From the Head
What a busy and heart-lifting week it has been. Our wonderful Year 6 children have taken their very first 11+ examinations and I could not be prouder of them. They approached each paper with calm focus and real determination, showing just how well prepared they are. Tomorrow morning brings their next exam and we all wish them every success. They have already shown the courage and commitment we so value, and I know they will carry that same spirit into the next stage of the process.
It was a real pleasure to welcome so many parents to our welcome meetings this week. Thank you for the thoughtful conversations and for supporting the key messages I shared. Your encouragement for daily reading at home, limiting passive screen time and following our uniform expectations (including no jewellery) makes such a difference to children’s learning and wellbeing. The partnership between home and school is at the heart of everything we do and your commitment to these shared values shines through.
Looking ahead, we are excited to launch our Poet in Residence programme on Monday morning with the remarkable Adisa the Verbaliser. His work with the children will celebrate language, self-expression and performance over the coming term. Parents are warmly invited to join us for the opening session; we will finish before the 9.30 a.m. parking restrictions so that as many of you as possible can share in the start of this inspiring project.
This weekend is a good time for a uniform clear-out. Our pre-loved uniform sale takes place on Thursday afternoon and we would be grateful for any clean, good-quality items you can donate, particularly in the smallest and largest sizes. These sales help families, reduce waste and support our commitment to sustainability.
As ever, thank you for the trust you place in us and for the generosity of spirit that flows through every corner of our school. From cheering on our oldest children as they take big academic steps to quietly helping with uniform donations, you create a community where each child can flourish and every family feels part of something special.
With my very best wishes for a happy weekend and, for our Year 6 families in particular, a calm and successful exam morning tomorrow.
Kind regards,
Miss Holloway, Headteacher
The week ahead...
Lunch Menu
Monthly Safeguarding Update
Safeguarding at St Olave’s
This term, we remind all children and staff that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. If your child ever shares a worry with you, please let us know straight away so we can help. Our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) team is always here to listen and act.
Focus on School Values
This week’s school value: Collaboration
This week’s manner: Saying please and thank you
At St Olave’s, we’re proud to teach children more than just academics. Each week, we focus on one of our core values and a practical life manner that helps shape kind, thoughtful individuals. This half term, we’re exploring Collaboration - the importance of working together, and reinforcing the power of a simple please and thank you.
These small courtesies underpin respectful relationships and help children become considerate team players. At school, we’re noticing and praising polite, thoughtful interactions. At home, please join us in reinforcing this by modelling and encouraging good manners in everyday moments - at the dinner table, during play and when help is offered.
We shared the traditional tale The Enormous Turnip in assembly, a joyful story about teamwork and how everyone, even the smallest, makes a difference. If you’re reading at home this week, The Giant Jam Sandwich by John Vernon Lord or Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson also echo this theme beautifully.
Notices
Flu Vaccinations
Please ensure that you complete the form sent home earlier this week regarding your child receiving the flu vaccine at school. Please complete the form whether you wish your child to have the vaccine or not. Thank you
Uniform sale
We will be holding a second hand school uniform sale on Thursday between 2.30pm and 4.30pm.
Southwood Park
If you are visiting Southwood Park any time, please take a bottle of water with you and give our tree a drink. The tree was purchased with money we raised at last year’s Parksfest, and although the weather is cooler now, the tree needs plenty of water to help it get established.
Southwood Park Poppy Display
The Friends of Southwood Park are busy preparing a large poppy display to be installed in the park for November. If anyone wants to make a poppy or two - red, purple or white - please bring them into school to be included in the display. Thank you.
Young Voices
This week marked the start of our Young Voices rehearsals. The children were very excited and I was particularly impressed with our new Year 3 children who joined in with great enthusiasm. The children were provided with instructions on how to access the YV Music Room - the online platform for accessing rehearsal tracks and purchasing tickets. I appreciate your support with providing the children additional opportunities to practise, as this helps them to feel more confident during our in-school rehearsals. More information regarding ticket purchasing will be provided next week.
Ms Tyler
Parksfest Cancelled
Please note that unfortunately Parksfest will not go ahead on Sunday due to the forecast weather conditions.
Sporting Round-Up
Due to the poor weather this week, our Games afternoon involved three different indoor activities taking place rather than the usual outdoor sports. Years 3 and 5 took part in seated volleyball and tchoukball, and Years 4 and 6 took part in dodgeball. The children enjoyed the afternoon and learnt some new skills. Fingers crossed for better weather next week as we hope to return to football, tag rugby, hockey, and netball.
Nursery
The Little Acorns have enjoyed a wonderful week of play and learning. It is hard to believe they are so new to our school as they enter school so confidently and are quickly learning our routines.
During our outdoor learning we have been busy collecting an abundance of acorns and using them in our games, making acorn cakes, transporting them in wheelbarrows and arranging them in patterns.
