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!
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