From the Head
This week has been a full and purposeful one at St Olave’s, with a strong sense of focus and achievement across the school. It has been a pleasure to see the children so settled in their learning, approaching their work with maturity, enthusiasm and pride. Our Year 6 children have continued to make us exceptionally proud, receiving outstanding offers from a range of highly regarded independent secondary schools. This reflects not only their academic ability, but also their character, resilience and commitment to their learning. We look forward to next week, when they will receive their final secondary school allocations and to celebrating their many achievements together in due course. Yesterday, Reception enjoyed a wonderful visit to Greenwich Park this week, embracing the opportunity to explore and learn beyond the classroom. These early experiences are so important in fostering curiosity and a love of the world around them. And looking ahead, our Year 5 children are preparing for their upcoming residential trip to Swanage. This is always a highlight of the year and an invaluable opportunity for children to develop independence, confidence and lasting friendships. Across the school, I have seen excellent examples of writing, from thoughtful and imaginative storytelling to carefully crafted poetry, alongside children reading widely and with great enthusiasm in the lead-up to World Book Day next week. My thanks go to Miss Kiely and the team for organising what promises to be another exciting programme of book and author-themed activities for the children. As always, thank you for your continued support. It plays a vital role in enabling us to maintain the high expectations and rich opportunities that define life at St Olave’s. Have a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing you next week. Kind regards Miss Holloway
The week ahead...
Lunch Menu
Monthly Safeguarding Update
February – Supporting Children with SEND and Vulnerabilities
All children deserve to feel safe and heard. For children with additional needs, communication can sometimes be a barrier. If you ever notice changes in your child’s mood or behaviour, however small, please share with us - early conversations make a big difference.
Focus on School Values
This half term, our school value focus is Curiosity – encouraging children to wonder about the world, ask questions, try new things and approach life with open minds and kind hearts. In Tuesday's assembly, I shared the much-loved picture book The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr. The story follows Sophie and her mummy as they welcome a very unexpected guest to tea. The tiger’s enormous appetite and lack of table manners sparked lots of laughter, but also gave us an important opportunity to reflect. We explored how curiosity led Sophie to open the door and welcome something new, but also how good manners help us to show respect and consideration for others, especially at the table. Our manner of the week is: Table manners. We have revisited expectations such as sitting properly, using cutlery carefully, waiting our turn to speak, saying please and thank you, and approaching new foods with curiosity and politeness. Please support us by reinforcing these behaviours at home, particularly during family mealtimes. These everyday moments are incredibly powerful in shaping children’s confidence, independence and social awareness. Encouraging children to try something new, while modelling calm and respectful table behaviour, makes a lasting difference. If you would like a book to share together at home, How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? by Jane Yolen remains a firm favourite – a playful and memorable way to reinforce positive table habits. Thank you, as always, for your continued support in upholding the high expectations we value so deeply at St Olave’s.
This week at St Olave's
Reception’s Trip To Greenwich Park Reception had a wonderful school trip to the Greenwich Learning Centre in Greenwich Park, where we explored minibeasts and their habitats. Using our map skills, we followed a map through the woods, hunting for insects and bugs along the way. We had so much fun and learnt a great deal about how we can help keep the insects in our environment safe. During our adventure, we were lucky enough to see a heron catching a frog for its lunch, and even spotted a herd of deer making a special appearance! After lunch, we worked together to build dens for Barnaby Bear. We had to collaborate as a team, communicating and sharing ideas to create a cosy den where he could relax. Throughout the day, we used all of our senses as we completed a range of exciting challenges. We had the most amazing time and were extremely tired on the journey home after such a busy and memorable day!
New Chromebooks Head of Computing Mr Warner and our Design and Information Technology teacher Mr Vila had the absolute pleasure of leading a Computing assembly on Wednesday, with a surprise reveal to the children of our brand-new collection of state-of-the-art Chromebooks. Children were introduced to the devices and discussed the ways in which they could be used to increase and enhance their learning opportunities, as well as being given strict guidelines for their use based on care and respect. The school has purchased 40 new devices, which along with robust processing power, also feature folding screens which allow the Chromebooks to be used in tablet mode. The touchscreen screens can also be used with a stylus, which children can use for design purposes as well as the creative arts for all the budding David Hockneys at St O's! The new equipment is a fantastic resource that will ensure our children are tech-savvy whilst safely developing the skills they will need to make sense of the digital world.
Sporting Round Up
Years 3 & 4 Football Tournament Monday saw our Years 3 and 4 travel to Glebe FC to compete in a football tournament against a variety of different schools. Our Year 4 team won all of their games in a dominant team performance showing excellent team work and desire in each game. Our Year 3 was also fantastic, winning three games, and losing only one. Year 3 are working hard each game to learn their positions and developing their team work skills in order to keep progressing as a group. Well done everyone on all your hard work!
