Oakwood Junior School

Friday 10 February: Schools Open

2012-02-10T06:37:00.000Z

The Oakwood Schools will be open as normal today, Friday 10 February 2012.

There has been some snow overnight, but the roads seem to to be generally clear, and we see no major problems with staff getting to work or pupils getting to school.

Roads and pavements may be icy, so please take care on your journey and allow extra time.

We may need to keep some pedestrian gates closed, but the gates from Sandpiper Road will be open. We welcome your understanding if you can't use your normal gate.

If your child is at Minstead, we will update you during the day - they did have snow last night, but at the moment, we don't see any problems with the journey back.

Thank you!

Snow at Minstead

Frosty Thursday at Minstead

2012-02-09T23:28:00.001Z

Today at Minstead we rotated to our final chicken, muck moving or pond dipping activity.

In the afternoon, we explored more of the New Forest and made our seven special words using only natural materials. There words are: biodiversity, transport, rich world, poor world, energy, water, recycling and food and farming.

In the evening, we sat around a glowing bonfire, told jokes, sang songs and Chris told us a fascinating and magical story. We might even share it in assembly when we get back!

We can't believe we are going home tomorrow! This week has gone by so quickly, probably because we have been so busy and have been having such a brilliant time.

Please see today's photo gallery!

Outstanding Oakstead

2012-02-09T09:57:00.007Z

Year 4 and 5 have taken part in many exciting acitivities during Oakstead week, including:

Constructing love bugs using, pebbles, fabric or card.
Designing candle holders using recycled glass jars and tissue paper.
Constructing minibeasts with rolled up newspaper.
Making wool pom pom minibeasts.
Sketching trees and natural objects.
We had a visit from Liberty's Owl, Raptor and Reptile Centre where we met a number of interesting creatures!
We visited Testwood Lakes where we completed 8 challenging Eco tasks. There was a "What can you compost?" game; we had to build a shelter to protect us from a thunderstorm and we each planted a mustard seed. Plus many more!
Today we are creating posters to recount our trip to Testwood Lakes to show Year 3.
We are also making bubble and squeak in the kitchen with Mrs Larder.
In addition, we have two afternoons of TMC sport and team building games to look forward to.
Tomorrow we hope to take part in an environmental debate!

What a busy week!

Wild Wednesday at Minstead

2012-02-08T23:01:00.000Z

It's another frosty (and brilliant) day today at Minstead! We had another lovely breakfast(beans on toast and cereal) and rotated so we could try a new morning activity (chickens, pond dipping or muck moving).

After lunch we went on long and muddy walk to visit one of the New Forest's many bogs. It was like walking on a giant sponge! We saw the Thenga being pushed into the bog, it didn't even touch the bottom!

We are now drying off and getting ready to have an evening of telling stories and singing around around the fire in the roundhouse!

Chilly Tuesday at Minstead

2012-02-08T07:40:00.000Z

Brrrr... hello from Minstead! We have enjoyed our first full day here and have lots to tell you about!

We started the day with a very hearty breakfast of cereal, apple juice, orange juice, scrambled eggs, mushrooms, bacon AND toast with jam! It was a great way to give the energy we would need for such a busy day!

Today we split into three smaller groups for the first part of the day. One group became Aquatic Adventurers and did some brilliant pond dipping, another group were Muckmovers and discovered how recycle and the final group were our Egglayers, who got to learn all about Minstead Study Centre's chickens and how to look after them - eggciting!

In the afternoon we we went on an artistic adventure in the woods. We created circle pictures and even built a fairy village.

Needless to say we were delighted to eat our delicious dinner of cottage pie and we even had some cake to celebrate a birthday!

Later on, we had two special visitors (thank you Mrs Worley and Mrs DiMaiolo) join us and we made scary clay heads and delicate candle holders to use with our bonfie on Thursday.

Magic, Muddy Monday at Minstead!

2012-02-06T20:17:00.002Z

What a brilliant time we are having at Minstead and a fantastic start to our week!

After waving our enthusiastic goodbyes we arrived at Minstead Study Centre. When we had found our rooms and settled in, we journeyed into the New Forest.

We had a super time exploring the woods and took part in some great activities:

- We chose (or did they choose us?) our animal name badges and will work very hard this week to collect all the beads we can.

- We built dams across a stream.

- Our bodies were covered in leaves to make a cocoon.

- We explored a ford and got very wet!

- We listenened to music boxes through trees - try it yourself!

- We went on a night walk to meet Adam and Eve.

Our busy day concluded with listening to stories about where the Sun may have come from and singing around the campfire in the roundhouse.

We are all having a great time - even though it might be a little bit muddy!

Please take a look at our photo gallery!

No Snow!

2012-02-05T17:09:00.003Z

We're pleased to say that Southampton seems to have escaped the snow so far, so unless we turn into Narnia by morning, the Oakwood Schools will be open as normal and the visit to Minstead will leave on time.

If your child is going to Minstead, please remember gloves, scarves and extra socks for warmth. It's still going to be cold!

If it snows...

2012-02-04T06:22:00.001Z

As you will know from the letter we sent home yesterday, and from the weather forecasts, it's just possible that Southampton and the surrounding area may get some snow over the weekend.

If there's snow, we will do our best to make sure the Oakwood schools open on Monday as normal, but we will let you know as early as possible if we can't open.

We'll update this blog and send texts either late Sunday evening, or very early on Monday morning.

For those children going to Minstead on Monday, we'll need to check that Minstead is open and safe, that the coach company can get us there safely and that we can follow all the safety regulations which the City Council and Hampshire County Council put in place.

We will make sure information about Minstead is also posted on this blog.

The current forecast for Southampton suggests that temperatures will stay just above freezing over Sunday night and that rain and fog are more likely than snow by Monday morning, but obviously things could change.

Thank you for your support. Keep your eyes on the blog and stay warm!

&lt;p&gt;You must have a browser that supports iframes to view the BBC weather forecast&lt;/p&gt;

Year 4 Iron Man Home Learning Project Exhibition

2012-02-02T15:56:00.005Z

This half term, Year 4's Home Learning Project was based on our class novel, The Iron Man and also our topic, What's It Worth Planet Earth, linked to our work on the 3 Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Year 4 worked very hard on their homework and produced fabulous models, stories, instructions, diagrams and PowerPoints.

