From the Head
These final weeks of the academic year are always ones of transition; a time to reflect on all that has been achieved and to look forward with hope and positivity to what comes next.
On Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, we welcomed our new Nursery and Reception parents to St Olave’s - a moment that always reminds me how deeply parents have to trust us. Whether this is a family’s first experience of school or their third, there’s a vulnerability in that handover: “Here is my child; please love them, guide them and help them flourish.” It’s a responsibility we hold with great care.
I spoke to those families about what they’ve chosen by joining St Olave’s; not just a school, but a place where their child will be known, valued and loved. Where learning is joyful, high standards are met with high nurture and childhood is honoured rather than hurried.
Today, all our children spent the afternoon with their new teacher and classmates for Meet the Teacher Day, a gentle first step into the next academic year. These moments are carefully planned to give children a sense of security and excitement about the future. We know that change can bring mixed feelings; not just for children, but for parents too.
Part of our role is to hold steady through those emotions; to name them, to normalise them and to help children manage them. Some will be brimming with excitement, others may feel wobbly or unsure. It’s all valid. A change in teacher, classroom or routine can feel like a big shift, especially when a child feels deeply connected to what they’re leaving behind. That’s why we invest so much in transitions, because relationships don’t restart from scratch in September; they begin now.
In our Year 6 children especially, we’re seeing the bittersweet signs of endings. They’re starting to say goodbye to friendships, teachers and the routines that have shaped their primary years. Some children may seem to switch off emotionally, become more distant or act as though they’re ready to leave without a backward glance. But underneath, these are often protective behaviours; a way of managing the big feelings that come with saying goodbye. It’s not that they don’t care; it’s that they care deeply and expressing that can feel too vulnerable. Their behaviour is saying, “This mattered to me.” And what a powerful thing that is. We are working hard behind the scenes to celebrate their time here and to give them a positive sense of closure.
At St Olave’s, we know that the most successful transitions happen when children feel safe, seen and understood. We’re so proud of the way our team supports every step of this process and I know the new teachers children met today were warm, welcoming and ready to build on the strong foundations already in place. Your child is not starting again; they are moving forward, with confidence and care.
Thank you, as always, for the trust you place in us. It is a privilege to walk this journey with your children and to work in such close partnership with you. I hope to see many of you at our Hawaiian FRSC BBQ tomorrow and look forward to a sunny day of fun, good food and excellent company.
Kind regards, Miss Holloway
The week ahead...
Lunch Menu
Notices
Super St O's Fundraising Total
Last week's Super St O's fundraising event raised a grand total of £337.60 for Variety, the children's charity. Well done, Starry, for organising such a fabulous event.
This week at St Olave's
A Musical Journey through South India
On Thursday morning, children in Years 2 and 6 were treated to a captivating performance of South Indian classical music, led by Shiva and Meena’s father, Dr Jeyanathan. The session began with a vocal warm-up where the children explored the Indian equivalent of do, re, mi, practising singing in both low and high registers.
The children were then introduced to the rich stories behind Hindu deities and the origins of Hinduism, including the meanings of the names Shiva, Meena and Lakshmi. Dr Jeyanathan followed this with an engaging masterclass on traditional Indian instruments, showcasing his remarkable skill by layering sounds to build a beautiful composition.
He also shared a personal story of performing at his music teacher’s children’s primary school when he was just eleven years old — and how it had always been a dream of his to do the same at his own children’s school. We feel very fortunate that this dream came true at ours.
The morning concluded with a unique and memorable live performance accompanying Ed Sheeran’s Sapphire, leaving everyone inspired and uplifted.
Reception and Nursery’s trip to Wingham Wildlife Park
This week, our EYFS children enjoyed an exciting trip to Wingham Wildlife Park! Although the weather was incredibly hot, the children had a fantastic time exploring the park and discovering the animals.
There were so many highlights from the day! We learnt all about the penguins, what they eat, how they’re cared for, and how the zookeepers tell them apart. The giraffes were another favourite, especially watching them eat from the viewing deck. They were a little smelly, but so beautiful that it was worth it!
Nursery particularly enjoyed watching the flamingos standing on one leg and were thrilled to see red pandas in real life. Reception were amazed by the penguin show and the sight of the huge lion. Another big highlight for Reception was playing on the outdoor climbing frames, a perfect way to burn off some energy and enjoy the sunshine.
