From the Head
Dear Parents,
As we embark on this new academic year, I am delighted with the vibrant energy and enthusiasm that has filled our school since the children returned on Wednesday. The start of the year has been nothing short of excellent, with our children eagerly embracing their new classrooms and taking immense pride in the freshly created spaces that were developed over the summer holidays.
It is my pleasure to extend a warm welcome to our new Nursery and Reception children and their families, as well as to those who have joined us throughout the school. The seamless integration of our youngest children into our school community has been truly remarkable. It has been a joy to witness the sea of happy faces arriving at school each morning, a testament to how well everyone is settling into their new routines.
This week, we were privileged to host a very special visitor who brought an inspiring message to our pupils. Zack George, known to many as Steel from the popular Gladiators series, spent Thursday with us, providing an extraordinary start to our academic year. His visit was undoubtedly the highlight of the week, as he shared powerful messages of resilience, positivity and confidence with our young learners. Steel's presentation served as a poignant reminder of the importance of maintaining a healthy body and mind. He emphasised to our children that they possess the capability to accomplish anything they set their minds to – a fantastic message that aligns perfectly with our school's ethos of nurturing well-rounded, confident individuals.
As we look ahead, I would like to draw your attention to the upcoming welcome meetings scheduled for next week. These meetings present an invaluable opportunity for you to meet your child's teachers and gain insight into the exciting year that lies ahead. Moreover, you will receive guidance on how you can best support your child's educational journey. I look forward to seeing you all there and fostering the strong home-school partnership that is so crucial to your child's success.
Finally, I want to express my gratitude for your continued support and engagement in our school community. The positive start we have had this term is a reflection of the collaborative effort between our dedicated staff, enthusiastic children and supportive families. Together, we are laying the foundation for another year of growth, learning, and achievement at St Olave's Prep School. I hope you all have a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing you next week.
Miss C Holloway
Headteacher
Safeguarding Team
This week at St Olave's...
Gladiator Visit
We were very excited to welcome 'Steel' from the TV show Gladiators into school on Thursday. He led and exciting assembly for Years 1 to 6 where he taught us some Gladiator moves and told us the amazing story of his dedication and determination to become a Gladiator after watching the orignal series as a child. He taught us about the importance of healthy eating and exercise, and making sure we drink plenty of water. To help us keep hydrated he gave us all water bottles which he signed while he chatted to us in in our classrooms and answered all our questions. He's just finished filming the second season of Gladiators so we can't wait to see him on our TV screens again soon!
Pupil Achievements
Millwall U12 Girls Team
We are delighted to announce that Rosie in Year 6 has been signed to Millwall Girls Academy U12's team for the coming season! Congratulations Rosie!
And the first Head Teacher's Award of the year goes to.....
Charlotte for her amazing summer holiday scrapbook! Well done Charlotte, it's fantastic!
Nursery
What an absolute pleasure it has been to welcome our new Nursery children into school this week. After just three days in their new setting, the children are already coming in confidently, forming new friendships and learning our routines.
The children have had a great time exploring the classroom resources and getting outside when possible. Please make sure your child brings a coat everyday and has a waterproof and wellies to be left in school as we like to get outside whatever the weather.
Next week the children will stay for lunch for the first time which will be another new adventure. If you happen to be out and about at the weekend and find some conkers or acorns please bring them in to add to our collections.
Well done Little Acorns, an excellent beginning to your school journey.
Reception
WOW, WOW, WOW!
We have been blown away with how amazing every single child in Reception has settled into school this week. It has been so lovely to get to know everyone and watch new friendships blossom both inside and outside the classroom.
Not only have we had an amazing time getting to know each other, we have also loved watching the children explore their new classroom and all the resources in it. The children have blown our socks off with their kindness, respect and their enthusiastic approach to their new environment.
They have had so much fun joining in with their daily PE lessons, sharing facts about themselves during circle time and going on a bear hunt around the room.
We cannot wait to start our first full week next week! Have a lovely weekend. :)
Year 1
Welcome back, Year 1! We have had a wonderful start to the new school year. It was lovely to have such happy and enthusiastic children walking into their new classrooms on Wednesday morning. The children were so excited to see the huge changes around the school, especially their newly refurbished classrooms. The new learning environments have definitely supported the children in feeling calm and keen for their return to school. We are sure they will have told you all about them already.
This week our focus has been settling the children into the daily routines of Year 1. They have already produced fantastic pieces of writing; creating sentences about their trips and experiences over the summer holidays. They then thought about the things they would like to learn during their time in Year 1. We had wonderful suggestions including science, gymnastics and being kind to our friends. What an exciting year ahead it is going to be! On Thursday morning, the children were lucky enough to take part in the Zactive kids workshop, held by Gladiator Zack George. We are sure the children were very excited to tell you all about it and show you their signed water bottles.
Next week the children will be starting their topics for the half term. In English we will be reading the book ‘Not a Stick!’ and in maths the children will start with their place value unit by counting and representing numbers to 10.
Year 2
Welcome back! What a superb first few days we’ve had in Year 2! The children loved exploring their new classrooms and have been so very respectful of the work that has happened over the holidays. We are all enjoying our new spaces!
