Friday 28th May

Happy Friday!

I hope you have all had a great start to the Whitsun break! I am very much looking forward to going home and doing nothing before travelling to Wales in the morning. I am late starting the blog this evening as I have been finding out what the staff of Olive Hill plan to do over the next week. This is always a busy holiday for the class teachers as they will be writing the children’s reports. When not writing reports, lots of staff have said they want to spend time relaxing; some are travelling up North and some down South, others are staying in the Midlands and some have plans for days out. I am sure you will all join me in telling them to take a break as they really do deserve it.

Hopefully, you will have received an end of term letter today and I urge you to read it as it does contain some additional information that is relevant to all families. We are super excited about our ‘Wow Days’. If you’ve read the letter, you will know that we are planning an experience day for each of our year groups to make up for the trips and other events they have missed over the duration of the Covid19 pandemic. Further information will be provided in due course but I can tell you that the days will be lots of fun and a memorable experience for all involved.

Today, I spent some time outside observing the children during their break time - it was a pleasure to see how much they were enjoying our extensive outdoor environment. Year six were very excited to be on the large playground equipment; our reception children were in their garden at the same time and they were standing at the fence spotting the older children who are known to them. There were several activities taking place in year five, including creating art work on the playground - there’s a lot of colourful chalk drawings to be viewed, mixed in with various game outlines and there is even a dartboard on the wall. Year one and two are very good at knowing where their invisible boundary is located and they were all keen to come and speak to me about the games they were playing - some of them have super fast running skills!

The majority of our children continue to look super smart in their school uniform and PE kit and it has been lovely to see many of the children wearing their summer uniform this week as the weather has improved. If any parents are struggling with any aspects of our school uniform or PE kit please speak to us as we do have some uniform available in school that is of a good quality that we are able to provide. We know how quickly children can grow, and it supports the environment if we are able to reuse items of uniform rather than constantly rebuying things. Thank you to the parents who have donated items of clothing to the school, often these have only be worn for a short period and it is great that we can support our community in this way.

If your child tests positive for Covid19 over the half term break, then please report this in the usual way to covidreporting@olive.dudley.sch.uk. This will then ensure that we can apply the track and trace procedures as required.

We are looking forward to seeing the children on Monday 7th June, ready for the final half term of this academic year.

Enjoy the holiday and keep each other safe.