Oaklands School

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March 2017 Item Page Headmistress’s Message ...................... 1 KS2 ‘House’ Swimming Gala ................. 1 World Book Day ................................... 2 Transitions Dinosaur Topic ................... 3 Year 1 Display ....................................... 3 Year 1 Treasure Maps .......................... 3 Coopersale Hall School Cross Country Relays ................................................... 3 ISA Netball ............................................ 3 Oak-Tree Mental Maths Challenge ...... 4 Year 4 Egyptian Performance ............... 4 Book Fair............................................... 5 Year 2 Art Lessons ................................ 5 Art Club ................................................ 5 Bancrofts Science Fair .......................... 5 LK Assembly .......................................... 6 GR Assembly ......................................... 6 Year 2 Fire of London Assembly ........... 6 WE Day at Wembley Arena .................. 7 Carnival Masks ..................................... 7 Poems from 2J ...................................... 7 Year 4 Topic on Ancient Egypt.............. 7 Veggies ................................................. 8 Year 3 Chafford Gorge .......................... 8 Year 3 Stone Age Topic ......................... 8 ISA U7 Five-a-side Football ................... 9 ISA Hockey ............................................ 9 Friendly Football Match v CHS ............. 9 Red Nose Day Joke-a-thon ................. 10 House Netball ..................................... 10 School Uniform ................................... 10 Easter Bunny Visit .............................. 11 Oak-Tree Festival ................................ 11

Headmistress’s Message

Dear Parents

It seems incredible that we are at the end of the Spring Term, and what a busy term it has been. Sports teams have competed in hockey, netball, football and cross country events; Year 6 pupils attended the Bancroft’s Science fair; Year 4, Garden Room, 2S and 2J gave amazing performances to their parents; our mathematicians gave their best at the Oak-Tree Mental Maths Challenge; a selection of Year 5/6 pupils celebrated WE Day at Wembley and all the pupils enjoyed dressing up for World Book Day and Red Nose Day to raise money for people less fortunate than themselves.

You will be able to read more about all these events and the achievements of your children in this newsletter.

May I wish you a lovely Easter break and I look forward to welcoming you and your children back to School on Tuesday 25 April.

Sue Belej

KS2 ‘House’ Swimming Gala

On Wednesday 15 March all the pupils in KS2 represented their House (Willow, Beech, Holly and Sycamore) at the swimming gala held at Loughton Swimming Pool. It was an exciting morning with lots of close finishes, especially the House relay. The timekeepers were continually kept on their toes!

The final House positions were:

1st Holly - 255 points

2nd Beech - 230 points

3rd Sycamore - 224 points 4th Willow - 194 points

Congratulations to all the pupils for trying their best and supporting each other. Hopefully the parents who came along to watch the children enjoyed the event too.

Oaklands School

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KS2 & Teachers

World Book Day

On Thursday 2 March Oaklands celebrated World Book Day. Everyone had lots of fun dressing up as characters from a traditional story. Children showed great imagination choosing their character and designing their

costumes. Many classes took part in book quizzes and competitions. Each child was given a £1 book voucher to put towards their next book.

The Garden Room staff entertained the children from Lower Kindergarten, Garden Room and Transition during a special World Book Day assembly. Miss Moore, dressed as the old woman, narrated the story of the Gingerbread Man as she joined the other members of staff to act out the story. The children joined in with the repeated refrains of the story and appeared to enjoy this lively assembly.

It was wonderful to see the children and staff embrace the occasion in such a wide range of costumes - a BIG thank you to everyone for their efforts and for their kind donations.

Transition Owls were very lucky to have a visit from 3G as part of World Book Day celebrations. The children paired up and

Owls listened carefully to favourite stories read to them by the older children. After 3G had left some of the Owls asked if the story session could be repeated soon. So Year 4, 5 and 6 you have eager listeners ready and waiting if you have any spare moments!

We were pleased to raise £129.30 for World Book Aid who supply books to areas of the world that do not currently have access to them. Thank you for your support.

KS1 & Assembly

Early Years

Oaklands School

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ISA Netball

On Friday 3 March, the netball team played in the ISA competition at Redbridge sports centre. Despite the freezing and wet weather the girls played with determination. They played five matches in a row with a one minute break. The first three schools Gatehouse, Gateway and Gower were fierce competition and in fact qualified for the semi-finals and finals. Oaklands lost these three matches but then went on to play Coopersale. Again the girls played brilliantly and only lost by one goal. This match then spurred them on to win the next two matches by 8-0 and 6-0. Despite not getting through the groups the girls played fantastically and showed excellent team spirit.

