Mailbag 15 March 2021

It has been truly delightful to see all of our children back in school

On Monday morning there was a lovely buzz around the school, with lots of children keen to chatter to their friends and catch up again. I visited every class and spoke with the children and the overwhelming feeling from them was that they were delighted to be back and to see their teachers and friends.

The most important thing over the next few weeks is to allow the children time to reconnect and redevelop routines. It is important that they can socialise with their friends in school and that our younger pupils continue to develop their communication and language skills.

Teachers also reported that the children really enjoyed their first few days back. They were keen to settle down to their work and have established good working routines - long may this continue! I sincerely hope that we are able to carry on operating like this and that any further lockdowns will be avoided. I’m sure that there will be bumps in the road, and there may be identified cases in school that we have to deal with, but we will do everything we can to make sure the rest of the year is as smooth as possible for our pupils.

Back by popular demand this week is the DOJONATOR! Mr Mcintyre was like a kid in a sweetie shop delivering the Dojo updates and overall winners - Congratulations to Endeavour, the winning house, who get to choose a forfeit (for Mr McIntyre!).

Rest assured parents - you can still use the Dojonator from home and we will add your points to the tally every Friday but remember a maximum of 5 points can be awarded at any one time so please don't go too crazy!

New Lunch Option - From today, in addition to the main menu, children can order a jacket potato for lunch with a choice of Tuna Mayo, Cheese or Baked Beans.

World Book Day competitions - There were so many fantastic entries it was hard to choose! Find out who the winners are HERE.

Traffic Volunteers - Staff and parents have noticed that there is still traffic coming round the corner from Fordell Place, between the Reception and Year 1 entrances. Are there are any parents in Reception and/or Year 1 who would like to join a traffic rota - 8:45 - 9:00am and 3:15 -3:30pm - to stand in the road to ensure cars pass slowly? We would be more than happy to provide a lovely new hi-vis jacket and our eternal gratitude. Please email our Traffic Officer Mr McIntyre at cmcintyre@hillcrest.bristol.sch.uk

Drivers - Thank you for taking extra special care in the streets around the school. Please make sure that you park well away from all the gates. The yellow zig zag zones don’t cover all the entrances we are using at the moment but please imagine that they are there and don’t stop where your car could be a hazard for other families.

Drop off - Normally, it’s great to have children arriving bright and early. At the moment, though, whilst they are being met by their teachers at the gates, please help us to keep drop off safe by arriving at the right time. We don’t want children waiting on the street unsupervised or parents and children due at 9:00 adding to the volume of people at the gates for the 8:50 drop off. Thank you.

CoMMinS schools-based Covid study - The next saliva sampling session at Hillcrest for this important study will be on Monday 22nd March. It’s open to Yrs 2 - 6 and just involves dribbling into a small plastic tube (no nasty swabs!). The testing team take the samples back to Bristol University for PCR testing. If you haven’t signed your child up to participate yet there is still time - if you do it by midnight tonight they will be eligible for inclusion in this month’s round of testing. Find out about the study and how to sign up in the 26th February Mailbag here.

If your child is already enrolled in the study there’s no need to do anything.

A massive ‘Congratulations’ to Nancy in Parrots class who was this week's random winner of the 'I Read At Least Four Times This Week And An Adult Has Signed My Reading Book To Prove It' competition. She has won a personalised bookmark. Keep reading everyone and next time it could be you!

Friends are holding a fundraising catch up, at 8:00pm on Tuesday 16th March, to discuss ideas for Easter and the Summer Term. Currently there are only about half a dozen regular contributors to the fundraising efforts and we’d love to get more people involved. If you’d like to join the meeting, please use the following Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84339819891?pwd=TGhoTGhLbGVEM2ZWUE5Ia2RDem01dz09:

If you’d like to get involved in the future then please email friendsofhillcrestfundraising@gmail.com and we can add you to our mailing list.

Guitar Club - All being well, after months on line, Hazel Winter is planning to start face to face guitar tuition at Hillcrest again after Easter. Find out more and watch her video about Guitar Club here.

Letters

Reception Redcatch Community Garden trip letter

Homework

Yr 1 - Spellings will start this week.

Yr 2 Yr 3 Yr 4 Yr 5 Yr 6

Don’t forget that Mailbag day has moved to Monday so look out for your next one on Monday 22nd March