Friday 15th July
Happy Friday!
This is our last blog of the academic year 2021/22. What a year it has been!
Term will end on Wednesday 20th July. We are expecting very warm weather on Monday and Tuesday of next week. School will remain open as normal, however, we are inviting children to come to school in their PE kits (black shorts and a white t-shirt) if they would prefer. There is no expectation for the children to wear their jumpers. Please make sure you provide your child with a hat, sun cream and, most importantly, a bottle of water (it may be an idea to freeze the bottle of water of overnight so it remains cool throughout the day). This evening, we have made sure all of the blinds (where we have them) are pulled down as this should help with the heat over the weekend. We know that some of our classrooms are hotter than others, and we do have contingency plans to move to other spaces across the school if needed. We may have also stocked our freezer with a cold treat for everyone!
Due to the weather forecast, we did also make the decision to move our year six trip from Monday to today. Thank you to all of the parents who were very supportive of our decision to do this. The predicted temperatures have actually increased since we made the decision, so it was definitely the right call to make. We have also moved our reception graduation from the Monday to the Wednesday, when temperatures are expected to cool.
Right enough about the weather … we moan when it is cold and moan when it is hot! And, don’t even get us started on the rain!
Next week we will say goodbye to Miss Ford, Mr Roberts, Miss Mullard and Miss Grice. We will also be saying goodbye to Mrs Fawke. Mrs Fawke has been a teaching assistant at Olive Hill for many years but she has recently relocated and her journey to school has become a lot longer. Finally, we will be saying goodbye to Rita, Rita is a member of the kitchen staff and she is now going to retire (despite us begging her to stay and doing our best to bribe her!). We will miss everyone and wish them all well in the future.
Of course, we will also be saying goodbye to our current year six cohort. I have been a teacher for many years, most of my actual teaching days were spent in year six, and it never gets any easier to say goodbye. Many of our year six children have been a part of Olive Hill and our lives for eight years - we do become attached to them. They put on the most incredible performance on Wednesday for their production of ‘Star Worts’. Everyone was most impressed and some of us were so proud that we found it very difficult to get our words out when congratulating them at the end. We wish all of children the very best for the future.
Year six weren’t the only ones performing this week. Year one also shared their learning about toys with their grown-ups; I did see some very fancy costumes! Well done year one. Year five and year four have showcased their learning this week through their exhibitions - the exhibitions are always an excellent opportunity for our children to practise their oracy skills and articulate themselves in a different situation. Thank you to all the family members who have come along to support the children, it means a lot to the children and to the staff.
Every academic year, our children are expected to undertake a number of statutory assessments. We now have the outcomes for these and we are very pleased to be able to share them with our community:
In reception, 78% of the cohort achieved a good level of development. We do not know the national as yet, but in 2019 it was 72%.
In year one, 71% of the children passed the phonics screening test. We do not know the national as yet, however, it has been our year one cohort where we have seen the biggest impact of Covid. Year one has been their first full year in education as both their nursery and reception years were disrupted. The children have worked really hard and made good progress from their starting points.
In year two, 74% of the children attained age-related expectations in reading; 63% in writing and 78% in maths. This compares favourably to the 2019 national data.
In year four, 69% of our children scored 25/25 on the multiplication check. We have no comparative data to check this against, but it does appear to be a high percentage when compared to some information we have gathered.
In year six, 66% of children attained age-related expectations in reading, writing and maths combined, this compares to a national of 59%; 79% of the children attained age-related expectations in reading compared to a national of 74%; 70% attained age-related expectations in writing compared to a national of 69%; 84% attained age-related expectations in maths compared to a national of 71%; and, 82% attained age-related expectations in grammar, punctuation and spelling compared to a of national of 72%.
At the start of the pandemic, we reassured our families that when the children returned to school we would do everything we could to support our children to make up for the time they had lost in education. We wanted our families to focus on what they do best - loving their children unconditionally, without the worry of their education and gaps in their knowledge. During the pandemic everyone worked hard to in whatever way they could despite the situation. Our outcomes show that our approach has worked! Well done to the whole Olive Hill community - parents, staff, family, friends, children - look at what we have achieved! It is a privilege to serve this community as the headteacher of Olive Hill.
It is on a high note that we end the final blog. We look forward to seeing the children next week for three, very hot, days. The children will return to school on Tuesday 6th September 2022. Thank you to all of the parents who attended Meet the Teacher earlier in the week, the staff really enjoyed the evening and have delighted in meeting new parents, or returning familiar faces.
A huge thank you to our parenting community - your support makes our profession easier, thank you for also letting us know of any concerns you have - if we don’t know about them, we can’t work to resolve them. A massive thank you to the staff of Olive Hill - your dedication and commitment to the children of Olive Hill goes above and beyond your job descriptions and I am so proud of you. Finally, an enormous thank you to our children, you are the reason we are all so happy in our jobs, you make us smile every day.
Wishing you all a wonderful summer break (from Thursday onwards)!
Stay safe.