Coopersale Hall School Cross Country Relays

On Thursday 2 March various pupils from Years 3 - 6 took part in the annual Coopersale Hall School Relay. The weather was perfect for running and achieving some good times. The Year 3 and 4 girls team which included Sara, Emmy, Francesca and Libby managed to complete their laps with a total of 5 mins and 56 secs for the 1600M distance. They came in in 8th place with a very strong field of schools they were up against. Marcus, Tristan, Isaac and Waiz completed the course in 5 mins and 53 secs, finishing 7th in the process.

The Year 5 and 6 girls team got the baton round superbly, narrowly finishing out of the medal positions in 4th place. Sienna, Ciara, Hannah and Maya managed a great time of 5 mins and 17 secs. The Year 5 and 6 boys team were up against some very strong runners but put in a spirited effort and didn’t give up, crossing the line in a combined time of 5 mins and 24 secs coming in in 10th place.

Oaklands can be proud of the pupils’ efforts and aiming for 5 mins and under next year!

Transitions Dinosaur Topic

As part of Transition’s topic on Dinosaurs, Owls worked together to make and then paint a volcano.

They tried to make the volcano erupt but sadly did not have much luck!

Year 1 Treasure Maps

Year 1’s topic this term has been ‘Around our school: the local environment of Oaklands School’. They have been learning all about maps including identifying symbols and talking about important information and aerial views. The children all made their very own pirate treasure maps on ‘aged paper’. They were asked to include their very own symbols with a key and they were asked to plot a safe route from the coast to the treasure chest. They did a great job!

Year 1 Display

Earlier this term Year 1 learnt all about Chinese New Year. They made lanterns, painted the Chinese symbol for happiness and learnt all about the story of The Great Race. The children performed the story and shared their work in KS1 assembly, topping it off with a fantastic rendition of ‘Chinese New Year is Here Again’, complete with musical accompaniments and dragon dancing!

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Year 4 Egyptian Performance

Year 4 put on a fantastic performance on Wednesday 8 March where they transported the audience back to the Ancient Egyptian era. They told interesting facts about important people such as the Pharaoh, Scribe, Vizier, Gods and Goddesses, whilst also explaining the importance of the River Nile, papyrus plants and some of the fascinating artefacts that have been found.

Their confidence shone through as the class sung and danced to Egyptian themed music which included an informative yet gruesome song on the process of mummification!

Oak-Tree Mental Maths Challenge

The Oak-Tree Mental Maths challenge was held on March 6 2017, hosted by Oaklands. Oaklands were fortunate to have four children who represented the school in this year’s Challenge. It was a wonderful opportunity to link with all the Oak-Tree schools and compete against each other. The children were divided into year groups. The four heats were rotated and each year group had a set of Mental Maths questions that they had to complete in a timed test. The children were challenged with a variety of Maths problems and they did the school proud.

The results were as follows:

Heat 1: Alex (Year 3) – 2nd place

Heat 2: Daniel (Year 4) – 3rd place

Heat 3: Mya (Year 5) – 3rd place

Heat 4: Kamile (Year 6) - 2nd place

Congratulations go to Coopersale Hall who was crowned the overall

winners for the day. All the children enjoyed participating in this

competition and we will definitely have another challenge next year!

Oaklands School

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Book Fair

This year the school book fair was a lovely event that was held in the studio for everyone to visit. The

bookcases were packed with books which the children were able to enjoy with the rest of their class and their

teachers. The books for sale represented lots of different tastes and abilities which the whole school could

access. The book fair aims to help the children develop a lifelong love of reading. Thank you to everyone who

bought a book. We will now be able to use the commission earned to buy some new books for the school.

Year 2 Art Lessons

During the Spring term the Year 2 children have been learning how to print in their art lessons. The children used many different items to print with such as Lego, fruit and vegetables and sponges. For the final piece of artwork the children designed their own template using a polystyrene block. They then used rollers and ink to produce their piece.

This has been a new topic for Year 2, which has been a great success.

Bancrofts Science Fair

A group of Year 6 children were invited to attend the Science Fair held at Bancroft’s school on Tuesday 7 March. The Bancroft’s children were given a task to set up their own Science stall which had to be informative, interactive and based on different aspects of science. All schools attending the fair had the important task of voting for the best science stall of the day.

The children had the opportunity to visit different

labs for activities based around Chemistry observing fire and fizz experiments. In the Biology lab, each child made their own DNA necklaces and at the end of the day each of them had to construct a rocket, which was launched on the school’s playground.

