Oaklands School

NEWSLETTER

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September 2017

Item Page Headmistress’s Message ....................... 1

iPads in the Music Lesson ..................... 1

Sports Clubs .......................................... 2

Summer Club ......................................... 2

Year 2 Pop Art ....................................... 3

Year 6 Responsibilities 2017 - 2018 ...... 3

House Meetings .................................... 4

‘Good Behaviour’and ‘Friendship’

Awards .................................................. 4

Year 6 Study the Anglo-Saxons ............. 4

Busy Bees .............................................. 5

Mad Science .......................................... 5

Lego Club ............................................... 5

Year 3 Oak-Tree Adventure Camp ........ 6

Transitions Wild Woods ........................ 6

Prefects and House Captains ................ 7

Year 1 Mountfitchet Castle ................... 7

Harvest Assembly .................................. 8

Sports Matches ..................................... 8

Oak-Tree Fireworks Display .................. 8

‘Jeans for Genes’ Day ............................ 9

OPA ....................................................... 9

OPA Macmillan Cancer Cake Sale ......... 9

Headmistress’s Message

Dear Parents

This has been an exciting September at Oaklands. We have had a

very busy half-term so far, as you will see from this newsletter.

There has been a variety of assemblies, a RWI Information Evening

for Transition parents, a ‘Ready to read and write’ meeting for

Garden Room parents, Year 3 Camp, the Year 1 visit to

Mountfitchet castle, House and School Council meetings and the

‘Jeans for Genes’ charity day.

In the classroom, all the children have settled well into their new

routines and have made a very positive start to the academic year.

The children have been working hard in their lessons and the

displays around the school show some of their amazing work.

We are looking forward to welcoming new prospective parents to

our Open Morning on Thursday 5 October. It is also an opportunity

for current parents to see the school at work, especially those of

you who have children in KS1. Members of the Senior Leadership

team will also be available to answer questions about the KS2

curriculum and the preparation for 11+ entrance exams.

Sue Belej

Using iPads in Music

This term pupils are very excited to be using the school iPads in their

music lessons. Year 6 are learning to use the programme Garageband.

This enables them to learn about the structure of music, in particular

contemporary music. They have been making tracks using drum

machines, loops, FX and real sounds with some really effective results.

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Sports Clubs

It has been lovely seeing pupils come

back from the holidays with such happy,

smiley faces, enthusiastically taking part

in the many clubs on offer.

The Autumnal weather has not deterred

their enjoyment when participating in

the activities, both outside and in. It’s

been great to see so many new faces as

well as the pupils who regularly come to

clubs.

The children have been working really

hard at the clubs in preparation for

upcoming events in which we can

showcase the array of talent which is

present at Oaklands. We believe that

participation in extra-curricular clubs

gives our children opportunities to make

new friends, be part of a team, have fun,

improve skills and develop confidence.

Keep up the good work!

Multi Sports

Boys Football

Girls Football

Summer Club

The Early Years Summer Club was

another great success this year! The

children enjoyed a variety of activities

including; painting, water play, planting

and cooking. The weather luckily stayed

pretty dry and the children were able to

spend lots of time outside, much to the

enjoyment of the children.

We hope to see many of you again at our next holiday club.

Fitness Club

Cross Country

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Year 6 Responsibilities 2017 - 2018

Head Girl Estel

Head Boy Laith

Girl’s Games Captain Hannah

Boy’s Games Captain Luca

House Responsibilities

Holly House (Red) Willow House (Blue)

House Captain Maya House Captain Livvy

Vice Captain Phoebe Vice Captain Keatan

Librarian Bradley Librarian Raef

Prefect Luca + Estel Prefects Hannah

Beech House (Green) Sycamore House (Yellow)

House Captain Lucy House Captain Annabel

Vice Captain Evie Vice Captain Lybah

Librarian

Prefect

Dhanna

Laith

Librarian Victoria Alice Imogen

Prefects

Office Imogen + Evie Year 1J Lybah

Lower Kindergarten Victoria, Lucy + Phoebe Year 1R Estel

Garden Room Bradley, Alice + Maya Year 2C Laith

Transition Owls Annabel Year 2S Raef

Transition Robins Dhanna Year 3L Luca

Transition Woodpeckers

Livvy

Year 4C

Year 4Z

Hannah

Keatan

Year 2 Pop Art

Year 2 have

been learning

about Andy

Warhol and the

Pop Art

movement!

