From the Head
It has been a real pleasure to welcome the children back to school this week following the Easter break. The glorious weather has certainly helped, but more importantly, the children have returned settled, positive and ready to learn. There has been a lovely sense of energy across the school, with classrooms quickly returning to their purposeful, focused rhythm. We have been delighted to welcome a number of new children into our Nursery and Reception classes this week, as well as a returning family to the school. It is always a privilege to see children settle so quickly and begin to feel part of the St Olave’s community. We very much look forward to seeing them grow in confidence and flourish over the coming weeks. I am also pleased to share that Mrs Jo Barnes has joined us as our new Head of Admissions. Mrs Barnes brings a wealth of experience to St Olave's, and I know she will play an important role in supporting families and strengthening our school community. In her previous role she was an experienced EYFS teacher, SENCo and senior leader, and she enjoyed meeting our Nursery and Reception children this week! Looking ahead, we are very much looking forward to welcoming prospective families to our Open Morning tomorrow. These events are always a wonderful opportunity to share the ethos and strengths of the school, and to give visitors a genuine sense of what makes St Olave’s such a special place to learn and grow. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the parents who have kindly given their time to support the morning and lead tours, as well as to our current pupils and former pupils in Year 7 who will be returning to act as guides. Their pride in the school and willingness to give back speaks volumes about the strength of our community. Thank you, as always, for your continued support. It is a pleasure to see the children return with such enthusiasm, and I look forward to all that this term will bring.
Kind regards, Miss Holloway
The week ahead...
Lunch Menu
Monthly Safeguarding Update
April – Growing Up Safely
Children are naturally curious, but sometimes this can lead to unsafe behaviour such as sharing images. Please keep phones and online activity supervised at home and remind your child they can always talk to you or a trusted adult if they’re worried.
Focus on School Values
This week, we have begun the term with our Wellbeing Days and introduced our new value: Creativity. In Tuesday's assembly, I shared The Dot, a powerful story which reminds us that creativity often begins with the smallest step; a single mark, a simple idea or the confidence to try. We explored the idea that creativity is not just about art, but about the everyday choices we make: how we think, how we approach challenges and how we contribute positively to the world around us. Our manner focus this week is table manners and etiquette. We have been encouraging the children to think carefully about how their behaviour at the table affects others; showing respect, patience and appreciation. These small, thoughtful actions play an important role in creating a calm and happy environment for everyone. You can support this at home by:
- Sitting together for a meal where possible and modelling calm, respectful behaviour, including the correct use of cutlery please!
- Encouraging the use of ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ without prompting
- Gently reinforcing waiting turns in conversation
- Noticing and praising thoughtful behaviour at the table
A simple extension at home might be to ask your child: “What small thing did you do today that made a difference to someone else?” Thank you, as always, for your continued support. By working together, we help the children understand that the smallest actions - just like a single dot - can grow into something much bigger.
This week at St Olave's
Community MPs visit Greenwich Town Hall On Wednesday 15th April, members of our Community MP team visited Greenwich Town Hall to learn more about local government. As part of the visit, they took part in a debate in the Council Chamber on the topic of school uniform. The children also had the chance to look around the building and find out more about the work of the Council. It was a valuable experience, giving them the opportunity to deepen their understanding of democracy and to represent the school beyond the classroom.
Sporting Round Up
Welcome back everyone! We've had a great start back in PE and Games. The Upper School had brilliant fun starting their summer Games lessons of tennis, cricket, rounders and athletics. As well as our Games afternoon, Years 4 to 6 have had table tennis lessons in PE, whilst Year 3 will start cricket training. Years 1 and 2 have started their topic of striking skills using tennis rackets and cricket bats to practise their striking skills. EYFS have started their topic of creative games, where they come to the ‘PE Shop’ to create games from the equipment they choose. This helps to spark their imagination as they have great fun!
Nursery
We’ve had a fantastic start back in Little Acorns after the holiday, with everyone excited to see their friends (and make new friends!) and eager to dive back into our busy days. The children have especially enjoyed some imaginative superhero play, creating their own unique heroes and acting out exciting adventures together. Alongside this, our love for Peter Rabbit continues to grow, this week even inspiring a very enthusiastic ‘radish raid’ out in the playground! As always, our learning is hands-on and often wonderfully messy! The children have been making the most of the water area and mud kitchen every day, exploring, creating, and having lots of fun outdoors. Thank you for making sure your child has a well-stocked bag of spare clothes so they can fully enjoy these experiences.
