1

Summer Fair

Year 11 LeavingPage 18

NEWS

Summer Review 2016

Page 3

2

The Summer Term started a little earlier than usual on 11th April and as a school we fell straight back into work mode with the approach of assessments and examinations. Our Year Eleven seemed to take up permanent residence as they attended revision class after revision class and even breakfast cramming sessions. We hope that Year Eleven gain the success they deserve as they have been such a unique year group and so committed to their studies. Celebrating Year Eleven’s time at Oakhill was a joyful occasion, although some tears were shed, but the focus was very much on the good times they had shared as part of the Oakhill family.

As ever, there have been a number of educational trips and visits which you can read about in this edition of the Oakhill News, including visits to garden centres, Malham and Quarry Bank Mill. The highlight for many though was the cultural visit to France, where children from Years 4-8 enjoyed a variety of activities from archery to snail tasting.

The weather has been quite mixed and although we have had our days of sunshine we have had to rely on smile energy as we have been deluged by June storms. Thankfully the rain held

off for one day when we had our Oakhill Summer Fair, which thanks to the efforts of the Oakhill Association and staff and pupils was a great success. There was a real family atmosphere and there was so much to do. The exhibits were of a very high quality and everyone enjoyed the summer races. I cannot say that I enjoyed being in the stocks that much but as we raised so much money I think it was worth it. And yes there is a photograph to prove how much I enjoyed it.

Sporting activities continue in the Summer Term and we held a successful Prep Swimming Gala and Sports Day. There have been a number of team activities and events including orienteering, handball, rounders, dodgeball, cricket, tennis and athletics. All of these activities are important social and educational events in which we learn to work in a team and to challenge ourselves to achieve that little bit more.

There was a clear sense of challenge in the musical endeavours of this term with Oakhill’s first Music Festival, judged by Peter Rose MBE. There were several performance categories in Prep and Seniors and it was a delightful afternoon’s entertainment. The challenge was continued when Mrs Keane had a vision of producing One Sun, One World and it

really was a show of unity with children, staff and parents singing their hearts out – a fitting end to an action packed term.

As we wave goodbye to our leavers, pupils and staff we wish them all the best on their future journeys. We wish all of our school family a well earned summer holiday and look forward to seeing you again in September along with all our new starters.

With every best wish,

Principal Carmel Crouch.

Welcome

3

Leavers’ Celebration Mass Year 11 Leavers’ Celebrations began with a prayerful and poignant mass celebrated by Father Leo.

Father Leo spoke about how much we are loved by God and how we should do our bit to live in God’s love. He advised Year 11 to work hard in their exams and to pray that they are asked the questions that they have revised for. Mass was very well attended by parents and grandparents and we wish Year 11 every success in the weeks ahead.

This year’s Leavers Meal was held at The Eagle at Barrow in their private room.

Pupils arrived by various modes of transport ranging from Aston Martins, Bentleys and even a Penny Farthing! After enjoying a beautiful meal Head Girl and Boy, Jessica and Daniel thanked the staff and even told an amusing tale about one or two!

To end the evening Mrs Crouch used memes to describe each pupil and a song that was pertinent to them and of course showed the obligatory baby photos of each of them which had been kindly and eagerly handed in by parents!

We are all incredibly proud of our pupils and it really was an evening to remember. All the staff at Oakhill wish them the very best in their upcoming GCSEs.

Leavers Meal

4

SunBabiesWe made the most of the sunshine and a quiet morning in the baby room by taking the children for a trip to Whalley Park.

They loved the swing and slides and Thomas even mastered his first steps while we were there!!

We had a wonderful morning of singing, certificates and disco games to celebrate our fabulous Pre School class of 2016 graduating to go to Primary School. It was fantastic to see how proud the children were and parents alike. Well done Pre School!!

Pre School Graduation

5

For the Queen’s Birthday, our toddlers, celebrated in true royal style with High Tea and plenty of bunting!

