Latest news at Ashmount School......

• Friends of Ashmount Easter Teddy Competition

  Thu 11 Apr 2019

  Thank you to all of our staff, pupils and their families who have taken part in our recent ‘Name the Teddy’ Easter competition which raised almost £70 for the Friends of Ashmount Appeal.

   

  The winning name drawn out of the hat was ‘Honey’. First prize was a giant teddy and a selection of Easter eggs. Two lucky runners-up won hand-knitted Easter bunnies.

  

• Ashmount pupils perform live at the Curve Theatre

  Fri 05 Apr 2019

  Our Key Stage 2 pupils appeared at The Curve Theatre recently in an inclusive dance performance called 'It's a classic!' 

   

  The children spent the day at The Curve and performed twice for a theatre full of parents, children and staff from the local special schools. They danced to 'Happiness does not wait' and used ribbons and scarves to show the beautiful rainbow of happiness.

   

• Leicestershire County Council proposal to increase capacity of Ashmount School

  Thu 04 Apr 2019

   

  LEICESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

   

  FULL PROPOSAL TO INCREASE THE PROFOUND AND MULTIPLE LEARNING DISABILITIES CAPACITY OF

  ASHMOUNT SCHOOL

  BY 12 PLACES

   

  Notice is hereby given in accordance with the Education and Inspections Act 2006 and The School Organisation (Prescribed Alternations)(England) Regulations 2018 that Leicestershire County Council proposes to increase the Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilties capacity of Ashmount School by 12 places.

   

  1. Name, address and contact details of proposer

   

  Leicestershire County Council, School Organisation Service, Children and Family Services, County Hall, Glenfield, Leicester LE3 8RF Tel: 0116 3056305  Email:  Steve.lee@leics.gov.uk

   

  1. Name,  address and category of school

   

  Ashmount School, Thorpe Hill, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 4SQ. (DFE No 3047) A Community School.

   

  1. Description of alteration and evidence of demand

   

  A new build extension  to create profound and multiple learning disabilities space within  the school to increase the capacity by an extra 12 places.  It is proposed that this will have effect for admissions which are due to start on or after Tuesday, 27th August 2019.   The increase in numbers will be accommodated by building an extension within the school.   Locally, and nationally, demand for SEND places has risen and forecasts for the next 5 years indicate demand will rise by up to 22%

   

  1. Objectives

   

  Leicestershire County Council proposes to increase the permanent capacity of  Ashmount School to meet the demand for school places in the area, both at the current time and in the future.   The proposals will allow the school to provide additional places to cope with the increasing demand arising from the increasing birth rate and number of new housing developments along with increased demand for SEND places within the local area.   The project fulfils Leicestershire County Council’s statutory obligation of providing sufficient school places and to try to ensure pupils are able to attend their local school. The changes will also assist schools in improving educational standards by preventing excessive class sizes and will also ensure parental choice is maintained through the provision of the additional places.

   

  1. The effect on other schools, academies and educational establishments within the area

   

  It is not anticipated that there will be any effect on other schools, academies and educational establishments within the area.

   

  1. Project costs and indication of how these will be met, including how long term value for money will be achieved

   

  The project to increase the capacity at Ashmount School  will cost £250 thousand.  The project is funded from Basic Need Capital Programme for 2018/19 and S106 developer contributions. Long term value for money will be achieved by ensuring value for money building and that the work done will be built to appropriate building and DfE requirements to ensure it can be used long term.

   

  1. Implementation and any proposed stages for implementation

   

  It is proposed that the school will increase its SEND capacity by 12 places with effect from Tuesday, 27th August 2019.     The new school accommodation completed by the Autumn Term 2019 to enable the school to increase the number of available places  for the 2019/20 school year.

   

  Within four weeks from the date of publication of this proposal, any interested party may support, object to, or make comment upon the proposal by sending them to School Organisation Service, Children and Family Services, County Hall, Glenfield, Leicester LE3 8RF or by email to Steve.lee@leics.gov.uk

  The closing date for comments and objections is Thursday 2^nd May 2019

   

  Signed:                 Lauren Haslam                                                                                   Date: 4^th April 2019

                                  Director of Law and Governance

   

• Spring arrives at Ashmount

  Wed 03 Apr 2019

  Pupils had a Spring treat earlier this term when a flock of six new-born lambs visited school. 

   

  There was even a chance for pupils to feed the lambs, which were just weeks old.

   

  

• Poetry project inspires pupils

  Wed 03 Apr 2019

  Ashmount students have been creating their own poetry as part of an exciting new project with Attenborough Arts.

