From the Head
What an extraordinary week it has been at St Olave’s. As I reflect on the past few days, I am reminded once again of what makes our school such a special community for children to grow up in; the richness of experiences we offer, the integrity behind our decisions and the everyday kindness that underpins everything we do. We began the week still buoyed by the success of last Saturday’s Open Morning. The atmosphere was alive with warmth and enthusiasm, and so many visiting families commented on the purposeful buzz around the school and the pride shining through every conversation. It was a wonderful reminder of the unique environment we have all built together. On Sunday, Mrs Farrell and I joined Arianna and Mrs Mossone Evans at the Remembrance parade and wreath-laying ceremony. It was a small group but a deeply meaningful moment, honouring Sid Knight and all who have fallen. The simplicity of it somehow made it even more poignant, and I was proud of the dignity and respect shown. Monday brought the next of our poet-in-residence sessions with Adisa the Verbalizer, exploring the power and meaning of Adinkra symbols. In the afternoon, Adisa led his first parent workshop; an uplifting opportunity for families to share in the children’s learning and to build genuine connections. It was a joy to see parents engaging so openly and creatively, and it strengthened the sense of partnership that sits at the heart of our school. Today, our Upper School children deepened their understanding of Adinkra symbols through a fantastic art workshop, producing thoughtful and expressive work. On Tuesday, I attended the ISA Autumn Study Conference in Kenilworth and the National Awards Ceremony, where St Olave’s was awarded the National ISA Award for Innovation in Independent Education. This award recognises the bravery, creativity, and integrity of our whole school; our commitment to doing what is right for children, not simply what is conventional. I could not be prouder, or more touched by the many messages of congratulations and pride I have received today. Throughout the week, we have highlighted Anti-Bullying Week, although of course, kindness is something we teach, model, and expect every single day at St Olave’s. Our Anti-Bullying Ambassadors led a thoughtful assembly, and yesterday the whole school turned blue for World Kindness Day. The children learnt how even the smallest act of kindness can spark a ripple effect that changes someone’s entire day. I could not be prouder of our school; of the experiences we offer, the values we uphold and the trusting relationships we build with families. Thank you, as always, for your support, your confidence, and your partnership. I hope you all enjoy a wonderful weekend; please don't forget to pick up any last minute donations for the Christmas Fayre (!) 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: Don't call people mean names or make fun of them
Assembly Book: Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson This week at St Olave’s, our focus has been on showing compassion through our words and actions, especially when it comes to how we treat others who may seem different from us. In our assembly, we shared Each Kindness, a beautifully written and thoughtful story that reminds us that even the smallest unkindness can linger, and the smallest act of compassion can ripple outwards in ways we may never see. The children reflected on how name-calling, teasing or mocking someone, no matter how “small” it may seem, can stay with a person for a very long time. We talked about how important it is to notice when someone might be feeling lonely or left out, and how one moment of kindness can change someone’s whole day. At home, this week is a lovely opportunity to explore kindness in everyday situations. You might talk with your child about times when they showed courage by being kind, or moments when they wish they had acted differently. These conversations help children develop empathy, confidence and self-awareness. If you’re looking for a companion book to share, The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes is a classic story that reinforces the lasting impact of compassion and the importance of standing up for others. Thank you for partnering with us to raise children who choose kindness even when it’s hard, speak gently even when they’re frustrated, and treat everyone with respect. These small daily habits shape the adults they’ll one day become and we’re proud to be guiding that journey with you.
This week at St Olave's
Year 1 trip On Thursday, our Year 1 pupils enjoyed an exciting and memorable day out at the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden! The children explored how travel in London has changed over time, from horse-drawn carriages and early buses to the modern Underground and iconic red double-deckers. They took part in a fun and interactive transport trail, using their observation skills to spot different types of vehicles and learn interesting facts along the way. One of the highlights of the trip was pretending to drive a big London bus and exploring the transport-themed role play area, where their imaginations truly came to life. Before heading home, we took a walk through Covent Garden to see the beautiful Christmas tree, which added a magical festive touch to the day. It was a wonderful trip filled with learning, laughter, and lots of excitement!