Happy Birthday Maam!

A Royal Birthday Tea

Spring hascome toShackletons

Beautiful WalksNursery have been on many beautiful walks this term within our outstanding grounds.

They have found new flowers and have skimmed pebbles in the stream! They were very careful when they were crossing the bridge though, in case there was a Troll living underneath!!!

This term pre school have been talking about spring plants and flowers and enjoyed a visit to Shackletons Garden Centre in Chatburn.

They had a good look at all the colourful plants and flowers, they enjoyed an ice cream in the spring sunshine and had lots of fun on the climbing frame and slide.

What a lovely morning they had. Thank you to Shackletons for making Pre-school so welcome.

5

6

Fire Safety at HomeThe children in Years 1 and 2 enjoyed their visit from Annie the fire lady who came in to talk to them about fire safety in the home.

They watched a couple of short films and got an opportunity to act out what to do if there was a fire in the house and how to keep safe.

They enjoyed dressing up and asked lots of questions too.

Year 3 had great fun flying kites last week. However their kites were no ordinary kites. Year 3 have been studying kites as a focus for their design and technology lessons this term. They have been looking at kite designs in detail and then had a go at making a first kite from a design kit.

All the kites managed to get into the air...despite a severe lack of wind. Year Three are now in the process of building their own kite, inspired by

their own designs...and praying for wind!

The Design of Flight

7

‘Tails’ of the OceanYou never know just what to expect when you step into Year 5’s classroom but this was a first…a visit from a mermaid!

Jane the mermaid, dressed in a stunning ocean-blue sequinned fish tail, had come to talk to Year 5 about her passion for the sea. Armed with her beach treasures (jet, conchie shells, amber, oysters, mermaids’ purses to name but a few) and bursting with stories to tell of diving with sharks, Jane kept the class entranced with her tales of the ocean.

Jane raised the issue of threats to the ocean and told the children of the work of the AWARE group. It was a magical afternoon in all senses of the word and one that Year 5 will always remember.

7

Reception headed off to Breda Murphy’s where they read the menu and picked their own yummy treats and drinks which they then paid for with their own money.

They all enjoyed their hot chocolates, brownies and cupcakes. Everybody really enjoyed their afternoon treat. A big thank you to Breda and all her staff.

8

Cryptic ChemistryFour Year 8 pupils braved the rain on a Monday morning to take part in the Manchester Salters’ Festival of Chemistry.

Twenty schools took part to solve the mystery of “Murder Comes to Saltertown”. James, Harry, Phoebe and Isabelle had to work together to crack codes and perform rigorous chemical testing on ink and powder samples to piece together the information to come up with who they believed was the culprit.

Only half the teams got the correct suspect, Emma Sprint, including our super sleuths, which proves their careful analysis and powers of deduction.

The team did themselves proud and thoroughly enjoyed the Flash Bang Show put on by Frank Mair of the University of Manchester.

A fantastic day that definitely developed the pupils’ analytical techniques.

A Trip to Turf Moor

Everyone speaks English! The British don’t need to learn other languages!

Myth or fact? After a recent visit to UCFB (University of Football Business), Year 8 Oakhill pupils can certainly tell you how little truth there is in this statement. The lucky pupils spent a full day learning just how important modern foreign

languages are to your success in a wide range of careers. Staff from UCFB presented a great deal of information about why speaking a foreign language can really make a difference to career options and success.

In addition, the pupils were treated to a tour of the Burnley FC football ground, which they found to be very enlightening.

9

After suffering a wet winter, our Nursery outdoor play areas were looking a little worse for wear. With a delivery of several tons of new woodchip we were then faced with the mammoth task of moving it to give the play areas a new lease of life.

Enter our Oakhill Army! Always happy to help, our Senior School pupils willingly volunteered their time after school to get the job done. The mighty force made light work of the task, clearing the old wet and mouldy stuff and replacing it with brand new woodchip.

