Latest news at Ashmount School......

• Message from our Chair of Governors

  Fri 21 Dec 2018

  What a busy term—time seems to have flown, and I can't believe we are less than a week away from Christmas Day and the holiday celebrations!

   

  But what a lot of celebrations Ashmount has to record and rejoice in this term! Winners of the School of the Year, Community Champions and finalists in the Healthy School awards in the Leicester Mercury Education Awards. And a finalist in the Special Recognition Award in the Sports Awards Roll of Honour—congratulations Shaun!

   

  Events where we gain recognition are very gratifying, but I particularly like to attend all the events our pupils participate in—the wonderful group singing at The Curve, the links with the art projects at the Attenborough Centre, and not forgetting the brilliant nativity plays we have just enjoyed from our youngest pupils—they really put us in the mood for Christmas!

   

  And a big thank you also for the support we continue to get for all these events from our parents, carers and supporters—this year's Christmas Fayre was a rip roaring success, both socially and financially!

   

  But the nicest comment I have heard recently came from one judge at the Education Awards, who said: “When you come into Ashmount, you don't feel anyone is putting on a show or trying to impress—you just see everyone pulling together and co-operating to make sure everyone is being given the best possible educational experience, in the broadest sense of the word.” That's what we're all striving to do—term in and term out—and it's great when this is noted. Thank you to everyone for helping school continue to deliver the best for our pupils.

   

  Now let's relax and enjoy the festivities—the Governors wish a very Merry Christmas to everyone!!

   

  Jean Lewis 

   

  Chair of Governors 

   

• Christmas performances

  Thu 20 Dec 2018

  It’s been a busy term for students throughout the school as they have been preparing for Christmas with lots of festive performances, parties and outings.

   

  Key Stage 1 presented ‘The Angel Express’ to their families. The story follows the excitement of heaven’s host of angels as they compete against each other to sing a special song for Baby Jesus and win the ‘A’ Factor.

   

  Key Stage 2 also performed their play ‘The Magical Christmas Jigsaw’ in which a group of children complete a tatty old puzzle to discover the Christmas story.

   

  Congratulations to all of our students, staff and volunteers for putting on two fantastic Christmas performances!

   

• Christmas Jumper Day 2018

  Wed 19 Dec 2018

  Thank you to everyone who supported our Christmas Jumper Day on Friday 14th December 2018.

   

  We are pleased to announce that we collected £78.00 on behalf of Save the Children.

   

  Save the Children have been in touch to say, 'Your donations will help save children's lives and make sure they get the things they need to grow up healthy and happy. By taking part in the festive fun and fundraising you really have made the world better with a sweater.'

• Pupils, staff, parents and carers sing Christmas carols in Loughborough

  Fri 14 Dec 2018

  Thank you to all of our students, staff, parents and carers who sang Christmas carols for an hour in the Carillion Court in Loughborough on Thursday 13th December 2018. 

   

  Their signing and singing was very much appreciated by passing shoppers who donated more than £80 to the Ashmount appeal.  

• Ashmount named as 'School of the Year' in Leicester Mercury Awards

  Wed 12 Dec 2018

   

  We are delighted to announce that Ashmount scooped three prizes at the Leicester Mercury Education Awards held at the King Power Stadium on Thursday 6th December 2018. 

   

  Ashmount was named winners of the 'School of the Year' and 'Community Champions' awards and were shortlisted as one of two runners-up in the 'Health Schools' award.   

   

  For the 'School of the Year' award, a judging panel concluded: ‘Ashmount School has been rated Outstanding by Ofsted three times in a row. The special school for pupils between the ages of 4 and 19 with a range of special educational needs, was judged by Ofsted to have an outstanding quality of education throughout. In April 2018, Ashmount was designated as a National Support School by the Department for Education as a result of headteacher David Deacon being designated as a National Leader of Education in the latest recruitment round. The award is in recognition of the school’s continued high standards of teaching and learning and in recognition of the impact the school has had in recent years when supporting other schools across the country. The staff, governors and families at Ashmount really do work together to ensure that pupils are provided with the highest standards of care and education.’

   

  In the 'Community Champion' award, the Leicester Mercury reported: ‘In January 2018, Ashmount was inspected by Ofsted and judged to be ‘Outstanding’ for the third time in a row within seven years and each week, the school opens its doors to a range of professional trainees including doctors, nurses, social workers, police officers and community support workers from organisations like Leicester City Football Club, giving them the opportunity to work alongside children and young people with special educational needs so they can be better trained and more highly skilled in supporting people with special needs and disabilities when they take up roles in our community. The school is active in raising money for charity and in April was designated as a National Support School by the Department for Education in recognition of its continued high standards of teaching and learning and the recent Ofsted inspection.’

