We finished our Christmas celebrations this afternoon with a whole school Christmas service.
It's the first time both schools have done this together and we were joined by Trudi from Lordshill Church for a very magical afternoon.
We would like to wish everyone a Very Happy Christmas.
A big thank you to the Ukulele Orchestra and Mr Charlesworth for entertaining us with live Christmas music at Key Stage 1 celebration assembly!
They performed Prokofiev's Troika with sleigh bells!
You might already be thinking about Christmas Dinner, and how many people you might have to serve... Today, our fantastic catering team served a free Christmas dinner to over 400 people!
It's the first time (and the last time) Oakwood Infant School and Oakwood Junior School have served Christmas Dinner on the same day - next year, everyone at Oakwood Primary School will be eating on the same day!
Mrs Lyons and her team of cooks have worked really hard, and they were joined by Maureen and Cheryl from City Catering, for an amazing lunchtime in both halls!
Children sat down and were served by the adults, crackers were pulled and silly hats were worn!
A brilliant lunchtime - thank you all!
It was Panto Pandemonium when all of the traditional Christmas panto stories went horribly wrong at Oakwood today!
For a while it looked like the baddies would win and that Tail would never find Moo... (you had to be there!)
But in true panto style, good triumphed over evil and the last of nine Christmas performances across the schools went off without a hitch!
Thanks, Years 4 and 6, for getting us in the party mood!
Sing Christmas! was the first performance of The Living Lordswood Community Choir.
The choir, which was formed in October, has 35 members aged from ten to seventy who all love to sing. The audience packed into the Oakwood School hall on Saturday 14 December to hear them perform a selection of traditional and modern Christmas songs. Former pupils of Oakwood were involved - singing, reading, manning the car park and serving refreshments - and you might even spot a governor or two if you look at the photos carefully.
Admission was free but the audience were asked to donate a tin food for the Basics Bank which supports families in poverty. Forty carrier bags of food were donated!
"The choir is a real community effort," said one of the organisers. "We live locally and are delighted to be able to bring joy and hope to the neighbourhood. Our thanks to Oakwood for allowing us to use their great venue."
We had a very exciting afternoon paying our way to play games. We had to work out our winnings and exchange the correct coins to play.
All the staff and children in Year 1 won at least one game and made some money!
Years 1 and 2 finished off the final KS1 performance this afternoon and even the audience joined in with the final song and the actions!
They told the story of how all the animals helped make shoes for the new King.
We had a special visitor right at the end, as the photographer from the Daily Echo came in to take photos for the paper - they'll be in on Wednesday 18 December 2013 and you can buy copies from the Echo website! (Just type Oakwood in the search box!)
Thank you to everyone involved - and thank you to all members of the audience too! You raised a massive
£520
for the Renal Unit at Southampton General Hospital!
Without a thimble in sight, year 4 completed their Indian purses in world record time.
A big thank you to our adult helpers: Mrs Elthrington, Mrs Heathcock, Mrs Larder, Mrs Harrison, Mrs Hayter, Mrs Whitmarsh and Emma.
Their considerable expertise and guidance contributed to a very enjoyable and productive day.
Years 3 and 5 gave the first Key Stage 2 performances today!
They told the story of the birth of Jesus from the point of view of the Three Kings.
Balthasar, Caspar (always hungry) and Melchior travelled east, met Herod at his palace on the way, but arrived in time to give gifts to the new King.
Thank you Years 3 and 5 for an amazing production! Great singing!
Year R took to the stage for their very first Oakwood Christmas!
There were stars, angels, donkeys, kings, shepherds and their sheep, a helpful innkeeper and wise men - all arriving to visit the new born King and his parents Mary and Joseph!
It was really lovely to see the confidence they had performing in front of a big audience - they've only been in school for a term!
Very well done Year R! A great performance!
As part of our India topic, Chloe and Amelia, in year 4, have been finding out about the Taj Mahal and have designed and constructed a replica model.
As part of Year 4's studies into stories from other cultures and to link with our India topic work, we have been reading the book Cloud Tea Monkeys written by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham.
The book is all about the struggles of a poor family working in the tea fields in India and how the Cloud Tea Monkeys change their lives, providing them with tea leaves fit for the Royal Empress.
