The Slopes ofMadesimo

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NEWS

Spring Review 2017

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The Easter Term has flown by and the main reason for this has been the fact that we have been so busy. There has been the very successful ski trip and the Year Ten trip to Rome and so many other things, all of which you can read about here in our termly Oakhill News.

There have been a number of new faces around as so many pupils have joined us this term. We have also welcomed Mrs Burcher as Nursery Manager and Mrs Baxter as Deputy Manager along with our new Nursery Nurses; Miss Wilson, Miss Gallagher and Miss Coyle. Mrs Hartwell has also joined us in Year 4 to cover Mrs Barnes’ maternity leave.

There have been so many educational visits this term ranging from trips to Lancaster Castle, Heysham power station and a trip to Manchester to celebrate International Women’s Day. The trip to Rome included visits to the Colosseum, the Forum and races around the Circus Maximus. The ski trip to Italy was an outstanding success in both Seniors and Prep, and next year’s ski trip is already booked up.

The Student Councils have been as active as ever. The Seniors organised an Oakhill Crufts competition; our first film night and are planning a mental health awareness week next term. In Prep, the Student Council have made a presentation to the Oakhill Association regarding things needed for the Prep playground; they have come up with the idea of using Egg templates to collect pennies for St Joseph’s Penny and to negotiate some activity time on the last day of term.

The Easter Term holds a number of sporting events including the Cross Country Race in both Seniors and Prep. Ben Thompson showed incredible determination in cutting his own previous record by a significant amount. In the Senior Swimming Gala there was some fantastic swimming from Maisie Holme, Louis Coupe and Giles Bridge. There was great sportsmanship too with some thrilling team events and lots of shouting.

We hope that you enjoy reading all about our busy day to day life in the Oakhill News and we look forward to another action packed Summer Term.

With every best wish,

Principal Carmel Crouch.

Welcome

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We seek to develop spiritual awareness; to nurture a sense of self worth; challenge students to achieve

their individual potential; inspire creative thinking and encourage

independent learning; instil mutual respect and understanding, and teach the values of service to others.

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Nursery have enjoyed a spring walk to see the donkeys. They have also been talking about Spring flowers and have painted some beautiful daffodil pictures.

Walking with a Spring in their step

Happy Chinese New Year

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GoingQuackersfor MessyPlayThe Toddlers have been having lots of fun, they have been exploring the shaving foam and getting very messy.

They have also been playing with the ducks in the water, enjoying splashing in the water and singing ‘five little ducks’.

Pre-Prep and Pre-School learnt all about Chinese New Year.

They have listened to stories and songs, painted dragons using chopsticks, made a large dragon that they danced around the school grounds, and role-played in the Chinese restaurant.

A Colourful Farm

Painting Little Piggies…oink

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Supertato will Save the Day…

The babies have enjoyed looking at stories, playing with the farm animals and making different animal sounds.

The babies had lots of fun using the farm animals to make marks in the paint.

We have all really enjoyed our topic of ‘Superheroes’ this term and have dressed up as superheroes, created our own character and made Spider-Man webs using masking tape.

Everybody loved the book Supertato and hunted for evil peas and we even made our own Supertato to take home.

In the Toddler Room the children have been learning about different animals.

They have had lots of fun making collages and painting different animals. They have stuck feathers on their chickens and even painted their feet pink to make little piggies!

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Class Full of Characters

Pat a Cake, Pat a Cake Oakhill Bakers

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To celebrate Chinese New Year, the Reception children were kindly invited by Annabel Yu’s parents, who have the restaurant Yu and You, to visit and taste some Chinese food.

The children were served prawn crackers, spring rolls, prawn toast and duck pancakes with rice and noodles. They were all given chopsticks to try too as well as goody bags with fortune cookies.

The visit was thoroughly enjoyed by all the children.

Year 2 have been baking bread. They have been learning all about The Great Fire of London and how the fire started in the baker’s shop on Pudding Lane.

