Friday 9th July
Happy Friday!
It’s coming home … England reaching the finals of the Euro2020 has caused great excitement this week and all staff members have been forced (in my case) to upskill themselves when it comes to the rules of football. It has been wonderful to see our community so excited about a sporting event and have something to talk about other than the Covid19 pandemic. We were all very tired on Thursday. And, Monday is going to be no different. It did make me giggle to hear of children who had been woken by their parent’s shouts at the television, and parents who had been woken by their children’s shouts! On a serious note, the family fun sounded awesome and, despite being Welsh and having drawn Italy in our staff sweepstake, I have everything crossed for England on Sunday. Matchsticks at the ready for Monday morning!
This week we had the final two WOW days. Year four enjoyed a visit from a Stone Age man (he was certainly dressed very funny when I saw him) and year one enjoyed a day a the fair. Year one, I think the staff also enjoyed your day, as after school I did spot a few staff members trying out your activities, unfortunately, they were not allowed on the bouncy castle as they are a bit big! One of my favourite moments from this week, was observing one of our children on the bouncy castle. At first, they were super nervous about bouncing and they clung to the edge, getting used to the sensation of being on an uneven surface, then a smile started to spread across their face and eventually they found the confidence to let go and squealed with delight as they bounced unaided. This was such a precious moment.
Our children really do have the kindest hearts. Tonight, one of our fabulous year five children, is having her hair cut for The Little Princess Trust. This is something she has been wanting to do for a long time, and as she wasn’t able to get her hair cut during lockdown, she feels this would be the best time. The Little Princess Trust provides free real hair wigs to children and young people, up to 24 years, who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment or other conditions. What a wonderful thing to do!
With much talk about restrictions lifting on Monday 19th July we will still take a cautious approach at Olive Hill. Dudley and the surrounding local authorities continue to see an increase in the number of positive Covid19 cases and local schools continue to experience bubble closures, or even whole school closures. Dudley have said that schools need to continue to follow the current restrictions until the end of term. We do believe this is a sensible decision, especially as bubble isolation will remain in place until the 16th August. Although we cannot guarantee it won’t happen, we do not wish to take any unnecessary risks that could result in families and staff having to isolate at the start of the summer holidays. We have heard so much about the family days out and holidays that have been planned.
Drayton Manner, Western-super-Mare and Barry Island seem to be a popular choice for days out. For those families who venture to Barry Island, I may see you there! Brean appears to be a popular holiday destination for our families. This is somewhere I visited last year, I loved the huge expanse of beach but it was a long way to the sea when the tide was out!
This is an early blog today, as I am super busy after school today. Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the football. It’s coming home!
Stay safe everyone.