From the Head
As we draw this half term to a close, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the many highlights and share just how proud I am of our school community.
This week, we had the absolute pleasure of welcoming back over 20 of our Year 7 alumni to support our current Year 6 children as they prepare for the transition to senior school. It was both heartwarming and inspiring to see these young people, all who were in our classrooms just last year, return with such poise, maturity and warmth. They spoke honestly and thoughtfully about their own transition experiences, offering top tips and wise reassurance to our Year 6s. Whether it was navigating new timetables, finding their way around big buildings or making new friends, their advice was practical, kind and rooted in lived experience. They embodied all the values we hold dear here at St Olave’s, and we are so proud of the confident, empathetic and articulate individuals they are becoming.
Yesterday brought a very different, but equally inspiring experience for the children (and the staff!) We were thrilled to host the inimitable Big Manny, whose passion for science and infectious energy filled every corner of the school. The Upper School were treated to a dazzling display of live chemistry experiments, all underpinned by an empowering message about the value of hard work, curiosity and perseverance. Big Manny’s own story of success through dedication and love of learning really struck a chord with the children and more than a few of the adults too!
Meanwhile, our Lower School children had their own brush with brilliance as Big Manny popped into their classrooms to say hello and test their science knowledge with some brain-teasing questions. Mr Schaller was particularly impressed with their knowledge of elements from the Periodic Table! It was a joyful, electric day of learning and laughter and one that will be remembered for a long time.
Looking ahead, next week our focus shifts to our dedicated Year 5 children as they take part in their next round of ETAP sessions. They are seeing first-hand how their hard work and commitment are paying off. It’s a joy to watch their confidence grow as they rise to new challenges and deepen their skills. The journey to the 11+ can feel long, but they are showing the resilience and determination that will see them through.
Finally, I want to wish all our families a restful and happy half term break. Whether you’re travelling, staying close to home, or simply enjoying a slower pace for a few days, I hope it brings you time to recharge and connect. We return to school on Monday 9th June for the final half term of what has already been a remarkable year and it promises to be every bit as busy, joyful and full of opportunity as the ones before it.
Kind regards, Miss Holloway
The week ahead...
Lunch Menu
Safeguarding Team
This week at St Olave's
Year 6 Norfolk Lakes Residential – A Week of Adventure and Fun!
Last week, Year 6 embarked on their much-anticipated residential trip to Norfolk Lakes – a week filled with adventure, laughter, and unforgettable memories. Their journey began with a sunny pit stop at Thetford High Lodge, where the children enjoyed a picnic lunch and some much-needed time to stretch their legs, play in the fresh air, and soak up the beautiful forest surroundings.
On arrival at Norfolk Lakes, the excitement truly began. The first activity was paddle boarding – a brilliant introduction to life on the water. There were plenty of giggles, some impressive balancing acts, and lots of teamwork as the children navigated their boards and encouraged one another. Rifle shooting brought out the children's focus and precision, with many showing remarkable concentration and control – steady hands and sharp eyes were in abundance!
Each evening, Miss Holloway brought the day to a perfect close with a cosy bedtime story, creating a calm and settled atmosphere that helped everyone rest well. The children were full of energy each morning, ready to dive into the day’s activities after enjoying hearty meals and a good night’s sleep. Daily room inspections encouraged tidiness and responsibility – and we’re pleased to report that all children rose to the challenge and kept their spaces impressively neat!
The thrill of caving was another highlight – the children eagerly crawled, climbed, and explored the dark tunnels, showing courage, determination, and a real sense of adventure beneath the ‘surface’. Giant paddle boarding was a hit too – with huge boards, lots of laughter, and even more splashes! The children worked brilliantly as teams, learning that sometimes falling in is half the fun.
Axe throwing added a new level of excitement, with pupils learning to stay calm and focused as they aimed for the bullseye. Raft building brought out the problem-solvers in the group – split into teams, they designed and constructed their own rafts with enthusiasm and creativity. While the results varied, the spirit of teamwork and resilience was evident throughout.
It was a fantastic week that helped the children grow in confidence, strengthen friendships, and create memories that will last a lifetime. Well done, Year 6 – you were a credit to the school and your parents.
Year 6 Trip to Wembley Stadium
Year 6 were incredibly fortunate to be given the opportunity to tour Wembley Stadium, thanks to the generosity of one of our Year 6 parents, Mr Warwick. Mr Warwick, who works for the FA as a Mega Tournament Organiser, has been instrumental in delivering major events such as the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 and is now working on preparations for the Men’s Euro 2028.
