Stephen Fox

I am very sorry to share the sad news that Stephen Fox, the Headteacher of Ardley Hill Academy, tragically passed away last week. Mr Fox has made a huge impact at Ardley, as both a leader and as a friend. He will be sorely missed and I am sure you will join us all in passing on our sincest condolences to the pupils, staff and parents at Ardley as well as to his family and friends.

Attendance

Our usual Studybugs visual is not available this week so I will have to resort to listing our attendance for last week.

Caterpillars: 90.5% Butterflies: 82.5% Grasshoppers: 95% Hedgehogs: 93.9%

Foxes: 94.8% Otters: 96.3% Woodpeckers: 88%

Well done to Otters for the best attendance this week and to Grasshoppers and Foxes who were close behind. 

We are an Academy

I am pleased to say that we officially became an Academy and joined the Scholars Education Trust on 1st June. We have already been working with the trust for a while now as we prepared for the move to joining them but look forward to working ever more closely with them. 

Summer Reading Challenge

The summer holidays are a little way off yet, but the library service have announced the theme for their Summer Reading Challenge 2025. I will remind you again nearer the time but the reading challenge is a good way to keep children enthused with reading over the long summer holidays.

Early Years Sports Day

With only a very small number of Butterflies children who attend the afternoon session only on Sports Day, we have decided to invite these children to our morning sports day rather than holding a separate afternoon session for them. The Early Years Sports Day is on Thursday 10th July at 9.15am and parents / carers / families are invited to head to the field as soon as you have dropped your child off. Please bear in mind the 9.15am start time is a rough guide as we will start once all of the classes are outside and ready.

KS1 and KS2 Sports Day

The KS1 and KS2 Sports Day is on Friday 11th July with a start time of 9.15am. Again this is a rough approximation as we will only start once all of the classes are assembled and ready to go. Parents / Carers / Families should make your way to the field after dropping off your child to their door in the morning. 

We can certainly hope that the weather will be better that week than it has been the last few days.

Diary Dates

The dates that we invite families to attend are highlighted in bold. We will always try to keep these dates as advertised, althoug they are subject to change. This is particularly true for sports days which are dependent on the weather.

Monday 2nd June – Friday 13th June - Multiplication Tables Check (Year 4s only)

Week beginning Monday 9th June - Phonic Check week (Year 1 and Year 2s who are re-taking)

Thursday 12th – Tuesday 17th June - Book Fair

Thursday 12th June - Oracy event at Samuel Ryder Academy 

Tuesday 24th June - INSET DAY - SCHOOL CLOSED for all children

Wednesday 25th June - Priory transition picnic and sports (Year 4s only)

Monday 30th June - Something for the Summer - Year 4 Inspiring Music concert

Tuesday 1st July - Year 2 Mead Open Farm trip

Tuesday 1st July - Year 1 trip to Priory Church

Thursday 3rd July - Year 4 Transition Day to Priory

Thursday 3rd July - Transition morning for the rest of the school

Friday 4th July - Image Musical Theatre performing The Jungle Book

Thursday 10th July - Early Years Sports day (9.15am to approximately 10.45am)

Friday 11th July - KS1 and KS2 Sports Day (9.15am to approximately 11am)

Friday 11th July - End of Year Reports emailed out

Wednesday 16th July 2pm and 5pm - Year 4 performance

Thursday 17th July - Break the Rules day

Friday 18th July - Golden Apple assembly

Tuesday 22nd July - Year 4 Leavers Assembly (2.30 – 3.30pm)

Tuesday 22nd July - Last day of term