Just like the book, Y4 turned into tea tasters for her Royal Highness today. By taste and smell, the children tried to identify these six flavoured teas.
Several pairs managed to get all six correct and are now thinking of joining the Royal Empresses tea tasting staff!
Here's a sneak preview of the Christmas cards we'll be sending out this year!
They've all been designed by children in the school, and we picked ten as winners!
Congratulations to:
Year 5 spent an incredible day at INTECH in Winchester. The children had the opportunity to visit the planetarium where they journeyed deep into the solar system and beyond! They explored science in all its forms using hands-on exhibitions. They were a credit to the school!
Year 3 had a wonderful day yesterday visiting Southampton's Art Gallery. Every child took part in a clay workshop, learning new clay skills and how to make a face, neck and shoulders. The children also had the opportunity of exploring the artwork in the gallery itself. A fantastic day!
Tuesday was club of the month day in KS2 as we were visited by Southampton Gymnastics club. And although we now work closely with Southampton Gym Club, our after school gymnastics is run by two of their coaches Greg and Ellen, they enjoy coming in to school to find talented youngsters who can join their training programmes. Which is just what happened during their visit during last years club of the month when they discovered a new Gym star.
Each of our KS2 classes enjoyed a quick, but though, session with Greg and Ellen on a selection of different gym equipment to give them a taste of how gymnastic clubs differ from school gymnastics.
Think you could hold some of these balances?
If your child enjoyed taking part and would like to know more about joining you child should have been given a leaflet to bring home.
Once again, Oakwood supplied the biggest choir for the Southampton School's Music Association Christmas Concert at the Guildhall!
The narrators were also from Oakwood, so we played a big part in the concert's success this year!
It's very daunting being on stage in school, so you can imagine what confidence our pupils have to perform on such a big stage, in such a big hall, to so many people!
Well done, Oakwood!
As part of Year 3's light and shadows topic, we investigated several materials by shining a torch on them in the dark to find out what sort of materials reflect light. We then wrote up our findings and drew diagrams to show how light reflects off certain materials.
Here are some photos of our investigation.
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| December 3, 2013 |
We have been learning about real Super Heroes in our community. We had a nurse, fire fighter, paramedic and policeman come to visit us. We asked them 'W' questions to find out more information about their special clothes and how they do their jobs. We have been junk-modelling and writing labels for vehicles that super heroes may use to do their job. On the last day of the topic we dressed-up as our favourite super hero!
Our Year 3 children first picked up their musical instruments only 10 weeks ago, but this afternoon they put on their very first public performance.
Conducted by their Showcase tutors, they played several new pieces, performed in an ensemble and even gave us a Christmas carol to get us ready for the season!
What a talented group of children!
Last week was anti-bullying week (18th November - 22 November). The children in 5JT enjoyed making anti-bullying shields with the message that Bullying is not allowed at Oakwood. Here are some of them!
Yesterday Year 3 were lucky enough to be visited by Mr Mandigora. He came in to speak to the children about life in Zimbabwe as part of our Smile topic. The children prepared questions to ask him and made notes during his visit.
This allowed the children to get a feel to what life is really like in Zimbabwe, not like they see on the television.
Thank you again Mr Mandigora!
It seems really strange it still being November and our Christmas tree being up in school!
But the OSA Christmas Fair comes around as regular as clockwork and we thank everyone who came to take part...
You may have played Batak, or bought a raffle ticket, or won a bottle, or eaten candy floss, or had a hot dog, or bought a woolly hat, or seen Santa, or bought your Christmas cards, or had a coffee and a cake, or bought some presents for people!
The fair is always good fun and this year seemed busier than ever!
Thanks to all of your, and particularly all members of the Oakwood School Association, for making it a success.
The evening raised an amazing £3808 which will all come back into Oakwood Primary School to be spent on your children!
Year 2 have been inspired by their top 'An Island Home' to create some fabulous projects at home. The children were allowed to do anything they wanted related to islands (including treasure maps, posters, information and models). These projects could of been about a real island or fantasy!
The children really enjoyed sharing their work with their friends on Thursday afternoon.
Have a look at our amazing work!
Year four took part in round two of the Inter-House Sports Cup this afternoon.
Five children from each house braved the cold to take part in the year four football tournament on the playground. It was a high scoring competition which required both a goals scored count back AND a playoff to decide 2nd and 3rd!