Within a couple of hours two new play areas were complete, and ready for the Nursery children to enjoy. The team enjoyed themselves in the process and were rightly proud of their efforts.

Many Hands Make Light Work

Oakhill's bi-annual Senior enterprise event combined language and enterprise skills as pupils competed to prepare a proposal for cruise holidays targeted at the French and Spanish family holiday market.

The teams had to prepare a Kids Club itinerary, to include a daily intercontinental activity, converse with

tour operators, research a port visit for a passenger trip and produce a marketing poster - all in a target language chosen by the children. Team work, awareness of business, application of number and communication skills were targeted. It was a pleasure to see the pupils learn and support each other throughout the challenge.

Language & Enterprise Experts

10

On May 8th eight of the boys and girls from Years 3 and 4 made their First Holy Communion at English Martyrs R.C. Church, Whalley.

The weather dawned bright and beautiful and helped to make the day even more wonderful. It was a very special occasion for all concerned and was another step on their Sacramental Journey.

The children enjoyed every moment and as the photographs show there was a lot of happiness and love surrounding them. They all had huge smiles on their faces throughout. The children read the bidding prayers and took up the offertory and did so with reverence and pride.

Father Price asked us all to remember what Jesus did for us when he shared His last meal with his disciples and this too will be a day for us all to remember.

Prep school came together to take part in a mass to celebrate the children having made their First Holy Communion the previous Sunday.

Prior to that they enjoyed afternoon tea in the Atrium with their families and it was another opportunity for the girls to wear their communion dresses and the boys to change to wear their suits.

The mass was led by Father Leo who as always made it very special and once again brought along his bag of props. This time it was a bag of hats although his final hat, a Burnley one, caused a little consternation amongst some Blackburn Rovers fans!

A Celebration Massfrom Father Leo

Our Special Day

11

A Trip Over the Pond

Sunday was an adventurous day where we were able to try our hand at archery, fencing and zip wiring. It was fantastic to see the children working so well together. There was admiral bravery and outstanding team work and support from every one of them.

The journey home was via a bakery where the children learnt about the whole process of making bread and were entertained by the croissant making session by the shop baker himself.

The month of May was very exciting for a group of Oakhill children ranging from Years 4-8. They were given the opportunity to travel to France and bring their French lessons to life.

Saturday morning saw the children learning about the interesting history of the château and the town, before they embarked upon the challenge of visiting the local

market. After their initial trepidation, the children were soon confidently purchasing gifts in French and wowing the locals with their command of the language. The cultural experiences continued into the afternoon. The first stop was a chocolate factory where we learnt about the fascinating process of chocolate manufacture and were even treated to some samples of the delicious end product.Next was the much-anticipated trip to the snail farm.

Our host explained to us how the snails are cared for and bred and amazed us with many amazing facts. We were then taken out to see the snails for ourselves and even hold them in our hands.

We were then encouraged to try snail pâté and snails in a biscuit. The pupils were extremely brave and were pleasantly surprised by how much they enjoyed this French delicacy. The evening brought stories and songs around the campfire.

A perfect ending to a fun-packed day

11

12

The French Exchange

Just A Run Of The Mill School Trip

Exploring Malham

Years 3 and 4 have been looking at The Victorians this term in history so as part of their studies they went on a trip to Quarry Bank Victorian Mill in Cheshire.

They wore traditional Victorian costumes and took part in a workshop all about weaving and textiles.

They then visited The Apprentice House where the rather strict and stern house mistress taught them all about the tough life apprentice boys and girls had to endure whilst they were working and living at the mill.

Everyone really enjoyed the day and learnt so much about what it was like to live in Victorian times.

During the Easter half term Adam and Jacob from Year 10 travelled by plane on their first unaccompanied journey to Rouen in Normandy. Jacob stayed with Clémence and Adam stayed with Tom who had both visited England the previous year. They spent the first day with their host families, where Jacob went to the beach and Adam went shopping in Rouen.

