We’re delighted to share that our Primary 4 pupils, along with the Primary 6 woodwind group and the Primary 7 band, will once again be taking part in The Big Sing and Play at Duthie Park this year on Wednesday the 27th of May. 

This fantastic event brings schools together from across the city to celebrate music through singing and live performance in a vibrant outdoor setting. Our pupils are already working hard in rehearsals and are very much looking forward to performing as part of such a large‑scale community music celebration. We’re sure it will be another memorable and enjoyable experience for everyone involved.  Information will already have gone out to families - a reminder to please complete the required information asap so we can plan for the event.

We’re pleased to share that the new playground benches have now arrived — and they look great! They’re already proving to be a popular spot for children and families to sit, chat and relax after school.

We would like to ask for everyone’s support in helping to look after them. Where possible, please encourage pupils to remind younger children not to climb on the tables so that the benches stay safe and in good condition for everyone to enjoy. Thank you for helping us care for our shared space.

Sports Day will take place on Thursday the 28th of May this session.  Due to ongoing work on the pavilion at Harlaw Playing Fields,  it has not been possible to confirm a date that we will be able to access the space/toilets safely.  Big thanks to Grammar school staff who have agreed to allow us to use Rubislaw Playing Fields again this year, enabling the event to go ahead .  

Information will come out to families on Monday regarding the many volunteer roles needed to safely/successfully run a sports day.    If you have any ability to, please volunteer.  Without the support from many families, events like this will not be able to go ahead.  

Saturday 30th May 2026

11.00am - 2.00pm

£2.50 per Child

£3.50 per Adult

The PTA have many exciting games and stalls organised.  We can’t wait to see you there!

This year we are excited to have Eden’s Garden Visit.  

Meet & Cuddle your favourite animals including a rabbit, gerbil, guinea pig, chinchilla, snake, lizard and tortoise!

Places are limited and tickets must be pre-purchased on the app at the time of booking your main entry tickets.

Please note that the PTA have allocated two ASN sessions for children requiring a smaller group setting, please check that you are booking the correct session for your child..

Tickets now available online: Buy tickets – Summer Fair 2026 – Ashley Road School  

If you would like to volunteer: Ashley Road PTA: Ashley Road School Summer Fair 2026 

DONATIONS

The Ashley Road School PTA relies on donations from all those connected with the school, as well as local businesses, to fill a number of our stalls. The amount of donations we receive has a huge impact on how much we can raise for the school so that we can improve the learning experiences of our children.  Below is a list of some of the items that we would love you to start putting aside to donate to the fair closer to the date.  Over the coming weeks the PTA will provide further detail regarding donations.

Can be delivered to the Bubble at the school anytime from Monday 25th May onwards:

- Everyone’s a Winner Jars

As many jars as you can make!  Any shape or size, filled by you with a variety of treats + sweets + knick-knacks.  This is our most popular stall and sells out fast - everyone wins something!  The more jars, the more happy winners.  Please write a note on your jar if the contents are vegetarian/vegan.

- Sweets & Chocolate for the Tombola

Any chocolate or sweetie items, big or small. For example, selection packs, chocolate bars, boxes of chocolates, hot chocolate, haribo, sweetie packets….  

If it is sweet we want it!!!

- Bottles for the bottle stall

Exactly as it sounds - If it's in a bottle it can go in the bottle stall! Wine, beer, ketchup, bubble bath, syrup, olive oil... 

Bottles | Bottles | Bottles!

- Second Hand Toys

If your children no longer play with their toys, books or costumes we want them.  We kindly request that you make sure all toys are in excellent like new condition, are still working and have all of their parts before donating.  Toys must have a CE or UKCA mark to comply with safety regulations.  Bring a smile to another child's face.

- Second Hand Uniform

We will have a Second Hand Uniform stall at the fair and would appreciate your donation of any outgrown Sweatshirts | Polo's | Fleeces | P.E. Kit that are in good condition.