Year 3, parents, family and friends enjoyed the exhibition.

Look out for some of the Iron Men around the school!

Well Done Year 4!

Espresso News

2012-01-30T15:19:00.001Z

Don't forget that Espresso News is available every week, and can be found by following the This Week's News from Espresso link on the left!

January in Mexico City

2012-01-25T23:28:00.000Z

Hello Everyone!

Although it now January 2012, I need to take you back a few weeks to catch up on what we've been doing.

December was busy for us as we had an International team, mainly from the USA, who came to work with us and the charity we are working with for a week. Lucy had the week off school to work with us too.

The Americans came from Buffalo, New York; Fairfield, Ohio; Dalla, Texas; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Spencer, Iowa and Rochester, Michigan. They all arrived on the Saturday and we spent the day collecting them from the airport and taking them to the hotel.

OSI (the charity we work with) have used this hotel for many years and get a special rate. We went to the hotel for the week too, because we move all our office equipment there so that we can do admin in the evening after we have been out in the daytime with the team.

On the Sunday we show the team a bit of Mexico City and they have a chance to go the market to buy gifts. In the afternoon we talk with them about what they will do during the week ahead. They will either work in the optical, dental, medical, children's or hair and beauty area. Some of them have certain skills that make it obvious where they will work (i.e. a nurse) but others have no particular skills and so we gave them a short lesson showing them what they need to know.

Sometimes the team brings supplies with them that we can use - toothbrushes, toothpaste, eye glasses, medicines, toys etc. We sort these into bags to take with us during the week.

This year we worked with three different churches on the outskirts of Mexico City. The people in the church advertise that we are coming so that the poor people in their area can come and receive free medical care. Of course, because it was near Christmas, we also took Christmas gifts with us that we had sorted into different age groups and genders,and wrapped. We also took bags of groceries with us to give away.

It was a very exciting week and they were so thankful to be given presents.

In one church that we were in was a lady who had a growth on the roof of her mouth. It was about the same size as her tongue. She had been to several Mexican doctors who weren't sure what to do about it and wanted her to go into hospital to have it removed. She couldn't do this as she had no money to pay for it. One of the Americans on our team was a dentist - not just an ordinary dentist but one who had specialized in surgery and reconstruction. He actually came from Ghana originally, trained in the UK and now lives in the USA. When he saw her, he told her he would be able to remove it and that it wouldn't cost her anything. He performed the surgery and she was amazed! Her family teased her because her speech had been affected and they said she was now talking in a posh voice!! It was a good day!!

We saw over 800 people while the team was here - it was a very good week!

For Christmas we were lucky enough to be invited, by some friends, to spend the time with them in North Carolina. We had a really good time. They have lived in the States for 11 years but used to live in Lordswood where the eldest two children, Bethany and Abigail, were pupils at Oakwood Infant and Junior School! This is the first time we have spent Christmas with them since they moved. The area they live in is called Cary and is very much like Lordswood - lots of trees and walks, although the houses are much bigger and there is a lot more space!

Christmas in Mexico is not so much about the things that you get but more about the Christmas story. The children don't actually get presents until January 6th, which they call 'The Day of the Kings'. This is the day they remember the kings bringing presents to baby Jesus. They also have a special cake called 'Rosca de Reyes', that they eat on this day. Hidden inside the cake are little figures of baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Everyone cuts their own piece of cake and, if they find one of the hidden figures, there is a big celebration. Those people then have to bring the figure back to the person who brought the cake on February 2nd for another party - a fiesta! This is to mark the day that Jesus was presented at the temple. The Mexicans eat food called 'tamales' and drink 'atole' on this day. Most of their celebrations are based around the catholic calendar because it is a catholic country and they also enjoy getting together as families and friends.

We are enjoying the Mexican winter with temperatures during the day between 70 - 75 degrees fahrenheit!

That's it for now, we will write again soon,

Hilary and Lucy

Off by Heart! The Green Cross Code

2012-01-23T12:48:00.000Z

The Junior Road Safety Officers have been working hard in their committee!

Mrs DiMaiolo will be helping in our committee and she organised a special visit for us.

Jan Parkin, who is the Road Safety officer for Southampton City Council, came to see us and we learned about the new Road Safety Website (which is especially for Junior Road Safety Officers). One of our PCSOs, Tracey Cullen, will also be helping us.

Jan talked to us about a some of the crossings we use and how important it is we know how they work. We found this really old video from when they first had Pelican Crossings - but they still work in the same way today!

We also recorded a new version of our school video which helps everyone learn the Green Cross Code.
Everyone who knows the Green Cross Code off by heart will earn a special Walk to School Strider Badge, so use the video below to help you learn it!

Thanks to Ellie who edited the video - including putting the titles and music on!

Toothtastic!

2012-01-19T15:44:00.000Z

Year 3 have had a 'toothastic' day learning all about their teeth and how to look after them.

Our day involved brushing our teeth, designing leaflets about how to look after your teeth and then setting up an 'eggsperiment' to see the effects of coke and water on our teeth.

Well done Year 3!

Sleeping Beauty

2012-01-17T16:18:00.000Z

M&M Productions once again made our first day after the Christmas break a really good day - they entertained us royally with a brilliant show.

In fine panto tradition, Sleeping Beauty did fall asleep and there was no Handsome Prince to wake her from her slumber! What to do?!

Just in the nick of time, the King knighted our hero and, as a new Prince, he fell in love and woke the Princess with a kiss.

And they all lived happily ever after!
(Apart from the evil old crone who cast the spell in the first place, of course!)

Angels Day

2012-01-11T13:28:00.002Z

We've only been back for seven days, but Year 3 have been very busy.

We have delved into the world of mythical creatures in our new topic Brutal Beasts and Beastly Battles, creating funky 'carousel' books in English and exploring strange islands using co-ordinates in Maths.