To help familiarise themselves with their surroundings the children have all taken a tour of the school, meeting lots of the adults that they don’t usually get to see such as Chef Andy and finding out where our older siblings have their classrooms. The children were especially excited to visit Miss Holloway in her office and sit on her sofa and look out of her window onto the playground!
Thank you to the parents that joined us at our Welcome Meeting on Wednesday, we hope you found it useful. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch via the office or at the gate if you have any further questions over the coming weeks.
Reception
We have now completed our very first full week in EYFS, and what a wonderful week it has been! The children have been busy settling into their new routines, getting to know each other, and becoming familiar with life in and around the classroom.
This week, we began our daily phonics sessions, focusing on the sounds m, a, s, d, and t.
We also introduced ‘Dough Disco’, a fun and engaging way to strengthen fine motor skills. The children loved joining in with the music while squashing, rolling, and pinching the dough. It’s a fantastic way to prepare little fingers for writing!
Storytime has been another highlight of our week. Thank you so much for sending in books from home. It has been a joy to share such a wide variety of stories together, and the children love seeing texts that are meaningful to them.
To top off an already exciting week, we were treated to a very special Red Arrows display right above our playground! The children were inspired to learn more about the Red Arrows, and after making their own planes, they worked together to create their very own formation.
Finally, it was so lovely to see so many of you at the welcome meeting. We are delighted to hear how settled and happy your children are.
We wish you all a restful weekend and look forward to another exciting week ahead!
Year 1
What a fantastic first full week in Year 1! The children will sleep well tonight, they have been very busy getting stuck into their learning. We are very proud of how well they have taken to the new routines.
In English, we have been learning to label objects and write captions explaining what they are. The children have focussed on using capital letters and using their phonics to sound out cvc words. They have shown focused and mature attitudes to their learning. We look forward to seeing what fantastic pieces of writing they will produce this year!
In Maths, we have started our unit looking at Place Value within 10. The children have been grouping objects by choosing different categories and have been counting amounts up to 10. They have also been using objects to represent numbers and recognising numbers written as words up to 10. This may be something you would like to practise at home!
We have been learning about the artist Bridget Riley in our art lessons. She has inspired us to explore how we can create different lines and patterns. In PSHE we have been focusing on the importance of resilience. The children carried out a tricky origami task, to create their own dogs. We discussed the barriers we encountered and supported one another to overcome them.
We hope you have a restful weekend and look forward to another week of fun on Monday!
Year 2
Our first full week in Year 2 certainly has been a busy one! We have hit the ground running in our English lessons as we began reading The Bear & The Piano by David Litchfield. We explored the front cover and made predictions about the contents before immersing ourselves into the character of the Bear and imagining what it would have been like to see such a talent perform. We gave rave reviews as we used adjectives to describe his incredible melodies.
In maths we have started our Place Value topic by representing tens and ones in numbers to 100. We did this through using Base 10 and counters before using our whiteboard to represent the numbers independently through drawing. We have also been practicing our spelling of numbers as words as these can be tricky and don’t always follow phonics rules!
In the afternoons we have been discovering the events of The Great Fire of London. We discussed what it would be like to witness such disastrous scenes through our senses, created fire collage posters to depict what it would have looked like and considered the things that people would have been thinking about! We learned it took part in 1666 and couldn’t believe how different London looked then compared to the present day. We are looking forward to next week when we will continue to build on our understanding to gain more insight into the impact of such a terrible event…
Year 3
The children have taken to Upper School life brilliantly. We are extremely proud of how they are conducting themselves around school and their increased independence and organisation. Well done Year 3!
Read all about it! In English this week, we have started looking at the beautifully illustrated, ‘Leon and the Place Between’ set in the mysterious and magical world of a circus. We have identified the key features of a newspaper and the children wowed us today with their confident performances when we immersed ourselves in the world of a circus and became ringmasters, jugglers and acrobats!
Building on our place value knowledge during our maths lessons this week, the children explored partitioning numbers up to 1000 using a variety of representations.
The children have also impressed us with their prior knowledge and enthusiasm in science and history this week. Keen to share facts and resources from home, we are very fortunate to have budding geologists and historians in Year 3 and look forward to exploring our fun and fascinating topics further.
Year 4
The children have had a wonderful week in Year 4, filled with excellent learning and plenty of fun.
In English, the class continued exploring the rich text Varjak Paw. They have really enjoyed listening to the story during our Faster Read sessions and have focused on characterisation this week. First, the children wrote about Varjak’s appearance and personality, carefully using powerful adjectives, expanded noun phrases and even some similes to create vivid imagery. Later in the week, they built on these skills to write imaginative descriptions of Elder Paw, the Head of the family.
In Maths, we have been exploring place value to 1,000, using base ten, the part-whole model and number lines to show understanding. Many children have worked especially hard on tackling some of the more challenging questions, showing great perseverance.
In Science, we began our new topic on Solids, Liquids and Gases, learning about their properties and identifying examples of each. For homework, the children have been challenged to find more examples at home!
