From the Head
This week offered a moment for reflection that reminded me very powerfully why St Olave’s is such a special place. Yesterday I had the privilege of attending the funeral of one of our earliest pupils, Evelyn Green MBE, who attended St Olave’s between 1932 and 1938. Evelyn lived in New Eltham for more than ninety years and was a remarkable pillar of the local community. Throughout her life she dedicated herself to helping others - establishing playgroups at the Methodist Church, running the Sunshine Club for people with disabilities and serving the community faithfully through her church and countless acts of quiet kindness. What struck me most, however, was the enduring relationship she maintained with St Olave’s. Until the pandemic, Evelyn continued to attend school concerts and events, remaining deeply connected to the school she had attended as a child. Listening to those who spoke about her extraordinary life and legacy was a real privilege, and it was an honour to represent the school and pay our respects on behalf of the St Olave’s community.
The length and warmth of Evelyn’s relationship with the school prompted me to reflect on the true purpose of what we do here. Schools are not only places where children learn facts and pass exams. They are places where memories are formed, confidence grows, friendships are built and young people begin to discover who they are and what they may become. It is a great privilege to play even a small part in that journey. This week I have also begun meeting with Year 5 parents for secondary transfer discussions. It seems impossible that we are already at this stage, yet these meetings are always among the most meaningful conversations I have as Headteacher. Being able to speak openly and thoughtfully with parents about their children’s futures is a reminder of how closely we work together in partnership to support every child’s path.
Moments like these are very special. One of the greatest joys of this role is hearing from former pupils and families and seeing the many different paths their lives take after they leave us. It is a reminder that the relationships formed during these early school years can endure for a lifetime. Thank you, as always, for the trust you place in us and for the partnership we share in supporting your children every day. I wish all our families a peaceful and restful weekend. And to those celebrating, a very Happy Mother’s Day on Sunday. For many it will be a joyful opportunity to celebrate mothers, grandmothers and the many remarkable women who care for and nurture us. For others it can be a day that brings mixed emotions or quiet reflection. Wherever this weekend finds you, I hope it brings moments of appreciation and time spent with those who matter most.
I look forward to seeing you next week at our Parent Sharing mornings.
Kind regards, Miss Holloway
The week ahead...
Lunch Menu
Monthly Safeguarding Update
March – Spotting Signs Outside School
Exploitation and radicalisation can affect any child, in person or online. Look out for unexplained gifts, secretive behaviour or sudden changes in friendship groups. If you are ever worried, speak to us - no concern is too small.
Focus on School Values
In assembly this week we continued with our school value of Curiosity, thinking about what it really means to learn bravely. I shared the lovely book Sophie Says It's OK to Make Mistakes with the children, which reminds us that mistakes are not something to fear, but an important and necessary part of learning. Together we talked about how every new skill, whether reading, writing, solving a tricky maths problem or learning to ride our bikes, involves moments where things do not go quite right the first time. What matters is how we respond. Curious learners ask questions, try again, listen carefully to advice and keep going even when something feels difficult. Alongside this, we revisited our focus on respect. Respect means encouraging one another when learning feels challenging, allowing others to make mistakes without embarrassment and recognising that everyone is at a different stage in their learning journey. It was wonderful to hear the children reflecting so thoughtfully on how they can support one another in the classroom. When curiosity and respect work hand in hand, children feel confident to take risks in their learning and that is where the most meaningful progress happens.
This week at St Olave's
Nursery’s visit to Eltham Fire Station On Wednesday the Little Acorns class caught a bus to Eltham High Street and paid a visit to our local Fire Station. We were welcomed by the firefighters of Blue Watch who gave us a fascinating tour of the Fire Station. We were able to squirt the hose, try on a firefighter’s jacket and helmet (VERY heavy) and even climb aboard the Fire Engine. Geoff showed us what equipment the firefighters use in their jobs and demonstrated how they use the pole to get ready quickly from upstairs! At the end of our visit they even stopped the traffic on the High Street to let us cross the road safely. The children were very excited and asked lots of questions and we were very proud of them. Thank you to all our adult helpers that came with us and helped make our trip such fun. And thank you to the members of Blue Watch who were so kind and friendly for our visit. Great job, Little Acorns!