Clothes with the Ashley Road School Logo only please.

Please bring to the school on the morning of the fair only Saturday 30th May:

- Cakes, Bakes, Tablet & Preserves

Any kind of home-made baked goods, treats, jams and preserves and plenty of them!

Please make sure you follow the attached Food Standards Scotland when preparing all food.

Please clearly identify your donation and list all ingredients used.

Please make it very clear if your recipe contains, or may be cross contaminated by any known allergens such as:

NUTS | EGG | DAIRY | SOY | GLUTEN | FISH | SESAME | CELERY | SULPHATES | MUSTARD

As part of our ongoing Trio Leaders of Learning work with Broomhill and Skene Square schools, this week it was Ashley Road's turn to host and the Super Squad pulled out all the stops to welcome their P7 visitors. After weeks of planning, our pupils led the others in a tour of the school (including a scavenger hunt!) and some ice breaker games, before introducing our new 'Steps to Success' book and working in groups to carry out writing moderation  and assessment tasks. Rich discussion occured amongst the mixed school  groups and the children enjoyed sharing the different approaches used in each school. The day was rounded off with a Q and A session. With their hosting work complete, our Super Squad are now looking forward to the final visit of the year,  to Broomhill in June.

Ahead of their upcoming show, Alice in Wonderland, the P7s headed to the Arts Centre this week to learn about the process  involved in putting on a professional production. They met with a local actor who treated them to a backstage tour, showing them how quick changes are executed and even letting them try out some costumes and props.  They also got to explore the technical side of production, meeting backstage crew who showed them how lighting and sound effects are controlled. The trip was rounded off with a question and answer session, meaning P7 are now fully ready to take on the planning and performance of their very own show!

The PLG School Spaces children have come up with the idea of having a competition to find the best design to replace the 'Jungle Wall' design (the long wall next to the blue container/car park).

Success Criteria:

• Design should be a cityscape showing key/important places in Aberdeen. 

• Design should include all our Skills Monsters.

Deadline: Friday 15th May 2026

Competition design sheets will be provided and delivered to classrooms on Monday morning.  

We look forward to seeing what creative ideas the children come up with!

The Grampian Wellbeing Festival Programme is now live. This is open to all.

Taking place throughout May, the festival brings together a wide range of free and low‑cost wellbeing activities happening across Aberdeen and the wider Grampian area. From getting active and creative to learning something new or taking time to pause, there’s something for everyone.

Alongside the programme, a range of free downloadable wellbeing resources are also available. Inspired by the Five Ways to Wellbeing (Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning and Give), these tools are designed to support individuals, families and workplaces to take small, positive steps for wellbeing during the festival and beyond.

👉 View the full programme and access the wellbeing resources here: Grampian Wellbeing Festival 

We’re pleased to share that new bike pods and scooter pods have been installed in the rear playground. The new facilities provide parking for 24 bikes and 12 scooters, in addition to our existing bike shelter, which remains available for use. We hope this encourages more pupils and families to choose active, healthy and sustainable travel to and from school.

Please remember this area is not monitored and any bikes/scooters left in this area are left at the owners risk. 

For everyone’s safety, please remember that children should dismount and walk their bikes or scooters once they enter the playground. Riding is not permitted within the playground area.

SPRING SCHOOL DISCO

We’re trying something new and this year the disco will be held on

THURSDAY (that’s right Thursday)

23rd APRIL

P1-P3 | 6:15pm - 7:15pm

P4-P7 | 7:30pm - 8:30pm

Tickets can be purchased online:  Select tickets – Spring Disco 2026 – Ashley Road School  

All children must be accompanied and supervised by a responsible adult/parent/guardian.  Ratio 1 adult to 4 children.  The PTA and volunteers are not responsible for child supervision.

