Ashley Academy

🫶🏼 Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers. To those looking down, looking on and looking up. You are loved. 🫶🏼

🍃 ♾️

Reframing Autism at Forest School

We are running a series of supportive outdoor sessions for neurodivergent children and young people and their families.

These sessions explore autism, ADHD and different ways our brains work, while giving families the chance to connect, learn and spend time together in nature.

Children and young people aged 0–18 are welcome, and parents, carers and siblings are also invited to attend.

Families will have the opportunity to meet:

Occupational Therapists
Play Therapists
Autistic advocates and craftspeople
Local support organisations

Sessions take place at Dukes Hagg Wood in Prudhoe and will run across six dates between May and November.

Session dates
24 May 2026
21 June 2026
13 September 2026
27 September 2026
11 October 2026
1 November 2026

Spaces are limited and families must be able to attend all sessions.

If you would like to express your interest, please sign up here:
https://forms.gle/nbWoi5nHmTD6FqZg6

Deadline to sign up: 30 March

With thanks to the National Lottery Community Fund for supporting this project.

5️⃣ 🧮 Year 5 focusing on their arithmetic work! 🧮 5️⃣

🖼️ Reception loved their visit to South Shields Museum! They were so well behaved, especially on the metro. Proud of you all children. 🖼️

Huge thank you to our parent helpers for coming along, it is really appreciated.

3️⃣ ✈️ British Science week in y3 ✈️ 3️⃣

4️⃣ 🧬 British science week, Y4 🧬 4️⃣

In year 4, the curiosity question was: What does great teamwork look like? The children needed to recreate the drawing of the image. All of the team only had one pen between them with pegs on. They all needed to hold one of the pegs, this needed to be at all times. They were not allowed to talk to each other. Once they did this, they did the same activity but this time they were allowed to talk to each other. The children explained that it was much harder when they weren't allowed to talk to each other as they all wanted to do different things at different times.

📚 4️⃣ Our Book Fair was another huge success - thank you if you popped along. Year 4 enjoying a little visit! 4️⃣ 📚

🖼️ Year 1 trip to South Shields Museum 🖼️

HUGE thank you to our parent helpers and to our staff for organising a fantastic day. We are so proud of you children, what excellent ambassadors of our school!

🖼️ Year 2 trip to South Shields Museum 🖼️

HUGE thank you to our parent helpers and to our staff for organising a fantastic day. We are so proud of you children, what excellent ambassadors for our school!

🌟 Mr Irvine’s Fortnightly Message 🌟

Dear Parents and Carers,
☀️ It has been an incredibly busy and productive two weeks since the half-term break. It is wonderful to finally see some sunshine and enjoy the slightly better weather; it certainly brings a sense of energy to the playground! ☀️

💯 Attendance Week: A Huge Success!
Our recent Attendance Week was a fantastic highlight and the children have absolutely loved it! While the week was full of fun, with "crazy" hair and creative outfits, the message behind it was very serious: Every day in school counts. It has been wonderful to receive so many positive comments from parents about the week. One of my personal highlights was seeing all the boys and girls showing off their favourite team colours with such pride- it brought a brilliant energy to the playground!

During our assemblies, we had some deeply engaging discussions about the impact of lost learning on our futures. I am delighted to report that we have already seen an increase in our overall attendance- thank you for your incredible support in making this initiative such a success. 💯

📚 World Book Day & The Book Fair
The magic of reading was truly alive at Ashley Academy last week! Children looked wonderful coming into school in their pyjamas to celebrate their favourite books. Our Book Fair was also a great success. Thank you to everyone who supported this and helped us put new books into the hands of our young readers. 📚

⚽️ Let Girls Play: Football Celebration
We were proud to support the "Let Girls Play" campaign with a whole-school football celebration. Despite the weather’s best efforts to spoil the fun, the rain didn't dampen our spirits! The children showed great sportsmanship as we celebrated equal access to the game for everyone. ⚽️

🖼️ Culture & Community: South Shields Museum
Our "Cultural Match" programme has been in full swing! A huge thank you to the parents who supported our visits to South Shields Museum this week. The children’s behaviour was impeccable, and they particularly enjoyed their "Monet Masterclass," using their senses to create their own masterpieces. 🖼️

🧑‍🏫 Parents’ Evening
Thank you to everyone who attended our Parents’ Evening this week. It was lovely to welcome you all into school to discuss your child's progress. If you have any further queries following your meeting, please remember to speak to a member of school staff who will be happy to assist. 🧑‍🏫

Next Steps: Procedures and Reminders
🩹 First Aid Notifications: Our new first aid reporting system is now fully up and running. As a gentle reminder, you will only receive a digital notification if your child has had a head injury or bumped their face in school. All other minor first aid incidents will continue to be recorded in school as usual.
🦠 Reporting Illness: Parents and carers must contact the school office by telephone to report an illness. Please note that illness is not automatically authorised.
🏥 Medical Evidence: The school may request further medical information if a child is frequently absent or if attendance is already a concern.
⏰ Lateness: It is the duty of parents to ensure children arrive on time. Good timekeeping reduces disruption for the entire class and starts the day off right.

🚨 Arbor App: Your Essential Link
With 83% of you already signed up, we are moving closer to our goal. Moving forward, all information regarding after-school clubs and trips will be sent exclusively via Arbor. Please ensure you have access so you don’t miss out on vital updates. 🚨

Looking Ahead
♾️ Neurodiversity Week: Next week, we celebrate being an inclusive school. We will be holding class activities to celebrate the different ways our brains work.
🫶🏼Young Carers Day Wednesday 18th March: We will also be taking time to recognise the incredible contribution of our Young Carers.
🔴Comic Relief (Friday 20th March): We invite children to wear non-uniform- anything that makes them happy and smile! We kindly ask for a small donation to this cause.

❤️Thank you for your continued partnership and support.❤️

Mr Irvine
Headteacher

3️⃣ ✈️ British Science week! ✈️ 3️⃣