St Olave's News 20th June 2025

Despite the soaring temperatures this week, the children (and staff!) have been absolute troopers. Thank you for continuing to send in sunhats and sun cream; it really does make all the difference. Warm weather can often mean that children feel more easily upset or frustrated than usual, and friendship niggles can sometimes feel a little more intense. Please rest assured that we are supporting all children to navigate these moments with kindness and understanding, and your ongoing support at home is hugely appreciated.

I’m particularly proud that even as we speed towards the end of term, our commitment to rich, inspiring learning experiences remains full steam ahead. Next week, we welcome two fantastic authors: Kandace Chimbiri on Monday and Maz Evans on Wednesday. Our Year of Reading has been such a success that I’m seriously considering making it a permanent fixture - why shouldn’t every year at St Olave’s be a Year of Reading?

On that note, I do hope that if your child is in our Upper School they have proudly shown you the gift I bought them following Big Manny’s visit last half term. It was no mean feat to get a copy of his new book into the hands of every Upper School child on the day of publication, but it was worth every ounce of effort to see their enthusiasm. I’ve already heard from children who’ve been trying out science experiments at home - watch out, future inventors incoming!

We continue to receive strong interest from prospective families, and I’m always so proud of the children when I show visitors around. Their confidence, warmth and genuine love of learning shine through in every conversation, and they are, without doubt, the school’s best ambassadors.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. I really value the way you champion the school in your conversations with friends and family - it makes a huge difference. Have a lovely weekend, stay as cool as possible in this heat and I look forward to seeing you all next week. Let's hope the good weather remains for our FRSC Summer BBQ on Saturday 28th June!

Kind regards, Miss Holloway

The week ahead...

Lunch Menu

Safeguarding Team

This week at St Olave's

LAMDA Exams and Showcase

Congratulations to all of the children who took part in the LAMDA exams this week. You have all worked very hard to learn your lines and actions ahead of your exam performances. During the afternoon, parents were treated to a wonderful showcase of Year 3, 4, 5 and 6’s drama performances. It was a very entertaining afternoon and it was wonderful to see the children's confidence on the stage. Thank you to all friends and family who came to watch the performances.

Super St O's Day

Starry in Year 4 approached Miss Holloway back in September with an idea to have a Super St O’s day to celebrate what makes us unique and to highlight our inner strengths. Starry led an assembly to the whole school and throughout the day, the children took part in lots of different activities from dressing up as super heroes to writing poems about people who inspire us. The day was not only an opportunity to celebrate the children but we also focused on raising money for the charity Variety - The Children’s Charity (keep an eye out for the total next week!). It was a great day, and well done to Starry for organising it.

Mr Stoyanov Careers Talk - Year 6

We were fortunate to welcome Mr Stoyanov on Wednesday morning for an informative, engaging, and inspiring presentation about his role at Maersk. He shared the story of how his interest in computer science began during his time at a Maths High School in Bulgaria—where, let’s just say, he enjoyed experimenting with code. One memorable project had every keyboard in the school beeping when the spacebar was pressed, much to the teachers’ surprise!

The children were captivated and asked insightful, thought-provoking questions. Mr Stoyanov went on to explain his current role in logistics, highlighting the technical skills he has developed over the years, as well as the essential soft skills needed for his collaborative leadership position.

He even created a bespoke St Olave’s Logistics domain where pupils could track their own parcels and measure how long it would take for them to pass through customs. His final message to the children was powerful: always ask yourself—“Can I?”

Sporting Round Up

Last Friday afternoon saw Years 5 and 6 children travel across to Queen Mary’s University Ground to have an afternoon of cricket. Both games were thrillers and went down to the last ball in each game. Year 6 won their game off the last ball with a boundary being hit. The Year 5 game went into a super over as scores were tied at the end of play. Unfortunately we lost on the last ball of the super over, however all the children were exceptional and played incredibly well. Lots of boundaries scored and wickets taken. Well played everyone!

Pupil Achievements

Poetry by Heart Competition

We were delighted this week to receive the results of the choral poetry competition, Poetry by Heart, that our Speech and Drama classes entered earlier in the year. Year 3, 4 and 5 group were all 'Commended' while our Year 6 group were 'Highly Commended'! A great result for all of them, congratulations!