Sporting Round Up
Gymnastics Plus Monday was the Gymnastics Plus session for Year 4. Lots of high energy, controlled movements, and great fun had by all. The children jumped into the pits, rolled, balanced on the beams, and showed strength on the bars. Well done Year 4!
Year 3 Netball On Thursday, the Year 3 girls travelled to Bromley High School to take part in netball mini matches. I was delighted with how much enthusiasm and teamwork the girls demonstrated throughout the event. The girls showed excellent passing skills, and identified the space well. Well done for a great netball event, Year 3!
Nursery
The highlight of our week has got to be our trip to the Fire Station (see separate report above) but we have managed to squeeze in lots of other fun activities during the week. All our children are bringing home something special for their mummies to celebrate Mothering Sunday. We asked all the children what they love about their mummy and we hope you enjoy reading their responses in your cards! The children also made a special flower arrangement and decorated the pot.
Reception
What’s a pirate’s favourite letter? Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! This week, we’ve been setting sail on a pirate adventure! The children have been learning all about pirates, their adventures, and the treasure they seek. To kick off the fun, we read the story The Night Pirate, which inspired the children to create their own pirate gear. They crafted cutlasses, eye patches, and telescopes. We also explored the world of colour mixing! The children experimented with primary colours and watched in awe as they created their very own secondary colours. These new colours came to life on their pirate themed paintings, with some even choosing to paint mermaids, adding their own imaginative twist to the adventure. Staying with the pirate theme, the children decided they needed a flag for their ship! They up-leveled their fine motor skills by stitching their own designs onto fabric, a true test of patience and creativity! The beautiful weather this week gave us the perfect opportunity to venture outside. The children had a blast creating pictures with one simple rule: The Floor Is Lava! They used their core skills and balance to complete their masterpieces without touching the ground. The fun didn’t stop there! We challenged the children to design their own modes of transport to carry water across the outdoor area. There were some very creative solutions from boats to buckets, their ideas were as inventive as they were practical! We hope you have a fantastic Mother’s Day and enjoy the weekend ahead. Thanks for all your support, and we can’t wait to see what adventures next week will bring!
Year 1
This week in Year 1 we have had another busy and exciting week of learning. In Maths, we have been working with numbers between 0 and 50. The children have been practising counting within this range, counting in 10s, and exploring how numbers are made using tens and ones. We have also been making groups of ten and learning how to count groups of tens and ones to find the total. In English, we have been reading the stories Anansi and Mr Drybone and Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock. The children have enjoyed exploring these traditional tales and learning more about the mischievous character Anansi. We created story maps to help us remember the key events and discussed the similarities and differences between the two stories. In Science, we began a new topic looking at animals and how they can be categorised based on what they eat. The children were introduced to new vocabulary including herbivore, carnivore and omnivore, and we talked about different examples of animals that fit into each group. With so many exciting religious celebrations taking place at this time of year, our Topic lessons have had a strong RE focus. We have been learning about Ramadan, Holi and Lent, and discussing why these celebrations are important to different communities around the world. During PSHE, we explored the idea that all families are different. We celebrated the special people in our lives and talked about how lucky we are to have people around us who love and care for us. We are looking forward to another exciting week of learning next week. We hope you all have a restful weekend and enjoy lovely Mother’s Day celebrations together.