The tour gave pupils an unforgettable behind-the-scenes experience, including exploring the England team’s dressing rooms, walking through the players' tunnel, and standing pitchside where football history has been made. They also visited the press conference room, sat in the England manager’s dugout, and stood in the spot where trophies have been lifted by legends. Pupils learned about the stadium’s rich history through the Crossbar Exhibition and admired the Walk of Legends, celebrating iconic figures in football. They were also fascinated to discover that Wembley is not only a temple of football but also a world-renowned concert venue, having hosted music legends such as Queen, Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, and Ed Sheeran.
It was a truly inspiring day that brought the magic of Wembley to life. Thanks to Mr Warwick for this opportunity!
Year 2 Construction of Bugwall Tunnel & French lesson in Southwood Park
On Thursday Year 2 visited Southwood Park and created the 'Bugwall Tunnel' bug hotel. The Friends of Southwood Park had created a “dead hedge” and the Bugwall Tunnel was the completion of this project to encourage more bugs. First the children foraged in the park for suitable materials to put in the “hotel” and then they carefully filled the pipe with cones, cardboard, twigs, leaves, moss, grass, bark chippings, bits of old egg boxes, and a few bricks.
While they were at the park, some of the Year 2 Eco Team and Community Team members took their friends to visit the St Olave’s Maple Tree which they helped to plant in March and reminded them that the tree needs a lot of water to drink while it gets established.
The children were also lucky enough to have a French lesson in the park too.
Sporting Round Up
Tag Rugby Tournament
On Tuesday, St Olave's Year 5 and 6 took part in a tag rugby tournament held at Old Colfeians RFC. Seven schools entered and St Olave's finished in 2nd place. We only lost one game which was to the eventual champions. We were also fortunate to have Women's England world cup winner Victoria Fleetwood at the tournament meeting the children. Well played everyone!
Girls' Football League
After school on Tuesday saw the girls' football team bounce back from last week's defeat to win their match 4-0. The girls moved the ball around the pitch confidently and fluently. With only 2 games left, the girls are closing in on the trophy. Keep going girls!
Tennis Tournament
On Thursday, Year 6 children competed in a tennis tournament with the overall winners representing Greenwich at the Kent tennis tournament. Year 6 were amazing and finished joint winners which meant that we had a one off tie breaker game to decide the overall winners of the day. Fortunately, St Olave's children rose to the occasion and won the deciding match. This means that St Olave's will represent Greenwich at the Kent tennis tournament. Congratulations Year 6!
Nursery
There is never a dull moment in Nursery! This week the children have continued to wow us with their imagination, creativity and enthusiasm. We love that the children bring their own enthusiasm into Nursery, and this week the children have been inspired by the Octonauts, Kung Fu Panda and even croquet!!
On Tuesday the children celebrated World Bee Day, learning about the importance of bees in our world, not just by producing honey but by pollinating the plants that we need for food. We have made our own bees using a variety of media and techniques, made bee hats and role-played how bees gather nectar and travel from plant to plant. What amazing creatures bees are!
Reception
WOW, this half term really has flown by! What a joy it has been to see the children grow and thrive.
This week, the children expressed how much they enjoyed painting their puppets during an afterschool club. We thought it would be a lovely idea to collect flowers from our allotment and bring them back into the classroom so that we could make careful observations and paint some more beautiful pictures.
This week in maths, we have been playing games to create addition number sentences. The children have been using a dice to find numbers using their subitising skills. They then added the 2 numbers and we have discussed how it makes a larger number. We have also used Numicon to find multiple ways of finding a whole number.
We have put a few phonics and letter formation videos onto Tapestry - if you would like to keep yourselves busy over the half term, please give them a watch. We would also LOVE to see some of your pictures on Tapestry so that we can share our adventures together during class time. If you are going away, it would be fantastic to receive a postcard from you. The children have really enjoyed learning about different countries around the world.
We hope you have an incredible half term and a lovely break and we look forward to seeing you for the last half term in Reception!
Year 1
Year 1 have had a wonderful week of learning and adventure! On Monday we were thrilled to have an amazing special guest - Mr Palas who talked to the children about being an inventor and his fascinating work in robotics; even bringing in a 3D printed part and circuit boards from some earlier robot designs - wow!
Our work on money during maths lessons came to a close this week but we are confident that the children are confident in their recognition of money, values and change. They enjoyed the topic and definitely showed progress in their understanding of money.
For our English lessons the children were assigned the task of writing a nature poem with the allotment as their inspiration and they loved being outdoors whilst flexing their creative skills! They were also very brave and recited their poems to their classmates.
Science lessons have been full of awe and wonder as usual; the children have been thrilled to study all sorts of different animals; learn about their groups, habitats and diets and even create fact files on a chosen animal; researching the information themselves. A really special treat was a visit from Starry in Year 4 who showed us her amazing stop motion animation of animals in their habitats! Thank you!