Reception
We have had a wonderful start to the Summer term and it has been lovely to see how quickly the children have settled back into their routines. They have been so excited to see their friends again as well as welcoming new friends, and it has been a joy to hear all about their half-term adventures. Thank you for sharing your special moments with us on Tapestry. We always love seeing what the children have been up to at home. This week, our learning has been inspired by the children’s interests, particularly their enthusiasm for volcanoes following their Easter experiences. Our Drawing Club focus book was Harry and the Hot Lava, which captured the children’s imaginations beautifully. The children explored new vocabulary including oozing, imagination, and destroy, and confidently began using these words in their play and discussions. They then designed and created their own imaginative places for lava to ooze from, showing great creativity and storytelling skills. We extended this interest further by making our own volcanoes using outdoor materials and classroom resources. This led to an exciting hands-on science experiment, where the children investigated how to create a chemical reaction to produce a fast, fizzy eruption. There was lots of excitement and curiosity as the volcanoes came to life! We are so proud of the children’s enthusiasm and engagement this week and look forward to another fantastic week of learning ahead. We hope you have a lovely weekend and look forward to seeing you next week!
Year 1
What a wonderful start to the summer term we have had in Year 1. It was lovely to see the children well-rested, enthusiastic to learn, and excited to share the lovely things they have got up to over the Easter break. This week, we have been focusing on emotional wellbeing and mental health. We have looked at a variety of skills to support the children in settling back into the routines of school and to start the summer term with a clear, positive attitude. We spent time in the school hall reminding ourselves of our table manners. We considered how we line up, how we respect one another by thinking about the volume of our voices, using our knives and forks properly, and eating with our mouths closed. We are so pleased with how seriously the children have taken this and have seen such a mature attitude in the dinner hall. We also spoke about gender stereotypes and discussed the importance of respecting people for who they are and for having their own style and interests. We have talked about how values such as kindness and respect are something we practise every day at school, and how we can use them to create a well-rounded and welcoming community. In Maths, we have been learning about mass. We have been weighing different objects using cubes as a unit of measure. We have compared the mass of different objects using vocabulary such as lighter, heavier and the same as. In Science, the children have started their topic by revisiting materials and exploring the purpose of materials in buildings. This week, we looked at how houses are built to withstand windy weather during natural disasters such as hurricanes. The children built prototypes of their houses, and we tested them using a hairdryer! It was a very exciting afternoon. We have also begun our Geography topic, learning about the Galápagos Islands. The children were very enthusiastic to share ideas about what they may already know and what they would like to learn. We have a very exciting summer term ahead of us.
Year 2
Year 2 have had a wonderful first week back - the children have returned with renewed energy, increased maturity and seem all set to impress us with their efforts and achievements in the weeks ahead. Our well being days were the perfect transition back into school life and they included some important lessons on the British Value of tolerance, accepting and understanding differences between people. The children all agreed that listening to new ideas and showing curiosity helps everyone to feel happy and improves our wellbeing. We also explored gender stereotypes in the context of jobs: our discussion revealed a wide range of possible careers for the future, not influenced by stereotypes - geologists, archaeology, explorers, teachers, writers, swimmers, painters and gymnasts. In English, we explored list poems. We considered ideas for the content and saw how to develop them by using adjectives, alliteration and similes. The children worked extremely well and produced some excellent poems. We finished our measurement topic in maths, by solving problems involving litres and also learned to read scales and answer questions on temperature. We are looking forward to some new experiences next week; our first swimming lesson on Tuesday and a special day out to Howletts Wild Animal Park on Wednesday. Please check emails for specific details about these. Thank you.
Year 3
We have had a wonderful return to school this week and have enjoyed hearing about all your adventures over the holidays. The children have returned full of enthusiasm and excitement for a busy and productive few months ahead. This term is always full of energy and opportunities, and we are looking forward to supporting the children as they continue to grow in confidence and independence. We began our week with a focus on wellbeing, taking time to explore and discuss big emotions and how we can manage them in a positive way. The children shared thoughtful ideas and worked together to create their own wellbeing toolkits, filled with strategies they can use when they need support. It has been wonderful to see such open conversations and a caring approach to looking after ourselves and each other. In our lessons, we have started an exciting new topic in English, exploring traditional fables and the important messages they teach us. In maths, we are continuing our work on mass and capacity, developing our understanding by comparing measurements in grams and kilograms. In Art, we have begun a new topic focused on storytelling through art. The children have started to identify key features of well-known characters and have enjoyed using collage techniques to recreate them. It has been lovely to see their creativity shine as they experiment with different materials and bring familiar characters to life. The children have made a great start and we are looking forward to building on this learning as the term progresses.
