Good Health week has been fabulous!  We have learnt so much about keeping ourselves physically and emotionally healthy.  Years 3,4,5 and 6 learnt all about first aid, including CPR.  Year 5 and 6 learnt about the importance of getting a good nights sleep.  Reception learnt how to keep their hands clean.  They also learnt about how to keep themselves safe near the roads.  Year 1 and 2 made healthy smoothies!  All of our classes have thought about our mental health and wellbeing.  This afternoon, all pupils have chosen an activity to have a go at they may not have tried before.  It has been a very informative and active week to finish a great half term. “I have particularly enjoyed doing the outdoor activities – we played some really fun team games,” Georgia 5/6M.  Even the rain couldn’t dampen spirits, during Good Health Week. Thank you to all of the children for their enthusiasm and commitment, this week.  It has been a pleasure to see the children engage so positively and respectfully with so  many visitors to school.

Year 4 went to Church, this week, to Experience Lent.  They had a very thoughtful afternoon, writing ambitions on prayer rocks and posting prayers in the post box. “We had a lot of fun moving around church, drawing on rocks, asking God for guidance for our future ambitions,” said Annabelle and Paisley, 4C.  “We also planted sunflower seeds to bring home – we are looking forward to seeing them grow!”

We had a brilliant time at the discos, last night.  Thank you to all of the HSA volunteers who hosted such a great evening.

I can now confirm that school will be closed to children on May 7th as the school will be used as a polling station.

I have had a number of parents enquire about World Book Day on 5th March.  In case anyone is planning to have a sort out over half term, I wanted to give you the heads up that we will be doing our Church of Ascension Grand Book Swap, again this year.  Children were so enthusiastic about the swap last year.  We will also be taking the opportunity to dress up, this year.  Children are welcome to come dressed as a character from their favourite book, or wear their own clothes and be ready to talk about their favourite book.

Wishing you all a lovely half term holiday.

It’s not fair!  How often do we say and hear this?  The Open the Book team led our act of worship on Monday, this week and with the help of some of our year 4 pupils, acted out The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard Matthew 20:1-16.  All of the workers were paid the same, despite the fact that some workers did not start work until much later in the day.  The workers who had worked all day complained that it was not fair that they had all been paid the same.  The message that we considered was that to Christians, we are all equally loved and valued.  Thank you to the Open the Book team and our year 4 volunteers.

It has been a very busy week, here at Church of the Ascension. We have thoroughly enjoyed learning new songs and dances with iSing Pop, today.  The school was full of music and we have had a great time!

Thank you to Miss Naylor and the year 3 and 4 maths team who represented the school brilliantly in the Local Authority Maths Championships.  There was some very deep and critical thinking going on and the children really did rise to the challenge.

Our Worship Leaders attended the Unity Service at St James’s Church, Wollaston, this week.  Lots of local schools came together to sing, dance, perform poems and prayers.  Our Worship Leaders contributed poems, prayers and readings about gratitude and the importance of gratitude in our daily life.  Thank you Worship Leaders, Mrs Moore and all those involved – it was a reflective and thought provoking service that was enjoyed by all who attended.

Thank you to all of the year 5 and 6 pupils who have participated so sensibly in Bike Ability, over the last few weeks. You have listened carefully and been very sensible and the course leaders report that you were a pleasure to work with.

As per the post in last week’s newsletter, thank you for all of the birthday cards for Amelia.  We can still collect next week, if anyone would still like to send one.

We look forward to our school discos next week, on Thursday 12th February at 530 – 615 and 630 – 730pm.  We will be asking children to enter via the door by year 5 and 6, at the bottom of the steps.  This will allow us to get the children into the disco, more quickly.  On collection, please can parents enter school via the main school office and then exit via the hall.  Hopefully the new point of entry will prevent too much congestion.

Father Chris led our act of worship, this week.  Father Chris encouraged us to think about our own personal confidence and how we can speak to ourselves positively.  Sometimes we are hard on ourselves and speak to ourselves in a way that we wouldn’t speak to others.   He reminded us that we can cheer ourselves on and how Christians believe that God is always there to cheer you on, in good times and in bad.  We really enjoyed singing along with Father Chris and his electric guitar.  Thank you, Father Chris.

