Friday 14th May

Happy Friday!

Eid Mubarak to all our families celebrating. Many of our children celebrated Eid on Thursday and it has been wonderful to hear about their celebrations today. Eid is a celebration to mark the end of Ramadan, a month of prayer and fasting for Muslims. Lots of people celebrate Eid by spending time exchanging gifts and visiting family and friends. Due to the Covid19 pandemic, celebrations have needed to be more restricted this year. Nevertheless, our children have still enjoyed this special day - we have seen lots of very intricate Mendi patterns, heard much about the giving of presents and money, been made to feel hungry due to the descriptions of all the delicious food, and been amazed at how smart our children looked in their Eid outfits (please do share your photographs with us).

Like many religious festivals, Eid is a time for sharing and creating a sense of good will. We have been so touched by the gifts both the staff and children of Olive Hill have received in celebration of Eid. There’s certainly been a lot of sweets! Yummy! On Wednesday, I left school with a pocket full of delicious sweets that our kind children had shared (they didn’t last long!).

On Wednesday, we experienced our first virtual parents’ evening. We were very nervous about this but the wonderful Mr Patel made sure our technology was all prepared in advance. It was really strange walking around the school and hearing the voices of parents and carers whilst the class teachers spoke to a screen. The technology meant that all appointments ran to time and they were very focused on the individual child. We did miss the personal touch and being able to share the children’s books with you.

Year four have been thinking about miracles this week, and they were asked to write down what they would consider to be a miracle - many of them mentioned coronavirus disappearing. I am sure we all feel the same! Further restrictions are due to be lifted on Monday, this will not currently change anything in our school. We will remain in year group bubbles and masks will be worn by staff in communal areas. We continue to expect masks to be worn by our parents, carers, relatives and friends who are older than primary age children whilst they are on the school premises.

This is only a short blog tonight as I am off to have my first Covid19 vaccine. All of the staff at Olive Hill wish our community a fantastic weekend and we look forward to seeing you all on Monday.

Stay safe.