Great fun was had kneading the dough and the classroom was a fog of flour! The final results though were delicious and they all enjoyed buttering their plaited loaves and smearing them with jam before devouring them.

This term the theme for speech and drama lessons in Year 5 & 6 was monologues.

Each pupil has worked hard at developing their own character and producing a written monologue under the direction of drama teacher, Miss Haymes. Everyone performed their monologue in front of the group, using character voices and dramatisation. They were really impressive.

Yu & Us

ArtyPants

Year 4’s Got Talent

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Year 1 have become talented artists this half term.

They have studied the primary colours and mixed a whole rainbow of tints and shades! We have tried to copy different abstract artists including Jackson Pollock, Paul Klee, Mark Rothko and Piet Mondrian.

Jamimah in Year 3 gave a presentation to her class all about her Muslim faith.

Her talk included a song on the whiteboard, a question and answer session, examples of the clothes she wears for mosque and special celebrations and food for the class to sample and take home. Jamimah’s presentation lasted about forty minutes and the class were very attentive and interested throughout this time.

Many thanks to Jamimah and her family for all their efforts. Year 3 now have a much better understanding of the Muslim faith.

Understanding the Muslim Faith

Year 6’s assembly theme was linked to the fact that we all make New Year’s resolutions but often find it difficult to stick to them for long. We heard some of the children’s own resolutions and how we can stick to them by getting support from others to help us.

They were helped by some well-known characters with inspirational stories to share about their struggle to the top - Elvis Presley, Michael Jordan, Dame Kelly Holmes, J. K. Rowling and Albert Einstein all made a brief appearance.

Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech also made an impact on the children during their RE lessons and they wrote their own versions based on the world today.

Well done for your confident performance and inspirational messages!

Year 4 entertained us with their class assembly this term with a demonstration of their talents in their own show, compered by Rocco and with a panel of very familiar looking judges!

Well done Year 4.

Year 6 Assembly

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Women in Science

A Balancing Act

Human Impact of Cutting Down Trees

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As part of International Women’s Day four of our girls visited the very impressive Manchester Central Library to meet women who have followed a career in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths).

They interviewed women in a variety of fields, including astrophysics and archaeology, to discover how and why they chose their particular paths. It was a very interesting experience for the girls some of whom are choosing their GCSE options this term.

Year 9 visited Spring Wood to undertake a Geography field trip. The purpose of the field trip was to use scientific methods to investigate the human impact of the woods and to investigate the tree population of the areas selected.

The pupils were very fortunate to be met at the site by the Countryside Ranger, Paul who explained his role and the management of the woods along with invaluable information about the flora and fauna of the area.

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Year 7 have spent this half term working on sports acro in gymnastics.

They began working together in pairs performing counter balance and counter tension actions. The groups then grew larger and the pupils worked in trios, quartets and quintets. Year 7 learned about the importance of body tension and control and what can happen if there is a weakness in the structure. The scheme of work was finished off with the pupils linking their balances with travelling actions and choreographing a routine. The groups performed well in front of their peers and all offered constructive feedback on how to improve and develop the routines.

A Challenging Equation

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An elite team of Senior School mathematicians, Alexander, Alex and Sam from Year 8, and Harry from Year 9, headed to Manchester Grammar School to take part in the UKMT Team Maths Challenge.

The day consisted of 4 challenges which required our team to work together to solve a variety of interesting problems. The highlight was the final team relay race, which involved solving more problems against the clock and sprinting around to collect further challenges.

Well done to our team for their enthusiastic and determined approach and for working together so well.

A Break for the TeachersAs part of British Science Week, Year 8 took up the challenge to prepare a Science Fair for Years 3 and 4.

From Elephant’s Toothpaste to Ooblek Fluid, and from Coke and Mentors to Flame tests, the pupils really rose to the occasion by demonstrating various experiments and explaining the science behind it. Pupils from our Year 3 and 4 and pupils from Whalley Primary School Years 3 and 4 really enjoyed learning from our very own Science Boffins.