Throughout the week the boys went to school (Institution Jean Paul 2) at 8 or 9am. The school days are alot longer than in England and there were about thirty people per class. Jacob and Adam found the experience worthwhile and would highly recommend it to other year groups.

The first French lesson the boys had back in England,Mrs Everitt commented that their French had improved massively.

Year 9 pupils undertook a walk around Malham in the sunshine, learning about the National Park and the limestone features of the area.

They walked through Janet's Foss and viewed a flowstone waterfall, before heading into Goredale, scrambling up the waterfall of Goredale scar - the only way out of the small valley.They then headed up to Malham Tarn to trace the disappearing river, and descended down the spectacular cliff face of Malham Cove.

13

There’s no ‘I’ in Teamwork

Treasure Hunt, Teddy Bears’ Picnic and Disco TimeWith blue sky and a warm sun up above, pupils from the nursery, pre-school and the preparatory school enjoyed a busy morning with a treasure hunt, teddy bears’ picnic and a disco.

Everyone had a fantastic time...including the teddies!

A big thank you to everyone who placed an order for the annual plant sale, which also took place on that Saturday.

Such beautiful plants hopefully herald a beautiful summer ahead!

We hosted our inaugural Primary STEM Challenge Day where 7 schools competed for the Challenge Shield to be presented to the team which produced the best solution and demonstrated teamwork, financial acumen and quality video documentation.

The challenge was to design and build a flood defence device to move water from one level to another 30cm higher. The 7 local teams were judged throughout the day on their ability to design a solution, communicate and ultimately build a

prototype that would move as much water as possible in 1 minute. The teams were exceptionally keen and enthusiastic and came up with a range of imaginative solutions but at the end of the day St Hubert’s excellent design won the day with robust construction and high volume of water transferred.

Every team was a winner though as they all worked as a team to come up with a solution to a problem. A fantastic day which sets a high standard for next year’s Challenge!

14

Let’s make a RacketOur Years 7- 8 team competed in a local mini tennis tournament at the tennis centre in Clitheroe.

All players did very well and there was a good level of competition from the other schools.

All players competed in singles and doubles matches and for some this was their first tournament.

After only 1 hour of tennis we asked Mark Schofield our tennis coach to select a team for the mini tennis event for Years 3 and 4.

This was a great event and we were in a group with Brookside, Whalley and Edisford. All of the pupils played three singles games, out of the twelve games we won half, a really pleasing result for a first attempt.

Lydia was outstanding and the player of the team on the day winning all of her games by more than double her opponent’s score.

MiniTennis

15

Swimming GalaThis term the whole prep school downed tools for the morning and went off to Ribblesdale swimming pool in Clitheroe for their annual swimming gala.

With many family supporters looking on the house teams of Martyrs and Scholars went head-to-head in races comprising of front crawl, back stroke, breast stroke and relay races. Scholars took a narrow lead after the first set of races and maintained that lead to the end, with Martyrs finishing only eleven points behind them.

Three new records were set-one by Olivia in Year 6 and two by Nellie in Year 3 in only her first swimming gala!

Pupils from Year 5-9 were selected to represent Oakhill in the local orienteering competition.

Our senior team was made up from pupils in Years 7/8/9, the team ran in four mixed pairs.

All 8 pupils gave it their all and we were awarded the gold medals! It is a hat trick for us at Oakhill as we have won the event three years running and have qualified for a place in the level 3 school games competition in Blackpool on 5th July!

A great achievement for all involved.

Oakhill Children Leading the Way…

16

Silver D of EPractice Expedition

Our team of 7 adventurers from Year Eleven headed out into the Pennine wilderness for their first 3 day expedition as part of their Silver Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

The weather as always was a challenge, and the group quickly learnt that we hadn’t seen the back of Winter!Day one however gave a great start for the climb up to the summit of Nine Standards Rigg from Kirkby Stephen. They then descended to Ravenseat and on to Swaledale for the overnight camp in Keld.After an early rise on day two the group make good progress climbing onto the moors above Gunnerside, they then descended into the sunbathed beauty of Swaledale for their second camp down in the valley. Surviving the overnight winds the group then rose early again for their final challenge. This involved an ascent up steep moorland paths crossing from Swaledale into Wensleydale.