They created

our own repeated images in the style of Warhol using the

school iPads and had some finished posters that looked

fantastic. Well done Year 2!

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‘Good Behaviour’ and ‘Friendship’ awards

The first ‘Good Behaviour’ and ‘Friendship’ awards for KS2 children were presented in assembly by Mrs Belej.

Congratulations to all the children!

House Meetings

House Meetings took place for the first time this term on Monday 18 September. It was a new and exciting

experience for the new Year 1 children who were carefully escorted to their House meeting place in school. The

newly appointed House Captains and Vice Captains assisted staff to conduct the meeting and minutes were

written up by each House Captain. These are displayed on the House notice board situated along the middle

corridor.

During the meeting, each house voted for a charity they would like to support. The following charities were

chosen:

Beech – Children’s Mental Health Week

Willow – Sport Relief

Holly – Children in Need

Sycamore – Great Ormond Street (Crazy Hair Day)

Year 6 Study the Anglo-Saxons

This term the Year 6 children are learning about the Anglo-Saxons.

They will have the opportunity to design and construct an Anglo-Saxon

village in Design and Technology in the forthcoming weeks.

Alice fuelled her thirst for knowledge by compiling her own research

about the women and men in the Saxon era, she then shared her

findings with the rest of the class. They enjoyed listening to her

presentation, especially the quiz that she had compiled at the end.

Thank you Alice for sharing your curiosity with the rest of the class. Well done!

‘Good Behaviour’ Awards

Year 3 Annabella

Year 4C Sofia

Year 4Z Ellie

Year 5 Francesca

Year 6 Annabel

‘Friendship’ Awards

Year 3 Aanya

Year 4C Poppy

Year 4Z Cailan

Year 5 Charlotte

Year 6 Lybah

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Busy Bees

The children at Busy Bees club

have enjoyed taking part in lots

of fun activities since the

beginning of term. The children

particularly liked decorating

biscuits to create buzzy bees

using yellow and black icing,

raisins and marshmallows.

Mad Science

In the KS2 children’s first Mad Science lesson pupils

investigated different buildings and architectural

structures and were challenged to build a structure of

their choice. The groups were given the opportunity to

create their towers with spaghetti and marshmallows.

The competition was to see who could construct the

tallest and strongest structure.

This was a great lesson with lots of problems that they

had to overcome. We are looking forward to see what

the ‘mad scientists’ will be doing next week!

Lego Club

Children in LEGO club have been working on a range of design challenges and have enjoyed the drop test and

bridge building in the first few weeks. These weekly challenges are proving to be a great way to excite children

about problem solving and innovative thinking. Through discussion, construction and trial, pupils have had the

opportunity to work as part of a team and discover how design plans can change and evolve.

We now look forward to our next LEGO challenge!

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Year 3 Oak-Tree Adventure Camp

This month Year 3 were full of excitement

ready for their camping trip along with

Year 3 from the rest of the Oak-Tree

Schools. Everyone had great fun getting

involved in many different activities and

team building tasks. The children managed

to erect their own tents and get into the

camping spirit by toasting marshmallows

and singing campfire songs. The following day involved more games and activities.

The children (and staff) certainly slept well when they got home!

Transitions Wild Woods

At Transition’s Wild Woods session this month they discussed how people could look after birds in the Autumn/Winter months as the weather gets colder and it’s hard to find food.

They had a lovely time making bird feeders and a bird bath for the birds on the school field and in the woods.

“I absolutely loved camping! Especially sharing a tent with

my friends and eating delicious marshmallows!” –

Annabella.

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Prefects and House Captains

Year 6 pupils are proudly wearing their Prefect badges and enjoying performing their Prefect duties each day.

Everyone is very impressed with their daily commitment to the younger children and the school.