Football Award

Congratulations to Max in Year 6 for being awarded the Manager's Player award for his football team this season!

Nursery

We already knew that Little Acorns class is full of superheroes but on Monday it was confirmed. We had a great day dressing as our favourite superheroes and coming to the rescue in different scenarios. Tiger on a caravan? No problem! Bear stuck in a tree? We’re on our way!

Great job Super St O’s.

This week we have also been investigating some everyday items and finding out how they work. We have deconstructed a toaster, an iron and a laptop, using screwdrivers and pliers to break them apart and discover all the different parts hiding inside. We were interested to find lots of different coloured wires, circuit boards and springs among a host of other bits and bobs! If anyone has any other household items that no longer work and would like to donate them to the Little Acorn engineers we would be very grateful.

Reception

WOW, the sun has been out and shining on our outdoor area this week. With the hot weather, we’ve been making the most of water play to stay cool and it's been a splash of fun for everyone! We also enjoyed some relaxing time at the spa, where the children loved giving each other pedicures and styling one another’s hair.

On Monday, we celebrated Super St O's Day, dressing up in our favourite superhero costumes. It was heartwarming to hear the children talk about different superpowers and share how each of us is a superhero in our own way. We had a fantastic time designing and making our very own capes, masks and shields!

This week, we also explored colour mixing, learning all about primary and secondary colours. The children had a brilliant time experimenting with mixing paints and using their new colour creations in artwork.

We hope you have a lovely, restful weekend, and we look forward to seeing you next week, especially for our exciting trip to Wingham Wildlife Park!

Year 1

What a scorching but fun packed week! Following Super St O’s day on Monday we have to say thank you to Mrs Aldridge who organised a lovely trip to the Barbican on Wednesday to listen to the London Symphony Orchestra play music from around the world and even from a galaxy far far away…

In maths we have completed our unit focussing on shape and position, we have learned our all important lefts and rights and also thought about the tricky concept of rotation. In English - CAPITALS! When to use a capital letter apart from the start of a sentence can be a challenge but the children have worked really hard to learn the rules about nouns and proper nouns.

We have really enjoyed our science lessons; beginning an in depth study of the Galapagos Islands and the iconic giant tortoise.

Year 2

We've had another jam packed, super heated, fun week in Year 2. Super St O’s day was a complete success on Monday as we drew superhero versions of ourselves with the help of a Marvel comic artist and thought about our superpowers of kindness, determination and being a good friend. Another successful swimming lesson on Tuesday saw the children thinking and learning about water safety, including how to behave if you get into trouble and how to help someone else. Thank you Mrs Aldridge for transporting us to a galaxy far, far away via the Barbican on Wednesday - we had a blast!

In class, we continued to work on our skills as we hurtle towards the end of the year. We have been learning about telling the time both past and to the hour in maths - please continue to practice this with your child at home, especially remembering which hand is which on a clock. In English, we have focused on the correct use of speech marks, and all the other punctuation that goes with it! We used our own experiences to write about all the conversations we had in one morning - we found that we talk a lot!

In DT this week, we have tried our hand at hapazoming, an ancient Japanese technique to use the colours and pigments in leaves and flowers to create a pattern on material. On Friday we tuned these into pouches whilst working on our sewing skills!

It's going to be a scorcher over the weekend so please take care, and we'll see you Monday.

Year 3

Another exciting week has passed in Year 3. We have been enjoying learning all about time and in particular working out durations. Whilst this was initally tricky, we can now tell you how long something will last. This is particularly useful for calculating how long our lessons or break times are.

In English, we started writing our newspapers based on the story 'Dolphin Boy' by Michael Murpurgo. This sensational story features a town that rescues a dolphin and that dolphin visits every day. The children have enjoyed using newspaper language with time and manner adverial openers. They also focused on using a mixture of direct and reported speech. Year 3 took to this style of writing really well and we could have some budding journalists in our midst!

Year 3 also enjoyed taking part in the fabulous Super St O's day. There were great costumes and the children participated well in superhero based activities including making super paper dolls, drawing comic strips and writing poems that focus on how super they are!