And just yesterday, the team from Southampton City Mission came in for our Angels Day. We were astonished by their magic illustrations and fun games. Over the course of the day, we made angel wings helicopters and built a cherubim from mixed materials.

Enjoy!

Happy Christmas!

2011-12-19T08:37:00.000Z

Dear Parents

It was a very busy last week at Oakwood!

It was really wonderful to see so many of you at the two Christmas performances and I was very proud of our talented singers, dancers, actors and technicians!

I hope the performances got you in the Christmas mood!

We had a really lovely Christmas dinner – roast turkey, stuffing, chipolatas and all the trimmings. Thank you to our amazing kitchen and lunchtime staff for producing fantastic fare for us!

And on Friday morning, we had our Carol Service. This is always a very magical occasion and we were joined by the team from Lordshill Church, who led us in celebration.

As we come to the end of 2011, I would like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas on behalf of everyone at the school. Enjoy spending time with family and friends and we’ll see you in 2012! School reopens for pupils on Tuesday 3 January 2012.

Best wishes
from all at Oakwood Junior School

It's Pantomime Season!

2011-12-14T19:00:00.000Z

Oh, no it isn't!
Oh, yes it is!

Who would have thought neglectful parents, evil goblins, spooky talking trees and child-boiling witches would make for fun Christmas entertainment?

Well, when the panto is in town, good always triumphs over evil and Y4 and Y6's performance of Hansel and Gretel was no exception, as you can see from the photos below...

If you missed the amazing rehearsal videos at the start of the performance, catch a glimpse of them below...

And if you want to keep a careful check on what the Robbers got during their Tango, the evidence is clear:

Well done Years 4 and 6!!!

Bah Humbug!

2011-12-12T19:00:00.000Z

It was nearly an end to all Christmas celebrations at Oakwood tonight as Mr Humbug took over.

He wanted to clear the place of tinsel, streamers, glitter, stars and anything even remotely fun or festive.

Only the intervention of four ghosts could help and Years 3 and 5 managed to convert him into a jolly, Yuletide-loving headteacher with the widest seasonal smile on his previously glum face.

Indeed! Mr Humbug Sees The Light!

Well done to everyone involved and thanks for getting us into the Christmas Spirit!*

*Please Note: The Christmas Spirit in Mr Humbug's hipflask was purely for dramatic purposes only!

Stand and Deliver!

2011-12-12T17:06:00.000Z

As part of their Victorian topic, Year 6 have been studying the works of Alfred Noyes, a famous Victorian poet.

His most famous ballad was The Highwayman and the children have learned it off by heart as part of our whole-school work on oral storytelling.

You can watch their performance of it below. (The story is not for the faint-hearted. Have your smelling salts at the ready...!)

If you're interested, you can read the ballad yourself...

Oscar joins the cubs for Christmas!

2011-12-12T10:21:00.000Z

I went to the cub carol service tonight. The service was at Avenue St Andrew Church, The Avenue.

All the cub groups in Southampton were invited, so there were a lot of children.

We saw a familiar face, it was Chris, who told us the story of the shepherds. He got 4 cub leaders to dress up, they looked really silly.

Each cub was asked to bring along a toy that they no longer wanted to the service. All the toys were placed under a Christmas tree in the church. They will then be collected by SCRATCH who will give them to children in Southampton who wouldn't normally get any presents. Chris said last year they gave presents to more than 17,000 children and this year it could be even more. Helping other people is part of the cub promise which is why everyone was asked to bring something.

Lots of Christmas carols were sung and afterwards the cubs had a party in the church hall, it was really noisy, but lots of fun.

Getting Christmassy at the OSA Fair!

2011-12-12T10:04:00.000Z

A fantastic time was had by all at the OSA Christmas Fair!

As usual, there was lots to do, many things to buy, things to eat and drink and lots to win...

Santa and his helper Elf gave their usual sleigh rides around the playground, and even a slight drizzle didn't put them off. (Santa is used to inclement weather!) The reindeer were in training, so the sleigh was pulled for one evening only by a magnificent white horse.

Thanks to all the children helpers, visitors, stall holders, staff and the committee of the OSA - a grand total of £3334 was raised, which will be split between the two schools.

In the junior school, we use the money to pay for our M&M performances - the next of which is Cinderella on 4 January 2012!

Thank you all!

Christmas Production Podcasting in Year 5

2011-12-08T14:50:00.001Z

Years 3 and 5 would like to bring this exciting event to your attention! Mr Humbug Sees The Light!

Mr Humbug sees the light (mp3)

Script written by Louis, Alice, Nathan and Jacob.
Presented by Cheyanne, Sophie and Kezia.

Year 6 Victorian Day

2011-12-02T11:34:00.008Z

A great day was had by all in Year 6 yesterday when the clock turned back over a hundred years at Oakwood.

As the school bell rang,the children stood in line ready for the early morning drill before registration in the school hall. Knees trembled as children gingerly placed their hands on their desks for inspection of fingernails. Unfortunately not all passed the test. One insolent child even dared to come to school with a dirty face.

Following instruction in the 3Rs, children filed out to prepare for the afternoon fayre. As a result of many weeks of hard child labour parents, and other children throughout the school, were able to share the fun of the day, while partaking in home made refreshments. Year 6 would like to thank everyone who helped us to raise an AMAZING £313 4s 6d

Let's Dance!

2011-11-30T09:14:00.001Z

Year 3 had a wonderful day yesterday! First they all arrived dressed as evacuees ready for inspection, then onto learning all about rationing in war time. Next the children made sandwiches (using ration quantities) ready for their tea party.

In the afternoon parents and friends joined us to share wartime recipes and have a dance with the children - waltzing and jitterbugging.

Thank you to all that came and joined us in a fantastic day!

An ICT Club Puzzle...

2011-11-22T16:21:00.000Z

ICT Club have been doing many things over the past few weeks:

Photo Stories with narration
Sumo Paint patterns
Emailing securely
Learning about sharing security settings on Google Apps Presentations
Using Comic Life for Scrapbook Covers
Using Pivot Stick Animator

Today, most people also had a go at creating online jigsaws - have a go yourself!