In History, we launched our exciting new topic on the Romans, starting with how the Roman Empire expanded around the world. The children are looking forward to meeting a real archaeologist next week, when they will have the chance to handle genuine Roman artefacts and try to work out what they were used for.
We have been thoroughly impressed with how well the children are navigating our expectations for Year 4 and the enthusiasm they are already showing for their learning. It was also a pleasure meeting many of you at the Year 4 Parents’ Information Evening on Tuesday. If you were unable to attend, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us via email.
We wish you all a fabulous weekend!
Year 5
Well, our first full week has flown by in a whirl of figurative language, powers of 10 and solar system exploration!
In English we are thoroughly enjoying our first class text - Wolf Brother - and the adventures of Torak. Diving into the effects of figurative language, we have created similes and metaphors, as well as using personification to ‘show, not tell’ what the forest in the story is like. Maths has seen us focus on the ‘big numbers’ revising place value in numbers to 1,000,000 and exploring the powers of 10. In science, we have continued on our journey around the solar system, this time considering the differences between the geocentric and heliocentric models alongside how and why people's opinions on space change over time. We have also been impressed with how the children have tackled their first VR and NVR lessons.
Our first swimming lesson on Tuesday was a big hit, with only a few reminders about goggles, swimming hats and jewellery. The children all had a brilliant lesson and the instructors were impressed with how much progress they have continued to make.
Year 6
We are super impressed with the way that the children conducted themselves on Tuesday for their exam. The children have shown great dedication and hard work to all of their exam preparations and we are so proud of everyone for their excellent efforts. We thoroughly enjoyed mini golf on Tuesday afternoon, a well-deserved treat for everyone!
This week, we have started our Shakespeare topic in English. We have started to explore Romeo and Juliet, understanding what the prologue means, acting out freeze frames to convey our modern day interpretations. We are looking forward to delving more into this tragic story and will be rewriting parts of the play next week. In maths, we have begun our place value topic and have explored place value in digits up to 10 million, comparing and ordering numbers. In History, we have begun our Maya topic and enjoyed learning about who the Maya people were and where and when they lived.
We hope that you have a lovely weekend and we wish all the best for those sitting the Kent test on Saturday.
Outdoor Learning
This week the children have been tasting a selection of our produce namely sweetcorn, jalapeno peppers and some tomatoes. They were all in agreement that the chillies were not too spicy and the other vegetables were very sweet and delicious. The weather has been quite variable and we are hoping for some more sun to ripen our remaining tomatoes. Hopefully, I will see some of you at Southwood Park on Sunday for Parksfest from 2pm until 5pm. Have a great weekend.
Languages
In French, EYFS children practised instructions and greetings: both Nursery and Reception enjoyed their first French song and they all learnt some key words from the story book 'Les trois petits cochons'.
Year 1 revised greetings and presentation: all the children remembered how to say “hello”, “goodbye” and “my name is” and they were happy to play games to reinforce the vocabulary.
Year 2 learnt how to count up to thirty in French and played listening games to reinforce the vocabulary.
Year 3 worked on a project to introduce themselves to a new friend, saying their name, age, birthday and if they had pets.
Year 4 carried on the revision topic of “Wonderful me” and they worked on physical description of eyes and hair.
In Spanish, Year 5 started working on their textbook and they learnt to introduce themselves and started to get used to Spanish pronunciation.
Year 6 started with Latin and all the children showed interest in their new subject: they were all fascinated by the influence that Latin had on English and how much is still used in certain areas
Design & Technology and Computing
DT Quiz of the week:
See the highlighted words in the year groups and ask your child if they can recall what the words mean.
Year 3 Cardboard Castles
Pupils in Year 3 recalled their learning from last week and labelled the features they could recall that are found in castles. They learned about product analysis by explaining the functions of castles and their features.
Year 4 Electric Torches
Year 4 pupils revisited their circuit wiring this week by physically rewiring a closed circuit with switches. They will need to be able to independently wire up the circuits for their torches in the upcoming weeks to create functional products.
Year 5 Pop Up Books
Pupils in Year 5 wrote a design specification and they analysed front covers of books in order to start designing a front cover for their pop up Jack and Jill book.
Year 6 Steady Hand Games
This week Year 6 pupils learned about the design principle of form follows function. They recalled their design museum trip where we explored a range of products and analysed their function vs their form. Pupils were able to apply this principle to toys and games in order to decide if these products were ‘good’ or ‘bad’ designs. Furthermore we explored how some toys enhance fine motor skills and gross motor skills.
Computing Highlights
Year 1 pupils have been learning about algorithms and the importance of providing clear instructions.
In Year 3 we explored new terminology around data and data storage. The pupils practiced playing with data by using Top Trump comparison cards and ‘battling’ to win their opponents cards with higher field values.
Year 4 have been planning their websites by drawing the homepages that they will build with Google Sites.