From the Head
What an uplifting week it has been at St Olave’s! We started the week on a high entering school to the beautiful sounds of the steel pans; we saw so many members of the public smiling and winding down their car windows to share the joy too! Monday’s steel pan workshops filled the hall with the most joyful energy – it was impossible not to smile as all the children learned to keep rhythm and create that unmistakable Caribbean sound. Their enthusiasm was infectious and it was wonderful to see every class so engaged. Later in the week, our ‘Musician of the Month’ assembly celebrated the genius of Stevie Wonder, whose music and message of hope, joy and perseverance resonated beautifully with our school values.
Our Black History Month celebrations have brought such warmth and richness to school life. The children have thrown themselves into learning about remarkable people, stories and achievements from across the African and Caribbean diaspora, and the atmosphere around school has been genuinely inspiring. Parents have shared how much their children have been talking at home about what they’ve learned; from musicians and inventors to community heroes and how confidently they’ve spoken about fairness, respect and pride in our shared history. It has been a month filled with curiosity, creativity and compassion, perfectly reflecting the values we hold dear.
At St Olave’s, one of our most important responsibilities is helping children grow up with respect, empathy and curiosity about the world and the people in it. From the earliest years, children begin to notice and ask questions about differences such as skin colour, hair, language or family background. These observations are a natural and healthy part of their development as they learn about themselves and others.
From time to time, young children may express their thoughts in ways that sound surprising or even concerning to adults. They might use words imperfectly, make assumptions, or try to make sense of what they see around them. When this happens, our staff respond calmly and sensitively, guiding the children towards kindness, understanding and inclusive language. We take any comment or concern relating to race, culture or identity very seriously. Staff are trained to listen carefully, to explore the context with the children involved, and to use each situation as a chance to build empathy and understanding. Our curriculum and daily practice celebrate the rich diversity of our school community and the wider world. Through stories, play, discussion and creative activities, children learn that everyone belongs, that differences are something to be celebrated, and that we all share the same need to feel valued and included.
This week has also reminded me how strong our community truly is. The generosity shown through your Harvest donations has been extraordinary. The local food bank and partner charities supporting families in need will be so grateful for your kindness. It was also a pleasure to welcome so many of you to our Parent Sharing Mornings – the children were so proud to show you their work, and your encouragement means a great deal to them and to us.
Finally, although no one came forward to share their secret jollof rice recipe (I don’t blame you!), a group of very determined Year 2 children took matters into their own hands, researched the ingredients and handed me a shopping list. I’ll be trying it this weekend – and if it’s a success, I’ll be passing the recipe straight to our chefs for the menu after half term!
Thank you to all of you who managed to attend our Harvest Festival this afternoon, what a joyous occasion it was with an important message of living generously, being empathetic and being compassionate. As ever, thank you for your warmth, support and belief in what makes St Olave’s such a special place. 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
October – Friendships and Respect
Sometimes children can fall out or be unkind, but we teach that harassment, bullying, or harmful behaviour is never acceptable. If your child ever feels uncomfortable because of another child’s words or actions, encourage them to speak up - either to you or to a trusted adult in school.
Focus on School Values
This week’s school value: Collaboration
This week’s manner: Don’t complain about food that has been offered or prepared for you
This week, our children are learning that part of being a great collaborator is showing gratitude, especially when someone has made an effort on our behalf. Our weekly manner focuses on being polite about food that’s been prepared, even if it’s not a favourite.
At St Olave’s, we’re encouraging the children to try things politely, use kind words and thank those who prepare and serve meals; whether that’s our wonderful kitchen staff or someone at home. These small acts of appreciation build a culture of kindness and respect.
In assembly, we shared The Disgusting Sandwich by Gareth Edwards - a humorous story about a sandwich that goes on a very messy journey, only to be gratefully received in the end! If you’d like to explore this theme at home, I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child or Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Seuss are brilliant options for sparking conversations about trying new things with a positive attitude.
Thank you for joining us in gently teaching children how to show appreciation in all aspects of life, even at the dinner table!
Notices
Uniform Sale
The FRSC will be holding a Uniform Sale during Parents Evening on Tuesday 14th October, 3pm - 6pm. Any donations will be gratefully received. Please note, we will not be accepting any donations of uniform after that date until Spring 2026 prior to the next uniform sale.
This week at St Olave's
Year 4 visit to Kent Life
Year 4 had a fantastic trip to Kent Life for their immersive Roman Day. They began by meeting a Centurion, learning what it took to be a Roman soldier - from wielding a sword to mastering the Testudo (tortoise) shield formation. The children then met a slave, who shared insights into life in a Roman villa and introduced them to some surprising foods that were brought to England by the Romans. We learned that carrots, celery and lettuce were all brought over to England from other parts of the Empire. The children then explored impressive Roman inventions like underfloor heating and aqueducts, even laying a Roman road using a Groma, an ancient surveying tool.
