Tricky Word Quest!

During Explore and Discover this week we have found some new ways to help us with our reading. Under the tables we have discovered some word mats with teeny weeny writing on it, the only way we can see the words is to use a magnifying glass. In the book corner we have also discovered some word hunter cards to help us spot tricky words in the books we read. We have been really excited by these new ways to help us read our tricky words and it has encouraged us to pick a reading job more often.



I wonder if we will be able to find and read ALL of the words?

Oakwood 13 - 0 Newlands

The Oakwood Football team were back in action for the second time in four days as they took on Newlands Primary School after school today.

There were several changes to the match squad for the game but it didn't disrupt the team, who during the first half, scored 8.  The team continued to push in the second half and managed to find the net a further 5 times, including a last minute break away goal whilst the Newlands 'keeper attacked a corner.

Goal Scorers: Reece (4), Levi (3), Jack J (4), Alan (1), Jack W (1).

Well done to Jack J on picking up the man of the match award for an all action performance!!

Who stole the porridge?

The children in Year 1 have got their work cut out after discovering their role play area in such a mess!

However clues had been left such as spilled porridge, a necklace with a "G" on it, a black cloak, red ribbons and a messy bed! Who could have done this?

The children have began to investigate; writing check lists, discussing who this could be with each other as well as searching elsewhere for further clues and escape routes.

It was requested by the children to view CCTV footage to help and have launched our next topic...
How to catch a porridge thief!

Owls visit Year 1

Year 1 have just completed their topic "In the dark" and were lucky enough to have John from the Liberty's Owl Reptor and Reptile center, near Ringwood visit along with 3 of his owl friends; Frodo, Teddie and Sorrow.

John spoke to the children about the different owls and explained what is special about each of them. Giving them lots of facts about their eyes, ears and what they eat.

The children then had the opportunity to ask questions and have a stroke. It was a very memorable experience.

Thank you Liberty's for visiting us and allowing the children to touch the owl.

Elm say: "Giraffes CAN Dance!"

Elm Class put on a jungle-tastic performance on Tuesday morning for their parents and friends!

They told the story of Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae with great performances from the whole range of animals.

Because it was Gerald the Giraffe's goal to dance, Elm class also told us about what they want to achieve as they are Going for Goals!

Thank you for entertaining us, Elm Class!

Year 1 Learning about length and measuring

The children in Year 1 have been exploring measures and learning about length.

Initially working practically around the classroom and playground environment to investigate the length of various items using their hands or pencils and recording their findings in a table. They have also investigated measuring items using cubes and rulers.

Working practically the children have also shown they can compare and order items including different lengths of string and have created play dough "worms" which were longer or shorter than one previously made.

Learning about Time in Year 1

The children in Year 1 have been learning to tell the time.

First of all they found out what they could do in 1 minute. Completing activities such as:
* How many beads they could thread,
* How many pegs they could put in a board,
* How many times they could write their name,
* How many pieces of multilink could be fitted together
* How many numbers they could write down.

Some were quite surprised by the results.

The children have also explored time practically through puzzles, computer games and using clock faces. Many children are now feeling confident to recognise O'clock and half past.

Year 2 Drawbridge challenge!

This week the children were set a challenge, which was to make a drawbridge. They were only given card but they were able to decide on the other materials that they needed once they had cut the door out.

Most children used string to open and close it but became puzzled when they realised that if they were a solider, guarding the castle, they would not be able to stand there all day holding it closed!

After some problem solving, some groups used split pins so they could wrap the string around it keep the drawbridge closed. The children worked well in their groups, making and problem solving.

Badminton League Week 2

Following the great start all three teams made last week as the school's badminton league kicked off; Team Oakwood were determined to do their best again this week.

Having beaten Bassett Green 3-0 in the first week the girls team again came out on top. This time beating both Ludlow and Springhill 2-1 to ensure maximum points!
The girls have now played three, won three and we will await to see if that means we are champions, or if there will be a second round of games.

The boys A team won both of their games during week 1, however they were outplayed this week by only themselves...well, the Oakwood B team who were victorious 0-3.
Meaning the A team are now played three, won two, lost one.

As well as beating the boys A the Oakwood B team took on Bassett Green A, who squeezed past them 1-2 in three very tight games.
Oakwood B have now played four, won two, lost two.

Well done teams.

Run, run, as fast as you can!

We have been reading, "The Gingerbread Man" and have really enjoyed baking our own biscuits to take home!

City Cup Quarter Final

On Monday after school Oakwood took on Bassett Green in the Quarter Final of the City Cup.

Although the team haven't trained or played much over the winter it didn't take long to get their eye on goal. Oakwood played very well for the entire game and dominated possession, scoring 10 with no reply.

Reece (4), Jenson (2), Ollie R (2), Sam (1), Jack (1)

Well done to Jack and Jenson on scoring their first goals for the school team and to Man of the Match, Reece.

Final score: Oakwood 10 - 0 Bassett Green

Oakwood march on to the Semi-Finals.

Federation Book Club

Three of our able readers attended a Redbridge & Lordshill Federation Book Club Event at Southampton Central Library.

