Year 3 at Fairthorne Manor

Set in beautiful countryside at Fairthorne Manor, Year 3 had their first residential visit with Oakwood. On our first day we had beaming sunshine which made the day and activities fly by with lots of fun and laughter along the way. The children took part in archery and low ropes and had a great time. In the evening the children enjoyed a hearty beef casserole with broccoli and potatoes. Then they spent the evening singing around the campfire, enjoying hot chocolate. On Friday the heavens opened with continuous rain. But this didn’t stop the children loving having a go on the climbing wall and the Ariel runway across the lake – great fun! Have a look at the photos below!

Another Radio Star!

We've had another Weather Kid on Wave 105!

listen to ‘Weather Kid - Annalyse’ on Audioboo

(Don't rely on the forecast though, it was from before Easter!)

Oakwood do the double!

Having wrapped up the Southampton 'East' football league before the Easter break the Oakwood football team were gunning for a glorious treble of trophies with the Southampton City Cup and the 'Champions League' final trophies up for grabs.

In a thrilling City Cup final at Eastleigh FC's ground, Oakwood lost 3-5 in extra time to St Monica Junior School, having been drawing the game 2-2 at full time.

However with that painful defeat still in their minds they set about winning the Champions League Trophy. This is a four way annual tournament with the winners of each of the Southampton Leagues competing for a true champion team. This year, having won their league, Oakwood were pitted again Townhill Junior School, who had beaten the City cup winners St Monica the previous week.

Oakwood, wearing their brand new kit, scored the only goal of the game came mid way through the first half, and Oakwood held on to win 1-0. Winning the trophy for the first time since 2008 and for only the 3rd time in the trophy's 58 year history.

Year 2 Beaulieu Trip

Year 2 had a fantastic day at Beaulieu Motor Museum.

The children learnt all about the history of motoring and saw various special and famous cars. The day also included an exciting monorail ride, open top bus ride and a vintage car journey around the grounds.

There was so much to see, there just wasn't enough hours in the day. I wonder how many will return in their free time?

Lordswood Explorers Venture to the New Forest!

As part of Year 3’s Lordswood explorers Geography topic, we went on a day outing to the New Forest on a 4 mile walk. We began our walk on the edge of Lyndhurst and completed a circular route through fog, mud, marsh land, forestry and many a puddle back to the coach. The fog cleared quickly and the sun came out just in time for our picnic in the trees. A great day out and it was a great opportunity for us to put out map reading skills into practice, Have a look at our photos below!

KS2 Star Cycling Demo

The Summer Term began with a bang for KS2 yesterday. They were visited by Grant Fielder, 2004 Free Ride Mountain Bike World Champion, who put on a stunt display in an attempt to inspire more children to get on their bike this summer.

Grant will also be running an after school club at Oakwood this Term. 'Star Cycling' builds on basic cycling skills and provides a range of exciting cycle challenges based away from roads. Please see the clubs letter this term for more information.

Oakie in New Zealand!

Hello! This is my very first blog post and it's from New Zealand!

I'm on the other side of the world after 24 hours on several aeroplanes. (That's a long time for a bear!) You can see me looking at the aeroplane map when we were over the Indian Ocean.

I've been to lots of places already, but my favourite is Hanmer Springs, where you can have a hot thermal bath and a hot chocolate!



Here's my journey! Have a zoom into New Zealand to see where I've been!

Timber!

While everyone is safely off the site, the tree surgeons have moved in!



Oakwood (the clue is in the name!) has more trees on and around its site than most other schools in the city and it's really important they are all healthy and safe!

Making the Link!

Look what's happening...

Over the Easter break, we're pulling apart Green Base and putting it back together again in a different order...!

We'll have a brand new primary library for the whole school, and a new corridor which will help us get from one building to the other more easily.

Thanks Daryl at Tynwood for all your hard work while we are away!

The Bug Hotel

Over the last term Y4 have been learning all about Planet Earth and our local environment. As part of our learning we decided to do something to improve the school grounds and we decided to build a 'Bug Hotel'. These can take many different forms but are designed to encourage native insects and mini-beasts to populate certain areas.

We have built ours outside the Y3/4 classrooms, in the quad next to the KS2 top playground. Although it's not 100% finished yet we hope that our first inhabitants will move in regardless. This will give future Y4 children a great chance to study the local insect population.

We do ask that you help us look after it, by not allowing others to climb on it or remove things from the different levels. It's taken us a long time to plan and make and we're really proud of what we have achieved - please help us keep it safe.

Y4 finish the pud!

Last week was the final week of the Y4 cooking project, and the last groups of children finished in style with an *'egglicious' (*made up word alert) bread and butter pudding.

During the last half term we have cooked:
Omlettes
Pancakes
Veggie egg fried rice,
Quiche
Bread and butter pudding

All the children have really enjoyed cooking and learnt some really important life skills in the process. If you're stuck indoors during the holidays and need something to do why not have a go at your own versions of our recipes, perhaps you could email your pictures to info@oakwoodlive.net

Le Tour de France (...at Oakwood!)

It was a damp start for the cyclists from Testlands Support Project as they did their second warm-up ride of the morning here at Oakwood!

They'd already ridden several times around Southampton Common before they came to Oakwood to do an hour looping Sandpiper Road.

Create Maps or search from 80 million at MapMyRide

Next they are off to Oasis Academy for another warm-up, and they start their long journey to Portsmouth, across the channel and then on to Paris.

Keep in touch with them by following their Twitter feed - you can also see an interactive map of their progress!

Bon chance!

Tweets by @testlandssp

On the way to Zimbe!

Pupils from Oakwood joined their friends from lots of other schools at the Oasis Academy Lordshill on Saturday morning to rehearse for Zimbe!

Led by the staff from the Showcase Performance Group, their amazing sound filled the giant atrium at the academy and entertained all the other groups who were trying to use the space at the same time!

The Zimbe concert will take place on Saturday 26 April at Central Hall St Mary's. Come along and see the results!

listen to ‘Zimbe Rehearsal’ on Audioboo

50 Things to do before you're 11¾!

The Easter break 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:

• Make a mud pie
• Go on a walk barefoot
• Cook on a campfire
• Eat an apple straight from a tree
• Catch a falling leaf
• Build a den!

Here's the full list!

We often say children can't do things because we think they might be too risky, but with proper thought and supervision, they normally can!

Children: make sure an adult always knows what you're planning to do and ask permission first!

Awesome Egyptians

Year 5 have had fun during our Ancient Egyptian Day. They have created Art, tasted food popular in Egyptian times and have created cartouches, writing their names in hieroglyphs. To end the day, they presented their homework on the topic to parents! Well done for all your hard work, Year 5!

Easter in Year R

This week we have been learning about the Easter story. We made our own Easter cards (covering ourselves in sticky cotton wool in the process )and carefully wrote messages inside for loved ones at home. We went on an egg hunt! We had to follow clues and work as a team to find the basket of eggs! Mmmmm, they were tasty! We've also been busy baking Easter cookies for a special snack on Friday. We shared our special cookies with our parents/carers who were invited to a Thursday afternoon 'Wow Moment' workshop! Happy Easter from Year R!

Easter Fun Day!

Yesterday Year 2 had an egg-cellent Easter Fun Day.

We decorated some egg-straordinary cakes that were judged by Mrs Vanes with Luke F and Maeve O'B beating off the competition.

We weaved some cracking baskets to take home our Easter goodies in.

And finally the day would not of been complete without an egg and spoon race egg-sperience!