Year 4
We have had a fantastic first week back after the Easter holidays. As always, the children returned raring to go and were delighted to see one another again. It has been wonderful to see such enthusiasm and positivity as we begin our final term together. The first two days of the week were dedicated to the children’s emotional wellbeing and mental health. We explored what core values are and how they guide the way we think, behave, and interact with others and the world around us. The children then revisited the British Values, demonstrating a strong understanding of these important principles. We focused in particular on Individual Liberty. The children reflected on the many choices they are able to make at school, at home, and within their community. They also thoughtfully discussed scenarios where children do not have the same freedoms. This led to some meaningful conversations, with all children showing empathy and a genuine appreciation for the choices they have. We emphasised how our decisions can impact both ourselves and others, and the importance of taking time to make thoughtful and responsible choices. It was a real highlight to see the children proudly sharing their science projects from the Easter holiday. Their task was to create a musical instrument capable of producing both high and low pitch sounds. We were incredibly impressed, almost all children successfully met this challenge, demonstrating creativity and effort. In English, the children have thoroughly enjoyed writing their own narrative poems. They have been working with a structure of 4–6 stanzas and experimenting with an ABAB rhyming pattern. There has been lots of enthusiasm as they explored rhyming and developed their story ideas, watch this space for their finished pieces! In Maths, we have begun our work on decimals. The children have shown a good understanding of tenths, using number lines and place value charts to support their learning. Next week, we will be building on this by exploring the relationship between decimals and fractions. In Science, we have started our new topic, Living Things and Their Habitats. The children are already showing great interest, and we are looking forward to getting outside later in the term to observe animals in their natural habitats. In History, we have moved on to learning about the Anglo-Saxons. This follows nicely from our Roman topic in the Autumn term. So far, the children have explored who the Anglo-Saxons were, how they invaded Britain, worked with timelines, and learned about The Legend of Hengist and Horsa. The children have worked incredibly hard this week, and we are very proud of the way they have returned to school, ready for their final term in Year 4.
Year 5
We have hit the ground running this week with all children returning to school with their heads ready to work. As such, we have had a brilliant first week back. We began our week with a focus on wellbeing and the opportunity to explore some essential areas of learning to support us as we look towards the final term of Year 5. From exploring our understanding of tolerance and the impact of gender stereotyping; the children demonstrated maturity throughout our discussions. We also discussed the art of apologising and how our actions and tone of voice are equally as important as the word ‘sorry’. Building on these activities, Year 5 have continued to use inference skills to unlock the meaning of sophisticated 11+ vocabulary and use them in their own sentences. In English we have worked hard to complete our newspaper report topic, with a recap on essential features before having the time to plan to write our own reports on an exciting discovery in the Amazon rainforest. In maths, after a brain refresher with a maths investigation, our focus has been percentages - calculating percentages of amounts and tackling multistep word problems.
Year 6
Year 6 have made a fantastic start to the summer term, returning with enthusiasm and maturity as they settled back into school life. We began the week with two dedicated wellbeing days, where pupils explored important topics including gender stereotypes, democracy and table manners. These sessions encouraged thoughtful discussion, respect for others’ perspectives, and reflection on how we present ourselves in different social settings. As part of our democracy focus, the children worked collaboratively in groups to form their own political parties. They developed creative and thoughtful manifestos before presenting their ideas to the class. We then held a class vote, giving everyone the opportunity to take part in a democratic process. A clear theme emerged across many of the parties: a strong desire to include more movement in the school day to support healthier lifestyles. We were so impressed with this initiative that we have already begun putting it into action. Year 6 are now enjoying a daily mile at the park, making the most of the sunshine, fresh air and natural surroundings. This has been a wonderful way to boost both physical wellbeing and focus back in the classroom. In English, we began our new unit on non-chronological reports, starting by identifying key features such as headings, subheadings, formal language and organised paragraphs. The children showed great curiosity and are already beginning to apply these features in their own writing. In History, we explored Kindertransport, learning about the experiences of children evacuated during World War II. The pupils demonstrated empathy and asked insightful questions about this significant historical event. To round off the week, we visited Chislehurst Caves, where we discovered how they were used as shelters during World War II. This immersive experience helped bring our learning to life and gave the children a deeper understanding of what life was like during this time. It has been a busy and enriching first week back and we are very much looking forward to the rest of the term.
Outdoor Learning
This week, the children have been busy sowing lots more seeds, as well as repotting lots of our plants which had been growing in the greenhouses. We had already planted peas, tomatoes and potatoes in the holiday gardening clubs. They have also done a lot of watering as the ground is very dry. Year 4 had an exciting discovery during their lesson as we found two mice in the soil box and they had made a lovely nest but no babies were seen! Have a lovely weekend.
Languages
Welcome back everyone! Between the fun in the classroom and the sun shining - most of the time - this week whizzed by! Nursery and Reception revised all the topics that we have done so far, and they absolutely blew me away with their confidence and participation! All the other year groups have started their new topics. Year 1 talked about birthdays, and the children learnt the months in French, whilst Year 2 talked about what they eat and drink for their topic of food and a balanced diet. Year 3 learnt about French-speaking countries and Year 4 had the first lesson on school subjects. In Spanish, Year 5 dived into the free-time activities, learning key verbs such as “to go”, and they all practised their speaking and listening skills. In Latin, Year 6 had their first rehearsal for the Latin Assembly and they all did a stellar job during the holidays preparing for it.