This Week's Quiz...

2011-11-21T10:18:00.001Z

There's not been a quiz for a couple of weeks, so this one is particularly hard!

The answer isn't on the blog, but somewhere inside the school building!!

How many silver cars has Ursus Wehrli tidied up?

You will have to be really eagle-eyed to spot the answer to this...

Don't leave your answer as a comment - fill in this form instead.

Your change changes lives...

2011-11-20T18:52:00.001Z

Not a lot to read in this blog, because the House Captains have explained what we did - just have a listen...

House Captains Children in Need (mp3)

Buenas tardes! Como estas?

2011-11-17T02:35:00.001Z

It has been a few weeks since we last posted so I thought I'd fill you in on what's been happening here in Mexico.

You heard about my journey to school on the buses in our last blog - well, this has all changed. I am now lucky enough to be picked up and brought home again by private taxi! Two other families from my school, who live quite near to me, were already doing this and so we managed to join in. We have the same driver everyday - his name is Miguel, and we having to learn Spanish very quickly to speak to him! It doesn't make my day any shorter because I am collected first and dropped off last but it is good to be travelling with other children.

The students at school are very friendly and, most of the time, I enjoy it. However, I get a LOT of homework - about 3 hours every night, sometimes more!

The school, although international, runs on an American curriculum and so we have to sing the American anthem every Thursday and pledge allegiance to the flag!! Do you even know the words to the British National anthem?

In October, we had a school campout. Well, it's called a campout, but it was actually overnight at a water park. This was in an area called Oaxtepec - another opportunity for you to go onto Google maps! It was good fun and, because there are only 28 pupils in my school, we all went, including our families. We played silly games, enjoyed the swimming pool and diving boards, ate good food and generally enjoyed two days away!

My school didn't get a half term holiday in October, but I will get a week off for Thanksgiving. I don't have to go into school for the week, but I will have two days' of home assignments. Thanksgiving is actually on November 25th and, because two Americans live in our house too, we will be having a Thanksgiving dinner! What can you find out about Thanksgiving? Rachel, one of the Americans that lives here, is a great cook and we have had some fun baking already so I'm looking forward to helping with the cooking.

The charity we have come out here to work with has had two mini brigadas on Saturdays. This has been great for me because I've been able to join in! This involves taking medical aid to poor areas on the outskirts of the city. We take large tents with us to set up on the road, to give us some shade, and are based at a church that has applied for a team to come. The people can come and register for medical, optical or hair care. We also have a children's area, so that they don't get bored while they are waiting, and a jewellery area. If we have a dentist with us then there is also a dental area. One of the churches we visited are involved with a charity called Compassion and, although their building is very basic and only about 50 people attend the church, they feed up to 300 children three times a week!! It is a very poor area and there is a lot of crime and so the children are very grateful for a decent meal.

It is difficult to remember that it is November because the weather here at the moment is hot and sunny. We are still just in t-shirts and only occasionally put a long sleeved top on in the evening.

Art Attack!

2011-11-16T11:40:00.002Z

Art Club have had a very busy and creative few weeks.

We have made recycled robots, used radial drawing techniques to create some pastel firework pictures, made pasta and lentil pictures and...

...this week we upscaled our work and made 'Art Attack' style pictures on the floor!

We used some yellow/white discs (which had kindly been donated by a parent) and items of clothing to create some school characters. We then joined some of these together to show friendship as part of our Anti-bullying Week.

Can you spot the message in one of our photos?

Part of something special...

2011-11-11T17:17:00.000Z

We were very privileged to be invited to unveil the new Memorial Walls next to the Cenotaph in Southampton city centre this morning.

Our House Captains represented the school after we took part in the fund-raising by the Youth Parliament.

The new glass panels replace the roll of honour on the existing Portland stone Cenotaph in Watts Park which has been eroded.

House Captains, along with representatives from several other schools in the city, stayed for the Remembrance Service at 11am and took part in the two minutes' silence.

Children back in school also observed the two minutes' silence, and talked about the significance of the poppy.

You can catch a glimpse of our House Captains on BBC South Today...

...and they are also on the main photo on the Southampton City Council website Memorial Walls page.

Year 3 Remember

2011-11-11T15:35:00.006Z

Today was a very special day for Year 3. Traditionally, every Year 3 child at Oakwood visits Hollybrook Cemetery on Remembrance Day, and today was even more special as the date was 11/11/11.

After walking really sensibly from school to the Cemetery, we arrived at the World War One graves and Cenotaph. There we met Robert, our local vicar, who is also a member of Lordshill Historical Society. A few members of his group had gathered to commemorate Remembrance Day along with a member of the Royal British Legion.

The children listened carefully to some information about Remembrance Day, before respecting two minutes' silence. We then laid a wreath that the children had made, which carried a thoughtful message from every child on a poppy. The Royal British Legion provided small wooden crosses, adorned with poppies, which the children then laid at each grave.

Soon after, we moved to visit the Second World War graves, which also included some German soldiers. It was very interesting to hear how the people of Germany lay white chrysanthemums on war graves, rather than poppies.

Year 3 had a lovely morning, learning lots and showing respect at all times. We are very proud of them!

Hook Day: A Long Way From Home

2011-11-09T13:08:00.005Z

On the first day back this half-term, year 3 immersed themselves in the experiences of the evacuees during WW2.

We began by reading replica war-time newspapers. Then we dived into our class book "The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips" and prepared questions for the "special guest" arriving in the afternoon. We also shared what we already knew about evacuees, and what we'd like to find out.

Before lunch Mrs. Whitmarsh taught the class about war-time dancehalls, before the class went 'strictly' and Waltzed with finesse. In the afternoon our special guest John, who was 10 when war was declared, answered all our questions. He explained about rationing, black-out, meeting evacuees from Southampton and the sorts of games he played as a boy. Finally, we became museum curators and carefully examined an evacuees case - crammed with interesting objects from that time.

Enjoy the photos!

Competition time!