After lunch, they met Boudicca, who told her story and inspired the children with a fiery speech to join her rebellion against the Romans. Finally, they learned about the unusual and lengthy Roman tanning process and made their own leather amulets to take home.
It was a truly memorable day that brought Roman history vividly to life through hands-on learning and engaging storytelling.
Steel Pan and Djembe Drumming Workshops
On Monday, St Olave's was filled with the beautiful sound of steel pans and djembe drums with a day of fantastic workshops. The day began with The Steel Pan Agency entertaining everyone at drop off before leading an assembly to teach us about the history and development of steel pans. Throughout the rest of the day, each class from Nursery to Year 6 had the opportunity to learn how to play the instruments and we were amazed with the beautiful music the children were creating - even the very youngest of our children!
Harvest Festival
Thank you all so much for your generous donations for our Harvest Festival. It was a wonderful afternoon at All Saints Church and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!
Sporting Round Up
Year 3 and 4 Tag Rugby
Wednesday saw children from Years 3 and 4 take part in a tag rugby friendly fixture at Footscray RFC. We invited Babington House along to have a game which we were all very excited about. Unfortunatel, neither years group got the result they were hoping for, but Mr Lupton and I were extremely proud of our children's team work and engagement throughout the games. Well played Years 3 and 4!
Greenwich School Games Tournament
Friday morning saw Year 6 travel to Old Colfeians RFC to take part in the Greenwich School Games tournament. We played 6 games in total and won 4, drew 1 and lost 1. We played amazingly well with tries being scored across the whole team. We finished the tournament in 3rd place which we were very proud of the children’s achievement. Well played Year 6!
Nursery
We started the week with a hands-on Drumming Workshop, where children explored the sounds of steel pans and djembe drums. With the help of the musicians from the Steel Pan Agency, they learned how to create exciting rhythms and different sounds and even worked together to perform a short musical piece. The joy of making music together was felt by all - even the adults!
Outside, the fun continued with parachute games that brought lots of laughter and teamwork. A favourite moment was creating a "parachute cave", where children lifted the parachute high and dashed underneath to sit in a magical, colourful space. We wondered what the people walking past thought of the wriggly jelly fish in the middle of the playground!!
Later, during outdoor play in the mud kitchen, the children became curious explorers. They discovered an earwig, which sparked a mini science investigation into what it eats and where it lives. This led to even more excitement as they uncovered a variety of other bugs hiding in the mud. It was a brilliant opportunity for hands-on learning about nature and the world around us.
Reception
We’ve had such a fantastic week filled with music, creativity, and lots of learning! The children absolutely loved exploring different instruments, having a go at making music with djembe drums and steel pans. A highlight of the week was listening to the incredibly talented musicians from The Steel Pan Agency, who inspired us all with their amazing rhythms and sounds.
We’ve also been busy getting ready for the Harvest Festival by designing and creating our own colourful harvest hats. We have been so excited all week to share our song that we have been practising.
In addition, we’ve been learning colours in French, which has been a fun way to start exploring another language. We have continued to build our reading skills by learning lots of new phonics sounds. We can now identify the sounds v, j, r and y in words when reading!
We also really enjoyed welcoming so many of our Reception parents into school this week to have a look around our wonderful classroom. The children were so proud to share their learning and show off their brilliant work on their WOW boards and in their WOW books . It was lovely to see their confidence and excitement shine!
It’s been a joyful, music-filled week of discovery and creativity. We look forward to catching up with you during parents evening next week.
Have a fantastic weekend.
Year 1
We have had another fun-filled week in Year 1! The children were delighted to arrive at school on Monday to the sound of the steel pans. They were very excited to take part in the workshop in the afternoon and had the opportunity to have a turn playing the steel pans and djembe drums. It was wonderful to see so many smiles as they explored different rhythms and sounds — a fantastic musical experience for everyone!
In English, the children have been building on their poetry skills. They have learned about repetition, begun to use verbs, and written their own list poems using a repeated phrase. We were so impressed with their creativity and the confidence they showed when sharing their poems with the class.
In Maths, we have begun our unit learning about addition and subtraction within 10. The children have been introduced to the part-whole model, have begun to write number sentences, and are finding fact families. If you would like to practise at home, you may want to start talking about number bonds to 10. For example, if you have 6, how many more do you need to make 10?
In Science, we have continued to learn all about our bodies and how our senses work. The children were exploring touch and identifying how different materials feel. We even linked this to our English learning as we were able to use adjectives to describe the different materials.
In PSHE, we have been learning about choices and consequences. We have thought about the impact of our actions on others and how we can spread positivity. We are so lucky to have such kind and caring children in Year 1.