ISA Cross Country Tuesday saw children from Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 compete in the ISA cross country hosted at Radnor House. All the children worked extremely hard and showed excellent commitment and stamina in each age group. Every child that competed for St Olave's finished the course without stopping, and were a credit to the school. Well done everyone!
Girls' Football League Tuesday also saw the return of the Girls' Football League. We played two games with us losing 1-0 in the girls first defeat all season. We won the second game 2-0 with our goal keeper saving a penalty to ensure we got the win over the line! All great runs must come to an end at some point, but like all great teams the girls bounced back well and will continue to stay together and keep progressing for the last few remaining games of the season. Well done girls!
Year 5 & 6 Football Friendly Wednesday saw St Olave's host Years 5 and 6 compete in friendly football fixtures at Footscray RFC. Our Year 5 won their fixture and our Year 6 lost. I was very pleased with the continued progress and commitment the all the children showed throughout the games. Well done everyone!
Notices
Marie Curie Collection We will be selling daffodil pins on the gate every morning next week, collecting for Marie Curie. Cash only, thank you.
Nursery
Is there a doctor in the house?! The children have been reading the story Ness the Nurse and have discovered a stash of bandages and dressings and this has inspired some wonderful, imaginative role play this week. The children have dressed as doctors, nurses and vets and have taken on different roles - one writing the list of patients, one giving medicine and removing splinters and another applying the dressings. Peter Rabbit, tiger, penguin and the puppies have been well treated and are now tucked up in bed having some rest!
Outside we have had a glimpse of some Spring sunshine and the children have been very busy spreading the last of the bark chippings around the mud kitchen. We hope you agree the area looks very inviting and Mr Pradic has even built us a special digging area. Let’s hope the sunshine continues…
Reception
Reception have had a wonderful first week back after half term! We have loved seeing all of your amazing adventures shared on Tapestry, thank you for continuing to share these special moments with us. The children beam with pride when they share their news. This week, we enjoyed a fantastic trip to Greenwich Park, where the children explored maps and went on the lookout for minibeasts. As this was our inspiration for learning this week, our Drawing Club focused on What The Ladybird Heard. The children explored minibeasts and maps in greater detail, creating their own ladybirds and designing maps. They used positional vocabulary to explain how to find their prize animal, and we were blown away by the independent labelling of the different things we needed to find along the way. We then took our learning outdoors, using our maps on the playground to go on our own adventures in search of creatures and landmarks! The children absolutely loved creating role play around their hunts, showing fantastic imagination and teamwork. In maths, we explored joining rods together to create different shapes, using mathematical language to describe what we had made. It has truly been a fun, busy, and exciting week filled with exploration and creativity. We are all very excited for World Book Day next week and cannot wait to see all of your wonderful costumes!
Year 1
The children have returned from half term full of enthusiasm and ready to learn. We have quickly settled back into our routines and begun exploring some exciting new topics. In English, we completed our poetry unit by editing and adapting “I Don’t Want” by Michael Rosen. The children then wrote and performed their own poems, showing fantastic creativity and growing confidence - we were very impressed! In Maths, we have been developing our addition and subtraction skills within 20. The children have been identifying fact families, finding related facts and solving missing number problems, while building confidence in explaining their reasoning. In History, we have started our topic on the history of toys, comparing toys from the past with those we have today. The children are beginning to understand how materials and technology have changed toys over time. We encourage you to chat with your child about your favourite childhood toys to support their learning. In Science, we are learning about animals and their habitats. Knowledge organisers were sent home earlier this week to provide an overview of the unit and key vocabulary. Please continue to discuss this learning at home through conversation, play or stories. Thank you for your continued support. We hope you all have a restful weekend after such a busy return to school. We are looking forward to an exciting week ahead with lots of World Book Week celebrations, including dressing up and enjoying a range of book-themed activities.