   

  A group of 28 students who use communication aids, AAC devices or Eye-Gaze technology to facilitate their communication have been working alongside poet John Berkavitch, learning to recognise poetry as simply ‘our best words in their best order.’ The focus of the project has been to provide young people with opportunities to use words outside of their existing vocabulary and rearrange them into their own poetic responses.

   

  Funding from Maxliteracy and the Reinhardt Foundation enabled us to launch the project which seeks to develop resources for non-verbal communicators and those with very limited spoken language to make creative, poetic responses to a variety of new and exciting experiences.

   

  Students used their devices to perform poetry within school and have seen their work displayed in the nationally-acclaimed Attenborough Arts Centre.

   

  Ashmount Deputy Head Abi Steady was involved in the project and said: ‘The team at the Attenborough Arts Centre, led by Marianne Pape, have been amazing with our young people and have ensured that their contributions and creativity have been every bit as valued as the professional artists exhibiting there.’

   

  During the course of the project pupils have been fully involved in designing, testing and evaluating the resources we have produced. We have already released a fully adaptable low-tech E-Tran frame which will be made freely available to all galleries and cultural venues to enable complex communicators to make their own responses to the exhibitions and performances they see. Ashmount has also worked with Smartbox to develop a poetry map for eye-gaze users and a multi-level communication platform which will enable eye-gaze users to communicate creatively.  

  

• Students win 'Spirit of the Games' awards at SEND Sports Championships

  Fri 29 Mar 2019

  Two teams from Ashmount were recognised for their terrific teamwork at the recent SEND Championships held at Loughborough University.

   

  The event was an opportunity to showcase the wealth of sporting talent in the mainstream and special schools in the area.

   

  Key Stage 2 teams competed in the Boccia and New Age Kurling Championship—both receiving the ‘Spirit of the Games’ trophy for their great team efforts.

   

  Students with more complex needs also took part in the MATP showcase. The children had been working really hard on their MATP targets in school and were absolutely brilliant when showcasing their individual talents in the event.

   

  Ashmount students were also invited to perform their own dance in the opening ceremony of the games.

   

  

• British Science Week

  Fri 29 Mar 2019

  Students celebrated Science Week recently with an array of weird and wonderful workshops.

   

  The over-arching theme this year was plastics—and how we can reduce, reuse and recycle.

  Pupils were encouraged to make plant pots, musical instruments and wind-powered vehicles from junk. They also got to explore the solar system through a multi-sensory experience—and looked at gravity and friction in the ‘Forces Zone’.

   

  Students watched in wonder as ‘Atomic Abi’ from Mad Science demonstrated some extraordinary experiments. There was also an opportunity for students to interact with a whole host of exotic animals, including snakes, lizards, spiders and birds.

   

• Red Nose Day Fundraising - 15th March 2019

  Wed 20 Mar 2019

  Thank you to all of our staff, pupils and their families who helped raise money for this year’s Red Nose Day.

   

  Key Stage 4 led this year’s events with a Cake Sale. Together with the sale of red noses, a total of £234.51 was raised.

   

• Ashmount pupil names new Gritter

  Tue 05 Mar 2019 School Manager

  The three winners of the Name the Gritter competition have been revealed via Leicestershire County Council.

  Councillor Blake Pain, cabinet member for environment and transport, had the difficult task of choosing the winners from more than 160 suggestions and went for:

  • King Gritchard III;
  • Gritternator; and 
  • Sparkle.

  The three new vehicles, complete with their new monikers, will now be on standby along with the rest of the gritting fleet should temperatures fall below freezing during the coming weeks.

  Theo Jones from Ashmount School, Loughborough, and pupils from Red Hill Field Primary School, Narborough, Birch Wood School, Melton Mowbray and Beacon Academy, Loughborough, were invited to the council’s highways depot in Mountsorrel to see the names brought to life on the vehicles.

  Each winner received a certificate, a book voucher, and a chance to sit in the new gritters. The schools also received a book voucher.

  

• You've 'bin' amazing!

  Mon 11 Feb 2019

  Thank you to all of our pupils, staff and their families who donated to our recent Rainbows collection campaign 'Where's it Bin?'

   

  Bertie, Barry and Betty - three friendly collection bins - were located in our school reception area throughout January to collect unwanted items (including clean clothing, shoes, household linen, unwanted gifts, jewellery, accesories, books, bric-a-brac, toys and mobile phones).

   

  We are pleased to announce that Ashmount School donated 85 bags of your unwanted items to our local Rainbows hospice for children and young people. 

   

  Rainbows have been in touch with us to say, 'All the wonderful things you have donated to our charity shops will help us make a real difference. Thank you.'