Playground

As you can see from visiting (and the image above) work on the playground continues. The remnants of the old gutter along the edge has been removed and replaced with a new log made barrier. The structure on the south end has been removed and the large boulders are being re-positioned to form the border for our new sandpit. We'll see how far we get by the end of the term!

50th Reunion

It was such an honour to take members of the 1975 Class on a tour around the school this week. What an amazing thing that these people who had not seen each other in 50 years came together to remember what a great time they had at our school. Read about here

Expo

Next week will see the final Expo for the year as we open the classrooms up on Wednesday after school (3.30pm-4pm) and Thursday before school (8.30am-9am). Our Year 5 and 6 students will have a special location of the Hall as they share their term's work in Bizarre Bazaar - a unit about creating and marketing a product. Walk through even if you don't have a child in that team to see how the senior school operates. 

Parent Thank You Morning Tea

It was great to see parents on site for the Parent Helper Morning Tea on Friday. With a spread put on by staff, we wanted to thank you all (present or not) for all the work you do for the school. Without you we would not be able to go on excursions, camps, swimming programs or run reading programs. We wouldn't have the School Disco, Parent Trivia Night, Mango Drive, Krispy Kreme Donut Drive, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Welcome Back, Art Show and get togethers without you volunteering your time and passion. We thank you!

End of Year Event

Make sure you have in you calendars the End of Year Event for Wednesday, December 10th. As has become tradition, we will be holding the event on the netball court (weather permitting). We encourage you to come along with a picnic rug and something to drink or nibble on as each year level performs on the stage. 

On Wednesday we held a special tour for the class of 1975. That's right, it's been 50 years since these people were students at Ashy! 

They toured the main building, marvelled at the the things they didn't have in their day (heating and cooling!) and reminisced with their old school friends. A strong memory was watching the moon landing in the Prep rooms (now the staff room).

As they walked around the school grounds, they noticed only a few recognisable structures from their day - the main building, the blue stone retaining wall in the plaza, the front flag pole and the old shed on the far side of the oval.  

The joy in the eyes of each of these former students as they greeted faces that hadn't seen for decades was evident, and a lovely endorsement of the people that Ashy produce. See you at the 100th Reunion!

Year 2 have had fun going deeper in their learning and reviewing key concepts from the year. They are looking forward to sharing some of their work at EXPO next week and also swimming lessons which start Monday!

 Year 2 have been working on:

• Revision of phonemes and graphemes from the year
• Reading and Responding to Roger Hargraeve’s Mr Men and Little Miss Books and using this as a basis for our own creative characters,
• Creating characters we imagine for new stories and using Augmented Reality to bring them to life!
• Creating digital models of designs and inventions we have to solve a problem.
• Reviewing and making connections to family facts.
• Applying knowledge of equivalent fractions and vocabulary to solve everyday problems.
• Solve maths worded problems using a range of skills and strategies.

As we head towards the end of the year, Year 4 are still working hard and showing great focus in their learning. In writing, students are continuing to draft, edit and revise their writing pieces - carefully improving their ideas. In Maths, we have been exploring how multiplication and division work by modelling thinking with drawings, arrays and number sentences. 

This week, a real highlight for Year 4 students was attending a clinic at Ashburton Tennis Club. In the middle of classroom learning, it was such a nice change of pace for students to get outdoors, learn some new skills and enjoy being active together. The coaches commented on how enthusiastic and well-mannered the students were, and it was lovely to see them having such a positive experience.

We’ve also got a couple of exciting things coming up:

• Year 4 Lacrosse Gala - Thursday 4th December
• Swimming Program 10th to 17th December

It’s hard to believe our Year 6s are nearing the end of their final year of primary school! With graduation just around the corner, students have been incredibly busy preparing for end-of-year events and ensuring everything is organised for a strong and celebratory finish. Over the past two weeks, students have been:

• Continuing to progress with their Bizarre Bazaar projects, with excitement building as they prepare to create their own stalls and sell the products they’ve been working so hard on. As part of this unit, students have also been designing advertisements for their products during English sessions.
  
   
• Enjoying their recent SMILE reward, which saw students head outside for a fun session of games - a well-earned break to celebrate their positive behaviour and efforts in class.
  
   
• Practising their graduation and end-of-year songs, which they will be performing at key events in the coming weeks. They’ve been doing an amazing job and are looking forward to showcasing their hard work.
  
   
• Getting excited for the final stretch of the term, with just a few weeks to go – an incredibly special time as they prepare to farewell their primary school years.
  
   

From Brooke, Chloe & Kristen

On Monday during the Curriculum Day, workers were busy in the current 2A and 6C rooms in the main building as they installed new class partitions to close of the learning spaces. For 2A, it's a glass partition with sliding door at the end of the main hallway which cuts out a lot of the distraction from the stairwell and neighbouring classrooms. In 6C, as well as a sliding door, partition glass panels were installed in the openings to close of spaces between columns. The result is a wonderfully self contained learning space which has the flexibility to open a shared sliding door with the neighbouring class, or close itself off when needed. 

During the summer holidays work will continue as we use the same approach to the current 6A and 6B classrooms in the main building

We celebrated our amazing Year 5 mathematicians at the recent assembly as we presented them with their certificates in competing in the 2025 Maths Talent Quest.

Over Term 2, the students broke into teams to brainstorm possible big questions that they could solve mathematically. They included - 

- What Does it Take for Horse Riding?

- No More Plastic!

- Which Height Scores the Most in Soccer/Football? (Distinction Award)

- Can Four Adults Travel Asia with $40, 000? (Distinction Award)

What an amazing effort from this crew and to Miss Goss who introduced this new stream of maths thinking in 2025!

Our student leaders were invited by Inger Robinson to join her and Rachel Roberts on a special visit to the Leaf Bookshop on High Street. Each student leader selected a book to donate to our school library as a lasting gift from their class. This wonderful tradition helps grow our collection and celebrates the leadership and legacy of our students.