Friday 11th March

Happy Friday!

It has been another busy week at Olive Hill. You should have received a letter today detailing how we plan to start lifting some restrictions, including opening the pedestrian gate slightly earlier in the morning to reduce congestion on the pavement. This will allow those families who arrive earlier to wait on the school grounds. The school day starts at 8.45am and this is when staff will be available to support the children into school. The school gates close at 8.55am and it is expected that every child will be in school at this time.

Our cashless payment system has now been up and running for a number of days and we are already seeing a large percentage of our community using it to pay for school dinners and trips. If you are having any difficulties using the system, please contact the school office and they will be happy to help you. Along with the cashless payment system, we also now have a new electronic signing in system for staff and visitors.

Thank you to the parents and carers who have booked appointments to see their child’s class teacher and view their child’s learning. We are looking forward to welcoming you to your appointment. It is so important that you make the most of the opportunity to come into school and see your child’s outcomes. We would encourage you to bring your child with you to the appointment. If you are having any problems booking an appointment, please let the school know.

This week we have been spending time developing our art curriculum. We have had an art specialist in school working alongside our teachers to further refine our curriculum offer. On Thursday evening, in our professional learning meeting, all teaching staff participated in an art lesson where we were encouraged to think about our fears and draw them in the style of a particular artist. We also got to use lots of different media including: oils, pastels, pencils and paints. There were some pretty amazing outcomes from our very talented staff. Mine featured a lot of dragonflies!

Today our year two children had a very special day. You may have spotted lots of nurses, doctors, firefighters and police officers as they came to school this morning! As part of their learning about people who helps us, year two have had some fantastic visitors to add to their previous experience of paramedics from last week. They were lucky enough to meet PC Fox and his dog Truffles; Nurse Wood who works within the community; Ms Jackson, a pharmacist; and Ms Langford a dental nurse. The children have learnt so much from listening to the different people talk about the professions they love and they have been inspired to think about their own aspirations. A big thank you to all visitors who gave up their time today.

After telling you about the goats last week, they visited again over the weekend. Mr Weston has set up a camera to see if they also pay us a visit this weekend. He doesn’t mind our uninvited guests, however, they are not very well toilet trained!

We hope you all have a good weekend.

Stay safe.