The results were as follows;
Arcadia 1 - 7 Oceana Aurora 1 - 3 Oriana
Oceana 6 - 1 Aurora Oriana 2 - 4 Arcadia
Arcadia 2 - 5 Aurora Oriana 0 - 4 Oceana
Playoff;
Arcadia 0 - 1 Aurora
Which meant; 1st = Oceana, 2nd = Aurora, 3rd = Arcadia, 4th = Oriana
Well done to our top scores: Robbie (9), Owen and Reece (5) and Paolo (4)
And thank you to our four Y6 referees.
Pupil Council from KS1 have helped to design a banner to remind everyone about how to play nicely at playtimes and lunchtimes. They used the 'Right's and Respecting' Charter to help them to think of ideas.
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| From RRS Banner |
As part of Anti-Bullying Week Year 6 have been exploring how different emotions can be expressed through art. We looked particularly at the work of the Victorian abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky. Here are some of our pictures inspired by his work and the conflicting emotions that we might feel if we were being bullied.
Twelve lucky Y4 children visited Southampton Gymnastics Clubs Redbridge facility today for a Gym Festival with three other schools.
Last week Year 3 had a wonderful day with Duncan and his team from 'Southampton city Mission'. Year 3 were learning all about 'Angels' and what they mean to them and Christians. A great day full of art and craft, team work activities and story telling.
What an amazing day!
The Key Stage 1 Pupil Council and the Key Stage 2 Charity Committee organised a fantastic, fun-filled day for Children in Need.
In return for bringing in a pound coin, we transformed ourselves and instead of our usual uniform, we came to school in pyjamas, onesies and fake moustaches! Some of our male members of staff even grew their own!
Alongside this, we also delved deep behind our sofas, underneath our beds and in all sorts of other hiding places to find loose change. We collected this together to donate to the Disasters Emergency Committee for the Phillipines Typhoon Appeal.
And what a generous school community we have!
Our grand total was...
The dining hall looked slightly different today as three of the most well-mannered, polite children in the school took their well earned places at the top table with guest of honour-Mr.Wills. The children had been selected by the dinner staff for their exemplary manners and politeness at the dinner table.
This week has been 'Friendship Week'!
At Key Stage 1 we began the week with one of our favourite stories, "Rainbow Fish". Just like the main character in the story, we gave away (pretend) sparkly fish scales to people who were good friends.
We learned that in order to have good friends you need to be one. Our new 'Playground Helpers' were introduced to the school. They will be outside every play-time from now on and will be wearing bright orange bibs.
They will be leading a special game every day that everyone can join! This helps us to make new friends across the school and make sure nobody is lonely. On Wednesday afternoon we met in our House Teams and had 'Play-Clap-Sing' out in the playground. What fun!
All week we have been nominating friends in our classes for our 'Friendship Wall' and giving them special stickers. We competed in our House Teams to see who could work together the best to win the most points. Our challenge was to run up the ladder, go under the arch, grab a beanbag and then race back to our team.
Our teammates cheered each other on! To celebrate the Tawny Owls winning, they had a special picnic in the hall and played some games with Miss Shore. Next week, to follow-on, we will be learning about bullying and learning how we can prevent it from happening in our school and what to do if you need help.
The children in year 5 had a wonderful opportunity to visit the Sea City museum in Southampton. They were able to find out about the lives of crew members from the city and if they survived the disaster.
They took part in a workshop where they became engineers - experimenting with the watertight hull, examined artifacts from the period and had to decide who they would have saved.
Here are some comments from the children!
The first round of the Oakwood Inter-House Sports cup got underway today as Y6 competed in a Quicksticks Hockey tournament on the school playground. With 50 points up for grabs for the winning house all house captains were anxious to make a good start to the years competitions.
The results were as follows;
We had our very first KS1 and KS2 Discos all on one evening tonight!
Years 1 and 2 had a brilliant time early in the evening and they particularly enjoyed Zoe's flashy new lights - have a look at the pictures!
Then, we did a swap-over, which went very smoothly, and Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 arrived...
They were even louder than KS1 and everyone had a disco-tastic time!
Thanks to everyone who helped - the OSA is very grateful! All the money raised goes into buying extras for your children at both schools!