Year 2
The children in Year 2 have returned to school with a spring in their step and a readiness to learn that has led to a very productive week! We have started our English topic by reading ‘The Disgusting Sandwich’ by Gareth Edwards to kick start our new topic all about instructions. The book followed the story of a badger who was chasing after a delicious sandwich, but there were some mishaps along the journey resulting in a truly horrible sandwich instead! The children enjoyed exploring the vocabulary in the book and discussing the effects this had on the reader. We then took a look at the features of instructions and learned about imperative verbs that turn statements into commands. After considering how to make normal sandwiches and having a go at writing instructions followed by the teachers, we also found out just how much detail we needed to add, as there were some bizarrely unsuccessful results! In maths we continued to learn about multiplication and division, beginning with the skill of dividing through sharing. Our fluency is beginning to increase with division as a whole, so keep going with the division facts! After that, we delved deeper into our understanding of multiplication using the ten times tables and five times tables. Then even added in some doubling and halving too! In History this week, we focused on the life of Queen Elizabeth II and her incredible reign. We learned about some of her most iconic moments and considered how busy her life must have been being head of The Commonwealth. We also watched some footage from her coronation and thought about the emotions she must have been feeling during this historic event at just 25 years old. As it is now Spring 2 and we will be starting swimming lessons after Easter, please continue to encourage your children to increase their independence by getting themselves dressed and undressed. This also includes anyone who is wearing laced shoes and being able to manage this with minimal intervention if possible! Thank you.
Year 3
Welcome back to the second half of the Spring term! It has been so lovely to see the children return refreshed and ready to learn. We have also been enjoying the brighter days and the beautiful weather we are now seeing - a wonderful reminder that spring is on its way. In Maths, we have completed our topic on Measurement and are now confidently able to find the perimeter of 2D shapes. The children used excellent addition and multiplication skills to calculate the perimeter of both regular and irregular shapes. It has been fantastic to see them applying their prior knowledge so accurately and explaining their reasoning with increasing confidence. In English, we have begun our exciting persuasive writing topic inspired by The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry. This beautifully illustrated book explores the impact deforestation has on the rainforest and the wider world, told through the powerful arguments of the animals and jungle inhabitants who would be affected. The children were instantly engaged with both the story and the important theme of rainforest conservation. They have researched rainforests, taken part in role play as different animals, and begun developing persuasive phrases that they will use in their writing over the coming weeks. In Science, we have finally been able to make the most of the sunny weather and investigate how the sun affects our skin. To test this, we used UV-sensitive beads and covered them with SPF 50, SPF 30 and SPF 15 sun cream, alongside a control bead with no protection. We observed whether the beads - which change colour in UV rays — would still change once protected. We were pleased to see that factor 50 was the most effective and surprised at how dark the unprotected control beads became in the sunshine. The children now understand the importance of wearing sun cream, covering up, and taking sensible measures to stay sun safe - perfect knowledge for the warm days ahead. In History, we have begun our brand-new topic on Volcanoes and Earthquakes, which the children are already very excited about. We started by learning about the layers of the Earth and began to explore how these layers are responsible for the natural disasters we will be studying in greater depth throughout this half term. It has already sparked lots of curiosity and thoughtful questions. We have also started our swimming lessons this week, and we were incredibly proud of the children’s positive attitudes and maturity both in and around the water. They made an excellent start, listened carefully to instructions, and represented the school brilliantly. We are very much looking forward to seeing the progress they make over the course of this term. Thank you, as always, for your continued support. We are excited for the busy and engaging weeks ahead in Year 3!
Year 4
It has been a busy and exciting week in Year 4! In English, the children have begun their new topic on persuasive writing. We started by reading The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka, which tells the ‘real’ story from the wolf’s point of view. The children thoroughly enjoyed hearing his side of the story and comparing it with the traditional tale, using comparative conjunctions to discuss similarities and differences. We then explored key persuasive techniques, including exaggeration, rhetorical questions, emotive language, modal verbs and presenting opinions as facts. The children demonstrated excellent detective skills when identifying these features in a text. Our challenge of the week was transforming simple statements into persuasive language by adding emotive vocabulary and rhetorical questions. Do ask your child about the most delicious, delightful dining experience in the entire universe… mud! They also had great fun improving ideas such as “People waste water” and “There is litter in the park.” In Maths, we have started developing our understanding of fractions. The children have been focusing on understanding the whole, counting beyond one, and placing mixed numbers on a number line. They have also been ordering and comparing mixed numbers, showing increasing confidence as the week progressed. In Science, we had thoughtful discussions about how to test sound insulation and, importantly, how to ensure the test is fair. The children were very keen to design ear defenders using paper cups and experiment with different materials to discover which was the best sound insulator. It was wonderful to see such enthusiasm for practical investigation and scientific thinking. In Geography, the children began researching the Kayapo people, a tribe living in the Amazon Rainforest. They explored their homes, food, clothing and lifestyle, and next week they will create informative posters to showcase their learning. Finally, a reminder that next week is World Book Day. This is a wonderful celebration of reading, and children are invited to dress as their favourite book character. We are looking forward to seeing their creative costumes! Thank you for your continued support.