Year 2
Year 2 have worked extremely hard in the run up to the half term break and we have been delighted to see the children growing and improving their skills as the weeks go by. The children have enjoyed making a calendar for the month of May and it really has been a very eventful month.
In English this week, we continued our focus on sentence structure and practised writing extended sentences, using a main clause and a subordinate clause. We also began to learn about paragraphs and how sentences can be grouped together. We shall be putting these skills to good use in our story writing unit after half term.
In maths, we have improved our understanding of fractions - practising reading and writing fractions as well as counting in fractions and finding three quarters of a shape and numbers. We have also been learning to find the difference between numbers by carrying out a subtraction calculation or counting up if the numbers are close together. After half term, we shall be learning to tell the time, so please encourage your child to look at the hands on clocks at various points throughout the day.
In our geography lesson, the children were thrilled to be given the task of using an atlas to locate the countries of Europe, which they greatly enjoyed. They went on to make a fact file on a country of their choice. We explored relationships and ways to mend friendships in our PSHE lessons, understanding the different types of families and how special they are. We had an excellent carousel afternoon which included outdoor learning at the park. We ended the week with a fantastic ‘Rights Day’ about refugees and the difficulties these children face in their daily lives.
Our French lesson this week took us to the park for a tea party! What fun!
We wish you all a lovely half term holiday and look forward to seeing you when we return.
Year 3
This week Year 3 have been completing independent writing as we reflect on the learning from our diaries topic in English. The children were provided with a stimulus and given free rein to explore and show off their skills with time adverbials, dialogue and thoughts and emotive language. They have impressed us with their ability to take on feedback and use this without guidance to take their next steps to becoming top tier authors.
It was 'time' time in maths this week! We started our new topic by learning about Roman numerals and cracking the code to find the numbers the symbols matched. We then moved on to recapping minutes past and to and finally finished on telling the time to the minute. Please keep practising this complicated skill over the half term (provide your child with a watch if possible).
We had an exciting end to the week, with a visit from Big Manny on Thursday. He wowed us with his Science experiments and shared with the children the importance of working hard at school and following your dreams and interests. I’m sure you heard all about his visit at home! On Friday we ended with our fifth Rights Day. All of the children really impressed us with their level of empathy and understanding for refugees. We explored how we might feel if we had to leave our homes and loved ones and move countries, homes, schools etc. Year 3 wrote such empathetic and thoughtful letters to a refugee they imagined welcoming at St Olave’s.
We’ve had such a fun, busy half term and look forward to our final half term in Year 3, which looks to be yet another busy one!
We hope you all have a relaxing half term break.
Year 4
This half term has flown by, but we have still managed to squeeze a lot into our last week! The highlight of our week was the visit from Big Manny on Thursday. We loved seeing science in action and enjoyed hearing about his new books. We are very grateful to Miss Holloway for organising this for us.
In maths, we came to the end of our shape topic, revised some formal methods for calculations and also started our money topic! We found it interesting to learn how a square is a special kind of rectangle. After half term, we will continue with our money unit and also learn about the 24 hour clock. Any additional practice your child can do to support their knowledge of time, would be much appreciated.
In English, we finished our Ananse and the Chameleon stories by evaluating and editing our first drafts. We then published them in our best handwriting in order to make a class book of our wonderful work. This brought together all of our learning about adverbials and conjunctions over the past few weeks and we were blown away by the children’s creativity and use of ambitious vocabulary.
In science, we learned about branching databases and how we can use them to classify animals and plants. We learned about the difference between vertebrates and invertebrates and we were amazed that 95% of the world’s animals are invertebrates. The children were so curious and asked some brilliant questions.
We hope you all have a lovely half term break, and we look forward to seeing the children in a couple of weeks for what will be their final half term in Year 4.
Year 5
We can’t believe we are approaching the last half term of the summer! This term surely is flying by.
In maths, we have been looking at the topic of position and direction. We have focused on working with coordinates, understanding how to translate shapes and points and identified lines of symmetry and how shapes can be mirrored across axes. In English, we have been practising our comprehension skills and developing our understanding of vocabulary even further to answer a range of cloze and comprehension style questions.
In verbal reasoning we have been focusing on number sequences. The children have been learning to identify patterns using the four operations as well as recognising squared and cubed numbers. In non-verbal reasoning, we’ve looked at letter codes and combined shapes, thinking abou how to decode letter patterns and analyse how shapes fit together or change.
A highlight of the week was having Big Manny the scientist come and visit us! We were blown away by his fantastic experiments and really enjoyed watching science in action as well as hearing about how he came to be where he is today. We think we have a few more budding scientists in our midst!
We hope you all have a lovely half term. Please remember that if your child is coming to the ETAP sessions, that they have a nut-free packed lunch with them and to arrive by 9am.
