From the Head
Welcome back. I hope you all enjoyed a restful half term break and had the opportunity to spend some quality time together as a family. As we begin the final half term of the academic year, our school value is Courage. Whilst courage is often associated with grand gestures or extraordinary achievements, I believe some of the most important acts of courage happen quietly every day. This week, we have been talking to the children about the many different forms courage can take. It takes courage to put your hand up when you are unsure of the answer. It takes courage to ask for help when you need it. It takes courage to accept responsibility when things go wrong and courage to tell the truth even when it feels difficult. As we begin to think about transition and the changes that naturally accompany the end of the school year, courage becomes particularly important. Some of our children will be moving classrooms, some will be moving year groups and others will be preparing for the exciting step to secondary school. Change can feel exciting, daunting and everything in between. We want our children to know that feeling nervous is perfectly normal and that courage is not about never feeling worried. Courage is about taking the next step anyway. I was especially proud during assembly this morning as Blake in Year 5 confidently shared his incredible Lego Star Wars creations in front of the school. Standing before an audience and speaking so articulately with confidence takes real courage and Blake demonstrated this brilliantly; he even peppered his presentation with Star Wars jokes! Some of you may also have seen another of our Year 5 pupils, Starry, performing alongside Robbie Williams at Soccer Aid during half term. What an incredible opportunity and one that required tremendous confidence and courage. We are always delighted to celebrate the achievements of our pupils and to see them embracing exciting opportunities.
Throughout the coming weeks, we will continue to encourage children to be courageous learners, courageous friends and courageous members of our community. Whether that means attempting a challenging piece of work, performing in front of an audience, trying a new activity or simply asking for support, every act of courage helps children grow. Thank you, as always, for your continued support. The final weeks of the school year are always busy and exciting and we look forward to sharing them with you. I wish you all a wonderful weekend.
Kind regards, Miss Holloway
The week ahead...
Lunch Menu
Monthly Safeguarding Update
June – Moving On
As children move classes or prepare for new schools, we make sure information is shared so they are supported. You can help by talking positively about change at home, while letting us know if your child is worried - it helps us to put support in place early.
Notices
Second Hand Uniform Sale
The FRSC would like to hold a Second Hand Uniform Sale before the end of term. If you have any old uniform to donate, please give it to Mrs Farrell on the gate. Thank you.
FRSC Summer BBQ
The FRSC will be holding their annual Summer BBQ on Saturday 27th June 12pm-3pm. Everyone is welcome. Tickets on sale from Monday on ParentPay - Adults £14, Children £7
Focus on School Values
This week at school, we began our focus on one of our most powerful values: Courage. We explored the idea that courage isn’t the absence of fear - it’s the decision to try, speak, or act even when you feel a bit unsure. I shared the picture book Brave As Can Be by Jo Witek in assembly - a warm, relatable story about a child who recalls small, everyday fears like thunder, monsters or going down the slide, and how they overcame each one in small steps. We’ve paired this with a very simple weekly manner: Smile! We’ve been helping the children see how a smile can be an act of quiet courage - especially when meeting someone new, trying something unfamiliar or supporting someone who looks nervous. At home this week, you could:
- Share a story of a time you did something brave, even if it was hard
- Encourage your child to smile at someone they might not usually talk to
- Ask: What’s something small you did this week that took courage?
Books you might enjoy together that build on this theme include Ruby’s Worry by Tom Percival or The Koala Who Could by Rachel Bright. Thank you for helping us build courageous hearts and confident smiles this week!
This week at St Olave's
Summer Instrumental Concert What a magnificent way to start our last half term! On Tuesday, Year 5 and Year 6 treated parents and staff to a wonderful Instrumental Concert. The children showcased their musical talent and delighted the audience with a variety of instruments and styles: we had piano, singing, violin, guitar and harp, and the children played classical pieces, Disney songs and modern arrangements. Our performers were a real testament of St Olave’s true school values of courage and commitment. Courage, because bravery is needed in order to stand in front of a room tightly packed (albeit with friendly faces!) and play or sing, but also commitment, because without a true dedication to their instruments and a huge amount of daily practice the children wouldn’t have been able to reach such impressive results. Well done everyone! Mrs Mossone Evans
It was a little nerveracking, but I made no mistakes and I was happy with my performance. Thomas
It was very fun to perform and everyone was really good. Millie
It was really nice to see my friends playing their instruments. Olivia
Special Assembly - Lego skills
Blake in Year 5 led a special assembly this week to showcase his dual loves of Lego and Star Wars, and to display the fantastical models he had constructed, without instructions, from his own designs. The models included a range of lightsabers, attacking spacecraft and detailed planetary dioramas from a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. The children fired challenging questions to Blake regarding his hobby, which Blake answered with expertise, enthusiasm and aplomb.
