Friday 22nd January

Happy Friday!

Have you participated in ‘Treat Friday’? Today, we had lemonade and jammie dodgers. I am not sure who was more excited, the children or the staff.

This week, we started our live Teams sessions with each year group. This was new for all of us, both at home and in school, everyone has needed to learn new skills really quickly. Some things have gone really well, but we’ve also hit a few technical glitches along the way. Mr Patel is still being called upon, a lot! I might give him a superhero cape - I wonder what his superhero name could be? Something linked to computers. If you’ve got any ideas, do email me at children@olive.dudley.sch.uk. I love receiving emails from our children, they are much more interesting then the others I receive.

Anyway, back to Teams. I thought we’d give you a little summary from each of the year groups about what has been happening in their sessions.

Nursery: It has been lovely to see our youngest children getting ready for their 9:30am teams meeting like mini professionals for their team briefing. Some of the children seemed a little bit shell-shocked (there were even some tears) to begin with - it's probably quite a surprise to have your nursery teacher and all your friends living inside your laptop or tablet instead of the episode of Paw Patrol or Go Jetters they may have been expecting! We have seen the children grow in confidence and become increasingly engaged in the sessions as the week has gone on and the children have been excited to see each other on screen with lots of waves and smiles all around. The sessions haven't been without their fair share of technical issues - at one point Mr Priest was running between Miss Skidmore's class computer and Mrs Honey's laptop to describe what was happening when all the children were frozen on the class computer! The children have enjoyed taking part in nursery rhymes and songs, answering silly questions such as, 'can a duck moo?' and scavenger hunts to find out about each other's favourite colours.

Reception: I actually went into reception as they were about to start their Teams meeting on Monday, and I felt nervous and I wasn’t the member of staff presenting, I was just delivering a message. It did dawn on me that we were asking the staff to do something very, very different. All of the reception staff have been thinking really hard about how to vary the Team sessions to keep the children engaged. The children have enjoyed playing bingo, who am I? and a scavenger hunt. Today, Mrs Copson was phoning some of the parents and the parents talked about how the Teams sessions had lifted not only the children’s spirits, but also theirs. Together, we have all brightened everyone’s faces.

Year one: All of the year one staff started off feeling really nervous about doing Teams sessions. The first meeting was a bit stressful as some children couldn’t hear them. By the second day, they absolutely loved it. They now describe it as really enjoyable and it is a highlight of the day for Mrs Stonehouse. Mrs Stonehouse actually gets goose bumps when she starts to see the children’s faces appear on the screen! The staff love seeing the children at home and that far outweighs the worry of using the new technology.

Year two: Year two love a quiz, which is lucky as they have been doing a few this week. They did a quiz about Fantastic Mr Fox (I should have joined that, I think I’d have known the answers), they also did a quiz that Mr Priest would have enjoyed about adverbs, verbs and nouns. Like many of the year groups, they’ve had a few technical issues. At one point Miss Grice was sharing a PowerPoint when she thought she was holding up cards! They had a show and tell session today and the children were very excited to show their pets.

Year three: In year three they have some children who are super excited and join the meeting at 9:30am (a whole hour early!). On Monday, they had a lovely catch up with the children - the chat was overflowing with messages. On Tuesday, they did a quiz about Bear Grylls (this related to the book they have been reading for their English learning). The children in school made the quiz for the children at home. Lots of children scored 8/8 and this really impressed the year three staff. On Wednesday, they did a Mario and a logo quiz. The children loved it! On Thursday, they played maths bingo - there were a few technical difficulties but they got there in the end. Today, they did show and tell and purple zone. Mr Brady showed the children his cat, Opal. This then resulted in lots of pets coming on the screen. How wonderful that you can all share in this way.

Year four: The children’s smiles have brightened up the room and made everyone smile! Both staff and children have been lifted by the fact they can now now see each other, despite being apart. The staff feel that their own confidence is growing and their skills are developing (they have admitted that the children sometimes know more than they do!). It has been lovely to see how keen the children are to join the chats, with some patiently waiting in the lobby for hours before! The staff are looking forward to exploring what they can now share with the children over Teams.

Year five: The staff in year five have a number of highlights from their Teams sessions this week. They really enjoyed the scavenger hunt where children were asked to find something that made them feel happy and helped them to relax. They also found it quite funny (and a little bit stressful) when Miss Homer was on mute and she didn’t realise! Eventually the children told her through the chat function. They have a weekly quiz on a Friday about the learning from the week and they are looking forward to show and tell on Monday.

Year six: The staff in year six have loved seeing the children’s faces this week. They have done a few quizzes: the children have been tested on their knowledge of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Code Name Bananas (their class read), hieroglyphics and a Greek myth. The children have been much better than the staff at muting themselves! Several times Miss Raphael has been speaking without her microphone on! Sharing their screens has also been a challenge for the staff but the children have waited patiently for them to figure it out. They are also looking forward to show and tell on Monday. Why do I have a feeling we are going to see more pets?

So, that is the round up of this weeks Teams sessions. There have been lots of highlights as well as a few stressful moments. Monday was the hardest day and I could feel the disappointment of some staff as they felt it hadn’t gone as well as they’d have liked. However, by Tuesday they were smiling again and really proud of themselves for learning new skills. It has allowed us to feel connected with our children who are at home and this has been a real boost to staff morale. Thank you to everyone who has participated in their Teams sessions, I imagine you may have had a few technical difficulties as well. Please remember that these technical difficulties are nobody’s fault and everyone is trying to do their best in unprecedented circumstances.

I hope you’ve all had a good week, whether you’ve been in school, at home or in work. This time away from our familiar routines can be very difficult for some, or a welcome break for others. We all carry the worry of keeping our loved ones safe. To children at home and in school, we think you are a pretty amazing bunch of very special people. To the parents and carers of those pretty amazing children, thank you for allowing us to be a part of your children’s lives, even if it is through screen at the moment. To the staff of Olive Hill, you are an inspiration.

Thank you everyone for your continued support and understanding. From me and all of the staff, we wish you a wonderful weekend.

Stay safe.