On Monday the 11th, Year 3's went to Hollybrook Cemetery. We visited the WW1 and WW2 cenotaphs and laid wreaths and crosses on the graves to remember the people who gave their lives at war.
Preparations are under way to create our fabulous new primary school-bringing KS1 and KS2 together. Building work is already under way. Unused toilets in KS1 are being removed to create a new resource area. Take a look at the progress so far:-
Over the next few weeks, keep your detective hats in your pockets and a close eye out for any changes.
By Nicole and Bronte.
Year 3 had a wonderful day before half term celebrating as if it was the end of WW2. The children came in dressed as evacuees and really got into the spirit of being an evacuee in the 1940's. The children also showed off their dancing skills in a waltz and jitterbug dance whilst celebrating with homemade sandwiches (even the bread!
Today the children learnt all about why we have Remembrance Day.
The children painted a watercolour picture of Calude Monet's 'Poppy Field in Argenteuil' in their brand new sketch books and created a poppy wreath with messages of thanks and remembrance to all those who have served and are currently serving our country.
Now we all know why we remember, it will make our 2 minute silence on Monday even more meaningful!
We enjoyed using clay to make Diva Lamps. It was very tricky to make the shape and squeeze the clay. We used rice, lentils and glitter to make Rangoli patterns in bright colours.
It was a busy and fun packed afternoon learning about Diwali.
We have been learning how Hindu's celebrate the Diwali Festival by dancing, making firework picture, creating Mehndi patterns on hands and working together to create a Rangoli mat. Please look at our work!!
Year 2 have been busy baking!
We have made some delicious cinnamon firework biscuits and created a picture using them. We chose cinnamon as it is spicy like the heat from a bonfire to warm us up on a cold rainy day.
We spent the day practising our weighing, cutting, modelling and decorating skills and had a lot of fun doing it!
We are very proud of our creations and we hope you like them too!
Autumn half-term is a perfect time to get out and about!
Our latest newsletter tells you about 50 Things to do before you are 11¾!
This is a National Trust scheme to get children out and about doing all the things we tell them not to do!
Some examples are:
Duncan from Southampton City Mission joined us for our Harvest Assembly this morning!
We also had Mr Charlesworth expertly playing the piano and Miss Patchett leading us in song! The signed poem was wonderful - everyone had learned it - and Years R, 1 and 2 sang to everyone, and the Songsters sang back.
It was also a good try-out for the new stage lights in the Key Stage 2 hall!
Duncan was really impressed with your very kind donations and the amazing singing of over 400 pupils.
He reminded us that he was saying Thank You to us and he reminded us to remember to say Thank You too!
(We hope Boots the Cat is OK!)
We have been learning about symbols in Year 1. Bread is a symbol of God to Christians.
Miss Pratt and Mrs Abbott expertly helped us make our dough into a symbol of something special to us.
As a celebration of the topic "Around the World" Maple class rounded off the term with a show of "The world has got Talent" including performances from China, South Africa, New Zealand and Greece. We had our presenters and a panel of judges.
We all really enjoyed our whistle stop tour learning facts about the different countries.
Diwali falls on November 3rd this year, but what is it?
That's the question Year 5 were learning to answer yesterday. Priti, a local Hindu woman from the Southampton Vedic Centre, shared the story of Rama and what it means to Hindus. We talked about the customs of Hindus, and found out how they will be celebrating Diwali this year.
Have a look at the rangoli designs we made, can you spot any 2D shapes while you are at it?
The first meal on board the Titanic must be perfect to impress the fiendishly fussy first-class passengers. With these scrumptious scones, we knew we had a recipe for success. Let's just hope the jam is served at the right temperature!
"All Aboard! The ship is now leaving Oakwood School for a cruise across the sea."
After fastidiously completing their passport and ticket details (corresponding to real passengers), our voyagers set sail. They showed off what they were wearing in a 1912 fashion show, followed by high-tea with their own hand-made scones. They then enjoyed a sedate first-class waltz and a frenzied third-class ceilidh.
Luckily, we made it back safe and dry for our incredible Home Learning Exhibition at the end of the day.
Meet the Passengers:
Boarding the Titanic:
1912 Catwalk:
Waltz and Celeidh:
Home Learning Exhibition:
We have been learning about how to make repeating patterns. Have a look at all the different ways we have found to make patterns!
