Hillside Avenue Highlights

Dear parents and carers,
Last week was a particularly busy one in school. This is a list of the additional things
that took place over those 5 days:
Y3 activity day at Eaton Vale, KS1 cricket event at the UEA, Bikeability training
for Y6, a Y4 visit to West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village, the boys in the school
football team won their last league game and the league too, the girls’ team
played in the semi-final of the cup, Reception visited Gressenhall Farm and Y2
had a whole day of Great Fire of London activities.
I am almost out of breath writing about it all!
In assembly on Friday I said thank you to all of the children who participated in these
events for the way that they represented the school so well. Their behaviour was
fantastic and so was their engagement too. They really are a credit to the school. I also
expressed my thanks to the staff who made all of these events possible. The teachers
and support staff planned and organised these events are the ones who are making
the magic happen every day in school. They work tirelessly to give the children what
they need in lessons and then go the extra mile to arrange things like the events from
last week. I am sure that you will join me in saying a massive THANK YOU to each and
every one of them.

Mr Hutchinson

General News
Arbor
We have added an additional ‘consent’ option in Arbor which covers photographs to be
used for social media purposes, ie. Hillside facebook page, Instagram and X. Please can
we ask you to log-in and consent/decline accordingly. Thank you

School Uniform Orders
We will be adding new uniform stock to Arbor next week. Please note there will be a small
price increase on all items from the 1st April.

Online safety

It has been brought to our attention that some children are misusing online chat forums
and sending inappropriate or unkind comments. It would be helpful if you could speak
with your child/ren and reinforce the importance of online safety. Here is a useful link for
families to get tips and guidance. 

Eco Council Update: Working Towards Our Bronze Award!
Eco council is made up of twelve children, two from each year group 1-6.
We are excited to share that our school’s Eco Council is working towards achieving the
Eco-Schools Bronze Award! As part of this, we have chosen three key projects to focus on:
1. Healthy Living - We are encouraging everyone to make healthier choices,
such as eating nutritious food, staying active and promoting well-being
across the school.
2. Litter - We are working to reduce litter in our school by organising litter picks
and raising awareness about keeping our environment clean.
3. School Grounds - We want to improve our outdoor spaces by planting more
greenery, creating wildlife-friendly areas, and making our school a better
place for pupils and nature.

We will be sharing updates on our progress and ways that you can get involved. Thank
you for supporting our journey towards a greener, healthier school!
Look out for details about our parent/child workshops coming up in July. One is about
Norfolk Wildlife and the other is about Climate Change.

School Play Equipment
A reminder that the play equipment (Trim Trail) is for use during school time only. It is
not to be used by families before or after school. Thank you for your cooperation.

PAV Sport
PAV Sport are running football activities as part of the Big Norfolk Holiday Programme
this Easter. (The activities are FREE for all children receiving free school meals)
https://www.pavfunballacademy.co.uk/big-norfolk-holiday-fun-programme/
For families with children who may be interested in a variety of activities not just
football they need to visit: https://www.everymove.uk/ click on programmes & then
Big Norfolk Holiday Fun.

Healthcare Advice & Treatment - Pharmacy First for parents/carers
Did you know you can get healthcare advice and treatment for common illnesses without
needing a GP appointment? Pharmacy First services allow you to visit your local pharmacy
for expert help with a range of minor health concerns—so you can get the right treatment,
faster.
Please click here for a poster for details on the services Pharmacy First provides (PDF, 1
MB).
Simply click the link below to find your nearest pharmacy:
Find your pharmacy first

Dates for the Diary
April
Wednesday 2nd - Spring Music Recital
Friday 4th - School closes for Easter Break
Wednesday 23rd - Start of Summer Term
May
Monday 5th - Bank holiday
Tues 6th - Class photos
Fri 23rd - Finish for half term break

Hillside Avenue Highlights

Dear parents and carers, 

At Hillside Avenue, our intention is to help every child to flourish through meeting individual needs and challenging them to achieve their best every day. In the school and Nursery, we have 396 children (at the time of writing) and this means that there are 396 young people with very different life stories and learning needs. As a mainstream school we have a general offer that is everybody learning together in the classroom and this is where we put the majority of our energy to make the lessons as effective as possible.

The behaviours and levels of need in schools has changed quite dramatically over the last 10 years or so, and especially since the Covid pandemic. Our renewed behaviour practice document and increased consistency in the way that we deal with behaviours in school have led to incidents of challenging behaviour reducing over time and any consequences being more effectively used too. All of this is helping to make the school a calm and purposeful place for all children to learn. 

This week we received some additional support from an Inclusion Advisor from the Local Authority. She reinforced that we are doing everything that we can to support every child at Hillside Avenue. Even though challenging situations will continue to happen in every school, you can be assured that at Hillside Avenue we have a robust and consistent approach to supporting and managing behaviour in school that has been externally validated. 

Feedback from the recent parent consultations showed that the majority of parents are seeing their child(ren) making great progress in their learning and that they can see the positive direction that the school is heading in. 

Thank you all for your support as we help every child to flourish at Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School. 

Mr Hutchinson

From the school log:

On 15th March 1951 there were two education visits that took place. One was to the power station, and the other was to the general post office. 

Whilst I am sure that they were very interesting at the time, I am pretty certain that Year 4’s upcoming visit to West Stow, Year 3’s day at Eaton Vale and Year 2’s Great Fire of London day should be pretty interesting too. I hope that they all have a great time and thank you to the staff for organising them. 

Red Nose Day  - Friday 21st March is Red Nose Day. Children are invited to wear red on this day (red noses can be worn) to celebrate 40 years of Comic Relief.  Donations are to be made via the usual Red Nose donation page donationcomic relief

SCHOOL UNIFORM - We are aware some items/sizes of uniform are sold out and currently unavailable to order on Arbor.  We will be receiving some new stock of uniforms before Easter. Due to supplier costs going up, there will be a small price increase on all items.  Please make any uniform orders by the end of March to order at the current price.  

World Book Day 2025 

We've had some amazing 'words', characters and costumes across the school today in support of World Book Day.  Did you spot the dinosaur at the school gate this morning?!