Each of the children and staff were tasked with reading a book prior to attending.
Mrs Mahoney enjoyed reading "A Boy Called Hope" by Lara Williamson. This is a wonderful, warm, funny, emotional and sometimes sad story about a boy trying to get in contact with his father.
The other books were:
"Over the Line" by Tom Palmer. A powerful historical novel about one footballer's experience in the First World War. 
"Twelve Minutes to Midnight" by Christopher Edge. An exciting atmospheric thriller story.

We met with staff and children from other Federation schools to discuss our books. It was great to make new friends and really get into a great book chat!




Look out for Oakwood's book reviews in the next edition of Oakwood News Bites!

Yoga in Year 2

In PE this half term the children are learning to do yoga. The children have been going on adventures to meet animals and practise the basic yoga moves and holding positions.

So far, the children have really enjoyed it! Have a look at the photos to see the positions they have learnt to do. 

The cogs are turning.....

Year R children really put their problem-solving skills to work today and built a water run! They had to decide how to assemble it in order for the water to run downwards and not spill! They had the added problem of running out of water....so they devised collection buckets so that we could reuse it! What clever children!

Some More Multiplying Songs From Year 3

Thank you to "Mr. DeMaio" and his YouTube channel for these songs!

Learning our Times Tables-Year 3 Raps and Songs!

Year 3 are working hard to learn their times tables-consolidate ones we have already met and start to learn our new ones. To help us we have made up our own raps and songs. We will be singing and rapping them all through the year to make sure we have speedy recall of our table facts. take a look:-

Busy Term Continues in Year 3.

The Spring term continues to be a busy and productive one in Year 3. As well as learning more about the Anglo-Saxons, we started our new DT sewing unit. After threading our needles and tying a secure knot in  our thread we practised our running and back stitches. We had the challenge of joining up dots on a piece of cardboard-pulling the thread so that the stitches were taut but not too tight that it made holes in the card. We think we did a great job for our first time-take a look.



Our science works on magnets continues, This week we have been carrying out an investigation to find out which magnets are the strongest. We are learning to carry out investigations like scientists-making sure they are fair tests, taking accurate measurements and recording and evaluating results.



In English we have been learning to recite the story of Beowolf, whilst in maths we have been making up our own times tables raps and songs to help us learn our tables more easily (videos to follow shortly.) In our reading sessions this week, we were treated to a very special storytelling when one of our Year 3 children from the Czech Republic shared some very special stories-reading them in her native language and then translating into English. Here's a brief snippet-as you can hear it was a great story and made us laugh.

Dan's Skittles experiment

We get all sorts of questions first thing in the morning in Y6. But the question: do you know what happens if you sit 4 skittles in a bowl of water? Doesn't get asked very often.

Well, do you know what happens when you sit 4 skittles in a bowl of water?

Schools Badminton League

Tuesday was the first day of Southampton School Games Badminton League. Oakwood have entered three teams to the competition. A boys A and B team and a girls team.

Here are the results from week 1:

Oakwood Girls 3 - 0 Bassett Green Girls

Oakwood Boys A 3 - 0 Bassett Green Boys A

Oakwood Boys B 3 - 0 Bassett Green Boys B
Oakwood Boys B 1 - 2 Springhill Boys A

A great set of results for a first week!!

Alien invasion in Year 5!

This term in English Year 5 have had a series of missions set, to help conquer an alien invasion. They have been busy creating clay models and fact files of the aliens so we know what we are dealing with! Next up they are going to use their story telling skills to write their own instruction texts so we will know how to capture those aliens!

Year R visit the library!

We visited the library for the first time today. We loved exploring all the interesting story and non-fiction books. From now on, we will be visiting every Friday. Mrs Handley-Garland gave us some lovely bookmarks to take home, thank-you!

The Globe, London

What an absolutely fabulous trip!!

Year 6 made the trip up to London yesterday to really kick off their work on Shakespeare - and boy did it go off with a bang!

After arriving, the children had just enough time for a very quick lunch before they were whisked off to explore the world of live theatre. Guided around Shakespeare's famous Globe theatre by our very own 'players' (or actors) the children learnt how modern performance began.

Children took to the stage (and well and truly owned it!) to delver a range of Shakespeare's most famous lines. They then continued to the Globe's acting rooms where they began to explore the murky and deceitful Scottish play, Macbeth, in a thrilling 60 minute drama workshop.

As well as visiting the shop and the The Globe exhibition the children went for  short walk to explore London. Going over the Millennium bridge, finding St Paul's Cathedral and spotting buildings such as; The Houses of Parliament, The Queen Elizabeth Tower, The London Eye, The Shard and many more.

We did arrive home a little late, but we can't have nice weather and no traffic all in one day!

Electronic day sparks off instruction writing

Yesterday Year 5 had an electronics day to kick start their English topic of instruction writing. They all brought in electronic (and some non-electronic!) devices/games from home, along with the instructions. They spent the first part of the morning testing out the instructions and identifying features of successful instructions. After break they had a go at creating their own instructions for a device. We then tested out our instructions and evaluated how helpful they were. Year 5 had a busy day, but learnt a lot about the importance of clear and precise instructions.

Myths, Magnets and Monsters!

Year 3 have settled in brilliantly and are eagerly getting their teeth into the new topic for this half term - Brutal Beasts and Beastly Battles. We have started to look at the legend of Beowulf, deduce when and how the Anglo Saxons lived and explored magnetic forces. Well done Year 3 - here is to another fantastic term.