From Reception to Year 6, children were busy mathematicians this afternoon. We welcomed lots of parents, relatives and friends into Oakwood today so that we could show off some of our amazing maths skills. Many adults were challenged to a range of number, shape or problem solving activities using computers, interactive white boards, iPads, bee-bots - and of course, pencil and paper!
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend and make the afternoon such a success.
Fantastic observations took place this morning in Year 3 Science Laboratory.
Lava lamps, Gloop, Liquid Layers & Magic Matchsticks and Soap Power experiments introduced the young scientists to careful observation skills, prediction, understanding scientific questions and drawing conclusions. We learned about the density of different liquids and had fun with science.
No criminal within the grounds of Oakwood School was safe on Monday 21st October, as our very own Junior PCSOs were out on patrol. After being issued with radios, and being instructed on how to use them correctly, they were sent out to find suspects known to be lurking in our school grounds.
Markers revealing the names of fictitious criminals were placed at various points. All criminals were successfully located, and after radioing in for further details, our officers celebrated the identification of two shoplifters and even a stolen car. Does anyone recognise the registration - N5 JAP?
Year 6 took a step back in time today to experience life at school as a Victorian child. After paying their school fee with an authentic Victorian penny, they had nails and hair inspected before they settled down for a hard morning's learning under the strict Victorian school conditions.
In maths they learned all about farthings, pennies and shillings, whilst in English they got to write with real nibs, ink and blotting paper.
During recreation they played some traditional playground games and worked together to produce a class portrait of Queen Victoria.
Take a look at some of the photos from their day.
Last week Year 5 got a very special coaching session.
Two Saints Football coaches (as part of the Saints Foundation) exercised our water-conservation muscles. They explained how our water comes from the Itchen and Test rivers, how vital water is for our health and gave us some top tips so we don't waste water. We learned so much, we will definitely think twice the next time we leave the tap running!
Can't choose between reading and climbing? Year 5 have the answer!
We got creative about choosing fun places to read. Everyone picked themselves an interesting place, then disappeared into their books. The children brought the action home too - they proved it with their own extreme reading photos!
Whoever said reading wasn't fun? (No-one in Oakwood!)
Year 3 have been having fun decorating their time capsules. The children have been working extremely hard on their topic work (which is inside their capsule) to give a snapshot into the life of an evacuee in the 1940's World War 2. Their boxes have been covered in soil and leaves as if it has just been discovered after many years. The children's work will be on display at the children's WW2 tea party.
As part of our topic and Design and Technology unit, Year 3 had the job of tasting and testing a variety of sandwiches.
This was in preparation for their given brief 'To design and make a sandwich for an evacuee's suitcase in 1940'.
The children began by thinking about how sandwiches are made and can be an important part of a healthy diet. We also discussed what 'manufacturing' meant and how sandwiches sales are recorded on databases and why. Look out for more blogs on our bread roll making and sandwich making!
We have been learning about changes that take place in Autumn. We used scarves to create an Autumn leaf dance.
Year 6 enjoyed making a healthy and nourishing snack. Tasty toasties were on the menu last week and were enjoyed by all Year 6 pupils.
We have been reading the story of 'The Little Red Hen' and made our own bread!! We have been learning about where wheat come from and used the computer programme 'Dazzle' to paint some pictures of the characters. We thought carefully about how the hen was feeling and wrote some speech bubbles.
No pens Wednesday gave the children in year one some great opportunies to work in groups practising their speaking and listening skills.
In literacy, children worked in groups. Each group were given a 'story box' with characters and objects. They had to create a story from the items in the box and present their work to the class.
The Y3&4 football team (who fought so valiantly on Monday, where they lost in the semi-final of the U10 City cup) traveled to Bitterne Park Secondary school on Wednesday morning to play the Chelsea sponsored Southampton School Games 6-a-side event.
All the boys performed superbly and were rewarded with some great results against;
Oakwood 2-0 Heathfield
Oakwood 4-1 Beechwood
Oakwood 4-0 Shirley Warren
Oakwood 1-0 Sholing
Semi-final
Oakwood 2-0 Bassett Green
Final
Oakwood 2-1 Sholing
As winners of the event the Oakwood team will now travel to the Chelsea FC training ground in Cobham, for a 'Tournament of champions' in the new year!
Well done to all the team!