We are incredibly proud of how beautifully the children behaved throughout the trip. It was a joy to see them smiling from ear to ear all day long!
Y5 visit the Saatchi Gallery
A real highlight of the week for Year 5 was their trip to the Saatchi Gallery! They were amazed to see how flowers are used in so many ways. The exhibition showed flowers not just as beautiful and creative art, but also how they inspire science, fashion and design. After exploring the exhibition, they took part in a workshop where they created prints inspired by William Morris, known for his traditional woodblock methods of printing. The children had great fun making their own designs and colourful artwork!
Sporting Round Up
Girls' Cricket Tournament
Year 6 girls travelled across to Charlton Park to take part in a girls' cricket tournament. The winners of the tournament would then go through to the Kent girls cricket finals. All 3 games we played, the girls batted first and smashed the ball to all parts of the boundaries, to post 3 massive scores. The girls bowled fantastically well with good accuracy, which was equally backed up in the field with a number of excellent catches to restrict our opposition. We won the day and now progress through to the Kent girls finals! Well played girls!
Nursery
The highlight of our week in Little Acorns has definitely been our visit to Wingham Wildlife Park and the children were inspired to recreate the experience back in the classroom. The animals all had their own enclosures and a magical flamingo was able to fly around to see all the different animals! Our story Edward the Emu was also brought to life at the park as we saw a whole family of Emus including some lovely baby chicks!
The children have also spent some time thinking about the coming year and the new adventures which will begin in September as they either move on to Reception or stay a little longer in Nursery. We have met some new friends that will be joining us in these adventures and visited our new classroom, just around the corner!
Reception
This week, Reception have been getting ready for their exciting trip to Wingham Wildlife Park. We've been learning all about different animals and their habitats, and even created our own zoo using the loose parts area. The children thought carefully about what each animal would need in its habitat and how they could look after them as responsible zookeepers.
In phonics and maths, we’ve been practising our letter formation and making sure our numbers are written the correct way round. The children have shown great focus and determination!
Although the weather has been a little unpredictable, we’ve still made the most of our time outside. The muddy puddle play continues to be a big hit in the mud kitchen. The children have been working together to figure out how to transport water from the water area to the mud kitchen, using fantastic problem-solving skills to avoid spills along the way before pouring it into the puddles.
We hope you all have a lovely weekend and we look forward to another fantastic week ahead!
Year 1
Another wonderful week in Year 1! On Monday the children started the week with a fantastic workshop from the author Kandace Chimbiri, who spoke to the children all about what inspired her to become an author and the journey she embarked on to do so. They then learned about her book ‘The Story of Afro Hair’ and found out some interesting facts about why our hair grows in all different ways. We hope the children were able to share some of their findings with you at home!
In maths, we have begun our unit looking at place value within 100. This has included counting from 50 to 100, counting in 10s, partitioning two digit numbers into tens and ones and completing number lines up to 100. This may be something you could continue to practise when out and about, for example partitioning two digit numbers on the front of a bus or a car number plate!
In English the children have been reflecting on their highlights during their time in Year 1 and celebrating all of their achievements. It is amazing to see how much progress they have made this year. Not just in their writing but across the curriculum. We are very proud of them.
In Geography we have continued our topic about the Galapagos Islands. The children have been fascinated by the facts they have learned about giant tortoises. They have produced amazing anatomical drawings of a tortoise and have labelled their body parts. We look forward to continuing this topic over the coming week. If any of you have a pet tortoise, please email us some photos.
Please remember to send in water bottles and hats next week, as it looks like it will be very hot. Have a lovely weekend.
Year 2
How are we at the end of another week!? And what a week!
We started with an inspirational workshop with author Kandace Chimbiri on Monday, listening to how she found the inspiration to become an author - I think some of the children were inspired themselves! We challenged ourselves to improve our inference skills in comprehension this week and spend some time reflecting on a fabulous year in Year 2. In maths we concluded our topic of time and dived straight into statistics. The children have explored different ways of presenting data from tables to tally charts and block graphs, and worked hard to pull information from the data we were presented with.
In science we have taken to the skies to explore how and why planes fly. Considering gravitational pull and air resistance, the children made parachutes to test how long they would take to reach the ground. Our penultimate swimming lesson was a huge success with all children participating to the fullest.
