Low Ash News Edition 26 - Spring Overview 2023

In this edition
• Art and DT
• Fantastic Fridays
• Online Safety
…and much more

Art & DT at Low Ash
We had a fantastic end to the last two half terms spending three days being creative during our Art and DT
time. Instead of having a full art lesson every week, we use sketchbooks regularly to prepare for the last
three days of practical work. During sketchbook sessions, we spend time designing, planning, practising
and homing in on our drawing skills. Then at the end of each half term, each year group has the
opportunity to participate in a wide range of different projects. Here is a selection of the topics from the
last two half terms: Heraldry and making our own shields (Year 4), Egyptian pyramids (Year 3), Weaving
rainbows (Year 2).
During one of the days, Miss Gray in Year 1 told us,
“We have been looking at collages by Violet Von Riot and then making beetle collages with stain glass.”
One of the children also said, “We are doing paper crafts, looking at different types of paper and what it is
used for.”
All of the Low Ash news team loved wandering around the school and seeing how happy and excited all the
children were. It was clear in every classroom that all the topics were engaging and diverse. We think all
the children would agree that this is the best way to end each half term.
Fantastic Fridays
Fantastic Fridays have continued to be very popular among the students and their favourite time of the
week. This is because it gives all the children the chance to come off timetable and experience extracurricular
activities. Considering there is a very varied range of activities going on across school, children
have had the opportunity to participate in anything from scootering to cooking or Performing Arts to
Orienteering. There is always a sensational atmosphere across school. Every student that we have
interviewed agrees that it is a fantastic opportunity to find their forte in not only the academic subjects.
The activities take place both inside and outdoors. Here are just a couple of the activities we have done in
the last two half terms: Singing, orienteering, litter picking, team building, construction and tree planting.
We spoke with Mrs Scaife who said, “I have loved delivering Performing Arts alongside Miss Henry to
multiple year groups simultaneously. It was so lovely seeing the older children helping out the younger
ones.”
Robyn in Year 5 also said, “I am already so excited for the activity next half term.”
We have had so many positive comments that we could have easily filled this page. We think it is clear it
will remain a firm favourite across school and we shall see what the summer terms brings.

Online Safety
Safer Internet Day 2023 took place on the 7 th of February 2023, with celebrations and learning based
around the theme, ‘Want to talk about it? Making space for conversations about life online’.
In the UK and at our school, we celebrated by putting children and young people’s voices at the heart of
the day and encouraging them to shape the online safety support that they receive.
On the day, and throughout the year, we are asking parents, carers, teachers, government, policymakers,
and the wider online safety industry to take time to listen to children and young people and make positive
change together.
This year we are hoping to answer the following questions:
• What issues really matter to children and young people?
• What changes do they want to see?
• How can we all work together to advocate for them moving forward?
Safer Internet Day 2023 can be a springboard for conversations that shape how we talk about and respond
to online issues, not just for one day, but throughout the whole year

Sport at Low Ash
We have had an extremely busy term, with many children taking part in lots of different sporting
competitions.
We entered two teams in the Bradford Primary Panathlon competition that took place at Zara Sports
Centre. The children took part in lots of different activities that included: Basketball, Curling, Bowling,
Running Races and many more. All our children were fantastic, and our Year 3 team achieved 1 st place,
which means they are now the Bradford Primary Panathlon Champions!
They will now go on to compete in the West Yorkshire Panathlon competition in June!
At the beginning of the year, Low Ash Primary Under 11s Girls went unbeaten in the Bradford under 11s
Girls Football tournament and were selected to represent Bradford City at the North of England Football
Tournament. The event took place at Manchester City's training ground, where they played against the
likes of Manchester United, Burnley, Bolton, Manchester City and many more. The girls were outstanding,
and it was an amazing experience for them!
More recently we had Anthony from 3T and Eva from 6LH compete in the West Yorkshire Cross Country
Finals at Temple Newsam, in Leeds!
We also entered two teams in the North Bradford Area Basketball competition and competed against
schools in our area. This ran over two weeks, with over 20 different children from KS2 representing our
school. Well done everybody!