2011-11-08T14:56:00.003Z

Judy Short, one of our governors, loves collecting words and has her own magpie book. Her latest word is dragée. She will give a prize to the first person who tells her the meaning of the word and uses it correctly in a sentence. There will be another prize for the first person who can guess correctly where she read the word. Submit your answers here. Good Luck!

Year 5 Home Learning Project Exhibition

2011-11-03T14:40:00.000Z

Year 5 showed off their super homework skills during their recent Home Learning Project exhibition.

Please see the photo gallery below to see how well they did!

Tremendous Titanic Day!

2011-11-03T13:21:00.000Z

To end our recent topic, Year 5 had a fantastic day as passengers on the Titanic. During this half term we have been researching survivors of the Titanic have written some super diaries in role as these passengers. On Friday we arrived dressed-up as these real passengers and recreated the departing day of the famous ship.

We began by having passport photos taken. Then we made our passports and tickets - making sure to remember which class of passenger we were.

Later on, tickets and passports were checked and we were finally able to embark on the journey of a lifetime! Once we were inside the ship of dreams, the elegant first class passengers performed a graceful waltz. After that, the third class passengers treated guests to an Irish jig (we were pleased that all third class passengers passed their health checks).

Finally, all passengers enjoyed delicious scones prepared earlier and all were confident that nothing would go wrong on Titanic's maiden voyage...

Who needs drums?

2011-10-24T09:51:00.000+01:00

Oakwood's Percussion Academy left the drums in the cupboard to finish off the half term...

Having already drummed on drums and had a week of body percussion, they decided to attack the chairs this time!

They had a fantastic time, thanks to Alex from Showcase Percussion Association.

PS. The Oakwood Schools take no responsibility if percussionists damage chairs at home!

Year 4 Roman Art

2011-10-21T13:13:00.000+01:00

To complete their Roaming Roman topic, Year 4 took part in an amazing art day.

They made plasticine Roman boots, clay models to remember Boudicca and mosaics of their star signs.

What features did Year 4 include in their Roman boots?

Year 3 Photo Fun!

2011-10-19T14:25:00.000+01:00

Year 3 worked extremely hard constructing their photo frames yesterday.

Well done Year 3!

New Clubs...!

2011-10-17T15:47:00.000+01:00

Here are just a few photos from three of the new clubs we are running this half term...

Drama Club - exploring emotions and stage presence!
Logs Club - practising spellings, tables and reading and being tested for awards!
Chess Club - checking if it's check or checkmate!

These are just three of the vast range of clubs we're running this term - over 150 children in clubs over the week!

Walk to School Week

2011-10-17T14:25:00.001+01:00

Thanks to David Deane, who is the Walk to School officer for Southampton City Council, we had a really good launch to Walk to School Week this morning!

Everyone who walks for five days this week will get an exclusive Strider "football" badge and then have the chance to earn more badges by walking once a week for the rest of the year.

We also have chances to earn extra badges for quizzes and other walking events.

Here's Dave's presentation so you can remember what his message was!

This Week's Quiz...

2011-10-15T14:07:00.001+01:00

What time is it on the iPhone?

Year 4 Roman Projects

2011-10-15T13:42:00.001+01:00

Year 4 have been enjoying learning about the Romans this half term.

We have just had our Home Learning Project Exhibition. Everyone was very impressed with the quality of work produced. There were mosaics, Power Points, stories, quizzes, photo albums, models and even a Roman film!

Well done Year 4!

If you visit 4KP, look out for their new clock...!

Year 6 Plasticine People

2011-10-11T19:28:00.003+01:00

Here are the latest 3D sculptures created by Year 6 as part of our People in Action art topic. We think the results made all the tired hands and aching muscles (as plasticine was pounded to soften and shape it) worthwhile. Take a look:-

Keep an eye out on the blog in the next few weeks for some amazing metal sculptures and something (or someone!) BIG coming this way, as part of this ongoing project.

Hola!

2011-10-07T17:08:00.001+01:00

In Mexico City:

Well, we have been in Mexico City for one week and are adjusting to not only living in a new country but also to living in a city!

Our journey was longer than we'd expected because all the electricity at Mexico City Airport failed just as we were coming in to land, so there were no lights on the runway and we were diverted to Toluca......see if you can find it on Google Maps!

Having sat in the plane on the runway for 4 hours, we were told that the lights were still out at Mexico City Airport and so we had to get off the plane, collect our luggage and go by bus the rest of the way.

Unfortunately, our luggage didn't get put onto our plane and so we couldn't collect it - in fact it was delivered to us three days later. I wonder where it went? The bus ride took another hour and a half so by the time we actually arrived in Mexico City, we were about seven hours late!

Lucy started school on the 3rd October and is enjoying meeting children from different countries. She is going to a very small international school where there are only 28 pupils. In fact she is one of only three in her year group! The other children come from various countries: Mexico, Korea, Cananda, America, New Zealand and Ireland.

The school day is very like Oakwood - it begins at 8.30am and finishes at 3.05pm with 45 mins for lunch. There is a park opposite the school (which is a large house) and the children are allowed to go and eat their lunch and play there.

Although the school is only about 7 miles away it takes about an hour and a half to get there! This means we leave just after 7am and take two buses. The buses do not run to a timetable and the driver will often sit and wait until the bus is full before setting off, as this is more cost effective. The roads are busy and noisy - there aren't many road rules! If the traffic is at a stand still the driver will turn off the main road onto the side streets and make up his own route. This was a bit scary the first time it happened because we didn't know where we were going! Thankfully, he pulled back onto the main road before we had to get off and we recognised where we were. It only costs about 8 pesos each to do the whole journey. Can you find out how much this would be in the UK?

We are living in a large house, which is also where the offices are for the organisation we are working with. We have two rooms and then share the kitchen. The kitchen has a good fridge/freezer and cooker but no built in cupboards or sink. The sink is outside and only has cold water!

We are hoping our Spanish will improve quickly so that we can understand more and speak to the Mexican people.

Adios!

This Week's Quiz...

2011-10-07T16:24:00.001+01:00

What flavour are the crisps...?

(Stick) People in Action

2011-10-06T22:11:00.000+01:00

Year 6 have been working really hard at their art topic People in Action...