We appreciate those that can volunteer to help us at these events.  There are two slots per disco and we are asking for 9 people per slot to help.  Last disco we unfortunately didn’t have enough volunteers for the first disco due to last minute cancellations and we weren’t able to provide the experience we usually do.

Sign up to Volunteer here: Ashley Road PTA: Spring Disco 2026 

The PTA

PTA Bingo Success - At the PTA Bingo event last term we raised £160. Thank you to everyone who came along and made it a success!

• Big Sing - P4 P6 and P7 band - 27th May 

• Summer Fair - 30th May 11am - 2:00pm

• Sports Day - Date TBC - We are unable to confirm this date yet dur to ongoing words on Rubislaw Pavilion. 

• P7Rm 1 Alice In Wonderland - 30th June 9:30am

• P7Rm 11 Alice In Wonderland - 30th June 2:00pm

• Last Day - Thursday 2nd July

This year’s school talent shows delivered everything: dazzling dance moves, daring gymnastics, angelic singing, piano playing that made the keys fear for their lives, and acting so dramatic even the curtains needed a moment.

A massive well done to all our performers—every single act was spectacular, surprising, or at the very least… entertaining in ways we didn’t know were possible.

Congratulations to our winners:

• Blossom, who took the crown with her stunning flag dance—a performance so energetic we’re still untangling bunting from the stage lights.

• Sam, whose masterful piano performance was so good the piano has now requested a two‑week holiday for recovery.

Thanks to everyone who participated, applauded, and pretended to find Mr Martin's puns funny.  

Netball taster sessions will be running on Thursday lunch-times with Miss Nicolson starting after the holidays.

These sessions will be open to P3/4 and P5/6. 

Please see the links below to sign your child up. The sessions will start on 23rd April for an 8 week block. 

P3/4: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ashley-road-p34-netball-taster-tickets-1985708286940?aff=oddtdtcreator

P5/6: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ashley-road-p56-netball-taster-tickets-1985708632975?aff=oddtdtcreator

These both go live 27th March at 18:00 and close 31st March 12:00.

The Ashley Road Running Club is ready to go!

Thank you to all the volunteers who are supporting this new club and for going through the PVG process. It has taken a while but we are now ready to run!

The club will start on the Friday 17th April. Please see the link below to sign your child up. 

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ashley-road-p1-7-running-club-tickets-1984960660770?aff=oddtdtcreator 

You may have noticed last week that a few extra 'characters' appeared on the streets around school, on spots which we most often see poor/dangerous parking.  These signs, helped remind drivers which areas families should not be parking on, to ensure that children had safe access to pavements and good visibility when crossing the road.  On top of that, William, Coby and Mohammed got involved in monitoring the street and reminding drivers of the law by handing out 'tickets'.  By the Friday, we didn't see any illegal parking at all.  Let's hope families can keep it up! 

A record number of Ashley Road runners competed in Friday's Cross Country Championships at Balgownie, with more than 60 of our pupils braving the cold and muddy conditions of the 1km (P4) and 1.8km (P5-7) race courses,  along with nearly 2000 fellow runners from schools across the city.

We were so proud of all our runners, who gave it their all, spurred on by the cheers from the rest of the team.

Ashley Road also took home a record number of medals, with wins in the following categories:

-Individual first place for Maya in P4

-Individual second place for Saoirse in P5

-Team first place for P4 girls - Maya, Anita and Carlota

-Team third place for P4 boys - Max, Presley and Robin

 A great experience and achievement for all the children who took part. The future for Ashley Road Cross Country running looks bright! 

What a fantastic effort by everyone that took part in the Potato Character Challenge. There were so many potato characters around the library. It was great to see how children had tackled the challenge from simply painting or drawing on potatoes, to adding craft materials, to creating full dioramas. 

It was very hard to judge the winning potatoes but three have been chosen. One from P1-2, one from P3-4 and one from P5-7. These will be announced at Assembly next week. The winners will each win 25 house points!