Here the weather was the main challenge, ranging from glorious sunshine to random blizzards! Bolton Castle was the finish point and proved to be a welcome sight at the end of a long journey.

Bronze D of EPractice ExpeditionContinuing their Duke of Edinburgh adventures, pupils from Year 10 working towards their Bronze award enjoyed their first 2 day expedition this week.

Heading out into the Ribble Valley, pupils successfully completed a 30km journey from Whitewell to Sawley, with an overnight camp at Newton. For many this was a journey of new experiences; cooking themselves a meal, carrying all their equipment, building their own tent for the night and of course some challenging walking in a wide variety of weather.

Pupils rose to the challenge and although they found it difficult at times, maintained a positive approach throughout and enjoyed the experience.

Bronze D of E Final

Congratulations go to all our Bronze Duke of Edinburgh adventurers who successfully completed their final expedition this weekend.

Their journey involved a 30km hike over two days in the beautiful setting of the Yorkshire Dales. Carrying everything to be self sufficient for 2 days, pupils left behind technology and home comforts to share in a great adventure together. They walked through Littondale and Wharfedale from

Grassington to Hubberholme, taking in some challenging climbs which were rewarded with some fantastic views across the fells. They had to prove their navigation and mapwork skills, along with campcraft, cooking of meals, teamwork and survival skills. They have learnt a lot from their experience and developed many new skills.

Well done everyone!

17

Harry Stephenson Memorial Golf Day

The Oakhill Association Golf Day on Friday 3rd June saw sunshine, happy golfers and fundraising success. Thank you to the 25 teams that took part; 100 golfers played the immaculate Clitheroe Golf Club course and enjoyed a full day of corporate hospitality in 25 degree heat and not a drop of rain was seen!

The event raised over £3,500 for the Association which buys extraordinary items for the pupils, such a Trim Trails, sports and playground equipment, iPad infrastructures etc.

Players competed to win the Harry Stephenson Memorial Trophy and £1,000 of vouchers were up for grabs between the first and fourth team places, with seven individual prizes around the course.The winners were Northern Carbide Specialists Ltd of Blackburn.

We look forward to staging the event next year.

The sun shone for the second year running and so the annual Prep School sports day was able to take place on the top field.

With children competing against their fellow class-mates there was much excitement throughout. There was the usual mixture of races, ranging from javelin throwing, sprint races to the very traditional sack and egg and spoon races. The carrying the egg running race saw some very creative running with equally creative faces and arm and leg movements!

A great afternoon of competition was rounded off with a grandparents and parents race, followed by the presentation of medals and certificates.

Good Day, Good Sports

18

Oakhill Summer Fair

19

One Sun, One WorldAt the very centre of our school community is the old oak tree. Each morning we walk past it on our way to school and each afternoon we gather around it, families reuniting at the end of the school day.

In the branches and leaves of the oak we see the changing seasons, the passing of time, while in its strength we see an image of our faith, faith even stronger than the mighty oak. How fitting is it then that today, in our performance of songs from One Sun One World, the Old Oak Tree will explain the great forces that drive our earth.

We will hear about the power of the sun, the movement of the oceans, the patterns of the wind, the miracle of rainfall, the web of cold and heat. The panda, the polar bear and the tiger will be the voice of the animals, while the children of the world will sing of the world they know, a world which is ever changing, ever developing, a world which is our one wonderful world to share.

20

We are:

One family in God;Aspiring to be the best we can;

Knowing we are loved;

Having respect for others;

Inspiring others with our eagerness to learn;

Leading the way to a just future;

Living and learning in the love of God.