Monday 4th May

Hello everyone. I hope you had a good weekend. I went for the longest walk on Sunday and my legs are still aching. I walked to Woodgate Valley Country Park - have you ever been there? Thank you so much to all of the families that have been involved in the latest video we received today - I sobbed and sobbed as I watched it. Your words were so beautiful: Olive Hill children just wanted to say hello. We miss you too. Hello everyone at Olive Hill, we all just wanted to send a little message to say hello and we hope you are keeping safe and well and we miss you lots … I came into your class to learn and to grow, but what has touched me most is the love you have shown to all of us, so we all want to say thank you. Love from all of us xxx miss you. I am crying again now I as I write the words. Believe me, there wasn’t a member of staff with a dry eye this morning as they watched it.

So, the first Monday in May would usually be a bank holiday. UK national holidays are called bank holidays because traditionally these were the days when banks were closed for trading. Schools and many other businesses also close on a bank holiday. In the United Kingdom, we have eight bank holidays in a year: New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, May Day, Spring Bank Holiday, Summer Bank Holiday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

May Day is a bank holiday that is celebrated on the 1st May or the first Monday of May. It is an ancient festival of Spring. Dances, singing and cake are usually part of the festivities. You may have seen, or been involved in, May Day dances around the Maypole. This is where children dance around a tall pole, decorated with long, colourful flowing ribbons. The aim of the dance is to create a decorative pattern on the pole with ribbons.

This year, the May Day Bank Holiday has been moved to Friday 8th May. Do you know why?

It has been moved as Friday is the 75th anniversary of VE Day, which marked the end of Word War II in Europe. VE stands for Victory in Europe. May 8th 1945 was the day that the enemy unconditionally surrendered its armed forces, with the day being declared a national holiday and celebrations taking place up and down the country. We will learn more about it later in the week.

It is only the second time the early May bank holiday has been moved in history. The first time the date was changed was in 1995 to mark the 50th anniversary of VE Day. Plans for this Friday had included a procession in London, a big exhibition to show what life would have been like during World War II and people were being encouraged to throw street parties. However, much of this has had to be put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic - although some celebrations will still take place, but in a different way. On Friday your teachers will be sharing with you activities that you can do at home to celebrate VE Day.

As today is May 4th there is also another celebration taking place. Do you know what it is? I guarantee you that Mr Brady does. Star Wars Day, May 4, celebrates George Luca’s Star Wars media franchise. The date was chosen for the play on words, ‘May the Force be with you,’ as ‘May the Fourth be with you.’ Get it? You may need to be a Stars Wars fan to understand.

We have lots of children at Olive Hill who are keen Star Wars fans. I was really proud of myself when I watched my first ever Star Wars movie: The Rise of Skywalker. In fact, I was so excited that I told some of the children in school and they told me off for watching the movies in the wrong order. They then told me the order I should watch the movies in, I have to admit I was very confused and have not watched any more - yet! There is always time.

You probably already know that Mr Brady is a HUGE Star Wars fan. You can probably tell that I don’t know much about it, but have a willingness to learn. Miss Best has never watched it and Miss Macaskill is watching Star Wars for the first time today (I wonder what her opinion will be? I’ll let you know tomorrow). Mr Brady has worked with Miss Macaskill for lots of years and he is very pleased that she is FINALLY watching it. Mrs Shinner has zero inclination to watch it. Miss Richardson shares her birthday with Star Wars Day - Happy Birthday Miss Richardson. Mrs Hamblett fell asleep when trying to watch it with her son. Miss White also fell asleep whilst watching it. I can feel Mr Brady getting cross with some staff members…sorry Mr B, but Miss Grice, Miss Jenkins and Mrs Stonehouse have no interest either. However, Mrs Waters watched it with her husband and found that she really enjoyed it and Mrs Higgins loves it! Miss Wajid had a toy light saber when she was younger and Mrs Mariott will be watching it with her family this evening.

Are you a Star Wars fan? Do you like science fiction films? (This could be the start of a blog for another day).

I need to stop this conversation now, Miss Thacker has just said that she’d rather watch Harry Potter than Star Wars. Miss Thacker does not like Harry Potter (I know, insane!), so she definitely does not like Star Wars. If her and Mr Brady were in the same room right now, I have a feeling at least one of them would be going to red zone.

The blog picture cover is from Mr Brady’s collection - I told he was huge fan!

May the fourth be with you!

We miss you and are still waiting for the government to let us know when we can have you back.

Stay safe all.