After the U11 football team lost out in the semi-final of their football tournament last week the U10 team hoped to make up by retaining the City U10 shield on Monday afternoon at Wide Lane.
Despite only taking Y4 children to the tournament Oakwood still looked like a team to avoid, as they made it through the group stage as winners remaining unbeaten in their five games. There results were;
Oakwood 1-0 Bittern Manor
Oakwood 2-1 Bitterne CE
Oakwood 1-1 Foxhills
Oakwood 1-0 Fairisle
Oakwood 0-0 St. Monica
Despite looking the better of the two teams in the semi-final clash against Holy Family RC Primary School after normal time the game finished 1-1 and continued to extra-time and then penalties. Oakwood were then outscored on penalties with Holy Family winning 1-3.
A huge well done to the team who played brilliantly and a big thank you to all the parents who came to support the team.
Six lucky Year 1 children went to visit the farm at the Countryside Education Trust in Beaulieu to collect some pumpkins for their pumpkin pie. They even had enough time to take a quick look around the farm!
The eco monitors and friends represented their whole year group on this important assignment.
We all got to taste the lovely pumpkin pie made by Miss Shore last year but this time the children got to go and see where the pumpkins came from and pick them themselves.
Year 2 had a fantastic No Pens Wednesday, learning how to communicate without using their pens.
They learnt sign language, learnt a poem about a magic box, made skeleton shapes, pieced together a world map and made an information book teaching the Year R children about Year 2(using the Ipads).
KS2 were joined in school today by Jim from Southampton Rugby Club. Southampton RFC are based just down the road at Test Park, in Redbridge and are our closest youth rugby club.
After a brief assembly each of our KS2 classes braved the strong winds and enjoyed a 30 minute rugby session in the sunshine with Jim. They learnt some passing, movement and basic tag rugby skills, with lots of children showing some excellent promise!
Southampton RFC play/train every Sunday from 10-12am at Test Park, Redbride, Southampton. They are always on the look out for youngsters from 7-16 years of age to join their teams. All of their coaches are CRB checked by the RFU and even offer all children four free sessions to get them started.
If your child enjoyed their rugby session today and would like to give rugby another go then you can contact Jim Everett on 07999810058 or visit their website.
We have been learning about 2D shapes.
We used a skipping rope to create circles, squares, oblongs and triangles.
We had fun trying to make the sides straight and make sure there were the right number of corners.
In Year R we have been learning about ways to look after ourselves and stay healthy. We have been passing around 'germ balls' to show how quickly germs can spread. We designed our own 'germs' on the computer using 'Dazzle' and have put them up on a display to remind us to....WASH OUR HANDS!
We had a great day learning alternative ways to using our pens. We did lots of fun activities some included: French games, French singing, speaking and listening activities. The children also had great fun taking part in circle time games and movement activities with TMC.
No! It's Year 4 investigating friction and air resistance.
The Y4 Science topic this half term is friction and, having already investigated surface friction and water resistance, on Wednesday they moved on to air resistance.
Having decided on the best material and the best sizes to use they then set about creating a parachute which would use air resistance to protect their precious cargo...(Water balloons!)
Many groups managed to protect their balloon on the first drop, but only one survived the big drop!
On Monday eight boys traveled the short distance to the Southampton Solent Wide Lane Sports Ground where they took part in the annual City U11 Football Tournament. As the previous year's U10 winners, Oakwood were one of the hot favourites to pick up the trophy this year too.
Having not conceded a goal and with four wins and a draw, team Oakwood topped the group and progressed to the semi-final where they met a very strong Bartley School. Despite having the better opportunities, it was Bartley who managed to claim a 0-2 win and progress to the final where they would play Fairisle Junior School.
Oakwood's Results were as follows:
Oakwood 3 - 0 Townhill
Oakwood 1 - 0 Charlton
Oakwood 0 - 0 Bitterne CE
Oakwood 2 - 0 Bassett Green
Oakwood 3 - 0 St Marks
Oakwood 0 - 2 Bartley
We were very proud of the entire team and will be celebrating them at school soon, including our goal scores and Man of the Match!
No pens for Year 6 today. Instead we have been exploring how people communicate in different ways.
Through drama and storytelling, we have explored how it must feel like to arrive in a strange land where you do not understand the language and customs.We have used music to convey our own stories and learnt a little bit about Morse code.
