Hillside Avenue Highlights

Dear Parents and carers,

Back in the Autumn term, I asked for feedback from parents on a whole range of things about school life. Thank you again to everyone who responded and let me know their views. As I am sure you appreciate, school life can be extremely busy and sometimes it is important to stop and reflect on the things that we have achieved together. So here goes…

Between 80% and 90% of parents feel that their children are happy at school, feel safe and are making progress in their learning. That is great to hear as these are all really important aspects of coming to school. To support the other 10%, school staff are seeking the children and parents out and offering support where they can. Please let us know if there is more that we can do.

It is clear that parents want communication to improve in school. Whether this be about behaviour incidents, bullying or SEND support, it is something that we need to improve. This year we have prioritised ‘in person’ conversations rather than using the phone or email to show that these contact points are important to us. This is why we ask you to pop into school to talk so often! We really value our relationship with you, the parents and promise to continue improving in this area. 

One area of school life that has come up in surveys and parent meetings a couple of times is the importance of children’s outcomes and test results. Whilst external expectations are clearly focused on academic outcomes as a measure of schools, I would like to focus on helping Hillside Avenue become the kind of school where children learn a lot (be inquisitive), remember a lot (be engaged), experience a lot of positive things (be involved) and are ready and confident to succeed at secondary school and beyond. This also looks like high outcomes, however the focus in school is helping every child to achieve their best everyday and to have the confidence and knowledge that they need to succeed in the future. They are two sides of the same coin. 

Thank you for helping all children to flourish at Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School. 

Mr Hutchinson

 

From the school log:

19th May 1981: Gilder Cup Netball final at Hillside.  Hillside 9, Kinsale Avenue Middle 8. Well done to the netball team from 45 years ago who won the cup final! Over the last 2 years, we have worked hard to increase the sporting opportunities that are available to our children. This has included football, girls’ football, X-country, basketball and cricket. I hope that these opportunities will increase further next year too. More info to follow. 

 

Notifications/ Reminders:

 

Friends of Hillside 

Please see their separate newsletter for an update and information on upcoming events!

 

Year 6 Leaver’s Hoodies

Receiving your primary school leaver’s hoody is a special moment for all children at the end of Year 6. So that all children can feel individually special and have their own special moment, we would like to present them in the celebration assembly on Friday 3rd July. With high school transition events happening in the following week, this will give every child at least a week of wearing their prized hoody in school. 

 

We are expecting delivery sometime towards the end of June, so this will be the first real chance to hand them out. I know that the children will treasure these memories and the hoodies themselves for years to come. A special time indeed. 

 

Music Lessons - if your child is in years 2 - 6 and is interested in learning to play a musical instrument, please contact the school office to put their name on the waiting list. We offer piano, woodwind, guitar, trumpet, drums, cello and violin.  

 

Minimoons - to book Minimoons after school club for after half term, please use this link https://minimoonsco.com/collections/after-school-clubs

 

Macie’s Bumble Bees - Macie in year 5 has made 12 bumble bees on a 3D printer at home!  These have been hidden around the school for the children to find.  Please encourage your child to search high and low around the school to locate them, then hand a piece of paper (named) with the 12 bees’ locations into the school office by Thursday 4th June. Thank you to Macie! 

 

Olympic Day - this is happening on Friday, trainers will be ideal along with your sporty non-uniform (for the Friends’ tombola).

 

 

The Children’s Commissioner’s National Survey – The Big Future 

The Children’s Commissioner wants to make sure that she hears from as many children as possible, aged 0-18, from all backgrounds, in all schools and colleges, and in every part of the country. To do that, she is asking children about the changes they want to see in their communities, their biggest concerns, and their hopes for the future. More than anything, what children think a good childhood should look like today.

More information can be found here https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/

Families can complete the survey here:  http://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/thebigfuture.

 

Hillside Avenue Highlights

Dear Parents and carers,

Before the Easter holiday, I shared a survey with all stakeholders of the school. This was a simple survey that was looking to understand what is held to be most important about school life from the perspective of the parents, staff and governors so that I can set the strategic direction for the next few years. Thank you to everyone who responded to the survey, your feedback is very much appreciated and has led to these 5 things being identified as most important:

• Developing character, integrity and ethical behaviour.
• Promoting mental health and emotional wellbeing.
• Cultivating creativity and innovation in learning.
• Academic excellence and intellectual curiosity. 
• Ensuring safety and a supportive learning environment.

I intend on crafting these into a strategy which will guide our school improvement plans over the next few years and will share more details in due course. For now, you can be assured that we will continue to encourage every child to be the best that they can be, to work hard, to experience success and to really enjoy their time at school. Our school strap line has not changed, we will always want every child to flourish at Hillside Avenue. Thank you for being part of that journey.

Mr Hutchinson

 

From the school log:

5th May 1943: Attendance low (am) following air raid. Present 401 out of 623. A few things have changed since this entry was written 86 years ago as we don’t need to worry about air raids and we have 378 children rather than 623!  One thing that hasn’t changed is the importance of school attendance. The office staff and I have been pleased to note that our recent attendance communications have resulted in more children attending school every day and on time. This really makes a difference to their learning as well as their wellbeing too. Lovely to see. The next attendance prize assembly will be in the week before half term, with one entry per whole week of attendance. We will look forward to celebrating that in a few weeks. 

 

Notifications/ Reminders:

 

Governor Opportunity 

We are seeking passionate and dedicated individuals to become Governors at Broad Horizons

Education Trust (BHET). At BHET our vision of improving life chances for all pupils is at the

heart of everything we do. Governors play an essential role in school-level governance to

help to achieve this by working closely with school leadership teams to provide oversight,

challenge and support within the framework of the Four S’s. Please click here  to see a PDF flyer with details.

 

 

The Norwich Brick Festival is an exciting celebration of all things LEGO - please click here for further details 

 

Norfolk T2T - Please click here for May & Summer holiday activity brochure.  Bookings go live on Tuesday 5th May at 10am

 

Family Voice Norfolk - April Newsletter 2026 - please click here  to view 

 

Norwich Penguins Intensive Splashdown Courses - click here for further details 

 

Open Academy - Parent Coffee Morning on 13th May for any future interested parents. This is a great opportunity to meet other parents, chat with staff, and get a feel for our school community in a relaxed and friendly setting. This event is open to:

• Parents of children currently attending Open Academy
• Parents of children in Year 5 or Year 6 who will be joining us in the future

Please sign up via the QR code here

 

Hear for Norfolk - Cuppa Care, where we visit local venues to provide friendly, drop-in hearing support and advice. It’s a relaxed, informal way for staff, parents, and carers to access guidance around hearing health. Please see flyer for further details 

 

 

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