Thank you for all of your support in helping the children learn the pumpkin poem for the Harvest Festival. We were incredibly proud, and we are sure you agree that their performance was fantastic.
We hope you all have a lovely, restful weekend and look forward to another exciting week in Year 1!
Year 2
Another busy week for Year 2! We have continued our work linked to our focus text of ‘The Dark’ by Lemony Snicket by thinking about other things people are afraid of. We then tried designing beings for how we think they would look if we could see them. Then we put all our knowledge of nouns and adjectives together to create noun phrases and expanded noun phrases to describe them. We had everything from long, stretchy legs and enormous, round eyes to spiky, long hair and sharp, pointy claws to create some truly unique characters for a variety of fears.
In maths we have continued learning about addition and subtraction by adding to the next ten and across a ten as well as subtracting across a ten. We have used different techniques such as using number lines, 100 squares and our fingers to count on or backwards. Please continue to practice these skills as we approach half term to increase fluency with your child.
In science we explored how exercise affects our bodies by carrying out different coordination, balance and cardio activities. We found it interesting to see the impact on our performance, heart rate and breathing. We also found it interesting that exercise was good for our minds too as we released the endorphins and discussed their role in improving our mental health.
As we continue to celebrate Black History Month this week we have been enjoying learning about important current and historical figures of significance. We have read stories about Nelson Mandela, Michael Jordan and Simone Biles and we have learned about the influential and impactful words of Dr Martin Luther King. With all of these activities alongside our fab workshops we are having the absolute best time and can’t wait to carry on the celebrations next week!
Year 3
A very busy penultimate week in Year 3 has flown by and we have been very busy. We absolutely loved taking part in the drumming and steel pan workshop on Monday. It brought rhythm and energy to approach our learning with!
This week in Science we continued our topic of Rocks and Soils when we became palaeontologists and explored how fossils are formed. The children now understand that fossils are not bones but instead imprints of an animal or plant in a sedimentary rock. To help continue the fun and learning of this topic we have invited the children to create their own dough at home. With this dough they can imprint an object of their choosing and make their very own fossil. We can’t wait to see their efforts!
In maths this week, we continued to develop our knowledge of place value and calculation by developing our strategies for adding and subtracting ten. The children showed excellent prior knowledge and were able to use numberlines, place value charts and base ten to show their understanding and work out challenging problems. We encourage all children to continue to practice their number bonds to 10, 20 and 100 as this will support them in calculations going forward.
The moment had finally arrived, when Year 3 children could begin to write their own mythological stories and they did not disappoint! Using the heroes and monsters they designed, the children set about planning and writing the opening and build up of their tales. We were impressed to see their excellent use of traditional openings, expanded noun phrases, similes and direct speech. We are looking forward to writing about the problem and resolution of our stories next week so watch this space!
In RE this week the children were excited to explore the festival of Diwali, which is part of our Hinduism topic. We understood that the theme of the festival is ‘darkness over light’ and we learnt about the different activities Hindu’s take part in to celebrate. To immerse ourselves in the festival, Year 3 listened to Diwali music whilst creating Rangoli patterns, making Diwali cards and creating lanterns. We hope that all our families that celebrate have a wonderful Diwali in a few weeks time.
Finally, we would like to thank you all for your time and support with our Harvest Festival. From donations to practising poems and watching the service in church, your contributions are greatly appreciated by us and the children. I am sure that you agree their performance was excellent and we are very proud of them. We wish you all a happy harvest season!
Year 4
What a fantastic week it’s been in Year 4!
We began with the Steel Pan and African Drumming Workshop, which filled the school with energy and rhythm. The children loved taking part and showed great enthusiasm and musical flair.
In English, the children completed their Varjak Paw unit by writing independent fantasy stories using descriptive language and dialogue. These pieces will help set individual writing targets for the coming weeks.
In Maths, we continued to build confidence in addition and subtraction using column methods. Most children are now feeling secure, but regular short practice at home will really help anyone who’s still consolidating their skills.
On Tuesday, the children represented St Olave’s brilliantly on our Roman Day trip to Kent Life. Their costumes were outstanding, thank you for your support! They met a Roman centurion, learned about daily life in Roman Britain, and even encountered Boudica.
We were also very proud of the children’s performance at the Harvest Festival, where they impressed the congregation with their lively rendition of A Diary of a Church Mouse.
Finally, we launched ATOM Learning for homework and have been pleased with the children’s engagement so far. Please continue to supervise at home to help them stay focused.
A wonderful week of learning, creativity, and enthusiasm, well done, Year 4!
Year 5
What a week! It started in style on Monday with our steel pan and drumming workshop - the children seemed to accelerate from novices to experts and played a lovely tune at the end. We also loved seeing so many of you at our Parent Sharing Morning on Tuesday; we’re sure you will agree, the children have made a fantastic start.
