Welcome Oakley!

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?

Oscar - En Vacances!

Oscar is enjoying his first few days of retirement by practising his French in the small Brittany village of Saint-Pol-de-Léon.

He went to the beach to go rock-pooling, had a few treats and visited the cathedral.



Finally, he caught the ferry safely back to Plymouth - so we'll see him in September.

Au revoir, Oscar!

Year 5 become Pharaohs for the day!

Year 5 had a super day on Friday - they became Pharaohs for the day! We enjoyed lots of different activities to launch our new (and final!) Year 5 topic. These included:

- Using Google Earth on the iPads to locate Egypt and some of the country's famous landmarks.
- Making Egyptian flat bread.
- Creating an Egyptian Pharaoh collar.
- Making a Pharaoh's headdress (including one for Oscar).
- Having an Egyptian feast.
- Competing in a 'best mummy dance' competition!

We sent the children home 'walking like Egyptians' in their new Pharaoh accessories. Well done for a fantastic day, Year 5!

Hooray for the High 5 netball teams

Team A have had a great start to the Southampton Netball League, winning 4 out of 6 games. They have worked very well as a team and improved a lot since the first training session.
Results are as follows:
Oakwood A v St Monica A
                 3 v 2

Oakwood A v St Monica B
                6 v 4

Oakwood A v Bassett Green A
                1 v 8

Oakwood A v Sholing Junior A
                 7 v 4

Oakwood A v Sholing Junior B
                11 v 0

Oakwood A v  Heathfield
                 1 v 2

Well done to Team B for a great effort and sportsmanship in all their games.
Players' of the matches have been Tom, Jack and Ellie. Fantastic!



We look forward to the remaining matches beginning 17 January where Oakwood A will play Oakwood B!

Match report by Oakwood A players' of the matches so far: Abbie, Cassidy and Morgan.

Oscar joins the cubs for Christmas!

I went to the cub carol service tonight. The service was at Avenue St Andrew Church, The Avenue.

All the cub groups in Southampton were invited, so there were a lot of children.

We saw a familiar face, it was Chris, who told us the story of the shepherds. He got 4 cub leaders to dress up, they looked really silly.

Each cub was asked to bring along a toy that they no longer wanted to the service. All the toys were placed under a Christmas tree in the church. They will then be collected by SCRATCH who will give them to children in Southampton who wouldn't normally get any presents. Chris said last year they gave presents to more than 17,000 children and this year it could be even more. Helping other people is part of the cub promise which is why everyone was asked to bring something.

Lots of Christmas carols were sung and afterwards the cubs had a party in the church hall, it was really noisy, but lots of fun.

Where was Oscar...?

I also went away in the summer holidays, but not quite as far as SAM, who went to Sweden...

There is a small prize if you can guess where I was when I had my photograph taken...



Be very careful to read the question properly!

Oscar here...!

Hello! Oscar here! Just the sort of weather us bears like!

Make sure you stay safe and warm today in the snow while the school is closed.

I reckon most of you will be out in your gardens or the park later today having a snowball fight or making a snowman! If you make a really interesting snowman, email me a picture: oscar@oakwoodlive.net and I'll try and put it on the blog later. (I might even have a prize for the best one when we get back to school.)

If you've got the internet (and you have because you're reading this!) there are lots of things you can do to keep yourself occupied and stay learning. You can log into e-City using your oakwoodlive ID and password - there are lots of activities for you to do there.

If you're feeling poetic - how about a snowem? (That's a snowy poem!) If you write a really good one, I'll put it on the blog too - especially if you can email me a picture to go with it!

I'd also be interested if you do any snience (snowy science - keep up!) There are lots of activities here!

I look forward to hearing from you!

Oscar

Oscar at the 10K!

This weekend Alice took me to the Cancer Research 10K Race on Southampton Common.

I saw lots of people connected to Oakwood Junior and Infant Schools, and thought they all did a wonderful job raising money for
charity.

And I got to wear the medal at the end...

Home at last!

My time in Canada has come to an end - just in time for me to return to school tomorrow morning!

The last stop on my trip was Vancouver...