New Life church visited us on Thursday and taught us about healthy choices – this fits well with our plans for Good Health Week, next week!

A huge thank you to the year 2 and 3 pupils who have volunteered this week to help to keep our school site clean and tidy.  They have given up their own social time to pick up litter from the playground and paths.  We appreciate the dedication that they have shown to respecting our school site.

Well done to all of the children who have participated in BikeAbility.  Feedback from the team is that children are listening carefully and following instructions to keep themselves and others safe.  Well done and we look forward to hearing how the children participating next week, get on.

Thank you for attending parents’ evening, this week. It was a pleasure to see so many of you.

This week I shared one of my favourite picture books with the children, ‘No Matter What’ by Debi Gliori.  The story introduces us to the characters of Large and Small and reminds us that we are loved, no matter what, even when we are tired and grumpy. We reminded ourselves of the term Agape, which means the highest form or love, God’s love.  For Christians, this type of love is a constant and unconditional support and comfort.

Thank you for your support, this week.  As you know, we had our OFSTED inspection on Tuesday and Wednesday.  We are very grateful to those who completed the Parent Survey to let the inspectors know your thoughts about our school.  Thank you also to the children, who represented our school brilliantly!  We are very proud of their behaviour and contributions.  It was a long couple of days but the inspectors were very complimentary about our children and the welcome that they had received from them.  We look forward to sharing the full report with you, in the near future.

We look forward to seeing you at parents’ evening on Wednesday and Thursday 345 – 615pm. A quick reminder that if you haven’t booked your appointments, the link will close at 6pm on Monday 26th January.

Father Chris came in to lead assembly, this week.  We love to sing along with Father Chris and his electric guitar! The theme of our assembly this week was linked to our vision “appreciation of God’s wonderful world”.  We were reminded that we are surrounded by goodness in the world in which we live; the beauty of the earth with its light, darkness, land, water, ice and snow.  We also thought about the plants and creatures, large and small.  Father Chris reminded us all of our role in taking care of and respecting our wonderful world.

Help us, O lord, to see the beauty of Your creations and respect and look after the gift of this wonderful planet.

Thank you so much for the lovely photos sent into school of the snowmen/ snowwomen/ snowdogs and other creative sculptures that were produced on our snow day, last week.  It was a lot of fun looking through them and clearly a lot of hard work and effort went into them!

Well done to our Year 2 pupils who had a wonderful time at Forest School, in the rain, this week. Despite the weather, children really enjoyed the opportunity to be learning outside.

We have had a very busy and productive week thinking about our school vision, in particular about aspiration and what that looks like in our daily lessons and behaviours.  The children have been giving me lots of examples throughout the week, of how they have been “the best that they can be”. This has been our assembly focus this week, and the children have really taken it on board.

Hopefully, you will have all received a letter regarding the NSPCC “Speak out; stay safe” campaign, that was sent out with children, yesterday. We will be participating with  age appropriate assemblies and some classroom based activities.  Years 3, 5 and 6 will have some follow up workshops as part of Good Health Week.  Should you wish to know more about the programme, please follow this link – www.nspcc.org.uk/speakout. 

This week in assembly, we revisited our Curriculum Drivers.  So far this year, we have looked at how we can be resilient, independent and aspirational in our learning and daily lives.  Our focus this half term, is aspiration.  We recalled our physical challenge on the inflatable assault course, at the beginning of the school year, which set the tone for a year of “Aspire for Higher”.  We reminded ourselves that even though that challenge was tough for some of us (and some of us got stuck on the ladders!), we showed the resilience and determination to complete the challenge.  This half term, we are focusing on being the best that we can be.  We talked about what this will look like in our classrooms and on our playgrounds.  Children came up with some excellent examples, and have reflected on it throughout the week. We have considered that Christians believe the Bible encourages believers to aspire towards our goals and dreams, emphasising trust in God and alignment with His will.​

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”