Year 6
This week began with a visit to Wembley Stadium, where the children enjoyed a behind-the-scenes tour of one of the most famous sporting venues in the world. They explored the changing rooms, stood where managers give their team talks, walked through the players’ tunnel, and took in the view from where teams such as Crystal Palace have held up the FA Cup! Standing pitchside gave everyone a real sense of the scale and atmosphere of the stadium.
Back at school, the children have been thinking about the value of appreciation. Inspired by their trip, they wrote thoughtful cards to Mr Warwick to thank him for organising the day. They also spent time looking at photographs and videos from the Norfolk residential, which brought back lots of fond memories. The children then created letters of gratitude for the staff at Manor Adventures, recognising the care and effort that went into making the trip so special.
Throughout the week, we have been discussing how body language plays a big part in how we communicate—around 55% in fact. We have encouraged the children to think about their facial expressions, tone of voice and gestures when showing appreciation and communicating with others.
A particularly exciting moment this week was meeting Big Manny, who performed a lively and interactive science show for the Upper School. With experiments and enthusiasm, he captured everyone’s attention. He also shared his story of going from a secondary school science technician to becoming a well-known science communicator. His message about hard work, passion and perseverance left a strong impression.
On Wednesday afternoon, Miss Holloway hosted a Year 6 and Year 7 transition tea party. Former pupils returned to answer questions, offer advice, and chat about their experiences in secondary school. Year 6 listened with interest and enjoyed pizza, brownies and games together in the playground. It was a relaxed and friendly afternoon, and the Year 7s left behind some handwritten tips for making a great start at secondary school.
Year 6 have also begun rehearsing for their end-of-year production, with some early run-throughs taking place in music lessons and during class time. We’ve been really impressed with the children’s enthusiasm and the interest they’ve shown already. Each child has now received a copy of the play script and has been set the challenge of learning their lines, cues, and songs over the break, ready to begin full rehearsals after half term. With only five weeks to go, we’re confident this brilliant group will rise to the occasion. We are so proud of them all and continue to think very highly of every single one. Wishing you all a restful and happy half term—see you soon!
Outdoor Learning
This week has been a combination of science and gardening lessons at the allotment. We have sown more beetroot, sweetcorn, tomatoes and peppers. The children have learnt about the parts of a plant, how to classify plants and how seeds are dispersed in the garden. Two of the fruit cages have been completed and we have planted a few more of our strawberry plants. I look forward to seeing some of you at our Gardening Clubs in half term, dates to follow soon.
Languages
In Early Years, both Nursery and Reception children have listened to the story of “La Chenille qui fait des troues” (“The Hungry Caterpillar”) and they learnt more words thanks to this wonderfully sweet book. Year 1 had a challenge forming plurals of animals and learnt how to express opinions on zoo animals. Year 2 had a blast using props of food to do role plays in the park: they all took turns to be at the market or at a restaurant and ordering food to eat and ingredients to cook. What a super afternoon they all had!
In the Upper School, in French, Year 3 worked on the use of “il y a” to describe the landscape of a continent or a country, and Year 4 practised their written and speaking skills on expressing opinions on school subjects. Year 5, in Spanish, completed their beautiful “casitas de papel” with great details and care, and they also learnt some Spanish prepositions. Year 6 students chose their favourite topic and did a revision on it, improving their writing skills. In Latin, Year 6 did a revision of the grammar examined in the first book of Minimus.
Music
It’s been great to have Year 6 back at school this week and they’ve started learning songs for Beauty and the Beast with great enthusiasm! The Upper School have continued to learn new songs and recap previous songs from Beauty and the Beast. They are doing extremely well and we hope to send out the lyrics and music to the children after half term so that they can also rehearse at home too. Everyone is very excited already!
The Lower School have been fantastic at adding expression to the two songs they are learning, ‘Are We Nearly There Yet?’ and ‘I Wish You Were Here’. The children in Years 1 and 2 will be going on a trip to the Barbican to see the London Symphony Orchestra perform next half term. We are learning the two songs in preparation for this, which along with some other schools, we will sing whilst the orchestra plays. A letter will be sent home soon regarding this trip.
The children in Early Years have enjoyed recapping songs learnt throughout the year including, ‘Rhythm Robot’, ‘1,2,3,4,5 Once I Caught a Fish Alive’ and ‘Five Fine Bumble Bees’. All of the children are now singing with such confidence and we have focussed on adding expression and dynamics to our voices.
Congratulations to our wonderful musicians who performed in assembly this week, Shweta playing the violin (Year 3), Oliver playing the guitar (Year 4) and Starry playing the harp (Year 4). Your performances were inspiring for the other children in the school and you performed with great confidence. Well done!
A reminder that instrumental lessons will begin during the first week back after the half term break. Please ensure your child has their instrument and books with them for their lesson. Thank you and have a wonderful half term break.