Sporting Round Up
Netball Fixture
Wednesday saw St Olave's host a Year 5 and 6 girls' netball fixture. The girls have been brilliant with netball all academic year and are developing their skills each game they play. Unfortunately, our Year 5 girls lost 6-2, missing a couple of opportunities to close the score line but I was impressed with the girls' determination, desire, and teamwork throughout the game. Year 6 played a thrilling match, which they just narrowly lost 7-6. Mr Lupton reported how impressed he was at the speed and fluency of the girls passing around the court. Well played everyone on a great afternoon of netball.
Nursery
So the children have come back after their holidays buzzing with excitement for their last half term of the year. Thank you so much for sharing photos and videos on Tapestry; the children are always thrilled when they are able to talk about these with their classmates. One of our book vote winners this week was the book 10 Little Pirates and this has led to all manner of learning and creativity in the classroom! The children have made ‘mini-me’ style pirates to reenact the story and made hats, eye patches and hooks to add to their role play. All this eventually led to the Good Ship Little Acorn being constructed in the classroom complete with treasure, flags and surrounded by sharks!! Summer term in Nursery means lots of opportunities for water play so please ensure your child has a well stocked spares bag that can be kept in school so we can change them if the need arises.
Reception
Welcome back! Aspen and Beech Class have had a lovely week catching up with each other, and we have loved seeing all of your adventures on Tapestry. The children have settled back in brilliantly and have been very busy. They have enjoyed playing outside, making sunbeds while reminiscing about half term, exploring the mud kitchen, building cars with the large bricks and solving problems together. This week, we have focused on drawing in more detail and following instructions carefully. We were so impressed with the children's giraffe, zebra and dragon drawings, and they confidently wrote the names of their creatures using their phonics knowledge. We have also had a lovely visit from a former pupil on work experience, who taught us all about bees, honey and beehives. We loved learning about them and buzzing around like bees! Another highlight was seeing our rehomed chicks again. It was wonderful to see how much they have grown. Next week, we will be exploring different countries around the world. We hope you all have a lovely and restful weekend.
Year 1
Welcome back to the final half term of the year! Despite the awful weather, it has been lovely to see the children return with so much enthusiasm and excitement to be back with their friends. They have settled in brilliantly and shown great focus in their learning. In English, we have been learning about the features of a postcard. The children chose their own holiday destinations and wrote some wonderful postcards, describing where they had visited and how they felt. In Maths, they have had a masterclass in telling the time to the hour and half past, recognising different coins and practising their addition and subtraction skills. You may like to continue practising these at home to help build confidence. We also celebrated World Oceans Day in Science by learning about the amazing sea life that lives in our oceans. The children created fantastic, detailed diagrams and really enjoyed sharing their knowledge. We have loved starting our new Faster Read book, The Magic Faraway Tree, and the children are already excited to discover what happens next. There is lots of excitement for our trip to the Science Museum next week, and we know the children are going to have a wonderful time. Thank you for your continued support. Have a lovely, restful weekend and we look forward to seeing everyone again next week!
Year 2
A great first week back for Year 2! We have been super busy in English lessons this week where we have started our new topic of extended story writing by focusing on ‘George’s Marvelous Medicine’ by Roald Dahl. We read the first few chapters and discovered how truly awful Grandma sounds to write our own character descriptions. Then, after hearing about the medicine that George concocted, we created recipes for our own medicines to recap commands and imperative verbs. We are looking forward to seeing all of our Year 2 skills come together next week as we explore this story more! In maths, we have discovered some time wizards! The children have loved learning to tell the time to the nearest five minutes and some have even mastered telling the time to the exact minute after really challenging themselves. We found out all about how there are 60 minutes in an hour and have started to use this information to solve maths problems and understand how long minutes and hours feel. In geography this week, we pooled our research about Wales from our half-term homework to make posters about the country. We learned so many facts from each other and had a great time collaborating.
Year 3
Welcome back to Year 3 after the half term break. The children have returned full of enthusiasm and have made a fantastic start to our new learning. The children investigated a mystery table filled with clues, asking questions such as "Who does this belong to?" and "What might have happened?" Using these clues, they created their own mysterious settings and characters before beginning to plan clues and 'red herrings' to keep readers guessing. They also enjoyed helping to solve the mystery of their teachers' lost glasses! In maths, we have been bringing our learning about time to a close. The children have worked hard to develop their confidence in reading analogue and digital clocks, calculating durations and solving time problems. We are very proud of the perseverance they have shown and the progress they have made throughout this topic. The children were excited to begin planning their own picture books in art, carefully considering their stories, characters and illustrations. In science, we have started planning an investigation linked to renewable energy. The children will be designing and making solar ovens and will investigate whether the position of a solar oven affects the temperature it can reach. We look forward to seeing their creative designs and scientific discoveries over the coming weeks.