They have used posable action figures, sketched in their sketchbooks, created string portraits and made fantastic Plasticine models.

They have also started to use Pivot Stick Animator to show actions just with a few lines...

Charlotte's animation is a really clever first attempt!

Governors’ Stupendous Day!

2011-10-06T14:39:00.000+01:00

We had a wonderful time when we visited school last week. Sadly we missed Year 6 who were at Oasis Academy for the day, but we saw lots of exciting learning – Wow words, Reading Roundabouts, tables and spelling logs.

This was Ann Crocker’s first visit to the school since becoming a governor – “I was bowled over by how happy and confident the children are. The teachers welcomed us into their classrooms and it was a pleasure to watch them at work. I had a school dinner which was a lot nicer than when I was at school! A thoroughly enjoyable day and I am really looking forward to the next one.”

It was also Julie Yeo’s first visit as a parent governor. She enjoyed hearing from Mrs Worley about the new after-school clubs.

Jackie Kerwood spent time with Year 5 finding out about their Titanic project. “All of the children were eager to tell me about the Titanic survivor they had chosen to research, everything from 1st class royalty to men who had been working the engine room.”

We ended the day by discussing with Mr Taylor and Mrs Whitmarsh how we can all work together to make Oakwood Junior School even better.

Thank you to all of you for a stupendous day.

Year 3 Become Artists!

2011-10-05T15:21:00.001+01:00

Year 3 had a wondeful morning visiting Southampton Art Gallery yesterday. We found out all about charcoal and how to use it to make portraits.

Year 4 Romans have a feast!

2011-10-04T14:02:00.002+01:00

The Year 4s had a day of sampling small amounts of the food Romans ate. They started breakfast with bread, dates, figs and half a teaspoon of honey.

"I liked the bread and honey. It was really really nice."

Throughout the day the children took turns to either prepare, cook or serve food. Their afternoon feast consisted of a vegetable & barley stew, bread with fish dipping sauce (Garum) and a side salad of cucumber and celery.

"The stew was quite nice but I didn't like the fish sauce."

The children researched Roman food, Roman lesiure time and concocted their own Roman menu.

Keeping Safe from Fire...

2011-10-03T12:16:00.001+01:00

We had a very important visitor in assembly this morning, with a very important message.

Firefighter Simon Packer came into school from Redbridge Fire Station to tell us all how to...

keep ourselves safe
keep our friends and families safe
keep our homes and schools safe
keep firefighters safe

He reminded us that only adults should deal with anything to do with fire, such as barbecues and fireworks.

He told us some important information about last year:

There were 727,200 emergency call outs
There were nearly 50,00 house fires - which some of which injured or killed people
Over 280 firefighters were hurt putting out fires, rescuing and protecting people.

He reminded us that in a real emergency, we can dial 999 to call out the fire brigade, or any of the emergency services, but that we must never phone pretending there is an emergency because it could put people in danger.

Thanks, Simon!

Here's a link to the firework code for Bonfire Night!

A Mexican Adventure!

2011-10-01T14:05:00.000+01:00

Some old friends of the school have just arrived in Mexico!

Lucy (an ex pupil of the school) and her Mum and Dad have gone out to live in Mexico for a few years.

They went to Mexico a few yeas ago when Lucy's Mum, Hilary, worked for the school as a teaching assistant. They took SAM with them, and you can read about the good work they did while they were out there.

SAM and Lucy, looking a bit younger than they are now, with their Mexican friends.

This time, they have gone to do more work with the same charity, and have offered to keep everyone in the school up-to-date with what they achieve.

Many of the children and families in the poorer parts of Mexico City don't have access to clean running water, let alone a school to go to, and they make their living by foraging on the city's rubbish dumps.

We are looking forward to hearing how the Hamilton family settle in, about Lucy's new school and how it's different to Oakwood and about all the work they will be doing for the charity.

Good luck, Lucy, Hilary and Aaron!

&lt;p&gt;You must have a browser that supports iframes to view the BBC weather forecast&lt;/p&gt;

This Week's Quiz

2011-10-01T13:10:00.000+01:00

What's the name of the university near to the waterspout...?

Designing Stable Structures

2011-09-30T15:58:00.000+01:00

Welcome to Year 3's wonderful structure designs.

Having looked at a range of real photo frames, we decided to experiment with what a standing structure has to have. We used card, lego, kinex and straws to make a piece of floppy paper stand up. 'Strong' shapes like triangles and rectangles were found to work well, and when a problem was found - we made changes to fix it.

Enjoy! (we did).

Terrific Titanic Tour

2011-09-29T14:48:00.000+01:00

This week Year 5 explored Southampton to discover many of the areas that were affected by the sinking of the Titanic. It was a fascinating morning!

The children discovered that out of 800 crew, 750 came from Southampton. Also, in 1912 a local school was severely affected by the sinking, in fact every child in that school lost at least one relative.

Year 5 were shown that the best way to see the history of a city is just to look up! As you can see in the pictures the children took, many of the buildings in Southampton existed in 1912, even though at eye-level they look modern.

We visited the docks where the Titanic left, the train station many passengers arrived through and the hotel where first class passengers (including Bruce Ismay, the owner of the White Star Line) stayed the night before the ship departed.

All of year 5 learned so much on the tour - if you bump into a year 5 pupil, please ask them to tell you the story of the Slade brothers and what happened when they spent too much time at the Grapes pub!

Where was Oscar...?

2011-09-27T16:00:00.000+01:00

I also went away in the summer holidays, but not quite as far as SAM, who went to Sweden...

There is a small prize if you can guess where I was when I had my photograph taken...

Be very careful to read the question properly!

Hej från Sverige!

2011-09-27T08:31:00.000+01:00

Hej!

(That's how you say "Hello" in Swedish!)

I went to Sweden during the summer holidays to a little town called Värmdö, which is near Stockholm, the capital city...

As you can see from the map, this part of Sweden is made up of thousands and thousands of little islands, so there's lots of water... - change to the satellite view and zoom in for a proper look round!

What do you think the Swedish words on the safety ring in my photo mean?

from SAM

PS I am in both photos, I'm just a little harder to spot in one of them!