Year 2
An animal crazy week in Year 2 as we have started our new non-chronological report topic in English! We took a look at ‘The Big Book of the Blue’ by Yuval Zommer to identify the features and layout of the reports. After a quick recap about present tense, we started to consider how we might write our own and were assigned animals. We made fun titles and sub-headings before writing introductions, ready for a fact-tastic week, next week. In maths, we started another new topic of length and height. We discovered the difference between cm and m, considered which would be most appropriate to measure a variety of objects with, compared different measurements and ordered them too. What items can you find with your child out and about this weekend that you can measure? In science, we continued our study of life cycles, this time turning our attention to chicks. We looked at their growth and development and compared this to the life cycle of a human being. We thought it was amazing that the eggs we eat had the potential to grow chicks once and were truly shocked how quickly chicks can grow into adult chickens. We completed our learning about British Monarchs with a study of the long reign of Queen Elizabeth ll. We made timelines, ordered dates and sequenced events into chronological order. It was very interesting to learn about various major events that occurred during the Queen’s lifetime. In our Art lessons, to mark the end of the topic, the children made some wonderful royal portraits of themselves as monarchs, wearing the coronation crown. The children have worked extremely hard to produce their best work. They are feeling very proud and excited to present you with something special this weekend…on Sunday if not before!
Year 3
We have had another busy and productive week in Year 3, and it has been wonderful to see the children continuing to work hard and show enthusiasm across all areas of their learning. In Maths this week, we have continued our work on fractions. The children have been learning about the whole, identifying equivalent fractions, and understanding the roles of the numerator and denominator. They have been developing their confidence when discussing what fractions represent and how different fractions can show the same amount. In English, we have completed our topic on persuasive texts. The children produced several effective persuasive speeches based on the topic of deforestation, building on their knowledge from The Great Kapok Tree. They worked hard to include strong persuasive language and thoughtful arguments to convince their audience about the importance of protecting rainforests. In Science, we began our new topic, Animals Including Humans. We started by learning about the five main food groups and discussing what each group does to help our bodies stay healthy. The children then created a pictogram showing what they ate the previous day and reflected on whether their meals formed a balanced diet. We are looking forward to exploring this topic in more detail and learning more about our own biology as well as the biology of other animals. In Geography, we have been exploring the geological formation of mountains and identifying where some of the world’s major mountain ranges are located on a global map. The children showed great interest in how these impressive landforms are created and where they can be found around the world. We have also made excellent progress in sport this week. The children are growing in confidence during their swimming lessons and have been demonstrating great teamwork during netball, football and lacrosse activities. It has been fantastic to see them supporting one another and developing their skills. With just two weeks until half term, the children are continuing to work hard and make great progress. We are very proud of their effort and enthusiasm and are looking forward to another positive and productive week ahead.
Year 4
What a fantastic and action-packed week it has been in Year 4! Our week began with a jump, a twist and a flip as the children enjoyed an exciting and energetic Gymnastics Plus session at Sutcliffe Park on Monday. It was a wonderful opportunity for the children to let off some steam while learning new skills. They demonstrated impressive balance, coordination and control, but most importantly they showed determination, resilience and the confidence to take safe risks in a supportive environment. It was fantastic to see their enthusiasm and willingness to challenge themselves. In English this week, the children completed a writing assessment to show how much they remembered about the features of a persuasive letter. Their task was to write to our Headteacher, Miss Holloway, convincing her that having more own clothes days would benefit our school. The children carefully planned their ideas before writing and many successfully included persuasive features such as modal verbs, emotive language and rhetorical questions to strengthen their arguments. It was wonderful to see the children applying what they have learned with growing confidence. In Maths, the children have continued their learning about fractions. They now understand the difference between mixed numbers and improper fractions and have been learning how to convert between the two. We have also seen great improvement in the children’s mathematical reasoning. Using sentence stems has really helped them explain their thinking clearly and confidently. The children also enjoyed visiting the Mother’s Day Shop, organised by our wonderful FRSC. A huge thank you to the parents who organised and ran this lovely event. It was very special for the children to choose gifts themselves. We hope all our St Olave’s mothers are thoroughly spoilt this weekend — you are truly wonderful and your children think you are the best mums in the world. On Friday, the children had a real treat as they travelled to Polka Theatre to watch the musical Who Let the Gods Out?, based on the popular book by Maz Evans, who visited our school last year and impressed everyone with her bubbly personality and witty anecdotes. The performance was engaging, funny and thoroughly entertaining. As always, we were incredibly proud of our fantastic Year 4 children. They showed great enthusiasm for the performance, respect for the theatre environment and were an absolute delight to take out. Thank you, as always, for your continued support. We hope you all have a lovely weekend.