We have also learnt how challenging it is not to be able to use a pen but we have also discovered how important other forms of communication can be.
The Junior PCSO (Police Community Support Officer) scheme in Year Six has began in earnest. First of all we learnt the rules of PNB (Pocket note book).In these books there should be no ELBOWS-No Erasers, No Lines Crossed out, No Blank Spaces, No Over Writing and No Writing Between Lines.
We then learned to parade:
Last week Year 6 prepared to do some reading -Extreme reading to be precise! Take a look at our innovative ideas.
A big thank you to Sainsbury's Lordshill for their generous gift to contribute to the upkeep of our pond area in KS1.
The Eco Monitors are very grateful.
Elm have been the first KS1 class to perform in their class assembly.
They recreated the story of Traction Man and danced to Superman!
We hope everyone that came to see it enjoyed it!
After a lengthy selection process, which included application forms, speeches and a whole school electronic voting system, we finally have our 2013-14 House and Vice Captains.
They have already been fantastic ambassadors for the school by showing round parents of prospective 2014 Year R children.
We are very proud of them!
Year Three had a fantastic time on their trip to Search last week.
The trip gave the children a first hand experience into what it was like to live in the 1940s, focusing on World War 2.
Year Three became curators for the day investigating artefacts from the 1940s. Some children also had the opportunity to dress up and be put back in time!
We have been voted in by our friends from our class! There are two Pupil Council members for each class.
Look at Year One's fantastic Fire safety day pictures. We were lucky enough to have a visit from Hampshire Fire Service and have a go at some activities. We rode on the fire engine, put out a pretend fire with a real hose and learned how to keep safe on the roads. We had a wonderful day and learned some special rules. If there is a fire, Get out, Stay out and phone 999!
Year 2 had an exciting Superhero Day as a finale of their topic.
We all dressed up as real life and fantasy superheros and took part in some super activities like cooking energy bars, writing persuasive adverts, making clay superhero sidekicks and creating information pages about ourselves!
Can you spot yourself in the pictures?
We have been drawing our self portrait into our NEW sketch books.
We used mirrors to look at our features and then used pencil as our art medium.
We are enjoying using a sketch book to record our art!
We have been busy having fun in our 'Explore and Discover Time' topic!
Mr Ackland has been busy spending the Sainsbury's Active Kids vouchers, that all the children (and parents) worked hard to earn last year.
Year 4 have been the first to reap the rewards for everyone's efforts and spent the afternoon testing out the new table tennis equipment. Even Mrs Worley and Mrs DiMaiolo came up from the office to try and beat number one seed Ackland. It was in vain and the Year 4s had lots of fun in the process.
In year 4 we are learning about different types of words. To help them learn about adjectives, the members of 4TW combined their art and literacy skills. Here is what they came up with.
As part of our Roman topic in the autumn term, Year 4 spent Monday at Fishbourne Palace. It was the largest late antiquity structure in the British Isles and home to King Cogidubnus.
Year 4 had the opportunity to take part in a workshop where they learned about Roman life. After lunch, we all had a look round the Palace museum and gardens.
The Oakwood football team got their season under way today with an away fixture against Tanners Brook Primary School.
Tanners Brook, who got the better of Oakwood in their previous meeting at the end of last season, had a much changed team and Oakwood took full advantage in picking up a well earned 1-0 win. The only goal of the game coming from distance, a super strike by winger Dylan was enough to see Oakwood victorious. All the team played their part but defender Reece put in a man of the match performance.
Come and support the team in their next home game against Bevois Town!
Today Year 3 completed some extreme reading (as reading is one of the schools curricular targets). We went on the field and using excellent team work skills, we put up a tent, then spent some time reading in and around the tent. Also when on the field we used our new sketch books to sketch our surrounding. We had a great afternoon in the sunshine!!
Another fun day in Year 6 yesterday as Chris Davis and his crew introduced us to 'The Christian Story'. We learned about how Christians believe that god created the world from nothing; how it all went wrong; and how God had a plan!
Here is what we got up to:
In the morning, we were given a chess board challenge. On the first square, there was one grain of rice. The rice doubled in quantity on every consecutive square! Amazingly four children were able to calculate how many grains of rice there would be on the final square.