Children will also have received their World Book Day voucher home on Thursday or Friday. This can be used in a book shop to swap for one of the World Book Day special titles or to get £1 off a chosen book. 

During our Clan times this week, we invited some of our PSAs along to share the work they have been doing on Emotion Coaching . We're now ready to progress to the next stage:  encouringang our learners to take the lead! Next week, P6s will be able to apply to become Peer Emotion Coaches, working alongside our PSA team to increase their understanding of Emotion Coaching in action and put it into practice at break- and lunchtimes, supporting pupils across the school.  Thanks to Mrs Sim, Miss Lilley and Mrs Styles for taking a lead on this project.

Five of our P7s attended the annual Round Table Rotary Quiz at RGC on Thursday night, equipped with their strong general knowledge and a great deal of enthusiasm.  They battled hard against the other school teams and, whilst they did not make it through to the next round, they all did Ashley Road proud and had an enjoyable evening.  We've all learned a few new facts too - not least, Taylor Swift's middle name! 

Next Thursday 5th March is World Book Day. To celebrate we have afun home learning task for those that wish to take part. 

The task this year is to create a  potato charcter linked to your favourite book. 

You will need a large potato, paint or felt tip pens and craft materials. 

Have a think about how can you make the potato look like your character?

Children can bring in their potato character on Thursday to show to their class and then we will get children to take them to the library area where we will display them for the whole school to see. 

I look forward to seeing the creations!

The children will also receive their World Book Day Tokens next Thursday. 

Over the next few weeks, you will notice that we are increasing our focus on the dangerous and illegal parking that continues to occur around the school. This has been a long‑standing concern, and we are exploring new ways to ensure every member of our school community understands the risks created by these choices.

This week, during Clan Time, we have shared information with children about the unsafe and unlawful behaviours we are seeing. We hope that, where appropriate, children will feel confident to use their voices and advocate for their right to be safe if they notice any of these behaviours during the journey to and from school.

• Parking on a pavement 

• Parking on double yellow lines/on a corner 

• Blocking a local resident’s driveway 

• Parking/stopping on the yellow zig zags 

• Parking/stopping in the middle of the road 

LET'S PLAY BINGO!

Ashley Road School PTA warmly welcome you to their bingo evening.

Race against your friends and family to see who can score off their numbers first!  Win house points for a full line and a prize for a full house.

THURSDAY 19TH MARCH

6:45 - 8:30pm

Ashley Road School, AB10 6RU

Tuck shop available during intervals and additional bingo sheets can be purchased on the night.

Adults £3 / Children £2

Get your tickets using the link below:

https://buytickets.at/ashleyroadpta/2090319

All children must be accompanied and supervised by a responsible adult/parent/guardian.

The PTA are not responsible for child supervision.

Our strong team of Young Journalists created articles for our digital screen at the main school entrance. These articles are on a wide variety of topics but this week we have added one by Isabella on the Steps to Success writing book that we have launched. 

It is great to see how many of the children are seeing the benefits of the book and how it can be used. 

We’re pleased to invite parents and carers to an after-school session on Tuesday the 10th of March from 3:30 - 4:30 pm in school,  focused on how to make best use of the Home Learning Library to support children’s learning across all areas of the curriculum.  Families will be shown how to make best use of the resources available at home and how to link these to the assessment slips that will be issued shortly, at parent meetings in February, highlighting focus areas and skills each child is working on. This session will also introduce our school’s new Writing Skills 'Step To Success ' tool, which children P3-7 will be introduced to this session.   More information on this tool will be shared with all families soon.  The session will be practical, supportive and designed to help families feel confident in supporting their child’s progress at home.   If you plan to come along to either session, please complete this short form to help us get an idea of numbers. 

Last week saw two events in the ELC. The first event was the Valentines Card making session with parents invited to come and join to make a card or craft with thier child. We had around 35 adults attending this year. Lots of fun was had by all. 