We had a treat on Thursday when one of our fabulous parents visited school to lead a workshop on Indian classical music. We discovered new instruments and heard him play - it was wonderful.
With another busy week on the horizon, including our trip to IWM Duxford on Wednesday, please have a restful weekend!
Year 3
This week, Year 3 have been working exceptionally hard to get ourselves prepared for next week’s big performance. Thank you to those of you who have been supporting your children with their lines, please keep it up!
In maths, we have been learning all about angles! We learned the difference between acute, obtuse and right angles before spotting these in different shapes. We also focused on the direction of lines by learning lots of new vocabulary including vertical, horizontal, perpendicular and parallel. We will continue to learn about spotting these to further our understanding of the features of both 2D and 3D shapes.
In English we have continued writing our newspapers based on ‘Dolphin Boy’ by Michael Morpurgo, as we report about the scene of a dolphin being washed up on the shore. The more we write the more we are getting to grips with the tricky skill of direct and reported speech. Well done Year 3!
We were also so lucky to have been inspired by two fantastic authors this week. We all couldn’t wait to explore the books of both Kandace Chimbiri and Maz Evans in our school library and found it very inspirational to hear how their resilience and perseverance led to them achieving their goals.
As we enter the final week of Presentation Evening prep, please can we remind you all the costumes need to be ready and sent in to school early this coming week. Thank you as always for those who have already done so.
Year 4
This week has been filled with rehearsals and author visits, as well everyday lessons! On Monday, we had a great talk from Kandace Chimbiri about British Black history and we got the opportunity to ask her lots of questions. We were fascinated to find out how afro hair follicles grow and to understand the impact different people have had in history. On Wednesday, we had another excellent talk by Maz Evans - a lady who has written more than 17 books. She was very inspirational and had lots of good messages about how important it is to look after ourselves.
In English, we have continued drafting our biographies about Rosa Parks. The children have been very creative with their layouts and writing in their own words, a skill that takes lots of practice. We cannot wait to see their finished pieces. In maths, the whole of Year 4 took part in a national competition called the First Maths Challenge. This is a competition run by the Mathematical Association, and leads into the Primary Maths Challenge which takes place in Year 5 and 6. The children showed great perseverance and logical thinking throughout the challenge. We are excited to find out how they did!
In RE, we learned about the foundations of Christianity. We have some fantastic discussions with a lot of children sharing their understanding of Christianity. We learned that Jesus became more prolific after his death and resurrection. In DT, the children continued with their harp projects. They used their templates and reinforced them with coloured card, and then started to thread the ‘strings’ through.
We hope you have a lovely weekend and enjoy the Summer BBQ if you are able to attend. Thank you to the FRSC for all of the hard work put into creating this event!
Year 5
What another busy but fantastic week we have had! We were very lucky to have two amazing authors visit us this week, starting off with Kandace Chimbiri who shared her journey of becoming a non-fiction writer. She was inspired to write books about Black History, when she was shocked to find that in Waterstones Piccadilly (one of the biggest book shops in Europe) that there were only 6 books on this topic among 10,000 books! Maz Evans also came on Wednesday and shared her love of mythology as her inspiration for the ‘Who Let the Gods Out?’ series, as well as sharing how being a young carer herself, helping look after her grandma, resonates deeply with the main character, Elliot, who finds himself in a similar situation. We are very lucky to have their books already in the library for us to enjoy!
In maths, we have started looking further into algebra, understanding like and unlike terms, expressions and equations. In English, we have been practising how to answer cloze procedures, thinking about the different strategies we use such as using context clues, tense and spelling rules to help us. Towards the end of the week, we reflected on our time in Year 5 and thought about what we are looking forward to in Year 6. We can’t believe that we will soon be approaching the end of the year already!
We hope you have a lovely weekend and enjoy the Summer BBQ if you are able to attend. Thank you to the FRSC for all of the hard work put into creating this event!
Year 6
This week, Year 6 had the fantastic opportunity to be inspired by two very special guests.
On Monday, we welcomed local author Kandace Chimbiri, who shared her powerful journey into writing. Born in London and raised in Barbados, Kandace returned to London as an adult and worked at Waterstones in Piccadilly Circus. Shocked to find only six books about Black history among over 10,000, she was inspired to become an author. She self-published The Story of the Windrush and has since written several acclaimed non-fiction books, including The Story of Britain’s Black Nurses, The Story of Britain’s Black Airmen, and The Story of Afro Hair. The children were captivated by her story and asked thoughtful, insightful questions, gaining a deeper understanding of both history and the importance of representation.
