From the Headmaster

whole Olavian community who can take great pride in this resounding endorsement of the excellence which characterises our ancient, and very special, St. Olave’s Grammar School.

Onceagain we were delighted with the achievement of our students in the 2014 Public Examinations and our listing as The Telegraph’s 2nd best school nationally. At Advanced level 95% of grades were at A* to B with nearly 75% at A* or A. At GCSE, a new school record saw 88% of grades at A* or A with 53% at A*. These students have been joined by a stunning cohort from other schools so that the new Year 12 now has 75 students with 9 – 13 A* grades. 53 of our leavers have now taken up places at Cambridge, Oxford or Medical College, along with others who have commenced courses at top universities such as Imperial, Bristol, UCL, Durham, etc. It has been a real privilege to work with all of them, to share in their endeavours and to celebrate their triumphs.

I invite you to enjoy reading about the extraordinary array of activities and successes in which our students have been involved, whether cultural, sporting, scholarly, international or personal, and my thanks go, once again, to our Classics Master, Mr Craig, and to Rachel Wood and Aman Tiwari for skilfully editing this fine magazine.

Aftereight years of waiting Ofsted finally paid a visit to St. Olave’s on 6-7 March. It was a relief, if not entirely surprising, that the inspection report concluded that the school is ‘Outstanding’ in every aspectachievement of pupils, quality of teaching, behaviour and safety of pupils, the Sixth Form, leadership and management and overall effectiveness. I have read many Ofsted reports over the years but few that are so completely full of superlatives. The inspectors noted the value of the pupil mentoring, the enormous range of co-curricular activities and the many clubs with distinguished outside speakers. Teachers were praised for having very high expectations; students for their scholarship and the high quality academic journals they produce. I was particularly pleased that they found students’ spiritual development to be promoted exceptionally well so that they mature into considerate, thoughtful young adults. The report is, I believe, a just reward for the endeavours of the

Aydin Önaç Headmaster

Thisyear the magazine has been produced with the help of two new subeditors whose unfailing support and encouragement have been invaluable. They are very much fine examples of the calibre of students who attend the school, have attended it and will inevitably do so in the future. Peter Leigh after extraordinary service to all aspects of the school has now moved onto study Classics at New College, Oxford. I have tried as ever to give a broad brush of what has happened over the year in every aspect of a school which positively pullulates with activity seemingly at each hour of the day. The importance of the Olavian remains. It is a record of the girls’ and boys’ achievements which seem to grow each year. The magazine in no manner detracts from the other faculty and departmental publications, but brings together a great deal of material beneath one literary umbrella. In no way be surprised at the common themes which are excellence, endeavour and participation. The school does a very great deal and its ability to rise to new challenges is well-documented here.

David Craig Editor; Head of Classics

Editor - The Olavian

David Craig, Esq.

St. Olave’s & St. Saviour’s Grammar School, Goddington Lane, Orpington, Kent BR6 9SH dcraig@saintolaves.net

Editor - The Old Olavian

John M Brown, Esq.

60 The Lawns, Rolleston-on-Dove, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire DE13 9DB johnmbrown60@gmail.com