Friday 1st December

Happy Friday!

Children, we hope you’ve had a lovely day today. We have missed not being with you for the end of the week. Today, your teachers and teaching assistants have been visiting other schools in our Academy Trust and have had the opportunity to listen to some inspirational speakers who have supported them in their learning (basically, they’ve been in a big classroom for the day and, just like you do, they will feedback on their learning when we return to school).

Thank you to everyone who provided donations on Thursday, this will really support us to deliver the Christmas Fair on Wednesday 13th December. Sadly, the Friends of Olive Hill no longer have enough participants to support the organisation of a Christmas Fair so our school staff are giving up their time to make sure we have one. We would love to hear from any parents or relatives who would like to be a part of the FOOH. Their role within our school is a vital one, and without them we do not have the capacity to do the additional fundraising that further enhances our children’s experiences. We will continue to accept donations for the Christmas Fair throughout next week.

As well as happy Friday, it is also happy first day of December! I am sure some of our children enjoyed opening their advent calendars this morning. Even at my age, my dad still buys be an advent calendar each year.

If any of you have viewed our Facebook page today, you will know we have a new student who is joining us for the month of December. We have heard some worrying things about this student - apparently he is very mischievous! As yet, he doesn’t have a name. Please head over to our Facebook page to help us decide on one - you can vote for: Truffles, Buddy, Noel, Elvis or Ruffles. Buddy and Elvis are proving popular choices (Ruffles may be my favourite). You can see a picture of our new student on this blog - he has made my desk even more of a mess than it usually is (I really can’t blame him for all the chaos). Apparently, creative people have a messy desk! Children, there is a chance you could be taking our elf home with you at the end of the term - more details to follow next week!

This week, there has been some snow in parts of the country. As beautiful as snow can be, it can cause great inconvenience for adults especially when we have to drive in it. Snow can also be rather unpredictable. We will always endeavour to keep the school open in the event of snow, as long as it is safe for both children and staff. Our snow risk assessment is dynamic and it can change at short notice. We certainly had to change from fully open to partially open at very short notice last time it snowed. We always aim to let our families know as soon as possible if the school site is deemed unsafe, or the risk to road users is too great to allow our staff to travel in. Having said all that, I really hope it doesn’t snow any time soon!

We are looking forward to welcoming parents and families to Olive Hill over the coming weeks as we celebrate our children’s learning through performances, including The Nativity and Carols on the Playground.

The last day of term for the children will be Thursday 21st December - don’t forget it will be fancy dress on this day! Christmas jumper day will be on Wednesday 20th December, which also happens to be Christmas lunch (I can’t wait for the sprouts!).

Enjoy your weekend, and see you on Monday.