This was a fun-filled day with loads of opportunities linked to learning and discovery. The children literally and figuratively ‘HAD A BLAST!’

Art Club

Art club has been very busy this term. A new photography group has started and the children have learnt how to set their shots up and how to use the different settings on the camera. They have been put to work as professional photographers capturing key moments in school life such as class assemblies.

Children have also made Guatemalan kites and experimented with using different items to paint and print with. The club had also entered work at the Chigwell Art exhibition and the Royal Mail Christmas stamp competition.

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LK Assembly

The Lower Kindergarten children performed their assembly to parents with great confidence. They sang lots of different songs about people who help us, such as police officers and fire fighters, and came to school dressed in their costumes. The children remembered the actions to our songs about pancakes, the Easter bunny and Mother’s Day. They also played different instruments to music, stopping when the music stopped and playing loudly, softly and quickly. Well done children!

GR Assembly

The Garden Room children performed with confidence in their assembly to parents. They spoke clearly and joined in with songs and actions. They talked about what they had learnt this term; the life cycle of a frog, planets, our bodies and the story of the Gingerbread Man.

It was really great to see how their confidence has grown since their last performance at Christmas.

Year 2 Fire of London Assembly

Year 2 presented their Great Fire of London play to the school and parents. They did a great job with songs, lines and costumes. Not only did their confidence shine through but so did their maturity.

Their teachers were very proud and parents were delighted.

Well done Year 2!

Oaklands School

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WE Day at Wembley Arena

Oaklands’ pupils take pride in the fact that they care about their community and seek out every possible opportunity to contribute in all kinds of charity events the school offer.

Fourteen children from Oaklands attended the WE Day event held at Wembley Arena on 22 March 2017. They heard many stories about how children have made a difference in their local community by doing various charity events. They were also inspired by the life stories of celebrities such as Jessy J, Paula Abdul and Kate Winslet who encouraged us to be the best that we can be and make a difference in people's lives in any way possible. We were challenged to face any obstacle and to “DREAM BIG”.

This was a fantastic event and pupils left inspired to think about how we can support people in need. We are planning our first community event after the Easter Holiday. Watch this space...

Carnival Masks

Year 6 was given the challenge to produce a carnival mask and they all managed to design fantastic masks that could be wore at carnival festivals. Each child had to select and explore appropriate materials, make informed decisions about their designs and successfully construct their masks. Not only did they enjoy this task, they also gained and developed new art skills in many ways. These beautiful masks are on display in our middle corridor so feel free to stop and appreciate the work that went into these fantastic works of art.

Poems from 2J

2J have been writing poems about the night. The children used words to describe our senses, emotions and scenes of the night.

Please feel free to stop and read some of the pupils’ poetry the next time you pass the display on the middle corridor.

Year 4 Topic on Ancient Egypt

As part of the Year 4 Topic on Ancient Egypt, children in Year 4L studied Egyptian artwork and designs from over 5000 years ago. They researched the process Ancient Egyptians would go through in order make paper from papyrus reeds. Year 4 decided to try and make their own by using thin pieces of paper to replicate the papyrus stem and weave it tightly into position in order to paint their chosen hieroglyphics or Ancient Egyptian images.

Beautiful work has been produced and can be seen outside the Year 4L classroom on display.

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Veggies

On Tuesday 7 March the children were visited by ‘Brainy Broccoli and ‘Sandy Sweetcorn’ as part of the school’s aim to promote healthy eating. Ian, the school chef, cooked a Mexican meal for lunch, which included sweetcorn and broccoli.

Year 3 Stone Age Topic

Year 3 have been studying Stone Age through to Iron Age in history. The children are really enjoying this topic and all the new knowledge that it brings. As part of the topic, pupils looked at the way they communicated back then using cave paintings.

The children enjoyed designing their own using paint and pastels and the results were fantastic.

Year 3 Chafford Gorge

On Wednesday 22 March, Year 3 went to Chafford Gorge on a school trip. Excitedly, the children clambered off the coach in anticipation of

the day ahead. They met with their leader and then descended the gorge. Quietly, they listened to the call of the different birds and using binoculars they tried to identify them.

Without warning, the heavens opened and it began to bucket down with rain so the children quickly had to make a den using branches, rope and a ground sheet.

Whilst keeping warm inside their dens, they played the desert island game where they had to choose which items would be the most important. TVs and Xboxes appeared high on the list!

After lunch the children were shown how to build a fire and then enjoyed toasting marshmallows and popping corn. Despite the weather, great fun was had by all.

