Friday 26th January 2024
Happy Friday!
We are, once again, quickly heading towards the half term break. The last day of spring term will be Friday 9th February, and the children will return on Monday 19th February.
Our new guinea pigs now have names, Midnight and Domino. They are getting a little bit braver, and are starting to make more frequent appearances during the day. Some of our children, who are very confident when handling our animals, have been giving them a little cuddle during the school day and Miss Raphael can often be found giving them a cuddle at the end of the day. As they are still very small and getting used to being handled, it will be a while before they receive as many hugs as our other guinea pigs.
We had a lovely surprise in the post this week when we received a letter from the Minister for Schools. The letter congratulated us on our achievements in the 2023 multiplication tables check (this check is part of the year four curriculum). Our average pupil score was 24.1 out of 25 making Olive Hill Primary Academy one of the top 200 performing schools in England for the multiplication tables check. The letter went on to say that it was excellent achievement and something the Government hopes to see replicated in schools across the country. We are really proud of the children, who are now in year five, and the congratulations goes to all the staff who support the children to get the best possible outcomes. Maths is a really important subject and knowing the times tables is vital in supporting progression in maths, and in general life skills. Thank you to all of the parents who support their children at home to become fluent in recalling multiplication and division facts up to 12x12. In case any of you are wondering, we did google how many primary schools there are in England: 20,772.
We are always eager to not waste any learning time and as a result the children coming through for school dinners have been faced with some short quizzes to support their recall of important subject knowledge. Year one have been rehearsing their phonics knowledge with both real and alien words; year two have been categorising words into nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs; and our key stage two children have been tested on their times table knowledge.
For our children to get the most out of their education it is really important that they are in school and on time every day that the school is open, unless they are too unwell to attend. School is dedicated to supporting strong attendance for children so that they receive an excellent education and we are committed to reducing absences from school that could be avoided. Our ethos for encouraging strong school attendance is ‘support first’ and where concerns are identified with regards to attendance and punctuality, we will always look to work in partnership with parents to improve patterns of attendance. School has a Attendance Policy and this is available on the school website. It is a detailed policy that explains the difference between authorised and unauthorised absences, and when exceptional circumstances may be considered for a short period of time.
Everyone in the Olive Hill community is responsible for promoting strong attendance at school - parents, staff and the children themselves. Mrs Bird is our named contact for school attendance and we would encourage you to to be proactive and contact her directly if you are struggling to ensure your child regularly attends school. As parents you can support your child’s physical, social and mental wellbeing by ensuring they are in school every day. By attending school every day, your child is supported to achieve their aspirations, and the aspirations you have for them. We understand that it can be difficult to know whether your child is too ill to attend school. NHS guidance is clear that it is fine to send them in with a minor cough or common cold. We do miss your children when they are not in school. Thank you to the parents who strive to ensure their children are in school and on time.
Wishing you all a lovely weekend.