Then on Wednesday, the children were treated to a hilarious and heartfelt visit from renowned author Maz Evans, known for Who Let the Gods Out?, the Vi Spy series, and Scarlett Fife. From the moment she began, Maz had everyone in stitches—especially with her analogy comparing big feelings to farts: “they just have to come out!” Alongside the laughter, she delivered inspiring messages about reading, resilience, and never letting barriers like gender, race, or identity stop you from pursuing your dreams. She spoke candidly about early rejections, shared amusing stories involving her children, and recounted a memorable meeting with JK Rowling. The children asked brilliant questions, and Maz responded with honesty, humour, and wisdom, leaving a lasting impression on all.
To round off an exciting week, the children have continued rehearsing for Beauty and the Beast. This week’s focus has been on enhancing their performance skills—projecting their voices, speaking clearly and slowly, and using gestures and movement to bring their characters to life. Many have responded brilliantly to direction and noticeably improved their individual performances. In addition to their drama work, the children have also been working in pairs to research and learn more about Climate Change, developing their understanding of this important global issue.
Finally, the children have been spending time reflecting on their Year 6 journey—what they’ve learned, how they feel about their time at primary school, their favourite memories, and their hopes for the future. It’s been a thoughtful and emotional process as they begin to look ahead to their next chapter. We’re all incredibly excited for next week as we head to the theatre—you're in for a real treat! Behind the scenes, Ms Howard, her daughter Charlotte, and a fantastic team of children and teaching assistants have been hard at work creating some truly spectacular costumes, props and set pieces to bring Beauty and the Beast to life.
Outdoor Learning
It has been another hot and dry week at the allotment. The children have planted more tomatoes, sweetcorn and beetroot in various beds. They have also sown seeds in trays such as brussel sprouts, cosmos and sweet peas. The children in Year 3 also sowed some carrot seeds rolled on a piece of tape into one of the beds. We have been busy watering all of our plants which has resulted in many of the children getting very wet! The eco committee and community MPs came down to put together some items they had won through their environmental work and choose where to put them in the allotment. They had a bird bath, hedgehog house, bee house and a new bird box. These are all now placed in various locations in the school grounds. Another busy week awaits, preparing for our plant sale next Saturday in front of New Eltham library from 10am until 2pm.
Languages
What a busy and HOT week we just had! The children have been incredibly resilient and they all did their very best in Languages, even despite the heat! In Early Years, both Nursery and Reception children had started to revise the whole year’s learning: colours, family, animals, food and clothes. They all sounded confident in repeating the French vocabulary and they really enjoyed showing what they remembered. Year 1 has done more work on ‘months’ and we added our ‘birthdays’: every child had a go at saying their own birthday in French, and many different games helped the recall of the vocabulary. Year 2 revised opinion phrases and the children learnt how to give their opinions on different foods.
In the Upper School, in French, Year 3 revised the landscapes of countries and the weather; the children worked on a new text similar to last week’s one and they all enjoyed discovering more information about French-speaking countries. Year 4 worked on telling the time and when one does a different school subject; all the children had a go at saying at what time they have their favourite school subject. In Spanish, Year 5 approached a new and challenging grammatical rule: the use of opinion verbs followed by an infinitive. The children learnt what is an infinitive in Spanish and they were able to recognise the different verbs and have a go at building sentences using these new structures.
Music
A huge well done to the Upper School for all of their hard work learning their dances and rehearsing their songs for our Beauty and the Beast musical performance next week. The School Office has sent song lyrics with clickable backing tracks to parents’ email addresses this week and the Upper School children have been asked to rehearse their songs at home every evening, focusing mainly on songs they may be less confident with first. We have had a few full run throughs in school this week and all is going well. We can’t wait to get on the stage next week! There are several rehearsals happening for Year 6 and the rest of the Upper School next week. The children in Year 1 and 2 will also be attending the dress rehearsal on Friday morning. The children will need to be dropped off at the theatre in the morning for these rehearsals. As a reminder, please check the letters that were sent home a couple of weeks ago regarding this to ensure your child is at the theatre on time and with their costume on the correct day. Thank you and we are looking forward to seeing you at the theatre for Presentation Evening next week!