Oaklands School

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ISA U7 Five-a-side Football

On Thursday 16 March some Year 2 pupils took part in the ISA U7’s 5-a-side football tournament at Power League Barnet. They did not have much practice going into the event but managed to spend a few lunchtimes leading up to the day brushing up on their skills. This did not deter them as they delivered some spirited and high level performances to finish runners up in the shield competition. The team won two matches, drew one and lost narrowly in their first game. They then played Lyonsdown School in the semi-final, with all the boys playing beyond their years to win the match 2-1 to progress to the final. This proved one game too far for the weary warriors and we came up against a well organised Dwight team who won 4-0.

We can be extremely proud of their efforts and sure the future is bright for football at Oaklands thanks to Tristan, Thiago, Kaylan, William, Oliver, Zaid and Rayyan.

ISA Hockey

On Friday 17 March boys and girls from Oaklands, Normanhurst and Braeside came together to take part in the ISA London North Hockey tournament at Old Loughtonians Hockey Club.

After a few sessions of trials and practices, the ten pupils who were selected played extremely well on the day but just missed out on progressing in the tournament after their first round matches.

On a high note, the school managed to organise a friendly match with Swaminaryan School with both sets of players playing the game in a great spirit. The boys managed to win 8-1 and the girls 4-3.

With more practice and future friendly matches, Oak-Tree Schools will be able to compete on a regular basis in the future. A big thank you to Elizabeth Taylor (from Normanhurst School) for organising and running the team so well.

Friendly Football Match v Coopersale Hall School

On Monday 20 March Oaklands played Coopersale Hall in a football friendly on Oaklands school field. It was an opportunity to give some of the other pupils a chance to play and to give them some match practice. The sun eventually came out after a heavy downpour and the pupils played brilliantly together considering some of them had not played for the school before. There was a feast of goals with Coopersale edging the game 5-3 on the day. There were some fantastic goals also, with Marcus scoring for Oaklands. Well done to all the boys for playing the game in the right spirit and contributing to an enjoyable afternoon of football.

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Red Nose Day Joke-a-thon Sycamore House

Friday 24 March was Red Nose Day and the children had lots of fun wearing their noses and dressing in red. Year 6 pupils of Sycamore House ran a Joke-A-Thon in the playground at lunchtime - how many jokes can you tell in a minute? Prizes were given for the child from each year group who told the most jokes. Well done particularly to Claudia, Anya and Kamile who designed and organised posters and tally sheets and thanks to everyone who helped and took part.

We have raised £218.60 in collection so far for Red Nose day!

School Uniform

After the Easter break, the children will need to wear summer uniform. Please check the website for details.

The OPA are kindly organising a very timely ‘pre-loved’ uniform sale on Wednesday 3 May in the

Science Room, starting at 2.30pm.

House Netball

On Monday the children from Year 5 and 6 competed in the inter House netball tournament. The morning consisted of excellent netball, teamwork and determination. All the teams played each other and the winner was the team who obtained the most amount of goals. With the help and support from Year 3 and 4 the teams played their very best and some great netball was played.

In 4th place was Beech with 2 goals.

In joint 2nd/3rd place was Sycamore and Willow with 3 goals.

1st place was Holly with an amazing 9 goals.

Everyone played extremely well but the player of the match went to Luca. Although he has never

played netball before he managed to score 7 goals for Holly team.

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Happy Easter Holidays

OPA Easter Bunny Visit

A huge thank you to the OPA for organising such a lovely event on the last week of term. All pupils enjoyed a visit from the Easter bunny! Classes took it in turns to meet the bunny, sing him a song and collect a special gift. The children were all very excited! Happy Easter everyone! The event was made even more special thanks to it being such a sunny spring day!

Oak-Tree Festival

All four of the Oak-Tree Schools came together on Wednesday 29

March for one of the biggest events in the school calendar, the Oak-

Tree Festival. Pupils, teachers and parents have been eagerly awaiting

this ambitious project held at the Walthamstow Assembly Hall, and it

was a great success.

All children from Year 3 to 6 took to the stage, as well as selected

pupils from Years 7 to 11 from Braeside and Normanhurst, making a

total of over 300 pupils. The programme was lively and varied, with singing performances, dances, an orchestra,

rock bands, ukele group and much more. The children loved performing in front of such a large audience, even

though it may have been slightly daunting at first!

It was a fantastic evening that helped to showcase the varied talent of

the pupils from the Oak-Tree Schools.

The professional photographers and videographer on the night helped

to ensure that it would be an event not to be forgotten, and the DVDs

and photographs for sale will provide excellent memories.

A huge thank you to all the staff, children and parents that made this

such an incredible event.