...which is a large city on the west coast of Canada. Like many North American cities, it is full of skyscraper buildings:



Vancouver has one of largest city parks in the whole continent, called Stanley Park. It is a great place to spot more wildlife like the Canada Goose and grey (but really black!) squirrel below:





Stanley Park also celebrates Native American culture, as you can see from the totem poles exhibit here:



It has been an eventful summer, but I am refreshed and ready to start the new term. Hope you all are too!

See you tomorrow!

Furry Friends!

Hello again!

I have travelled nearly 200 miles along the "Icefields Parkway" and have arrived in Jasper. The roadside had some stunning views. Here I am at Peyto Lake (I had to climb a really steep hill to get here!):



This is the Columbia Icefield. It is a large area of ice wedged between two mountains. The ice here is as deep as the Eiffel Tower (in Paris) is tall!



During my travels through the Rockies, I have met many of my Canadian cousins. It was great to see them, even if they are much bigger than me!



However, it was the real wildlife that was the most exciting. The Rockies is home to lots of beautiful, wild animals - and some of them are quite scary! In the photos below, you will see a mule deer (can you work out why it's named after a mule?), red squirrel, beavers, mountain goats and a beautiful stag.



If you look REALLY closely, you will see a coyote in this photo. (Sorry it's very far away, but it wasn't safe to get much closer!)



The highlight of my trip was seeing some real bears! This is a photo of a black bear (from behind!)...



...and this is a grizzly bear!



These bears are a very important part of the environment in this part of Canada, and must be treated with great respect.

Well, my time in the Rockies has come to an end. Now I am boarding a train which will take 18 hours to reach Vancouver, which is a big city on the west coast of Canada. Speak to you soon!

Hello from Canada!

I travelled 9 hours on a plane in order to get to Calgary, which is in Western Canada. It's the gateway to the Canadian Rockies - a massive area which is surrounded by lots of mountains.

I started off in a little town called Banff, which is a ski resort in the winter. It is also the name of a National Park, which means that the area is very special and beautiful, so has to be protected. I went on some great walks - here is a picture of me next to Lake Louise...

...and here I am at Emerald Lake:

The water in these lakes is always incredibly blue, no matter what the weather. If you can find out why, leave a comment at the end of the blog and the first person to get the correct answer will win a prize!

I also let my adventurous side out on my holiday. I walked along the side of Johnstone Canyon and even went tree climbing!

I'm now on my way to another little town called Jasper. I have to drive nearly 200 miles along a stretch of road called the "Icefields Parkway" to get there, so keep looking on the blog for my next instalment!

And where is Oscar?

SAM has been on holiday over Easter, but I have too!

I also have a £5 book voucher for anyone who can email me with the four places I have been! (One of them is really hard!)



Don't leave a comment on the blog because people will be able to see your answers - instead, email me at oscar@oakwoodlive.net!

Good luck!

Oscar and Sam in the Snow

I was very disappointed that school was closed on Thursday, but SAM and I made the most of the time by making snowmen!



Later on, we had a hot drink and logged onto E-City and did some school work! You can too - just use your school email username and password!

It was good to back on Friday!

Where in the world is... OSCAR Bear?

Hello All!

I hope you are enjoying your holidays! After spending a year in Australia, it's very different being back home in England... or am I???

I will post a few photos over the next few days - see if you can work out where I am!



PS Who is Barnaby again?

申し申し

Hello friends,

How are you doing? Thought I'd send you a quick update before I leave the country and head off back to sunny Southampton... make sure that sun is still shining for me when I arrive as I'm very used to it having been living here in Australia for almost a year!!

Last week I accompanied my Grade 6 host on a special trip to learn all about things Japanese. It was a very interesting day. We took a 45 minute bus trip to the Botanic Gardens where we learned some martial arts, viewed a Japanese tea ceremony and listened to the Japanese flute. We also looked at many bonsai trees.



For lunch we had teryaki chicken and spring rolls. I struggled with the chop sticks! The children helped me but I like to use my paws!

Well, I'll be off now as I'm on my way to the airport shortly. I will see you all very soon!

Love from Oscar. x x

PS Does anyone know what the Japanese writing at the top is?