Adisa This week, Upper School's workshop with Adisa focused on Adinkra symbols. The children explored Adinkra symbols, which are traditional West African symbols that carry deep meanings and proverbs. Adisa helped pupils uncover how these symbols communicate ideas, values, and life lessons across generations. Together, they discussed the power of proverbs in different cultures and how they reflect shared wisdom and community identity. The children then had the chance to explore Adinkra symbols, developing personal meanings and even creating original proverbs to match. Their ideas were thoughtful, imaginative, and reflective, expressing qualities such as kindness, perseverance, difference and courage.
Anti bullying Week This week, our school took part in Anti-Bullying Week, embracing the theme of Power for Good. We began on Monday with Odd Socks Day, a fun reminder of the importance of diversity and celebrating what makes each of us unique. Our Anti-Bullying Ambassadors, voted for by their classmates, led an inspiring assembly where they confidently explained the definition of bullying using the acronym STOP (Several Times On Purpose). They also shared examples of well-known figures who have used their power to make a positive difference, and told a powerful story comparing unkind words to a crumpled piece of paper - once damaged, it can never be quite the same. Their message encouraged everyone to think about the lasting impact of their actions and to stand united against bullying. On Thursday, children and staff wore an item of blue as a visual reminder of the importance of kindness every day. At lunchtime, Ms Spicer and the ambassador team hosted 'Treasure Your Friends Island' in Treasure Island, where pupils enjoyed making friendship bracelets, mindfulness colouring, and other crafts designed to celebrate friendship and positivity across our school community. The children in Reception made each other gifts, shared compliments, and thought carefully about how to show respect. They linked all of this to their class kindness chart, which helps them learn how to become the best versions of ourselves. They discovered that we all have our own superpowers and the most important one is using them to be kind!
Sporting Round Up
Girls' Football League
After school on Tuesday saw the return of the girls' football league, in which we prepared for two games to take place. However, the first team we were due to play failed to turn up which resulted in an automatic 3-0 victory to us. The second game was a tightly contested game in which both teams competed very well. St Olave's rose to the challenge and won the game 1-0. A great start to the season for our girls, well done everyone!
Netball
On Wednesday afternoon, St Olave's hosted Babington House in a friendly netball fixture. This was a great experience for both groups as it was their first netball fixture, so we could help guide children through the game when appropriate. It was great to see the children enjoy the game, and the result ended 4-4. Great team work and collaboration Year 3!
Notices
Christmas Fayre - 28th November 2025
Nursery
The Nursery children have taken part in lots of whole school events this week and have impressed us with their sensible questions and thoughtful comments during Anti-Bullying Week while wearing their odd socks and something blue! On Tuesday they were also able to take part in our Remembrance Day as they watched a short film about poppies. They also met some veterans and got a chance to handle their medals. There has been a lot of mark making in Nursery this week using lots of different media. We have drawn with our fingers on the interactive whiteboard, with pens on large sheets of paper, with chalk on the playground and with paints on the easels. There have been all kinds of pictures and some children have even had a go at writing some letters which we have been learning in our phonics lessons.
Reception
We’ve had such a fantastic week filled with creativity, kindness, and meaningful discussions! To start the week, we celebrated Odd Socks Day, a fun and colourful reminder that we are all unique. The children proudly wore their mismatched socks to school, sparking wonderful conversations about individuality and celebrating our differences. Together, we discussed how important it is to be respectful, kind, and accepting of one another, recognising that our differences make our community special. Later in the week, we turned our attention to Remembrance Day. The children learned about the significance of this important event and reflected on what it means to show respect and remember those who have served. They worked thoughtfully to create their own beautiful poppies, which they wore during the 2 minute silence. In our Drawing Club sessions, we focused on the story “Baddies”. The children absolutely loved exploring the characters and expanding on the story through their drawings and writing. They even created their own villain and designed a unique object for their villain to steal! During these sessions, we explored exciting new vocabulary and discussed how it can be used in different contexts, helping the children to develop both their creativity and their language skills. It has been a week full of reflection, imagination, and kindness and we are so proud of all the children for their enthusiasm and thoughtful contributions! Have a wonderful weekend.