Year 5
Year 5 have had a wonderful week in Swanage! Keep an eye out for a full report next week, but in the meantime, here's a few snapshots of their adventures...
Year 6
Year 6 has had a jam-packed and bicycle-filled week this week as we learnt all about cycling and safety on the roads. Every single member of Year 6 showed such maturity and commitment during Bikeability, and we are so impressed. It was wonderful to see their confidence grow as they practised steering, balancing, and following instructions carefully. We also discussed why it is important to wear helmets and be aware of traffic and pedestrians when riding near roads. Well done to all the children for their enthusiasm and for trying their best during our bike riding activities! When not out on the roads this week, we have been continuing to explore our text ‘The Boy at the Back of the Class’ and deepening our understanding of bias and how biases can be spread in the news. This topic sparked great conversations within the year group and has made Year 6 more careful in how they interpret things they see in the news. In maths, we have continued to explore area, perimeter and volume and developed our mathematical skills in formulae and reasoning to help us solve tricky problems. We have been so impressed with Year 6 this week and how they have acted through a different timetable and daily changes - Well done!
Outdoor Learning
Happy Mother’s Day! I hope you enjoyed receiving your flowers that the children have been looking after in the greenhouse since October! As well as getting the flowers ready this week, the children have been sowing lots of seeds, namely tomatoes, peppers, various flowers and some parsnips. The younger children were amazed to see their pea seeds already showing signs of growth after only one week. The Year 6 children were spreading mulch around our strawberries to protect them in the summer from the slugs. Our two heated greenhouses are already very full with all our seeds. Enjoy the weekend!
Languages
Nursery and Reception wowed everyone in the room with their speedy recall and precise pronunciations on animals. Reception beat their record in “recognise the blurred image”, scoring 100 point in only 1 minute and 2 seconds! Year 1 worked on French phonics - OU and U- and enjoyed the game “catapult the watermelon” with great success. Year 2 completed step 1 of the “Alien” project: continuing the topic of body parts, the children designed their own alien, adding beautiful colours to the drawings, and they are ready to work on their writing next week. Year 3 explored extreme weather types and had fun with reading and listening games using flashcards. Year 4 worked on phonics revision: the children brainstormed French sounds learnt in the last few years, and challenged themselves with reading new words, applying the revised rules. In Spanish, Year 6 practised opinions with school subjects with speaking activities and a timed translation: their spelling was very good and they all enjoyed the challenge. In Latin, Year 6 worked on a vocabulary task: using their knowledge of Latin so far paired up with cognate English words, they translated a list of words based on the last two chapters of our textbook.
Design & Technology and Computing
Quiz of the week, ask your child if they can explain what the words in bold mean. Year 3 Static Electricity Game Pupils in Year 3 started using a mind map to help with planning the design structure and theme for their game. Year 4 Pavilion Structures This week, Year 4 used a range of hole punching tools to finish preparing their materials and joining them together to create 3D structures.
Year 6 Electric car Year 6 pupils folded the nets, glued the chassis of their cars together and started adding the axles in preparation for the wheels.
Computing highlights Year 1 used Bee Bots to program a journey. Year 2 wrote ‘if and then’ algorithms to program how a computer can be used to automatically take care of plants. Year 3 practiced editing and creating code for animation by using code blocks in Scratch. Year 4 pupils practiced editing HTML codes to change the appearance of an online poster.