   

  Finally, the school was named as one of two runners-up in the 'Healthy Schools' award, with the Leicester Mercury writing: ‘Promoting a healthy lifestyle is always on the curriculum at Ashmount, a special school for pupils with a range of special educational needs. Staff teams regularly take part in sports tournaments organised by Leicestershire and Rutland Sport, as well as weekly after school yoga and running sessions which have led to staff taking part in a range of sponsored runs and walks over the last year. Many of the pupils have specialist dietary requirements, so healthy menus are put together by the school kitchen staff working under the guidance of the local authority dietician. In September 2018, Ashmount was awarded Healthy School status by Leicestershire County Council and has also achieved the Gold School Games Mark Award for the third year running for the 2017/18 academic year. Pupils have also held sports days, tried archery and visited a BMX Jam as well as taking part in a sensory Santa Fun Run.'  

   

  Thank you to all of our pupils, parents, staff, governors and volunteers for their continued support and hard work. 

   

  Ashmount is featured in a special supplement in today's Leicester Mercury.   

  

• Christmas Fayre proves a festive success!

  Tue 11 Dec 2018

  The Friends of Ashmount would like to thank everyone who helped out or supported our first ever Christmas Fayre, which was held at the school on Sunday 9^th December 2018.

   

  The event was a huge success and together we raised £2260.32.

   

  Special thanks must go to those organisations which donated prizes for our raffle.

   

  Congratulations to our Key Stage 4 and 5 students who made a fantastic range of Christmas products – including Christmas cakes, wooden reindeers, festive biscuits and wreaths - as part of their Enterprise project. The sale of these items raised a further £535 for the school.

• Christmas comes to Ashmount

  Tue 11 Dec 2018

  We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone at New Farm Christmas Trees in Cadeby who donated, and delivered, a 10 foot tree to Ashmount this year.

   

  The tree stands proudly on display in our main foyer and has been beautifully decorated by our pupils with their hand-made decorations.

   

  Staff have also created a sensory Winter Wonderland experience for our pupils to explore in our Music Room.

  

• Ashmount volunteer receives recognition at Charnwood Sports Awards 2018

  Fri 07 Dec 2018

  We would like to congratulate Ashmount volunteer Shaun Crate for being named runner-up in the Charnwood Sports Awards in December 2018. 

   

  Shaun was named as one of two runners-up in the 'Joe Humphries Special Recognition Award'. 

   

  It is always difficult to highlight specific volunteers for recognition. However, volunteer Shaun Crate is, without doubt, one of the most inspirational individuals to volunteer in our school to date.

   

  Shaun (27) started volunteering at Ashmount approximately four years ago and he now volunteers in our school for three days every week.

   

  Shaun supports pupils with special educational needs of all ages. Last year, Shaun supported weekly swimming sessions and weekly PE sessions, working with pupils with complex needs and pupils with autism spectrum conditions, many of whom also have physical disabilities. Shaun also works alongside our support staff at lunchtimes on three days a week to help our pupils with the most profound and multiple learning difficulties to develop their fine and gross motor skills.

   

  What is perhaps most inspirational is the fact that Shaun has cerebral palsy and so has his only challenges to overcome when providing support to our pupils. Shaun explains that he is not always as quick as he would like to be in getting around school and that he sometimes has to repeat himself to make himself properly understood.

   

  In Shaun’s own words, ‘You have two choices: you can sit back feeling sorry for yourself, or you can put a smile on your face and get on with it’.

   

  It is no surprise that some of our students who have physical disabilities feel comfortable in asking Shaun personal questions about the challenges he faces.

   

  Shaun is quite simply one of the best volunteers we have ever had at Ashmount. His dedication and commitment to providing the very highest standards of support and care for our students is exemplary, and we are delighted that his efforts have been recognised. 

• Loughborough Santa Fun Run 2018

  Mon 03 Dec 2018

  Thank you to the 30 strong team of pupils, staff and their families who ran, walked or were pushed along the 5km route around Loughborough on Sunday 2nd December 2018. This was the eighth consecutive year that Ashmount has taken part in the Santa Fun Run. All participants were presented with a medal on the finish line. Over 1,200 Santas turned out this year to raise money for some very worthwhile causes.  

   

  Special thanks must also go to the 9 staff from the Leicester City Football Club Community Trust who came along to run the course on behalf of Ashmount School too.