We have focused on get our heads back into ‘school mode’ with some writing, maths and art to kick start our brains. The children enjoyed writing about a favourite activity from the summer break and showed us what they can remember about place value and number bonds. We were in for a treat on Thursday with Gladiator ‘Steel’, aka Zack George, running a workshop on positive thinking - it got even more exciting when he popped into class for a photo and some autographs.
We have let the children choose a book from our class library to share with you over the weekend, and next week, once our phonics lessons start, they will bring home a book linked to the sounds they are focusing on.
Have a wonderful weekend, and we look forward to seeing you in school on Monday for our Year 2 Welcome Meeting.
Year 3
Welcome back, everyone! It was so lovely to see so many bright and smiley faces through the classroom doors of Year 3 on Wednesday. After what was hopefully a restful summer break we were all ready to start a brand new year and what a start it has been. The classrooms look fab with their new layout and furniture and we have had great fun exploring the new surroundings. We have so many great ideas for our learning this year, we just can’t wait to get started!
However, this week we have focused on settling back into school days, learning the ropes of Year 3 and getting to know each other again. This has included playing games, taking time for mindfulness and lots and lots and LOTS of chats. Our highlights have been our Zactive Kids workshop on Thursday where we learned all about what it takes to become a real life Gladiator from Zack George a.k.a Steel and spending time bonding together playing games on Friday morning!
Next week we will be starting off all of our new topics including developing our descriptive writing in English as we start reading fiction stories by Michael Foreman, deepening our understanding of place value in maths, delving into the Stone Age in history, investigating rocks in science and SO much more! The Year 3 team are also looking forward to welcoming our children’s grown-ups into school on Tuesday evening to share information on the year ahead.
We are in for a busy and exciting week so take time to rest and recharge before a bright and early morning on Monday.
Year 4
Welcome back, everyone! It has been a lovely start to the school year. We have been very impressed with the children’s attitude to our new classroom, and they have loved trying out the different seats and of course sitting on our sofa!
This week, we have focused on settling into our new routines and timetable for Year 4, catching up with our friends and thinking about what is to come this year. We have thought about our academic and personal goals for the year ahead and how we can achieve them with lots of resilience and perseverance.
On Thursday, we were very lucky to meet Steel from Gladiators. We were very inspired by his story and we loved being able to ask him questions. He showed us how we can use a mindful breathing technique to help calm down, and also reminded us about the importance of positive self-talk and we have realised how important our body language is. We have also managed to squeeze in some writing and maths lessons too. We enjoyed playing some multiplication games in maths, and working together to solve problems.
We are really looking forward to our first full week back next week. Please remember that Carousel is on Tuesday, and the children do not need to wear their PE kit, and Games sessions will be held on Wednesdays at Footscray Rugby Club.
Have a lovely weekend!
Year 5
Welcome back! It has been such a great start to the new year and we have loved seeing everyone back from their summer holidays. The school has been through a big revamp over the break and it has been wonderful to see the children coming in and settling in so well to the new academic year.
This week, we have focused on settling into our new routines and timetable for Year 5, catching up with our friends and thinking about what is to come this year. In PSHE we have thought about targets we would like to achieve this year, the children impressing us with their careful thought and consideration of the goals they have set themselves and how they will achieve them.
Thursday was the highlight of the week, we were very lucky to have Steel from Gladiators come in to visit us as part of our Zactive kids workshop. Fitting in with our theme of resilience, he inspired us with his story of never giving up and that any goal you set yourself can be achieved with hardwork and commitment.
We are really looking forward to our first full week back next week. Please remember that Carousel is on Monday and the children do not need to wear their PE kit and Games sessions will be held on Wednesdays.
Have a lovely weekend!
Year 6
Welcome back Year 6! What an exciting year we have ahead of us! We have loved seeing everyone back after their exciting summer holidays. The children have all settled well into their new classrooms and are beginning to show how to be great role models to the rest of the school - we can’t wait to see them shine!
This week, we have focused on a variety of different skills so that we are ready and relaxed for our upcoming assessments. We have discussed the importance of showing our best selves in PSHE and created ‘To Be’ lists individually. This involved writing down lots of words and phrases that would describe how we would like to be on our best day - a goal setting activity that was full of positivity!
Thursday was our favourite day as we were lucky enough to have a visit from a Gladiator! We took part in a confidence workshop which invited us all to hold our head high and say we can do whatever is thrown at us! He also came to our classroom and answered our many questions, discussing resilience, health and fitness and commitment.
On Friday, we took part in our first Latin lesson of the year which was very different from anything we have done before but also very exciting to learn something totally new. Mr Vila also took us for a DT lesson which we really enjoyed.
We are really looking forward to a relaxing weekend full of sleep, food and fun so as to feel ready for the week ahead!
Sport
We are back - ready to run, kick, throw, catch and jump our way back into PE and Games. It's been fantastic to see smiley children back in school this week. Games starts next Wednesday at Footscray, so please remember to bring shin pads for football, and mouth guards for hockey on this day. The four sports taking place at games will be football, tag rugby, hockey and fitness.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Languages
Welcome back everyone! It has been a wonderful week, packed with exciting changes around St Olave’s! Language lessons will be part of the carousel for Year 2 and Upper School - some classes have already had their lesson this week - Year 1 and EYFS have longer lessons this year. I am looking forward to diving in and having buckets of fun learning languages with the whole school. Enjoy the weekend!