House Captains and Vice Captains have helped to run the first House Meeting of the school year. Mrs Donoghue

has trained the Librarians and the Library has been open on Tuesday and Thursday lunchtimes since the second

week of term. The Girls and Boys School Games Captains will soon be busy once the first fixtures against local

schools get underway.

Year 1 Mountfitchet Castle

This term Year 1 are learning about castles. On the 25 September they had a great day out when they went to

visit Mountfitchet Castle, a Motte and Bailey castle in Stansted. They learnt all about the different jobs people

used to do in the castle, and the gruesome ways in which they were punished if they broke the law.

Oh no! What did Ronnie do? Keeping a look out! Year 1 keeping a look out! The ‘battering ram’.

Website

Go to the School Calendar page for upcoming events and our News page for all the latest news and lots more photos.

App

Keep up to date with the latest news, calendar dates, and much more by downloading the Oaklands School App.

Instagram

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Twitter

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us on Facebook to get news, photos, events and

updates posted straight to your newsfeed. To find

our facebook page, please click HERE.

Social Networking

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Harvest Assembly

During the last week of September pupils have been celebrating

‘Harvest’ in school. In assembly they

looked at different fruits and vegetables

and how important it is for farmers to

sow their seed in the best environment.

Harvest is celebrated to give thanks for

the crops which have been safely

gathered in. It is a time when we say

‘thank you’ for all the varieties of food

and everything that helps the food to

grow.

Two representatives from the Christian Drama

Resource Centre took the assembly and Alice, Libby,

Maya and Charlotte helped act out the Parable of the

Sower (Matthew 13). Estel, the Head Girl

read out the Harvest prayer to conclude

the assembly.

The ‘Harvest Festival’ assembly was held

on Thursday 28 September. A big thank

you for all the donations that were

brought in.

Mr Tony Miller, who lead the assembly,

will be transporting all donations back to

the homeless at the Whitechapel Mission.

Sports matches

Both the Netball and Football teams start their fixture list next week. The Netball team are visiting Chigwell

School for a training session and match. The Football team are travelling to St Edmunds in Ware, Hertfordshire

for their match. We wish them all the best of luck in their first match of the season.

Listening carefully to

the story of the farmer

sowing the seeds

Ronald McDonald and his farm yard

animals

Oak-Tree Fireworks Display

Sunday 12 November from 4.30PM to 6.30PM

£5 Per Child—£10 Per Adult—£25 Family Ticket

Oaklands School Grounds | 8 Albion Hill | Loughton | IG10 4RA

Fudge the monkey

telling the harvest story

The Harvest Donations

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‘Jeans for Genes’ Day

On Friday 22 September, all the children came to school in their denim jeans or dresses to support ‘Jeans for

Genes’ day. Earlier in the week each class had discussed with their teachers what genetic disorders are and how

they can affect unborn babies.

Mrs Turner, the Garden Room Keyworker, lead the Early Years

assembly on Friday. She helped the children realise how important it

is to raise money for this worthwhile charity.

The school raised £248.32. Thank you to everyone for

your donation.

OPA Update

The OPA have already been busy this term. A recycled school uniform sale was held on Monday 18 September in

the studio, thank you to Mrs Griggs for organising this.

A committee meeting was held on Tuesday 26 September to discuss the Oak-Tree Fireworks event which is to be

held on Sunday 12 November, 4.30 to 6.30pm at Oaklands. Please remember to order your tickets before

Monday 16 October for what promises to be a spectacular evening.

The Annual General Meeting of the OPA takes place on Friday 6 October, 9.00-10.30am in the studio.

OPA Macmillan Cancer Cake Sale

The OPA are hosting an afternoon cake sale in aid of Macmillan Cancer

Care on Friday 29 September from 3.00pm in the studio. Please pop in

for a cake or two.

Donations of cakes should be delivered to the school office on

Friday morning. Thank you. All donations will go to support

this charity.

Open Morning

Thursday 5 October at 9.15AM

Early Years, Infants and Juniors

For more information contact Miss M Hopwood, the Admissions Registrar, on 020 8508 3517