From the Head
This Week at St Olave’s What a full and joyful week it has been at St Olave’s. The school is absolutely buzzing - Nativity rehearsals are in full swing, corridors are filled with singing and storytelling, and the children are throwing themselves into every moment with their usual enthusiasm. This is such a special time of year in a prep school and it’s been a privilege to watch their confidence and excitement grow each day. I also want to say a heartfelt thank you for the generosity you have shown with donations for our Christmas Fayre. Every chocolate bar, bottle, stationery item and raffle stub genuinely makes a difference and it’s the strength of our community that allows us to create events that feel so magical for the children. Monday is the final day for donations, which gives us enough time to organise everything ahead of Friday’s festivities. Cake donations are very welcome on Thursday or Friday morning. We will share full details for dismissal next Friday early next week, once we’ve had a chance to check the forecast and ensure plans are as smooth as possible. Please remember that there will be NO PLAYZONE or after school clubs next Friday though, as the Fayre starts at 3.30pm and we will need all hands on deck! A gentle reminder to please continue to line up outside for collection at the end of the school day and after clubs. This small act of cooperation keeps things fair, calm and efficient, and helps everything run smoothly - something we all appreciate all the more now that it’s chilly! As always, thank you for your continued support. St Olave’s is at its very best when we pull together, and this week has been yet another example of what a warm and committed school community we are. Have a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing you all next week. Kind regards, Miss Holloway
The week ahead...
Lunch Menu
Monthly Safeguarding Update
November – Online Safety Together Children’s online lives are part of their everyday world. Please keep talking to your child about what they watch, play and share. Remind them they can always come to you or us if they see something upsetting online. We use filtering and monitoring in school, but open conversations at home make the biggest difference.
Focus on School Values
This week’s school value: Compassion
This week’s manner: Be patient and understanding, even when things feel frustrating
Assembly Book: A Pair of Pears and an Orange by Anna McGregor This week at St Olave’s, we have been thinking about compassion through the lens of friendship; particularly those moments when three can suddenly feel like a crowd. In our assembly, we shared A Pair of Pears and an Orange, a gentle and clever story about what happens when a comfortable friendship becomes more complicated, and how tricky feelings can arise when someone new joins in. The children recognised how easy it can be to feel frustrated, jealous or left out when friendships shift. We talked about how important it is to stay patient with each other during those moments, take a breath before reacting and remember that everyone wants to feel included. The story helped us explore how friendship groups can stretch, make room and adapt, and how showing compassion means thinking about how our actions affect others. At home, you might like to open up conversations around: • What helps you feel included when friendships change? • How can you show patience when you’re feeling left out or frustrated? • What small things can we do to make sure no one feels excluded? Sharing real-life examples from siblings, cousins or even workplace friendships can help children understand that these feelings are a normal part of growing up. If you’re looking for further reading at home, The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig and I Walk with Vanessa by Kerascoët are excellent books for exploring empathy, inclusion and making space for others. Thank you for joining us in nurturing children who are thoughtful, flexible and patient, especially in the moments that challenge them most. These early lessons in compassion shape strong, kind friendships that last far beyond the playground.
This week at St Olave's
Maths Assembly Mr Warner, our new Head of Maths, led an vigorous and energetic assembly this week to introduce the children to his 'zapping' gestures, which link memory-aiding movements to multiplication arrays and crucial times tables facts. Children use their fingers to precisely draw rectangles in the air using two factors to represent arrays and then 'tap out' the correct products. Square numbers have their own specific gestures, and 5 Birch has helped Mr Warner invent a method for remembering cubed numbers. He also introduced 'Proportional Palms' , a way of children using their hands to create their own number lines, which supports some of the trickier number facts. The actions and gestures, designed to build not only a solid foundation of multiplicative knowledge but also a strong understanding of proportion, are derived from the NCETM's (National Centre for the Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics) Mastering Number at KS2 programme, the pilot year of which Mr Warner participated in 2023. Since then, with the help of the classes he has taught, he has developed them further and seen first-hand the dramatic impact in the mathematical confidence of children, especially those for whom the recall of Maths facts can be challenging. We can't wait to see how they help the children with remembering their number facts!!