Year 1
Another exciting week in Year 1! The children have been practising a variety of grammar and punctuation skills in their English lessons this week. They have focused on using the correct tense, forming plurals accurately, and applying punctuation marks such as full stops, exclamation marks and question marks. We are very impressed with how much they have learned after only nine weeks in Year 1! In Maths, the children have continued to use the part–whole model to add, subtract, and identify fact families. You may wish to continue practising this at home by revisiting number bonds to 10. In Science, the children have continued exploring the topic of Seasonal Change. They identified different animals that hibernate in autumn and discussed the weather, as well as the types of homes animals create to keep safe and warm throughout the winter. On Thursday, we were lucky enough to visit the London Transport Museum as part of our topic on the history of transport. The children were very excited to see so many different forms of transport and to learn how they have developed over time. They had the opportunity to explore old trains and underground carriages, and even had a turn at driving a London bus! We’re sure they were eager to tell you all about it. As well as all the excitement of the trip and beginning to practise the Christmas play, the children have enjoyed the wonderful activities planned for Anti-Bullying Week. We are sure they will sleep well tonight. Enjoy a lovely, restful weekend!
Year 2
Nativity celebrations are in full swing this week with lines and stage directions appearing in folders ready to be learned. Please support your child in this as the weeks progress. They should start to know the words without looking by the end of next week if possible! In English this week we have focused on sentence types and speech. We looked at using and identifying different sentence types in a variety of contexts including statements, questions, commands and exclamations. The children have been great at categorising and identifying these within our Faster Read sessions too! We also started to write dialogue as text using the correct punctuation. The children’s writing has progressed hugely having begun learning this valuable skill. We are now very much looking forward to some fantastic diary entries being written next week!
During maths sessions we have started to delve into tens and ones columns using base ten to work out two-digit by two-digit additions and subtractions. We are starting to become more fluent, but keep up the practice. Maybe the children could teach you, to remind them of their skills and practice. We have also been very busy celebrating Anti-Bullying Week in the afternoons by learning what bullying means and how we have the power to stand up for good. We continued looking at our differences too and the value these bring to our relationships with each other and how they are to be celebrated (much along the theme of our Nativity this year…we love cross-curricular messages)! On top of all this, as always, there was time to mark Remembrance Day on Tuesday with some discussions and reminders of what this day is all about and why it is so important. This raised lots of questions from the children and reflection as we thought about VE Day in the summer and the stories we remembered of incredible members of many of our St Olave’s families' relatives.
Year 3
This week in Year 3, we have been celebrating Anti-Bullying Week 2025 by learning how to use our Power for Good. We’ve been talking about the importance of kindness, standing up for others and using positive actions and words to make a difference. The children have shown thoughtful understanding during our discussions and have worked collaboratively to help make our school a place where everyone feels safe, valued, and included. In maths, we have been developing our confidence and resilience while tackling column subtraction. It hasn’t always been easy, but the children have really embraced the challenge! They have worked methodically and carefully to solve 2- and 3-digit subtractions across both 10s and 100s, checked their answers and supported each other when things got tricky. We are so proud of how they have shown determination and perseverance, demonstrating that making mistakes is an important part of learning and growing. In English this week, Year 3 have been exploring a range of poetry styles from acrostic and shape poems to rhythm and rhyme. The children have had great fun experimenting with language, imagery and structure to create their own expressive and imaginative poems. Their creativity has truly shone through and on Thursday we celebrated Michael Rosen Day by learning about his work, his passions and his obvious love of performing by enjoying the children’s dazzling performances of their original work.