Keep up to date...

2011-09-23T08:55:00.001+01:00

Don't forget that there's a special page on the blog where you can keep up-to-date with this week's news!

Here's this week's news...

As an incentive to watch, there will be a small prize each week for the first person to answer a question about the week's news. This week's question is:

How much is the prize for the winner of the pylon design competition?
(Teachers: you're not allowed to enter!)

Our Young Leaders!

2011-09-23T07:57:00.001+01:00

We had special assembly when sixteen Year 6 children put themselves forward as House Captain candidates.This is a very prestigious position in Oakwood, as there are lots of responsibilities and challenges ahead for anyone who wants to take on this role.Four candidates for each house put forward their reasons for wanting to be a House Captain, explained the skills and attributes they thought would make them effective in the role and also suggested how they might be able to help improve the school during their tenure.

The assembly was also attended by Southampton City Councillor Keith Morrell, who was very impressed with the hustings and said he was relived that none of the candidates was up against him in the city council elections. He was convinced they were of such high quality they would give him a run for his money!We'll be announcing which children were elected as House Captains and Vice House Captains soon.

Miss Minchin for Headmistress?

2011-09-23T07:49:00.002+01:00

Thanks to generous donations from the Oakwood Schools' Association, we welcomed four multi-talented performers from M&M Productions into school last Wednesday!

Our visitors not only drive and unload their own van, set up the stage, operate the sound and the lighting, but they perform an hour long show, with nearly a dozen characters - what stars!

Our show was the Little Princess, which told the story of how a girl escaped an evil headmistress with the help of her father and her friends.

Seeing high quality performances really helps children when they come to perform in assembles and plays themselves - and these are always special occasions at Oakwood!

Thanks M&M! We are looking forward to welcoming you back after Christmas!

WOW! Start to Year 4

2011-09-22T17:08:00.001+01:00

Year 4 are off to a fabulous start:

They have already been to visit Fishbourne Roman Palace, which really hooked them into their Roaming Romans topic.

They have been writing an historical story of the life in the Roman Army in the form of a diary, generating plenty of vivid vocabulary (WOW words) to describe chores such as cooking duties and cleaning the Roman toilets!

They are beginning to settle into the routines well and have been incredibly well organised.

We are all looking forward to their Roman Feast day on 28 September. They will be researching Roman menus, cooking and sampling examples of Roman food!

Year 5 visit the Southampton Boat Show

2011-09-22T15:00:00.003+01:00

Year 5 have already been on their first trip of the new school year.

As part of their Titanic topic work they visited the World renowned Southampton Boat Show.

The first 'port' of call for the children was to climb aboard the luxurious Sunseeker and Princess boats and explore these £2,000,000 vessels!

They had a guided tour of one of the RNLI's rescue boats, they even got to sit in the crew's seats down below! They saw boats, boats and more boats around the Marina; Yachts, catamarans, and even one shaped like a shoe.

Later on they explored Solent Park and got to see all the various exhibits, they espically liked the University of Southampton tent which had some marine artefacts from the ocean floor.

Finally they picked up their goody bags from the Daily Echo stand and made their way back to school.

Year 5 Boat Day

2011-09-22T14:58:00.004+01:00

Year 5 have had a fantastic start to the year with the brilliant Boat Day!

The day started with a boat construction challenge. Could the children use only a piece of sugar paper and folding skills to make a craft that would float for at least ten seconds...?

Most of year 5 were successful and we saw many truly creative creations!

After that, the children were taught how to create an origami boat. Luckily, Year 5 had some experienced Scout experts who were able to help Miss Beavill and Mr Ackland to teach the rest of the classes. In the afternoon, everyone used their artistic skills to create some fantastic stormy sea pictures. Please see our gallery below to see the great day we had!

Smile Year 3!

2011-09-14T16:55:00.001+01:00

Year 3 have had a wonderful start to the year!

Have a look at our pizza making skills and art work inspired from the artist David Hockney.

We had a fantastic day launching our new topic 'Smile'!

Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night!

2011-07-26T19:51:00.002+01:00

Arrival

Inside

Masks and Groups

Balloons!

Oriana makes it a double-double!

2011-07-26T14:11:00.001+01:00

We had a very busy Final Celebration Assembly this morning!

We celebrated:

Pupils of the Week
Adventurers of the week from Oak House and Knapp House
Cheerleaders
Musicians - Josephers, Instrumentalists, Orchestra Members, Respect Drummers
Cricketers - Winners of the Oasis Family Shield
Footballers - Winners of the Southampton Cup and the Oaklands Family Shield
House Pointers - including 15 children who achieved their 1000 House Points Badge
All pupils with 100% Attendance including one with 4 whole years!

And we said goodbye to Mrs Hayter and Mrs Heathcock, who are retiring this year.

Our House Cup was awarded to Oriana, for the second year in a row - it's been a brilliant year for them as they won the Sports Day Cup too!

A fantastic last day of term day all round!

Have a brilliant summer break!

Magical Masks!

2011-07-25T16:02:00.003+01:00

Year 6 have been putting the finishing touches to the masks they have made especially for their leaving prom. We think they are pretty impressive-take a look!

Let's Dance-Part 2!

2011-07-23T15:10:00.006+01:00

Not content to sit still after their brilliant leaving production, Year 6 have been learning yet another dance for their upcoming prom on Tuesday. This time the tempo was taken up a notch as they got their dancing feet doing the Salsa. Take a look at them in practice!

Oh! What a School!

2011-07-21T18:13:00.000+01:00

In their final ever performance at Oakwood Junior School, Year 6 made goose bumps appear and tears well up as they told the story of why the school held such a special place in their hearts.

Professor Know It All endeavoured to find out why so many Year 6 pupils were crying as they approached the end of term, if they loved school so much.

In the course of his investigation, he charged his team of boffins to visit the staff room, look back at trips and visits, dance to Kylie, sing the Carpenters and Bruno Mars and interrogate some urchins from Oliver.

Just before the end, each of the House Captains spoke on their friends' behalf to thank the school and say what they would miss...

