“Expect only the best”

Friday 29th September 2017 It was such a pleasure to share our Harvest festival service with you all today.

Thank you for your generous gifts of Harvest Produce which will be kept in the church until Sunday and then distributed to Caring hands Across The Vale. It is

fantastic to see how everyone works so well together as we had a very successful Coffee Morn-ing for Macmillan Cancer Care , thank you to everyone who made cakes, helped to set up the

hall and came along. This week also saw out first Governing Body Meeting of the Year, the Gov-ernors are a vital part of our school and help to shape the direction that the school is taking.

We have also welcomed Chloe Holland to Ashton , she has been on work experience this week from Prince Henry’s .It has been lovely to have her here and we hope she enjoyed it.

Ashton First School News

Acorn This week, as we have been preparing for Harvest Festival, the children have been learning about where bread comes from. We were lucky to have a visit from

Mr Archer who shared some lovely pictures and stories about harvesting the corn, both nowadays and in the past, and allowed us to have a go at grinding wheat into flour using a spe-cial hand grinder. We then tried our hand at bread making . The week cul-minated with a performance of our poem ‘Bread for sharing’ by 26 little bakers.

Willow Last Friday, Year 3 and 4 children were invited to visit the Chapel to find out all about Harvest. After a very warm welcome, we learnt about

the harvest of the garden, the ocean, the flock, the grain and the earth. There were lots of fun activities to do and the children came away with some lovely gifts, such as clay pots and daffodils which will be planted here at school. This visit was the inspiration for Willow’s poem — The

Harvest Box — which they performed beautifully at our Harvest Festival service this morning. We have printed the whole poem for you to read.

Hawthorn

This week, the children have started making their angry bird pom-poms. We have also been practising our performance of Handa’s Sur-prise for Harvest Festival. Next week we will be tasting and describing the different fruits in Handa’s basket.

The Harvest Box By Willow Class

We will put into the box

A beautiful scarlet rose shining in the sun,

The bluest blush of a blueberry,

The luxurious sourness of a yellow lemon.

We will put into the box

The darkest ink from a baby squid,

The flashing tentacles of an octopus,

The salty taste of seaweed rippling in the sea.

We will put into the box

The call of a shepherd searching for sheep,

The soft, snuggly feeling of lamb’s wool,

The weaving of yarn into a warm, woolly jumper.

We will put into the box

The golden shimmer of corn in the morning sun,

The sudden silence after wheat has been harvested,

The soft feel of bread that you dip in your soup.

We will put in to the box

The smell of potatoes putted from the soil,

The snap of a stalk as the garden is mowed,

The comfort of a bowl made out of clay.

Our box is fashioned from love and kindness,

Its hinges are made out of care,

It’s as heavy as a steel safe, full of healthy food.

We shall harvest crops for our box,

From rivers and valleys and mountains and seas.

We will give precious gifts to help those in need,

And spread peace and kindness across the whole world.

Playgroup AGM. This takes place next Thursday 5th October at 7.30pm in The Green Room .

Please come along to support the playgroup, more details on the poster or see Ruth/ Merka

Autumn Fun sessions are being held at Hartlebury Castle during October

Half-Term. This involves Pumpkin carving and following a Halloween trail.

For more information see www.museumsworcestershire.org.uk

Open Morning Please spread the word that we have an open morning for prospective parents on

13th October starting at 9.00am during family assembly. If you know of any parents who have chil-

dren due to start next September please invite them to come along.

Photographs. You should have received a card from the school photographer with the details of

how to view your child’s photos on line. We have also sent home a slip showing the pictures should

you not be able to access it via a computer. The photos can be ordered online, by telephone or by

returning the envelope with payment in to the school office.

Welcome to Romilly Quilter . A sister for Archie and Charlie,

and possibly our first pupil for 2022! Everyone at Ashton First

School send their congratulations to the whole family.

Request from Playgroup Please could parents who collect their children from school at 3pm

not attach their dogs to the fence outside Playgroup. Thank you.

Oak This week we imagined that we worked for the Disney company and were researching

and designing the set for the ‘new film’ called Ice Age: Palaeolithic Zone. We researched the

transition between the ice age and early stone age then used Microsoft Word to combine

images and design our set. We have also been practising our performance of ‘stone soup’ in

preparation for Harvest Festival.

Macmillan Coffee Morning. Thank you all very much for baking and coming into the school hall to

take part in the Coffee Morning. We had so many cakes left over that we will have a “Pop Up

Cake Sale” at the end of the day. We will let you know how much we have raised next week.

A few pictures from this week. We used our new balance bikes for the first time and next week our Reception pupils will be using them (weather

permitting!)

Dates for the Diary:

03/10/17 Flu immunisations Y1,2,3 and 4 04/10/17 Forest School Reception

05/10/17 Forest School Year 1

05/10/17 Oak Swimming session 3

12/10/17 Football Tournament

13/10/17 Open morning for prospective par-

ents

17/10/17 Open Classrooms from 2.30pm

18/10/17 Skipping Day

20/10/17 Break up for half term

ww.ashton.worcs.sch.uk 01386 881333