Year 4
What a fantastic week it has been in Year 4! With a whole-school focus on Anti-Bullying Week and the theme of kindness. We began the week by celebrating Odd Socks Day on Monday. The children arrived in a fabulous array of colourful, mismatched socks to highlight the importance of celebrating difference. As a school, we are incredibly proud of the diversity within our community, and it was heart-warming to see the children embracing individuality and kindness with such joy. It was also a delight to welcome back our Poet in Residence, Adisa, who led an inspiring workshop on the Adinkra symbols of Ghana. The session was lively, creative, and interactive; the children used their language skills brilliantly as they explored the meanings behind the symbols and created thoughtful responses of their own. In Maths, Year 4 continued deepening their understanding of area. They practised counting squares, applied their times tables knowledge, and compared a variety of shapes with confidence. Their progress has been excellent, and we are now looking forward to beginning our new topic on Multiplication and Division next week. Our English lessons focused on strengthening grammar knowledge. The children explored conjunctions - identifying different types and understanding how they help link ideas - and then moved on to studying pronouns, learning how to use them accurately and effectively to improve sentence variety. Their attention to detail this week has been impressive.
In Science, Year 4 became budding electricians! Working in groups, they were given a range of electrical components and challenged to create simple series circuits. The excitement in the classroom was contagious - the cheers when bulbs lit up or buzzers sounded showed just how engaged and motivated the children were. Our History lesson brought Roman Britain to life with an afternoon of painting Roman shields. It was a hands-on, creative session, and we are very excited to continue working on the shields next week to perfect the designs. To end the week, the children enjoyed another enriching Art workshop, again inspired by the Adinkra symbols. There was plenty of paint, creativity, and joyful language exploration as they built on what they had learned earlier in the week. Finally, this afternoon it was the turn of our wonderful boys to attend Toca Social for a fun-filled football session. They represented the school so positively, showing excellent behaviour, teamwork, and sportsmanship. We are incredibly proud of them.
Year 5
We kicked off the week in style, wearing our odd socks on Monday for Anti-Bullying Week. We kept returning to this theme throughout the week by considering how even small actions can impact others, both positively and negatively, and that we can all use our power for good. The children showed excellent empathy and understanding when discussing how to respond to different scenarios when our friends and peers might need support. Please continue to ask them about any kind acts they have done throughout the week, and how they have helped fill somebody else's bucket. Balanced arguments led us to a debate in English around two key questions - ‘Should PE take place every day?’ and ‘Should we be allowed to bring a packed lunch to school?’ Despite perhaps being asked to debate the side they didn't agree with, the children were excellent at working together in a team to generate and then justify their points; they presented clearly and confidently - well done! We have also enjoyed delving into our new text ‘When the Mountains Roared’, following the adventures of Ruby who has her life uprooted when she suddenly moves from Australia to India. In maths, we have had a focus on long division which resulted in a test of our perseverance and resilience skills after finding it a bit trickier than anticipated! It has emphasised the need for quick recall of our times tables facts; including those beyond 12 x 12. We explored different methods and all felt more confident by the end of the week. Please encourage your children to continue to practise and develop the understanding of times tables, including division facts, as this only helps speed up the mental arithmetic process. In history we turned our attention to the Ancient Egyptian Gods and enjoyed finding out about the different Gods, as well as their roles and responsibilities, so we could start considering which God we believe is the most important. Finally can we end with a special mention on our Remembrance Day assembly on Tuesday; the children showed excellent respect throughout. Have a wonderful weekend - see you Monday!
