Newsletter 18

Ashton Highlights Newsletter 18

Friday 13th February 2015

Dear Readers There’s romance in the air at Ashton as we look forward to Valentine’s day. The English department launched their Valentine’s Poetry Competition this week, which set students in years 7—9 the challenge of composing a romantic poem based on the set book they are reading in class. The standard of entries was incredibly high and the theme seemed to have unleashed a romantic streak in many of the entrants. The English Department have the unenviable task of choosing the winning entry, which will feature in the next newsletter.

Year 8 have had a particularly exciting week. They all took part in a challenge day on Thursday, which involved a variety of activities run by different teachers and on Thursday evening they had their options evening. Over 200 people attended to listen to Mr Mathers describe the options process and the pathways that are available to our students. Staff explained the intricacies of their subject to parents and students who were thinking of choosing it as an option and Post 16 advice was also on hand to support those who were already thinking of their future career beyond GCSEs. All in all a successful day for year 8.

The focus for year 11 students continues to be their forthcoming exams, which will be upon us before we know it. We held a second “Fully Loaded” evening for parents on Thursday, which was requested by those parents who had missed the first one we held in October. We have calculated that over half of our year 11 parents have attended this event, and are optimistic that it will prove to have a positive impact on student performance. If the feedback and conversations we had with parents on the night are anything to go by, it will certainly have a positive impact on parental well being!

I would like to close by wishing you all an enjoyable half term.

Best wishes Sharon Asquith

Follow us on twitter @ashtoncsc

Year 11 Countdown to Exams

38 school days until the first REAL exam

Our final mock exams start shortly after half term; here is the timetable. Good luck to all our Year 11 students. Make sure you revise thoroughly!

Year 11 Countdown to Exams In preparation for the GCSE exams which begin in May, all subject areas are offering a series of revision sessions for students. Here is the timetable of sessions.

WEEKLY LITERACY AND NUMERACY CHALLENGES Congratulations to last week’s Literacy winners:

Congratulations to last week’s Numeracy winners:

Sasha Singh 7T Daniel Moore 11H

Chloe Bayley 8T Harry McCann 11S

Count the number of common nouns in the passage below: • The Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring- cleaning his little home. First with brooms, then with dusters; then on ladders and steps and chairs, with a brush and a pail of whitewash; till he had dust in his throat and eyes, and splashes of whitewash all over his black fur, and an aching back and weary arms. Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing.

Numeracy Puzzle 20 On pancake day we had all of the following toppings: • Nutella • Lemon • Sugar • Ice Cream • Sausages • Gravy If I wanted to try a pancake with every combination of 2 DIFFERENT toppings, how many would I have to eat? (Lemon and Sugar / Sugar and Lemon are the same thing so should only be counted once)

FROM SCHOOL SHOE TO BOOT CAMP The clash with Tuesday’s gaming club meant the year 7 boys gave their thumbs a workout this week as opposed to their lungs. However, the girls were out in force and the improvement in running ability is really beginning to show – great performances from Olivia, Holly, Kathryn and Ashley (who actually ran in her school shoes this week as she had forgotten her trainers!). A warm welcome is extended to Christian, who joined Reece in using running club as a means to an end. Reece will be fighting this weekend if he can get down to welter weight, whereas Christian is going for the longer term goal of getting army fit – this requires him to run 1.5 miles in 12 minutes 45 seconds. It is great to see the older students setting both a good example and a good pace for our younger members. An INSET scheduled for the Thursday after half term means running club will shift to Wednesday 25 th February. New runners always welcome.

LANCASHIRE READS—PRIVATE PEACEFUL

NEW @ Inspire Beauty Salon Faradic Muscle Toning Treatment Body Contouring, Slimming and Toning Well known as electrical muscle stimulation, this treatment is used to tone and tighten the muscles of the body.

The great thing about this treatment is that the client lies on the couch and the muscles are exercised for them. So for those of us who do not enjoy physical exercise this is the answer. One important point, this treatment will not increase the heart rate therefore cannot be classed as a cardio-vascular form of exercise.

The treatment involves pads strapped to the area to be treated. The pads deliver a low faradic current into the skin and muscles stimulating nerve ending to provide a muscle contraction. The muscles will contract at regular intervals as selected by the Therapist. The treatment is comfortable, many clients finding the sensation relaxing. It is necessary to have regular treatments to reinforce the effects. It is an advantage for the client to follow an exercise routine to reinforce the effects of this treatment.

Average R.R.P per treatment £20.00 Inspire Price ONLY £6.00 per treatment or £42.00 for a course of 8

23th February

School re-opens

19th March

Year 10 Parents’ evening

26th March

Year 9 Parents’ evening

27th March

INSET day school closed Ski trip leaves and returns 5th April

HALF TERM ACTIVITIES

ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD

Every Tuesday and Thursday Melissa Brown the PNE Women and Girls Football Development Officer comes in to work with the year 10 girls during their PE lesson.

Having spent the last 5 weeks developing their footballing skills the results are looking positive and the girls are clearly having fun.

ON THE MUDDY FIELD On Saturday Grace McGarvey and Alex Alston represented Preston Schools in the Lancashire Cross Country at Witton Park, Blackburn. Although no positions were given to the runners as they crossed the line (only top spots were informed), both runners did their best and represented the school and district very well.

FILM CLUB IS BACK Film Club will be in Room 2 (auditorium) on Mondays 3.00 to 4.30 (approx.) and Thursdays - 3.00 to 4.00 prompt .

ALL

year groups are invited to come along.

If anyone is interested, particularly Year 7. You will be given a letter, which will be a parental consent form for every new member. This needs to be signed and returned. There is a wide range of film genre to be watched.

Here are some of the films coming up:

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

Following the loss of one of their players, Melissa Smith, in October Cadley FC have been looking at ways in which they can increase access to heart screening opportunities in Preston.

As a result they are facilitating a private screening event on May 2nd & 3rd 2015, which will be held at CPC. The screening will be undertaken by CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young). Each week 12 young people aged between 14 - 35 years die from undiagnosed heart conditions. The cost of an individual screening at this event is ÂŁ40 per person. Candidates must be aged between 14 and 35 years of age on the date of the screening.

Screening will identify most cardiac abnormalities. At least 12 young people die suddenly each week in the UK of previously undetected heart problems.

Raise awareness of symptoms amongst coaches and physiotherapists.

Raise awareness throughout sport of the risk of Sudden Death Syndrome / Sudden Cardiac Death and highlight the families that are most at risk – particularly those that have already had a young sudden cardiac death in the family and who might not be aware that other family members must be screened.

Encourage young people to take better care of their heart/health in a broader sense.

Reassure parents who are well aware that these tragedies occur and often cannot gain access to further information at a time when there are increasing demands on physical fitness in all high profile sports.

Symptoms are: Chest Pain (exercise related) Severe Breathlessness Palpitations Prolonged Dizziness If you would like to register for this event please visit the Cadley website, http://www.cadleyfc.com/ and select the "Heart Screening" option on the left of the screen and follow the instructions given.

Please note Cadley FC are not making any profit from this event, they are simply facilitating the booking between CRY and yourself.

If you have any questions please get in touch with Jo Burrow either by email joburrowcadley@Hotmail.com or via mobile 07815694482.