Sunday 27th September
Happy Sunday!
Apologies that I did not write the blog on Friday, I did settle to write it once all of the children and staff had left the building only to find that the software we use to build our website was experiencing a partial outage. Without Mr Patel, I did not have a clue how to fix it or even if I could. The issue now appears to have been fixed, so I shall get on with telling you all the news from Olive Hill.
As always, there was a lot going on last week. In our reception classes, the children have been learning to retell the story of the Gingerbread Man (Run, run as fast you can, you can’t catch me because I’m the Gingerbread Man). On Monday, when the children came into school, they found a pile of flour, a baking tray and a gingerbread cutter. They discussed who they thought had made the mess and they did think it could have been the Gingerbread Man. Mr Weston was not that happy about the mess! On Tuesday the children were sent a video, it showed the Gingerbread Man running through the classroom. I was not happy that he’d been running in the classroom and I will be moving him down the zone board for not showing safe actions. Anyway, nobody has actually seen the Gingerbread Man since, but we think he may have escaped through an open window. On Thursday the children received a postcard from Padstow. The Gingerbread Man was building sandcastles in Cornwall. We are all wondering where he might go next?
Year two have been exploring the forest school area in science, hunting for mini beasts. They made a tally of the creatures they found - who knew we had so many wonderful insects in our micro habitats! They were so engrossed they missed their break time in the afternoon and they were nearly late for the end of the school day.
Our year three classrooms were invaded by a Roman soldier (who looked exactly like Mr Brady). This Roman soldier/Mr Brady look a like made a mess in the classrooms and stole some children! The children created a wanted poster to try and catch the invader. They were all very excited. Year three, when you’ve caught the Roman soldier do let me know, he will going down the zone board along with the Gingerbread Man!
In year four the children have been learning to sing Happy Birthday in sign language! We have some new rules about singing, due to Covid19, so we are looking at how we can sing without actually singing! Year six have also found an alternative way of expressing themselves: body percussion. They have learnt a routine to the backing track of Dance Monkey.
You will have noticed that staff are now wearing masks and/or visors when greeting and dismissing the children. With increasing cases of Covid19 being reported across the UK it is really important that we keep each other safe. We would ask that all parents/carers wear face coverings when dropping off or collecting children. Please help us to maintain a safe and calm environment for our children, staff and other school users by adhering to our expectations when dropping off or collecting your child:
Arrive on time. Please do not arrive early, as this is causing congestion both on and off site.
Only one adult per family needs to attend the school for drop off/collection. Again, this is to reduce congestion both on and off site.
Please don’t congregate in groups. Once you have dropped your child off or collected your child please leave the site.
Please keep your child close to you. They should not be running around as this is putting everyone at risk.
Stand at a distance from other families. Use the dove markings to help you maintain a distance from those around you.
These expectations are in place to keep everyone safe and to keep our school open. We really appreciate your support with this.
Talking of safety, please park safely outside of school. We have had reports of some people parking in such a way that it risks the lives of our children. Just the other day there was a white van parked on the kerb, our children and families were then forced to walk in the road. We, along with the school community, will report drivers who act in a dangerous way around our school.
We will be serving pizza and chips on THURSDAY this week, not Friday. This is due to the school census. The government collects data from the school on this day and this has a direct impact on our funding. We want to deliver an excellent education to our children and this does rely on funding. At the moment we are having to spend a lot of money on hand sanitizer so it is essential that we secure as much funding as possible. Please encourage your child to have a school dinner on Thursday, especially if they are entitled to universal free school meals for reception, year one and year two or benefit related free school meals.
I hope you have all enjoyed the weather this weekend. I love autumn days. Long may the sun continue to shine, it certainly helps with drop off and collection. I don’t thing any of the staff are looking forward to the rain. Working in a school isn’t just a job, it is a life style choice. All of the staff at Olive Hill are deeply committed to ensuring your child is happy, confident, responsible and successful. We are finding it difficult that we can’t safely operate an open door policy in the current circumstances. Please do talk to us if you have any concerns and we will quickly look to resolve them.
I must now go and write my headteacher’s report for our school governors. i look forward to seeing your smiles in the morning.