Year 6
What a fantastic week it’s been in Year Six! The children have shown great focus and creativity. This has shone through in English in particular. This week, our writing has been inspired by The Invention of Hugo Cabret. We explored character voice through a 'Role on the Wall' activity and crafted inner monologues to answer the question. The children used emotional vocabulary and introspective detail beautifully, bringing Hugo’s thoughts and struggles to life. We then turned our attention to creating a setting description, focusing on the bustling Paris train station. Using rich sensory details, Year Six created vivid imagery that transported readers straight into Hugo’s world. Alongside this, we introduced hyphens for clarity - to help to create precise, detailed description - and revised our comma use in clauses. We also began using colons to introduce ideas within our writing. To end the week, pupils wrote reflective diary entries from Hugo’s perspective, showcasing empathy, emotional depth, and a growing understanding of reflective narrative writing stories that explore change, introspection, and resolution. It was brilliant to see the puzzle pieces of our exploration of hyphenated adjectives, colons and semi-colons, informal register and asides being used so well in their writing. Year 6 are becoming budding authors! In maths, we continued our work on fractions: adding and subtracting mixed numbers, solving multi-step word problems, and multiplying fractions by integers. The class demonstrated strong reasoning skills and perseverance when faced with more complex challenges, particularly when these skills carried over into our history lessons! Our history sessions took us deep into the world of the Maya civilisation, where we explored their fascinating number system. The children were amazed to see how mathematics was used in everyday Maya life - a perfect link between our history and maths learning this week! We also took time to reflect on kindness and respect during Anti-Bullying Week. Through discussion, pupils explored how small actions can make a big difference. Their thoughtful contributions showed real empathy and understanding of what it means to stand up for others.
Outdoor Learning
This week the children have been busy clearing lots of the beds and polytunnels in preparation for the winter months. We cleared the final tomato plants in Poly 5 and will put some mulch down to feed the soil. Lots of the classes have been using the wheelbarrows to bring some mulch over to cover lots of the beds. This will rot down over the winter and will help the soil for our new plants next year. We have been given a large number of stone slabs and these has been used to make a new path in Poly 5. The older children moved lots of smaller stone squares which again will be used to create a path in one of our strawberry cages. Have a good weekend.
Languages
In French, Nursery and Reception worked on their topic, body parts. Madame Potato, or Madame Pomme de Terre as we called her more precisely this week, helped us remember our core vocabulary, also singing with us “Head, shoulders, knees and toes”, that is becoming our favourite song so far in French. The story this week was “Room on the broom”. Year 1 did a great job on French phonics, finding it extremely easy to listen to the differences between the sounds “EU” and “AU”: they were all superstars! Year 2 carried on talking about hobbies and the children learnt how to say when they like doing different hobbies. Year 3 learnt to describe their living room and to say what they like doing in it: the children made beautiful drawings of their living rooms and labelled the objects inside. Year 4 worked on their half term topic of giving directions: this week the children drew their favourite Paris landmarks and practised how to give directions using their speaking and writing skills. In Spanish, Year 5 and Year 6 started their new topic, 'My family'. Year 5 extended the vocabulary for family members and started to work on numbers up to 100. Year 6 worked on the new core vocabulary and verbs at the present and past tense, practising reading and speaking skills. In Latin, Year 6 worked on adjectives: learning colours, the children focused on the endings of the words to make sure they could match adjectives with nouns.
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 pupils in Year 3 recorded their findings from their pneumatic experimentation. They started adding information to their design specification as well as initiating their first design sketches for the pneumatic monster construction.
Year 4 Slingshot Cars Pupils in Year 4 learned about the function of a chassis and they explored a brief history of car design and development.
Year 5 Doodle Bots Year 5 pupils explored motorised devices and how they can be convenient to make difficult tasks easier. They also explored the differences of wiring a circuit in Parallel vs Series.
Year 6 Micro:bit Arcade In Year 6 we wrote a design specification after reviewing and analysing a range of games that promote fine motor skills.
Computing Year 1 pupils explored the importance of accurate instructions and how errors can occur; they learned that these errors in computing are called bugs and that removing these errors is called debugging. Year 3 pupils experimented with spreadsheet presentation by formatting fonts and cells as well as adding filters to make data easier to analyse. Year 4 pupils improved the functionality and appearance of their websites as they added image carousels and hyperlinks to their web pages. In Year 5 pupils created their own polling programs with animated icons and their own custom inputs.