Oscar's Australian Christmas!

Hello!

After a two-day trip up from NSW I arrived in QLD yesterday.



It was a tiring trip, but I was warmly welcomed by my new hosts: The Robinson Family (ex OJS pupils!)

I was treated to a lovely Aussie BBQ and a rest under the Christmas tree looking at all the presents!!!



Today we had a trip to the Science Centre at the Brisbane Museum and then we went on the Wheel of Brisbane which is a smaller version of the London Eye, but very exciting! I could see panoramic views of the city!

The weather is much warmer up here than it was in NSW....my new hosts are trying to find me some board shorts to wear so I don't feel quite so hot in my tuxedo! I have my OJS school uniform too, but will save that for the end of January when I visit Guardian Angels School with Grace and Anna when their summer holidays end.

I'm so excited to be here.....my hosts have lots of exciting things planned for me over the next few weeks which I'm going to enjoy before I go to school.

Happy Christmas!

From Oscar and The Robinson Family

(PS Leave me a comment if you can tell me what NSW, QLD, OJS and BBQ all mean!)

Year 6 Evacuation Day

Year 6 had an amazing Evacuation Day! To start with, we watched 'A Brief Period of Rejoicing' - a 'Whodunnit' Murder Mystery performed by our teachers and teaching assistants. Mr Parker, who played George, did it! Well done to Katie who discovered the culprit!



We were then 'evacuated' out of the hall. We had to have our hair, hands and nails checked - some of us would have been considered very dirty by the country folk who we would have stayed with.

Throughout the day we learned about rationing and made bread, jived the Jitterbug dance, made our own gas masks and constructed air raid shelters!





We had a fantastic day and learned lots about life as an evacuee. We look forward to tasting 'WW2 teatime' tomorrow. We hope there is enough for everyone......

Year 6 visit the D-Day Museum!

Year 6 had a fantastic trip to the D-Day Museum at Portsmouth.

There was so much to do and see. We began by visiting 'The Home Front' . We tried on WW2 clothes and learned about different people's roles in the War. We decided that the helmets were not very comfortable and we thought the wardens were very brave people!



Ryan and Carina sounded the air raid siren and it was all hands to the deck as we dashed to the air raid shelter or put out fires created by the bombs!

We were very lucky to also be able to see the Overlord Embroidery, which tells the story of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy. The detail was incredible!

Getting Christmassy with the Shoppers...

It's now a tradition that children from our school go to West Quay Shopping Centre in Southampton as Christmas approaches to sing to the shoppers!

This year, we were represented by our Songsters group, who have been busy with songs for the Guildhall Christmas Concert and with supporting the Rosewood School concert.

The part of the centre where we normally sing was much smaller this year, as a smoothie bar, calendar shop and coffee bar all seem to have sprung up recently, but we squeezed into our little gap and sang to an audience of Christmas shoppers (including lots of parents from the school!)



We sang some more traditional carols this year, such as "O Come, All Ye Faithful", as well as old favourites like "Rock Around the Shops".

The performance was in aid of the Hampshire Autistic Society and there was a collection while we were singing.

Well done to everyone!

Ambulance Crew Visit

The children of Oakwood had a very unique and special experience today, when the Ambulance Crew parked an ambulance in the school playground!

All children had a chance to look on board, turn the siren and blue lights on, and most importantly, learn about the important work that ambulance crews do.

Some children had the chance to take their own blood pressure, wear a neck brace and measure their heart rates.

All the children had a very exciting and informative visit, and would like to thank the Ambulance Crew for giving up their time to allow them to have such a special hands-on experience.

Bringing WWII to Life!!!

What an exciting week Year 3 have had!!

On Monday we were paid a visit by Mr Strahan, who told us his first hand account of life in WWII. When the war started he was only 5 years old, and lived in London. Along with millions of other children he was evacuated to the countryside, and stayed there for most of the war.

He shared lots of interesting stories-some very sad and some very funny!! One key message came through very clearly, and that was how communities rallied together and looked after one another.

On Tuesday Year 3 visited the D-Day musuem. Here we had the opportunity to handle real WWII artefacts and take part in an interactive workshop, which helped us learn even more about life during the war.

Spectacular Spitfires!

Did you know that the first Spitfire made its maiden flight from Eastleigh, and that Spitfires came in all colours- even pink? Well Year 3 do now!!

Yesterday Year 3 children stared their exciting Spitfire project with local artists Wooden Tiger. Not only did they make and paint their own Spitfires, but they learnt lots of interesting facts about one of the most famous aircraft of our time!! This then inspired them to write some brilliant acrostic poetry!!



Later the children will be using their planes as a stimulus for some creative story writing, and sharing their stories with others in our new outdoor story garden.

Making a difference in the World!

You'll probably remember that we did our Sport Relief run earlier this year in aid of Smutsville school in South Africa.

We raised a massive £1100 and we're pleased to announce that the money has got safely to Sedgefield, where Zoe Harrison presented the cheque to Mr Stephaus Dogh, their headteacher.

Zoe has very kindly sent this report from their local paper...


(click the report to make it easier to read!)

Well done to everyone at Oakwood!

School Council runs Anti-bullying Drop-in Centre!

The School Council has worked really hard to promote Anti-Bullying Week. We organised an Anti-Bullying Drop-In Centre on Tuesday 18 November in break and lunch. We wanted children to come and get advice if they were worried about being bullied and also find out about Anti-Bullying Week.

We made lots of advice leaflets and posters and handed them out around the school. Our Anti-bullying bands were really popular too!

Connor's Anti-bullying competition was amazingly popular and results will be announced in assembly next week!



We are really pleased to report that we had lots of children joining in with our efforts, hardly anybody thought bullying was a problem in OJS! It shows we really look out for each other!

Children in Need 2008

We filled in a big picture of Pudsey Bear with coins.

We have collected a lot of money for children in need!