Well done Year 8, we were very proud of your hard work!

Year 10 Triple Science enjoyed a trip to Heysham Power Station. Upon arrival we were shown a presentation that explained the process of electricity generation using nuclear fuel, taking us through how the industry is regulated and the company’s plans for the future.

We were taken on a tour to the top of one of the power plants where we looked through viewing stations over both the nuclear reactors and control stations. We were treated to a view out to sea, which we learnt was a vital factor in the location of all nuclear power plants due to the amount needed for cooling. We then went back to ground level where we saw the enormous turbines and generators which produce the essential electricity.

An Electrifying Trip to Heysham

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A Stunning Trip to Madesimo

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The snow had fallen on the slopes of Madesimo prior to Oakhill’s annual ski trip. Twenty four present and past pupils took to the tree lined pistes to learn and develop their skiing technique and take in stunning views of Madesimo and Motta.

Our day began at 07:30 with breakfast. Ski lessons took place in the morning following a warm up ski from the hotel to ski school. During the afternoon the pupils practised their skills and bathed in sunshine, discovering the pistes and cafes sprinkled amongst the slopes of Madesimo, reflecting on the day and what was to come later!

Evening activities were packed with fun and laughter. A games night brought out the competitive streak in our pupils as balloons were hastily passed between legs and arms. A walk into the village for pizza, a spot of shopping and hot chocolate, all resulted in a good nights sleep ready for the next day.

It was such a rewarding and enjoyable trip. Pupils from Year 5 to Year 11 encouraging each other on the slopes, laughing together and collectively building a fine igloo. The Oakhill Family Values at their finest.

It was so good; we are going to do it all again next year. See you in Madesimo 2018.

A Feast for the Eyes in Rome

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It was a cold, dark morning which greeted Year 10 as they met the school bus to head for the airport. However, they were in fine spirit and soon got going with breakfast and an enjoyable flight to Rome. After a bus trip into the centre and dropping bags off at the hostel, the students were enjoying the views of the city by 3.30pm the same day.

Year 10 then proceeded to walk their socks off, and navigated Rome like Marco Polo taking in every sight and sound, smell and taste. They saw the grandeur of churches, the chaos of the streets, the splendour of the

Forum and tasted the crunch of many margherita pizzas. Rome opened their eyes to the rise and fall of empires and emperors and the horrors of a civilised nation at the Colosseum. They stood in awe of Counter-Reformation churches, contemplated holy shrines and took in the expanse of the bustling city in roof top views.

Year 10 were changed as a group and as individuals. The experience of venturing to the centre of the Ancient World as a class brought out the best in each one of them. They were supportive and positive and they embraced the opportunities of each day. Well done Year 10, you were brilliant! Carpe diem.

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N E W C O M E R SWe have welcomed over 40 new pupils this term from Reception through to Year 9

and we are looking forward to welcoming several more pupils after Easter.

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It has been a great start to Oakhill Choir’s new year. Our new programme includes some traditional choral arrangements as well as some more modern numbers such as Lean on Me and Sister Act with our Year 8 soloist Holly Pooley. Keep a look out for them performing in upcoming events!

Voices of Angels

La Gallinita Roja

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One of the fun quizzes for the Trivia Club was based on sporting knowledge. Do you know which sport uses the term ‘love’? Or maybe you know which sport uses the lightest ball?

We had fun combining our knowledge in teams to answer the questions.

We finished with a picture quiz made by one of our members. Matthew made the quiz as part of his class topic on South America using animals as a theme. He was very strict with the rules and we had to get the correct name of each animal.

Well done to all teams...there were some tough questions!

The Historical Cookery Club met this term and investigated prehistoric gastronomy. Students looked at rules of good hygiene when handling food and considered the diet of the Palaeolithic and Neolithic time periods.

