Dear Ash Mount Community,
For many families across the UAE, this week marks the end of another school year.
To all of our future Ash Mount students, congratulations on everything you have achieved this year.
Whether you are finishing nursery, primary school, or secondary school, we hope your final days have
been full of celebrations, happy memories, and opportunities to say thank you to the teachers and friends
who have been part of your journey.
Now comes one of the best parts of the year.
Summer.
Whether you are spending the holidays here in the UAE, travelling overseas to visit family, or exploring
somewhere completely new, we hope you have a wonderful break together.
For many of our children, this summer is particularly exciting because it is the last one before becoming
one of Ash Mount’s Founding Students.
Over the coming weeks, many children will naturally begin wondering what their new school will be like.
Who will my teacher be?
Who will I sit next to?
Will I make new friends?
Where will my classroom be?
These are wonderful questions to have because they remind us that excitement and nervousness often
arrive together.
One of the lovely things about joining a brand new school is that everyone is new together.
Every child is making new friends.
Every family is becoming part of a new community.
Every member of staff is starting a new chapter too.
That makes being a founding family something very special.
Throughout July, our blogs will focus on helping families prepare for the exciting months ahead.
Rather than asking children to complete worksheets or formal learning over the holidays, we will be
sharing simple ideas that help keep curiosity alive, encourage conversations, and prepare children
naturally for school life.
After all, children learn just as much through experiences as they do through classrooms.
This week’s Summer Challenge
Instead of thinking about school work, why not spend this week noticing the world around you?
Pre-KG and KG
Collect leaves, shells, stones, or interesting objects and talk about them together.
Count steps, birds, or flowers during walks.
Read together every day, even if only for ten minutes.
Encourage children to tell you stories about the pictures in books.
Primary
Start a Summer Memory Journal using drawings, photographs, or short pieces of writing.
Visit somewhere new and ask, “What surprised you today?”
Help cook a family meal together and talk about where the ingredients come from.
Read a book purely because it looks interesting.
Secondary
Follow a news story from another country and discuss it together.
Visit a museum, exhibition, historic site, or cultural attraction wherever you are.
Listen to a podcast or watch a documentary on a topic you’ve never explored before.
Challenge yourself to learn one completely new skill over the summer.
At Ash Mount, we believe learning should be purposeful, relevant, and enjoyable.
Sometimes the most memorable learning happens whilst travelling, cooking together, exploring nature,
visiting family, or simply sitting around the dinner table having a great conversation.
Those moments matter.
As you enjoy your summer, we hope you continue sharing your adventures with us. We love seeing
where our future students are exploring around the world, and every new experience helps shape the
stories they will bring with them when they arrive at Ash Mount.
Have a wonderful start to the holidays.
We look forward to sharing another Summer Challenge with you next week.
Best wishes,
Abigail Fishbourne
Founding Principal
Ash Mount School