In the afternoon we made models of our ideal school and the most popular things that people wanted to include were: swimming pools, go kart track, zip wire and a chocolate fountain!
What do you think Mr Taylor?
Published by Jack and Ryan
As part of Year 3's WW2 evacuee topic, we had the fantastic opportunity to investigate an evacuee's suitcase and completed some activities based on this.
On Year 3's first day, all the children took part in a cookery activity, making carrot cupcakes.
This was linked to our Tinderbox work, designing a healthy lunch box for the soldier.
We all had lots of fun!
Year 5 went to the 45th Southampton Boat Show today and had a great time!
Many of them kayaked with Active Nation on the very small version of the sea - some even stayed in their kayak!
They also explored the multi-million pound Sunseeker yachts (without leaving dirty footprints on the new carpets) and went down onto the marina (where is was very choppy!)
Some children even volunteered to join the Royal Navy and learned about the work of the RNLI.
A great day - the exhibitors commented on the excellent behaviour and brilliant manners of the children - and the sun shone from beginning to end!
The Year 4 classrooms were full of Rotten Romans today as 4TA and 4TW began their journey into the world of the Roman Europe.
They had a Roman breakfast of porridge before holding senate in the school hall, where they discussed all things important in the world - but still made time for a quick photo shoot! They started their Roman topic work by investigating the Roman calendar and Roman numerals... do you know what year MMXIII is? Year four do!
In the afternoon the children had a go at some Roman technology, creating their own aqueducts on the playground, whilst also plotting the expansion of the Roman empire as they roamed all over Europe, Asia and northern Africa. To finish the day they feasted on foods first brought to the UK by the Romans.
Every single year four child in school today came in costume and all children looked absolutely fantastic. So well done from Mr Ackland and Mr Wills!! Finally a big thank you to all mums and dads for assisting the toga making!
Oscar the bear continues to enjoy his retirement - after a relaxing holiday in France, he is now putting his feet up in school.
However, he has been very worried that by leaving, he has created a job vacancy in Key Stage 2 - who is going to look out for tidy classrooms now he's not?
Well, he no longer needs to be concerned. After a long recruitment process, we have a new member on the team:
Welcome Oakley! He turned up for work today looking very smart in his summer uniform, but as the colder days draw in, he will need a jumper. Unfortunately, Mrs DiMaiolo and Mrs Rudge aren't able to order school jumpers in his size, so he is getting one custom made. Look out for updated pictures soon!
This week, he's just getting to know everyone, so will be spending a day in each year group. He met year 3 today:
As of next week, he will be on the lookout for tidy classrooms and brilliant teamwork - which class will win him first?
And he thought he was coming home for a rest!
Hot on the heels of a wildlife trip to Sri Lanka, Sam was on a plane to Barcelona in Spain.
This time, however, it wasn't animals he was looking out for, but beautiful buildings instead.
As well as lots of Roman buildings in the Gothic Quarter, Barcelona is famous for more modern buildings designed by an architect called Gaudi. Barcelona was also home to the 1992 Olympic Games.
Listen out for more information in an assembly soon...
Sam really has made the most of his summer holidays! Now he's ready and raring to go for the first day of term tomorrow! See you then!
Sam has had an extremely busy summer, with lots of stories to tell!
His first trip took him to Sri Lanka, a tear-drop shaped island off the south coast of India.
He started off in Colombo, the capital, which is next to a beautiful beach:
However, Sam isn't one for sitting around, so it wasn't long before he was off on some adventures. His first stop was a tea factory. Tea production is one of Sri Lanka's biggest industries - the climate provides perfect conditions for growing tea leaves:
He then went for a walk in a National Park called Horton Plains which is high in the mountains, 1800 metres above sea level. This park sits in the 'wet zone', and he was lucky to avoid a monsoon!
He walked for 8 kilometres to see 'World's End' - a magnificent view overlooking the land below:
It wasn't long before he gave his feet a break, and instead of lots of walking, he sat in a jeep to go on several safaris. Have a look at some of the animals he saw:
You might also have noticed the wave sculpture and memorial - listen out for the story behind this in assembly soon.
To finish his trip, Sam sampled some of the local highlights - a food market, drinking from a king coconut, visiting the elephant transit home and seeing a local turtle hatchery.
After a holiday like this, he needed to come home for a rest!
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