School Environment
Here at Low Ash, we are trying our best to keep our school environment at the forefront of our minds. We
are trying to do our bit to contribute towards reducing climate change and saving our planet. Year 4 spent
the afternoon with a team from Bradford Council learning about the importance of planting trees and how
to do it successfully. Year 4 then had the opportunity to line the bottom of our field with a range of
different fruit trees. The children had a blast and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. The team assisting the
children from Fruitworks commented on the exemplary behaviour and even said, “It has been a pleasure to
have been at Low Ash this afternoon. The children have had the best behaviour of any school we have ever
visited.”
Lord Mayor opens our new offices
Our new offices and entrance are finally open for business. The Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Martin
Love, did the honours at the school and officially cut the ribbon last term. The Lord Mayor was assisted by
a mini-Mayor (one of the school’s pupils) George and Mrs Meer and Mrs Medhurst our Co-headteachers.
The older children also got to watch and participate in the celebration. Mrs Meer told us, “The new-look to
sections of the school has been given the seal of approval from pupils and staff alike.”
The plan had been under development for 5 years. However, due to planning permission, it was a lengthy
process. Therefore we are thrilled here at Low Ash for it to finally be completed. We have a quote from
one of the students Daxton who said, “I really like the brand-new office. When I first saw it, I was filled with
joy.” Another student added, “I think it’s a really good investment for the school.” We even managed to
catch up with Mrs Meer after the event and she said enthusiastically, “It’s been absolutely fabulous. It is
just fantastic to finally have it open.” She added, “The children were excited to have the Lord Mayor here.
Normally children hear about Mayors in history, so for them to meet one is great.” The Mayor also went
around every classroom and told the children about meeting King Charles in Bradford last year.

OPAL Outdoor Play and Learning
Just when we thought breaktimes couldn’t get any better, it seems that they can! New equipment and
areas have been added to our playground. The children have loved using the brand-new additions. Some of
the new additions are: the boxing bag, Velcro tennis and space hoppers. We asked some children what
their favourite thing about the new equipment was and one child said, “I love the new wheelbarrows. Me
and my friends have so much fun pushing each other around in them.” Another child added, “My favourite
thing is the boxing bag. I love sport and I do it out of school so it’s great to be able to practise.” We think
we have the best break time facilities possible and are thrilled that the school chose to introduce OPAL.
Long may the fun-filled breaktimes continue.
Rethink Food
For Fantastic Fridays a few half-terms ago, Year 6 participated in Rethink Food sessions all about food
waste. Low Ash now owns its very own stall that was gifted to us by Rethink Food. Every week, we get a
delivery of extra or spare food from shops like ASDA and Morrisons. On Fridays after school, a few students
offer to stay and help wheel the stall out to sell the food we had delivered.
We have been running our stall, Pupils Act, successfully for a number of months now and all the money
made will either go to charity or to help pay for school trips. Noah (in Year 6) says, “Taking part in the
Rethink Food project was very enjoyable because I got to experience what it was like working at a shop and
I would love to do it again.”

World Book Day!
On Friday the 2 nd March, children from Low Ash were asked to come dressed up as a character from one of
their favourite books. All the children were challenged into trying to create striking, fabulous outfits from
things they could find at home instead of spending a fortune on a costume. The teachers have said how
special it was opening the doors that morning to welcome all the smiling faces of the children who had
made book characters come to life. There was a buzz around the school all day and children were
constantly trying to guess what other people’s characters were. We celebrated reading in real style and the
children even got a book token to take away from the day. One of the children in year 4 called Finn said
this about his costume, “My favourite character is from Diary of the Wimpy Kid because I love all the books
and it makes me chuckle.”

Twitter and Facebook Year Group News!
Here is a selection of some Twitter and Facebook posts from the spring and early summer terms.
Please click on the link to view all of the Facebook posts.
Low Ash Primary School | Bradford | Facebook
Year 1 photos

Ingleborough Hall
Year 4 went on a fantastic trip in the spring term to Ingleborough Hall. They had the opportunity to do a
range of activities - many that they had never tried before. It took resilience when on their long hike but
Mr Moorhouse found a new friend sheep called Barbara! They had a great time doing archery, bat hunting
and touring the village. They even went to party at a disco. They have raved about the food and one child
said, “My favourite was the fish and chips and we even got a brownie.” Mrs Livermore was beaming as she
told us, “We have had a truly fantastic time.” Find out about the Year 5 residential trip to Nell Bank and
Year 6 trip to Peat Rigg in the next edition.
Visit from an author!
We were recently visited by former head-teacher and author, Brian Beresford. He is mostly known for his
amazing book, The Midnight Grocer. He came into Low Ash on the 13 th of March, telling us all about his
book and even reading out chapters from it! He will be coming back to our school at some point to sell
signed copies of The Midnight Grocer. We are looking forward to welcoming Brian back soon.