Year 4
What a fantastic week Year 4 have had! We began the week with an exciting visit to Mottingham Farm Stables, where the children learned how to care for horses and ponies before taking part in a riding lesson. They developed their confidence, responsibility and independence whilst learning how to mount, stop, start and steer safely. The owners were impressed by the children's knowledge, particularly those who could name many of the horses. Learning about horse colours and grooming Daisy were particular highlights of the afternoon. In English, we have started exploring Alfred Tennyson's The Lady of Shalott. The children have enjoyed deciphering the poem's challenging Victorian language and learning about the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table to support their understanding. They also showed fantastic enthusiasm when using the poet's descriptions to draw the setting of the poem. In Maths, we have focused on the important topic of time. The children have been converting between units of time, changing between 12- and 24-hour clocks, solving problems involving the passing of time and working with calendars. This is an important life skill that benefits greatly from regular practice at home and frequently appears in 11+ examinations. In RE, we began our study of Buddhism by discussing the questions, "What makes you happy?" and "Who do you think is sad right now?" These thoughtful discussions explored happiness, empathy and some of the challenges people face, including homelessness, bereavement and illness. The children shared their ideas with maturity and sensitivity. To end the week, we visited the Vikings Immersive Experience to launch our new history topic. The children explored a life-size Viking setting, boarded a Viking longship and learned about Queen Kraka, King Ragnar and their family through immersive storytelling and interactive exhibits. It was a fantastic way to bring history to life and spark excitement for the term ahead. It has been a wonderful week filled with memorable experiences, excellent learning and great enthusiasm from all of the children. Have a lovely weekend and we look forward to seeing everyone next week!
Year 5
What a return to school! Year 5 have come back and, with now only 4 weeks left of this school year, knuckled down immediately. In English we have explored odes, considering the key features and how to heap praise on something important to us. Using similes and personification, we really enjoyed creating our own. We also had a focus on inference and, using a précis version of Treasure Island, honed our skills on using specific vocabulary, alongside other clues from the text, to form opinions on key characters and events from the story. In maths, we have had a focus on fluency, ensuring we can use our addition, subtraction, multiplication and division skills quickly to help solve multistep problems. In art this week, we furthered our understanding of print making by creating floating chalk prints. Made simply by grating soft chalk into a shallow try of water, the children were encouraged to think about colour combinations and what they wanted their final print to look like. We were so impressed in the confidence shown by our many performers at the Summer Instrumental Concert this week. It was lovely for their friends to see - and hear - them in action.
Year 6
Year 6 has hit the ground running this week as we came back from half term and went straight into Shrek the musical rehearsals! All the children have put in so much effort over the half term to learn their lines - we are so proud of them! Their dedication and willingness towards performing in the show is definitely paying off and we cannot wait for rehearsals to continue and for you all to see the show in just 3 more weeks!! Some of Year 6 have further shown their commitment and creativity this week when they took part in the Year 5 and 6 Summer Instrumental Concert. We want to say a huge congratulations to all that performed, you all did excellently! In Science this week, we focused on the impact of drugs and alcohol on the body, engaging in great discussions and producing some fabulous posters warning people about the dangers of drugs and alcohol on your body. In Maths, we continued our topic of coordinates. This week's lessons pushed the children’s mathematical knowledge further as we jumped to a tricky topic of solving problems with unknown coordinates. The children approached the challenge with resilience and determination and it is definitely shining through in their work. We ended the week with a trip to the Royal Courts of Justice. We learnt about the judicial system and even took part in a mock trial all about cyberbullying! The day was very informative and we all came away with an increased knowledge and respect for the law.
Outdoor Learning
This week the children have been busy planting lots of our vegetables that had grown over the holidays. We had courgettes, leeks, cucumbers, strawberries and beetroot. Hopefully, these will grow over the next few weeks and months depending on the weather which has been a little hit and miss. They were also clearing a few of the beds ready to plant more of our plants that we will grow this half term. A few lucky children got to taste the first strawberries of the season and they said they were delicious!
Languages
Welcome back to our last half term! Time has really flown by this year, but we still have a few weeks of amazing learning left. Nursery and Reception have started their new topic, clothes, and have also revised some of the previous topics. Year 1 has worked on zoo animals, noticing how similar spelling some of the words have in French and English. Year 2 has revised opinions and food and Year 3 has worked on French-speaking countries’ flags; Year 4 learnt and used connectives to join sentences. In Spanish, Year 5 has started their new topic, in town, and they learnt how to say what their town is like, whilst Year 6 talked about places in town and the use of hay/ no hay (there is/isn’t, there are/aren’t).