Oscar at Movie World...

Hello all,

As I've been working so hard in school here over the past few weeks, my hosts decided they would treat me to a day out at Warner Brothers Movie World on The Gold Coast. I had such a fun day!

I was allowed to walk around the film sets and pretend I was a film star whilst I had several photos taken, and of course there are some big rides there too. I was a bit scared about going on some of them, my hosts are braver than me! We met some real Movie stars like Batman and Scooby Doo!!



Well, as you may know, I'm about to return to Oakwood very soon. I have a couple more weeks here with a special trip planned for next week which I will let you know all about soon. In the meantime, I've started packing my bags.

I've had a great time living "Down Under". It's been a wonderful experience of a new country and different culture. There's no place like home though!! See you all soon!

Oscar. x

The Aussie SATs!

Hello Folks!

How are you all doing?

I'm sorry I haven't been in touch for a while.....I have been soooooo busy!!

How did you all go with your SATS a few weeks ago? I thought I'd be able to escape them whilst I'm here in Brisbane, but no such luck, they have them here too! They are called NAPLAN here: National Assessment Program in Literacy and Numeracy, and they have to do them in years 3, 5, 7 and 9!

Last month I went on a school camp...it was awesome!

Unfortunately the photos the teachers took of me have gone astray so you can't see what I got up to, but I can tell you I had great fun. We stayed up really late both nights and during the day we did high rope climbing, abseiling, raft building and canoeing! On the last night we had a disco and a trivia quiz. I had such fun.

I hope you are all being good at Oakwood....and that the sun is warming up as you are going into summer. It's autumn here now, but it's really nice weather. I'm still in my shorts and t-shirt at school!

Bye for now

Oscar x

Ngutana-Lui...

Hello!

How is everyone at Oakwood? I hope Spring is in the air for you all now. I'm still having trouble with the heat here in Brisbane....I wish I could lie in the trees all day like the koalas do!

Yesterday I had a very exciting day as I accompanied my hosts on a school excursion to Ngutana-Lui, an Aboriginal and Islander Cultural Studies Centre. Ngutana-Lui is the aboriginal word meaning 'to learn'.

I had a fantastic day learning all about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. I had a go at throwing a boomerang (I wasn't very good!) They made it look so easy! I had the opportunity to hear the didgeridoo. It was interesting to learn that only the men are allowed to play this. I also got to learn about some Australian plants which the aboriginals use as medicine and watch the kids have their faces painted.



Next week I am going on school camp! I am going to a place called Tallabudgera on the Gold Coast. I think I am able to go canoeing, raft building and use the rope swing bridges in the trees. I can't wait!

Bye for now,

Oscar.

A Day out at Sea World

Just thought I'd let you know that because I've been such a good bear working hard in my new school, my hosts took me for a special day trip to Seaworld yesterday on The Gold Coast. It was such fun!

I went on a ride called The Bermuda Triangle and I took a ride on the log flume and got very wet!



I had a very yummy lunch and I also met some of my relatives...

Back to school tomorrow!

An Aussie School Bear...

Hi all,

Sorry it's been a while. I have been so busy at my new school.

The weekend before I started school I took part in some Australia Day celebrations. You can see me in the photo waving my Australian flag. I saw some fireworks which were great.



My new school is called Guardian Angels and is located in a suburb called Wynnum which is right on the coast. I can see the sea from my classroom window. This is great because we get a nice breeze off the water which helps cool me down as it feels very hot with my fur and new uniform. I was almost wishing for snow like you had in Southampton a couple of weeks ago!



School in Australia is quite different to Oakwood. To start with you have to wear a hat every day. This is because of the warm sunshine all year round. If you don't have your hat on they don't let you go out to play at break times. The rule says 'no hat, no play'! Lucky my hosts are used to this and remind me every day to put it on.

I have learned about the weather and we do lots of sport.

The school are so excited to have me visit and they have lots of exciting things planned for me to do over the coming weeks. Next month they are taking me to an Aboriginal Education Centre to learn all about the Aboriginal people and life in the bush. I can't wait to tell you all about it.

Until next time,

Oscar.