As we come to the end of term we are also spending time focusing on our verbal and non-verbal reasoning skills. Whilst many are new to this, they have taken on the challenges really well and can now recognize patterns and decode words using given clues. We are impressed with their progress in this area.

Finally, we are sure you are aware of our upcoming end of year production of Beauty and the Beast. The children have been practicing their songs and dances for their role in this performance and we can't wait to show off their hard work towards the end of the year. We want to remind children to keep practicing at home and school so they can be the best they can be on stage.

We hope you have a lovely weekend and keep cool and safe in this hot weather.

Year 4

We’ve had a busy, hot week! The children have been very adaptable to the heat, and coped incredibly well. We have taken the opportunity to head into the allotment to read in the shade, and the hall when practising our dances for Presentation Evening.

Our week started with Super St O’s Day, organised by Starry in 4 Rowan. We celebrated our inner strengths and then wrote some poems about the people in our lives that inspire us. In English, we have started to look at biographies by identifying the features used in them. We then used our Rosa Parks research homework, to start drafting our own biographies. We will be composing them next week as a final extended writing piece of Year 4! In maths, we have focused on telling the time particularly when converting from and to the 24 hour clock. We revised units of time, and learned some quick rules for remembering how many days there are in each month.

In science, we considered pond ecosystems and learned how important plants like pond weed are. We found out that they provide food and oxygenate the water for other species of plants and animals.

As we approach the end of the year, we have been reflecting on our time in Year 4. We reflected upon our highlights and discussed our achievements. Within this reflection, Year 4 started to think about what next year will bring and the events that we are looking forward to. We hope you have a relaxing and cool weekend!

Year 5

This week has been a busy one for Year 5 with dance rehearsals and their LAMDA exam alongside all of their other work.

In maths, the children secured their understanding of decimals looking at both dividing and multiplying and developed a secure understanding of different methods to help them tackle these questions. Towards the end of the week, we began to look at algebra and how to solve equations and identify like terms. We were impressed with the application of problem solving skills as they delved into this new topic!

As we approach the end of the year, we have been reflecting on our time in Year 5. We reflected upon our highlights and discussed our achievements. Within this reflection, Year 5 started to think about what next year will bring and the events that we are looking forward to. We are looking forward to our trip next week to the Saatchi Gallery. Please remember water bottles and a packed lunch.

Year 6

We began the week by celebrating Super St O's Day, where the children came dressed in outfits that reflected what makes them feel unique and special. It was heartwarming to see such individuality and pride in who they are.

In the afternoon, the children took part in the Junior Citizens event at Sutcliffe Park. They engaged in a series of informative workshops delivered by the Metropolitan Police, Transport Police, Dogs Trust, Ambulance Service and the Fire Brigade. The sessions focused on staying safe and being responsible as they prepare for life beyond primary school. The children listened attentively and showed great maturity – many left feeling more prepared and even received an Oyster card wallet to support their growing independence!

On Wednesday, we had an important discussion about messaging online. The children shared their knowledge of the various platforms used for communication and were reminded that the age recommendation for WhatsApp is 16+. Through role play and group discussion, we explored positive messaging behaviour and the potential difficulties that can arise when communicating via phones or tablets. The children showed great reflection and recognised how important it is to have support from adults when navigating this new digital landscape. We kindly ask that you continue to talk to your child about their online messaging and help them establish healthy boundaries and habits.

Thursday was a real highlight, as both Year 6 classes wowed us with their Speech and Drama Performances. With impressive confidence, clear expression, and excellent comedic timing, the children demonstrated just how skilled and articulate they’ve become. It was a real joy to witness – and a fantastic warm-up for our upcoming Presentation Evening, which promises to be a very special occasion indeed!

Outdoor Learning

What a scorcher of a week we have had! The children in Year 5 started the week by picking lots of strawberries. By the end of the session we had 8kg of strawberries, shared between themselves, Mrs Dourmoush for cooking and the younger children at lunchtime. We have also planted lots of courgette plants, pumpkins, green beans, salad and beetroot. The tomatoes have filled up polytunnels 1 and 5 and are growing well. One of the greenhouses had a top temperature of 51 degrees! Year 3 completed their science experiment with some celery and red dye in a cup of water. They were amazed to see the celery turn red overnight, as the coloured water moved up the stem and in to the leaves.