Adinkra Workshop Last Friday we had some excellent art workshops on Adinkra symbols. We thoroughly enjoyed finding out what some of the different symbols mean, asking insightful questions and discussing their importance with our peers, before using this to inspire our own printing. The children worked amazingly well in a short space of time to produce art work they can be proud of.
Sporting Round Up
Netball This week, Years 5 and 6 took part in a friendly netball match at Footscray RFC. Year 5 lost their fixture 6 - 2 but played really well, moving the ball around nicely but missing a few chances in front of the hoop. The girls grew into the game, trying to track their runners defensively and lose them when attacking. Year 6 won their fixture 10 - 3, due to being very clinical in front of the hoop. They were aggressive when competing for possession of the ball and played on the front foot throughout the match. Well played everyone, on to the next match!
Notices
Our Christmas Fayre is next Friday!
Nursery
There is always lots of creativity in Nursery and the children love using our ‘loose parts’ and open ended resources to spark their imaginations. A wonderful castle emerged this week with guards, a feast and a dragon stealing the crown jewels! The children have also been learning to recognise ‘three’ in different ways and without counting. We played a game of ‘three or not three?’ and then looked for sets of three around the classroom. I wonder if the children can find a set of three at home and take a picture to put on Tapestry for us to see? Have a great weekend and stay warm!!
Reception
Despite the freezing temperatures this week, so cold it felt like winter was trying to sneak in early, we couldn’t resist celebrating the very first sighting of “snow.” Even if it did turn out to be extremely enthusiastic cold rain, the children were thrilled! We put on our welly boots, and headed outside to dance in the flurries. There were puddles to jump in and plenty of brave attempts to catch “snowflakes” on our tongues. In Drawing Club, our inspiration came from the beloved story Dear Zoo. The children imagined and designed their very own hybrid animals, then carefully created crates to send them in, just like in the book. We were blown away by their imagination and the inventive codes they used, including this week’s Red Words: ‘my’ and ‘of’. We also worked together as a group to build a magnificent castle using our junk-modelling resources, sharing ideas, solving problems. The children were so excited to make this together. In phonics, we continued exploring our Special Friends, and we are so proud of how confidently the children are using their phonic knowledge in both reading and writing. It’s wonderful to see their skills develop each day. Maths took a hands-on turn, as we investigated 5 frames, exploring different number combinations that make 5. The children demonstrated fantastic curiosity and reasoning as they built their number knowledge. To finish the week on a sweet note, Friday’s activity involved following a recipe and carefully weighing ingredients to make cookies. We even made extras as a treat for the Nursery children and decorated them just in time for snack! We’re especially excited as we count down to our first ever Reception trip to the theatre next week. What an adventure it will be! Wishing you all a fantastic weekend. Stay “ice and easy” out there!
Year 1
This week in Year 1, the children have been busy completing assessments across the curriculum. They approached each task with maturity, enthusiasm, and a positive attitude. We are incredibly proud of their effort and delighted with how well they have done. In our Humanities lessons, we continued exploring the History of Transport. This week’s focus included trains, planes, cars, and even spacecraft! The children especially enjoyed using a hairdryer and ping pong ball to investigate the science behind flight, and they were thrilled to finish the week by designing and building their very own spacecraft models. This week in Science, the children have been exploring how our environment changes as we move from autumn into winter. We talked about the features of winter weather and discussed how we can dress appropriately to stay warm and safe. The children particularly enjoyed creating their own weather forecasts, using the day’s real weather as inspiration. It was a wonderful opportunity for them to observe, describe, and apply their understanding of seasonal change in a fun and meaningful way. Nativity rehearsals are now in full swing. We hope you have enjoyed hearing snippets of the songs at home, and we would be grateful if you could continue to encourage the children to practise. Wishing you all a lovely and restful weekend.
