following treatments 2 for £5, 3 for £8, 4 for £12

Indian Head

Back, Neck And Shoulder

Full Body Massage

Pedicure

Eyebrow Shape or Tidy

Eyelash Tint

Blow dry

Shampoo &

Curls

Also on offer this month Half Price Gel Polish Quasi colour reduced to £6.00 Semi-permanent colour reduced to £4.00

Manicure

Eyelash Perm

SemiPermanent

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

Week 15 — “HUMAN RIGHTS”. The Universal declaration of Human Rights contains 30 Rights that everyone in the world should be entitled to. Students have looked at these and realised that, in fact, some of these Rights aren’t universal and have discussed examples of where this is the case in the world currently.

Our Assemblies this week have also focused on rewards, and rewarding our students for their successes over the term.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 5 January

School re-opens

12-16 January

Post 16 Work experience week

5 February

Year 11 Parents’ Evening 4pm-7pm

SIGN OF THE WEEK

This week the sign is Happy Christmas & Happy New Year

May we take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all the staff and students at Ashton Community Science College.