Students then tried out their developing skills by making a prehistoric fruit salad with goats yoghurt, nuts and berries. All were prepared to try the recipe with some students enjoying it and others missing the addition of sugar. Well done to our budding chefs!

An Old Sugar Rush

Spanish Club pupils from Years 3 to 6 have been working very hard on a performance of the Spanish story, La Gallinita Roja.

This traditional tale tells the story of a little red hen who asks the other farm animals for help to make some bread. When she finds them unwilling, she decides to teach them a lesson by eating the final product all by herself.

This piece called for a great deal of effort to perfect the pronunciation of some tricky language but the children have worked together to produce an impressive rendition. Well done everyone!

Trivia Club

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Can’t Win ‘em allThis term, the senior girls’ football team went to Accrington Academy to take part in the Hyndburn and Ribble Valley football tournament.

The girls were up against tough opposition in the group. They drew the first game against St Christophers, won against Accrington Academy but sadly got beaten in their final two games against Ribblesdale and Mount Carmel, who went on to qualify for the final. The Oakhill girls performed extremely well in their first outing as a team and were unfortunate not to qualify.

Year 5 and 6 boys tag rugby team played against Highfield Priory at home. Unexpectedly, both teams played with 9 men - which Oakhill had not done before with a bigger pitch and more space to run into.

The Year 5 and 6 boys represented Oakhill very well and they should be very proud of themselves. The final score was 14-10 in favour of Oakhill. The lads did extremely well to weave around defenders and find gaps in defence, also shutting down Highfield Priory’s offence by holding shape and not letting gaps appear for the attackers to run into.

It was a very close, end to end game - and the tag rugby team should be very proud of themselves! Well done Oakhill Year 5 and 6!

No Getting Past Oakhill’s Defence

Eight of Oakhill’s Prep girls travelled to Giggleswick to play in a triangular fixture against our hosts and Moorlands School from Leeds.

They worked fantastically together and the ball flowed through the court. The girls played in a very assertive manner and their shooting skills were excellent. They were a joy to watch and the other teachers commented on the potential we had in this group. Final scores were Oakhill won both of their matches beating Giggleswick 4-0 and Moorlands 1-0. Well done girls!

Netball Aces

A Crafty Design for a Good Cause

EveryPennyCounts

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The prep school pupils have been raising money for the St Joseph’s charity by filling boxes with pennies and bringing them into school.

As an incentive they have been covering a template of an Easter egg in their classrooms and earning free time to use on the last day of the term. The pupils earned one hour of free time and thoroughly enjoyed making their choices. The final penny count was an AMAZING £512!!! Well done indeed to everyone who collected- pupils, parents, relatives and friends of Oakhill. You have done a great thing for those in need.

Student Council in Seniors held a competition for students who love their pets.

Students could enter a short video or picture of their pet for judging by the Council. Winners were awarded by Deputy Head Boy, Jacob, and Deputy Head Girl, Taylor, in assembly. There were special prizes for Mrs Turner and Charlotte. Ellie won third place with her working cocker spaniel; Juliet came second with her hamster and in first place was Alfie with his climbing chameleon.

Netball Aces

Egg

Sorcha, a member of the Prep School Student Council, came up with the idea for a competition to design a logo for the council.

The competition was open to all pupils in the prep school and many pupils took part. Donations of 50p to enter will go to Cancer Research.

The winning design was created by Marcus from Year Four. His design will now appear on any letters, posters and advertising from the Council.

Well done Marcus!

And Now... it’s Time for the PeX Factor!

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Bring a smile to your child’s face

Oakhill, Wiswell Lane, Whalley, Lancashire. BB7 9AF. Just off the A59

01254 823546 www.oakhillschool.co.uk Principal: Mrs C. Crouch B.A M.A enquiries@oakhillschool.co.uk

Come and visit Oakhill Nursery from babies to school age.