Year 2
As the Nativity draws closer we have had a very busy week! Not only have we practised songs and learned our lines but we have started to think about putting our scenes together with some acting. All children have worked very hard already learning their lines and they should be in their folders so please keep revising them over the weekend! In maths, we are becoming whizzes with addition and subtraction. We are learning to spot when we need to add or subtract and getting more fluent with the steps that we need to take. Keep up the practice! Next step is to begin applying these to more complicated word problems and real world scenarios. In English we have been continuing to read The Diary of a Killer Cat by Anne Fine as we reach the end of our diary writing topic. We recapped how to use inverted commas for speech and started to think about ideas for our own diaries. Then we put our heads together to think of a plan for a diary in role as Ellie ready to get writing some full diaries next week! Perhaps Year 2 could start keeping a diary at home to practice further… There have been so many donations for the Christmas Fayre already from Year 2 and we are all so excited to see how it all comes together on Friday!
Year 3
Another busy week in Year 3 has flown by! This week we put our reading and mathematics skills to the test, completing online assessments to show what we have learnt so far. The children took to this new format brilliantly and showed our values of effort, resilience and respect when completing their tasks. In English this week, we started our new topic of letter writing. To help us better understand this form of writing we explored a wide range of written communication, including postcards, birthday cards, emails, online messages, letters and notes. We understood the language and structural features of each and now understand that a letter has an address, a greeting, a sign off and paragraphs. We look forward to learning more about this topic and working on our own letters in the coming weeks.
In maths this week, we continued to revise our addition and subtraction skills. We learnt lots of tips and tricks that will help us with our mental and written skills including numbers that complement to 100, inverse operations, estimation and deciding on operations when given worded problems. All these skills should help our hard working mathematicians become confident and efficient when faced with any addition and subtraction problems both in school and in real life practice. Science this week saw Year 3 continuing to learn about forces with a focus on friction. The children learnt about what friction is and how some materials create more whilst others less. They tested this new knowledge as a class when sending an object down a slope with different materials attached. For each they made a prediction, timed the investigation and were able to draw the conclusion that carpet and sponge created a lot of friction whilst plastic created very little. They could then apply this knowledge to real life scenarios, explaining why a bowling alley uses polished wood and a swimming pool uses textured tiles.
Finally, in Geography, the children furthered their learning on the continent of Antarctica by studying its natural geographical features. These features included mountains, ice-shelves, icebergs and ice sheets or glaciers. The children were fascinated to learn all about these huge and unfamiliar natural structures that make up a large part of this beautiful continent. I am sure they will be happy to share what they have learnt with you at home.
Year 4
This week in English, the children thoroughly enjoyed completing their unit on explanation texts. They watched Wallace and Gromit’s brilliant invention, the Snoozatron, in action and then wrote their own explanations of how it works. We were very impressed with their use of paragraphs, time conjunctions and subject-specific vocabulary, skills they have been practising over the past few weeks. We have now begun our new text, 'Tuesday' by David Wiesner. The children loved exploring the mysterious illustrations and stepping into the role of detectives, thinking of questions they might ask witnesses about the strange events that occurred one Tuesday evening. In Maths, we have started our new topic on multiplication and division. The children have been working hard to develop the recall and speed of their 3, 6 and 9 times tables while solving number stories linked to these facts. A highlight of the week was Mr Warner’s fantastic maths assembly, where he taught the children some fun multiplication moves to help them remember their tables. Do ask them to show you how they work out square numbers! 4 Sycamore even had the opportunity to demonstrate what they had learnt to a visitor in school. Please encourage your child to use Times Table Rock Stars daily, as regular practice helps their multiplication facts become secure, quick and automatic. In Science, the children worked collaboratively in teams to investigate electrical circuits. They explored what makes a circuit complete and were able to explain why some circuits worked while others did not. In History, the children put the finishing touches to their impressive Roman shields, and some pupils also created their own beautiful mosaics using colourful paper tiles.
As the colder weather sets in, please ensure your child comes to school with a warm winter coat, hat and gloves, particularly on Games days, to keep them comfortable during outdoor sessions. We hope you have a restful weekend and look forward to another exciting week of learning in Year 4!
