Friday 11th June

Happy Friday!

The first week of our final half term has disappeared in a flash! We hope that all our families had a fantastic Whitsun break, we certainly were very lucky with the weather. The spell of good weather has lasted into this week and there is a good chance that it will continue beyond the next, please do make sure that your child comes to school equipped for the weather. We have seen some pretty awesome caps this week along with some super cool shades. Please make sure EVERYTHING is labelled with your child’s name so that we can quickly reacquaint items with their owner when they inevitably become lost. Water bottles are a must and we will encourage the children to remove their jumpers and cardigans if they are looking warm (the opposite of the winter when we were requesting that they wear lots of layers!).

All our restrictions due to Covid19 remain in place. It is important that we all remain committed to keeping each other safe especially as Dudley is an area where the Delta variant has been identified.

At Olive Hill we have a really consistent staff team. Many of the staff have worked here for many years and have fully invested their wonderful energy into making a difference to the children who come through our doors. We are always very proud of the children’s achievements both in school and outside of school. We love hearing good news stories about our children, especially when our children are showing that they want to be drivers for change within society. This week I have two such stories to share with you.

One member of our year two cohort has been raising money for the Birmingham Children’s Hospital by baking and selling lots of delicious cakes! This was all her own idea and she raised over £200 to support the hospital to deliver excellent care to children who are facing difficult circumstances. We are all really proud of her.

A member of our year five cohort has a real passion for promoting change and acceptance within the younger community. She recently delivered a fabulous show and tell to her class on issues surrounding diversity and really encouraged her listener’s to celebrate everyone’s uniqueness. Her show and tell presentation has made it on to YouTube! Her campaign for a better understanding of our world and the people that inhabit it has the full backing of everyone here at Olive Hill. She has inspired us to think about the need for curriculum ambassadors from our pupil population to help us to drive forward our diverse curriculum. Year five, I am looking forward to your applications!

Parents and carers, please do let us know if your child is doing something to drive positive change within our world. We love hearing good news stories.

Year one and year two are very much looking forward to their trips next week and we will also have the first of our WOW Days as nursery become farmers for the day! Year six have been thinking about all the activities they would like to do before they leave us at the end of the term - today it was rounders followed by ice lollies! The school diary is full of fun and excitement for the next few weeks and our only disappointment is that we are unable to invite our parents and carers to join in the fun. Fingers crossed for next year as we have missed being able to invite families on to school site to share our celebrations.

It is nearly 6pm and I can hear Mr Weston coming down the corridor, this is my signal to pack up for the weekend. I have a new paddling pool for my back garden and I am hoping to buy a barbecue on my way home as lots of children have made me very hungry describing their plans for family barbecues this weekend.

Have a wonderful weekend all and stay safe.