In English we have tried to immerse ourselves in Wolf Brother; planning and writing descriptive narratives to include a flashback. Taking inspiration from the text, we used our creative licenses to insert a flashback to add further depth to the story. Maths has seen a focus on comparing and ordering decimals this week and understanding their relationship with fractions.
Some children tried writing their names and messages in hieroglyphics as a link to our history learning on Ancient Egypt - it’s definitely harder than it looks!
We’re sure you will agree that our Harvest Festival was a huge success. We are so proud of the children for learning their lines so well for our poem and their singing was simply amazing! Thank you also for all your very generous donations.
Have a wonderful weekend and we’ll see you next week for the final week of the half term!
Year 6
It has been another busy but great week in Year 6! On Monday we started our week off brilliantly, having Parent Sharing Morning. Thank you for coming in to celebrate the children’s fantastic work and effort - it is lovely to see how proud the children are of their learning. To end the day, we loved our drumming and steelpan workshop, we definitely felt the rhythm and groove to end the day!
In English, we have continued exploring Macbeth, focusing on vocabulary and how this can influence performances. The children have been using their inference skills to consider how the characters might be feeling and thinking in key scenes and using this in their own performances. They then used their summarising skills to create a detailed crime scene report on the murder of Banquo, interpreting vocabulary and quotes to support their ideas - we have some very convincing detectives indeed! In maths, we have been securing our division skills, exploring a range of strategies to solve problems efficiently. The children have practised dividing using factors, partitioning and both short and long division.
In art, we have turned our attention to macro photography, looking closely at the work of Edward Weston. The children experimented with close up photos of fruits and vegetables, then used editing tools to adjust the saturation, vibrance and brightness of the image, creating striking and original pieces of artwork inspired by Weston’s style.
To finish the week, we think that the children’s commitment to learning their poem and songs shone through in their excellent performance at the Harvest Festival. Thank you once again for your ongoing support and we wish you all a joyful harvest time.
Outdoor Learning
This week the children have been helping to prepare for harvest. We have picked courgettes, pumpkins, carrots, tomatoes and some peppers. These will be on display in front of school and at the church on Friday. The older children helped to clear three beds and begin to mulch them. We have managed to finish the new greenhouse, ready to use for our seeds and another warm place for more tomatoes next year. The younger children went to pick up some more pears after the strong winds at the weekend in the Parkview gardens. The weather has been lovely so we are hoping for more of the same next week.
Languages
In French, Nursery and Reception have enjoyed practising colours with many different games and songs. This week’s story was “Je suis trop gros”: using an elephant and a giraffe who want to change their physical appearance, not only did we practise colours and learnt some body parts’ words, but we have also learnt how important it is to celebrate diversity and uniqueness. Year 1 continued focusing on numbers: the children practised writing and reading skills with many different games; Year 3 learnt to describe where in the country one lives, using compass points and combining listening skill with writing accuracy; Year 4 had their first lesson of the year on French phonics, focusing on the sounds “AI” and “IN”.
In Spanish, Year 5 talked about birthdays at the first and second person, and practised their speaking skills. Year 6 carried on practising the core vocabulary of our half termly topic and worked on some “bad translations”, spotting mistakes and correcting them. In Latin, the children met the imperative verbs and started to understand the difference between the formation of the negative imperative and the positive one. Our Vindolanda family received the visit of the Governor Marcellus, which led a class discussion on what type of food the Romans might have eaten. We were quite surprised - and a little disgusted! - to learn that peacock’s tongue and stuffed dormouse were delicacies back then!
Design & Technology and Computing
Quiz of the week test your child’s knowledge by asking them to explain the words in bold.
Year 3 Cardboard Castles
This week Year 3 pupils assembled the nets for their castles and began attaching the nets to their flat bases. They needed to ensure that their folding was neat and that their facades were well presented.
Year 5 Pop Up Books
Year 5 pupils added backgrounds to the first two pages of their books as well as the first moving mechanism for their story.
Year 6 Steady Hand Games
This week pupils in Year 6 started assembling the circuits for their games, stabilising and reinforcing wire game paths and customising the backgrounds.
Computing Highlights
Year 1 pupils reviewed their understanding of virtual assistants and algorithms and learned about decomposition in coding.
Year 2 investigated the different forms that computers come in, they have been identifying the common features that computers have.
Year 3 continued with data recording and practised moving and formatting cell content in spreadsheet software.
Year 4 experimented with embedding websites into their own web pages.
Year 5 edited their animations in the Micro:Bit emulator, downloaded the coded files and learned how to connect physical Micro:bits to their computers. Finally they uploaded their coded files to the physical microbits.
Year 6 reviewed their knowledge of data encryption and created their own encryption formulas in Google Sheets.