Year 5
Another week has shot past in Year 5 with lots going on! In English, our topic on balanced arguments has taken a more serious turn. We have considered key points around animal safety and welfare from whether animals should be transported from their natural habitats to different countries and whether donkeys should be used to carry luggage in remote landscapes. But the big question up for debate is whether or not humans should change the way they live to help protect endangered animals. There have been great discussions and debates, alongside some research, as this is definitely a statement that can provoke an emotional response, so the children have worked very hard to consider both points of view. In maths, we have focused our learning on factors, using our knowledge of prime numbers and ratio using our division skills to simplify and our reasoning skills to problem solve. Can we remind you that regular use of Times Table Rock Stars is crucial to improve the speed of recall of multiplication facts. ‘Garage’ mode automatically sets the questions to a level that will challenge your child, so is the best mode to practise daily.
We have properly challenged ourselves in VR and NVR this week and have been super proud of the children who just raise to each new and higher bar that is set for them! They are working incredibly well.
Year 6
Another great and busy week in Year 6, despite the arctic temperatures! In maths, we have been working on multiplying and dividing fractions. We practised using different strategies to deepen our understanding and applied our skills to a range of problem-solving tasks. In English, we continued our learning on reflective narratives. We explored how writers use introspection to show a character’s inner thoughts and feelings, and analysed how figurative and symbolic languages can add depth and meaning to a story. We also looked at how using punctuation such as semi-colons and colons can link ideas and introduce revelatory ideas to us as readers. In science, we made our own periscopes using cereal boxes! Through this practical activity, we investigated how light travels in straight lines and how mirrors are used to reflect light so we can see around obstacles. In art, we have learnt about the artist, David Hockney. We looked at one of his pieces of artwork, ‘My Parents’, and discussed what we could take from it and how we would describe it to someone who had never seen it before; thinking about the formal elements that we could see. We are very grateful for all of the donations received so far for the Christmas Fayre. Any other donations for the chocolate tombola and other stalls would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Outdoor Learning
This week has been rather a cold one! Temperatures have dipped into the minuses but the children have been busy sowing some new seeds and putting more mulch on to the empty beds. We have also been gifted some new furniture and gnomes which have been making an appearance in various parts of the allotment. Chef also took some cavolo nero to create a tasting table for the children at lunchtime. The grapes have finally been finished in the two greenhouses and the vines will be trimmed ready for next year.
Languages
In French, Nursery and Reception had fun with Madame Pomme de Terre and with memory games about body parts. We have carried on reading the story “Room on the broom” and the children have been incredible with their vocabulary retention! Year 1 learnt how to say what languages they speak and it was a marvellous reminder to see how many bilingual and multilingual children we have in our Year 1. Year 2 had a lesson on phonics, specifically on the sounds CH and J, and the children enjoyed playing the catapult game on our Languagenut Languages platform. Year 3 learnt to describe their kitchen and to say what they like doing in it: the children did accurate drawings of their kitchen and labelled the objects inside. Year 4 children finished drawing their favourite Paris landmarks and they also had a lesson on phonics, on the sounds OU and O, playing the watermelon game. In Spanish, Year 5 talked about pets and made colours agree with nouns; whilst Year 6 carried on working on the core vocabulary of family, practising translation and writing skills. In Latin, Year 6 reached the end of the first unit: we checked progress on everything learnt so far with the children working on quizzes based on verbs, adjectival agreement, translations and recap of some of the myths we have explored.
Design & Technology and Computing
Quiz of the week: ask your child if they can explain the meaning of the words in bold. Year 3 Pneumatic Monsters This week, Year 3 pupils learned about thumbnail images. They considered how they could design and build their projects by drawing and planning quick sketches to get their ideas on paper. Year 4 Slingshot Cars Pupils in Year 4 practiced technical drawing of aerodynamic car shapes from 3 points of view. Year 5 Doodlebots Year 5 pupils worked in teams to build doodle bots. They experimented with weight distribution, pivot points and counterweights to discover how the form of the doodlebot would impact its function.
Year 6 Micro:bit Arcade This week, Year 6 pupils brainstormed design ideas for the casing and themes of their Micro:bit arcade games.
Computing Highlights Year 1 pupils practiced debugging direction codes. Year 2 pupils reviewed and explained their understanding of computerised products and the presence of computers in many everyday objects,. Year 3 pupils started learning about filtering and sorting data for a purpose. Year 4 explored the difference between weather and climate. Year 5 practiced decomposing and writing algorithms and Year 6 pupils used Tinkercad to start designing a 3D model of a Micro:bit case.