Year 5
Welcome back to Spring 2 - it has been lovely welcoming the children back to school and almost as nice to see the sun making an appearance once or twice this week! Maths has had a focus on time - from telling the time on both analogue and digital to calculating duration of time and converting units of time, the children have been focused and keen to make the connections and improve their confidence. Please continue to support this at home by asking them the time, how long until xx or how long has it been since xx. This rapid recall of time facts will come in very handy! In English we have finished our unit on nonsense poetry by writing our own and letting our imaginations get carried away with themselves. Following a strict format in terms of stanzas and a rhyme pattern, the children loved using their nonsense words to tell a story. We then shifted our attention to newspaper reports, first identifying the features and then consolidating our knowledge on using inverted commas for quotes. It would be really useful for the children to have a look at a newspaper at home to spot these key features across a range of articles. History had us delve into the ancient art of mummification. We explored why and how it was done in order to mummify our very own satsumas! In science, we planned and conducted independent investigations into the solubility of materials. We also had a lovely sunny afternoon at games on Wednesday! Have a wonderful weekend - we hope the sunshine stays with us!
Year 6
Year 6 have returned from half term with a fantastic attitude and have settled back into school life brilliantly. It has been wonderful to see their enthusiasm and focus in lessons, and we have especially enjoyed hearing all about their half term adventures. The brighter weather has certainly helped lift everyone’s spirits, and it has been lovely to see the children making the most of the sunshine during games and at break times - we hope the sunshine continues! In Maths, we have continued developing our understanding of decimals, percentages and fractions. The children have been working hard to compare and order these concepts, as well as recognising how they link together. We have also been extending this knowledge into real-life contexts through word problems, encouraging the children to apply their reasoning skills and explain their thinking clearly. It has been fantastic to see their confidence grow as they tackle increasingly challenging problems. In English, we have begun an exciting new class text, The Boy at the Back of the Class. The children have already engaged thoughtfully with the story and its themes, particularly exploring the idea of bias and how the characters respond to and challenge it. Our discussions have been mature and reflective, with pupils showing empathy and a strong understanding of fairness and inclusion. We are looking forward to seeing how their ideas continue to develop as we delve further into the text. We began working as a year group with Mrs Pons for PSHE lessons targeted at transitioning to secondary school. We worked on building our conversational skills and the importance of asking questions to get to know someone by playing a fun question dice game. It’s safe to say we know a lot more about our peers' favourite things than we did before! An exciting end of the week occurred in Year 6 as it was revealed what our production is going to be! We hope you are all just as excited as we are. Keep up the brilliant work Year 6 and approach every lesson with enthusiasm and curiosity.
Outdoor Learning
It feels like Spring already! The weather has been wonderful and all the children have started to get back out to the allotment. Several classes helped plant the first broad beans of the year. We counted 78 plants so hopefully we will have a bumper crop. A huge amount of bark chippings were delivered at the beginning of the week so the children have been busy moving that on to all our paths, as they had started to look a little muddy after all the rain. The children will begin to sow different seeds as the weeks progress, starting with our tomatoes and chillies which take a long time to get going. Have a lovely weekend.
Languages
Welcome back everyone! After a refreshing break Nursery, Reception and Year 1 have started their new topic, animals. The children learnt 10 animals and played memory games, and I have been very impressed by the accuracy of pronunciation. Year 2 has talked about how do I look? , adding more adjectives to the description of themselves. The children have worked at the difference between feminine and masculine, understanding both the spelling and silent letters, and also introduced the negative form of sentences. In Spanish, Year 5 carried on exploring opinions and reasons about school subjects and describing their timetable. In Latin, Year 6 used a picture story to understand the role of the doctor in Roman Britain and the children were given the challenge to name parts of the body based upon their Latin derivatives. In grammar, we revised the use of imperatives and adverbs.
Design & Technology and Computing
Quiz of the week, ask your child if they can explain what the words in bold mean. Year 3 Electrical Posters Pupils in Year 3 completed their posters by testing their circuits and adding in the informative fact about Ancient Rome.
Year 4 Pavilion Structures This week Year 4 traced out all the materials needed for the construction of their pavilions. Year 5 Bridges In Year 5, pupils cut out the mitre joints for their bridges using junior hacksaws and bench hooks. Year 6 Electric Car Year 6 pupils drew the technical diagrams of their cars from 3 perspectives including dimensions and annotations.
Computing highlights Year 1 challenged each other by writing algorithms that they could use to program Beebots. Year 2 explored the international space station and a day in the life of an astronaut. Year 3 pupils tinkered with Scratch coding blocks. Year 4 pupils worked on their weather forecasting websites by adding information to their sub pages about extreme weather. Year 5 pupils explored how images are made up of pixels and how the quantity of pixels can affect the size and quality of images. Year 6 pupils explored the components of a computer and considered how computers of the future might evolve.