We also had a parent who came in to share about Ramadan and Eid Around the World. The children found out why it is special for Muslim people around the world and how they celebrate it. The children then got the chance to make some lanterns linked to Ramadan. 

Thank you to the parents for making both of these events successful. 

P6 are exploring Extreme Earth. Today both classes had a presentation from Mr and Mrs Osato (Richie’s family) about earthquakes in Japan. We discussed their personal experiences. P6 discussed how governments and individuals can support populations to keep them safe during an earthquake. We focused on the Tohoku earthquake of 2011. The session supported our understanding of the human impact of both earthquakes and tsunamis. 

This week we were lucky to get the Aberdeen Confucius Institute Lion Dance Team in to the school playground to demonstrate their Chinese New Year Lion Dance. The children loved seeing the costume and how the team was able to make the Lion dance. Lion dances are a 1,500-year-old tradition in Chinese culture that usher in fortune and good luck for the new year.  

As you can see from the photos and video it was great to be able to make this a whole school event in the playground. 

The children in the ELC also took part in a craft session linked to Chinese New Year too supported by the Manadrin teacher who comes in weekly to share with the children. 

Ashley Road School has now become a Junior Parkrun affiliated school. At Clan time this week we spoke to the children about the opportunity of the Junior Parkrun that takes place every Sunday morning at 9.30am at the Duthie Park.  We already have a number of children who regularly take part in the run every Sunday morning. We are hoping we will be able to get this number higher over the next month. 

In the Summer term we will look to arrange a specific Sunday to encourage as many families and children from Ashley to take part in the park run on that day.  

You can register for parkrun for free here - www.parkrun.org.uk/register/  

If you can't attend this week, junior parkrun happens every Sunday so you can come any Sunday your are available. 

On Thursday P7 Room 11 had a visit from Nadine Aisha Jassat to deliver a workshop around her book 'Estie Noor and the House at the Edge of the World.' This visit links in to the Granite Noir 2026 festival and Ashley Road was lucky enough to be able to get a visit from an author. 

Nadine read an extract of her book, told the children about her background and inspiration and spoke about how she always wants to inlcude characters in her book that were not represented in books when she was young. The children enjoyed the event. 

The second parents evening meetings of this session will take place on  Tuesday the 17th and  Thursday the 19th of February and will continue to be in person, in school.  

Booking will be online via the same system used previously.  You can book an appointment by going to the address below and logging in.  The information you use to login must match exactly what we hold on our school system, so if you are struggling to login, please call the school office who will support.   Please  choose the option to enter your email address, rather than sign in with Google or Microsoft. 

https://parents-booking.co.uk/login.jsphttps://parents-booking.co.uk/ashleyroad

The booking window will open on Friday the 6th of February at 4:00pm and will close on Friday the 13th of February at 12noon .

Please help us to make best use of teachers time which is set aside to meet with parents.  If for any reason you are unable to attend an appointment, please cancel with as much notice as possible by calling the school office or cancelling via the online system. 

This week we had a visit from the Road Safety Magic Show. 

All the P1-7s took part in the interactive shows that reinforced how to be safe around roads. All the children should be able to recite the key message of: Stop, Look. Listen and Think, complete with actions. There was lots of fun and magic and the children enjoyed the show.  

We were recently approached by a group of P7s from the HTL  and Super Squad groups, who expressed their desire to make some changes to the way lunches are run, including the system for collecting  lunch boxes and the arrangements regarding eating outdoors.

As the PSA team would be most impacted by any changes, the pupils were invited along  to  our PSA meeting  this week to put forward their proposition - and they bravely accepted!

The PSA team was extremely impressed by how professional (and balanced!) the boys' arguments were. They spoke very convincingly and had a purposeful discussion with both the PSAs and SLT  as to what might work and how.

The adults will now consider the logistics of the ideas before meeting with the group again to formulate a plan.

True pupil voice in action !