Well, we will certainly miss you, Year 6, and thank you for entertaining us tonight!

(You can see the videos from the performance right here...)

Howzattt!

2011-07-21T17:01:00.002+01:00

Even though it's nearly the end of term, Oakwood is still full of energy and determination!

As Year 6 performed their matinee leavers' production this afternoon, there were a few people missing from the audience...

Where were they? Well, they were up with our friends at Fairisle Junior School, stealing something away!

Following a fantastic performance, Oakwood's cricketers won the Oasis Family Cricket Shield, kindly organised by our colleagues at Testlands Multisport Coaching.

I'm sure Fairisle and Shirley Warren will put up a sporting fight for the shield next year, but for the time being, it's ours!

Very well done, boys!

(Thanks to Mr Howard and his big posh camera for the team photo! A photo with the trophy and and the team together following tomorrow!)

Exploring the city's life-blood!

2011-07-18T19:57:00.004+01:00

Year 6 have been down to the docks and spent half a day aboard the oil supply ship Whitchallenger and the tug Phenix. Although lots of children will have been on ferries out of Southampton, or even pleasure craft in the Solent, not many city schools get their children on to working port vessels, which are the life-blood of the docks and the city’s economy.

The children came away with an amazing amount of new knowledge, ranging from how knots are tied (and why it’s still important to know how to tie them!), navigating with computers - but also with sextants and stars - and how major oil spills are cleaned up around the world.

Many thanks to Nick at Solent Towage, Ashley at Whitaker Group and the entire crews of both vessels, who were fantastic!

See our previous visits in 2010 and 2009!

Come and Explore Minstead!

2011-07-08T16:37:00.001+01:00

Our friends at Minstead Study Centre have their Open Day on Saturday 16 July.

If you have ever been to Minstead, or your child is going next year, it's a great chance to explore the Wild Wood and see what a truly magical experience it is!

(Click the flyer for a bigger version!)

It's no more than 15 minutes away by car...

Year 5 Explore Winchester

2011-07-08T14:39:00.005+01:00

Last Friday, Year 5 explored Winchester as part of their topic work. We had a brilliant time were lucky enough to experience Winchester's famous Hat Fair - it was a real cultural event!

The children are using their geographical skills to compare Winchester to a place we know very well: Lordswood.

Whilst we were there, we visited the Great Hall (home of King Arthur's Round Table) and Winchester's City Museum, which told the story of the city's history. It was fascinating!

We also completed shop and trafiic surveys, as well as giving lots of different environment scores.

A fantastic day!

Waltzing Around!

2011-07-05T21:23:00.003+01:00

Year 6 have been learning the Waltz for their prom at the end of term. We thought we would give you a little taster.

'Eggs'-ploring the Christian Story.

2011-07-05T20:10:00.005+01:00

Year 6 enjoyed a very creative and fun filled few days last week when Chris Davies and his team visited. They were here to help us interpret and understand the Christian Story. To do this they had us working in teams to design games; write stories; solve puzzles; find treasure; create our own cities and make our own Easter gardens.

Perhaps our favourite activity revolved around helping 'Eggbert' the egg on his travels around the world. We had to design a flying craft, a parachute and a way of transporting Eggbert over the mountains. All of these activities helped us to think about the different parts of the Christian story and the important teachings it holds for Christians.

A big THANK YOU to Chris and all his team for a brilliant week!

The Governors have a great day!

2011-06-28T09:59:00.000+01:00

Governors come into school for a day each term and Friday was our day. We had such a great time - and we were allowed to come in jeans! Mr Taylor told us at assembly that the school was donating eight large bin liners of clothes to the Dreams Come True charity as a result of non uniform day. (We should have auctioned Mr Taylor's jazzy shirt!)

We visited different classes - Some of Year 6 were recovering from their visit to Woodmill, while the rest of the year group was at Knapp House; Year 5 were designing an information leaflet about the Lordswood area, saying why it's such a good place to live; Year 3 were buzzing about bees, and blowing their trumpets and tenor horns; Year 4 were reading and answering questions. We were even lucky enough to see some experts in quick fire times tables. What a great way to increase confidence with numbers. Some of the Governors will need to practise!

Mrs Worley told us about a training course she is doing to help her be an even better admin manager, and we chatted with pupils about swimming, Joseph, and Catch Up literacy. And of course we had an update from Mr Taylor about how the school uses Google Apps.

Fortunately we had a welcome cup of tea at break time and an excellent school lunch to keep up going in our action packed day. Thank you Mrs Whitmarsh for organising the timetable for us and to all who talked to us during the day. We will be back in September.

You can find out more about the Governors' work, who we are, and our support and challenge for the school on our own website page.

Sports Day on the Hottest Day of the Year...!

2011-06-27T12:52:00.003+01:00

We had a fantastic Sports Morning today on the hottest day so far this year!

There was a new name on the Sports Day Cup as Oriana stole the cup away from last year's winners Aurora by a single point 448 to 447!

A big thank you to all our Work Experience leaders, Sports leaders from Oasis and to Luke Newman and the gentlemen from TMC, who were all absolutely brilliant!

The biggest Thank You goes to Mrs Rogers for organising the whole event!

Count on us...

2011-06-26T14:34:00.010+01:00

A story of teamwork and friendship at Knapp House...

And now for the Fireworks!

Disco Nights and Homecomings.

Pottermore...

2011-06-23T20:44:00.012+01:00

You may have heard that J K Rowling had a special Harry Potter Announcement today!

Watch the video below to see what it was and how you can get involved...

We'll certainly be joining in at Oakwood!

Knapp Calling Southampton...

2011-06-23T20:27:00.000+01:00

Just to let you know that everything is fine down here at Knapp House and we're still having a great time!

However, dodgy wifi means we can't upload pictures at the moment...

Rest assured we are still taking lots of photos and we'll blog the last couple of days' activities when we get back.

Football Fantastic!

2011-06-23T15:51:00.003+01:00

A team from Year 3 and Year 4 attended the annual football festival today held for all the schools in the local area. Oakwood have been winners of the cup for the past two years so the teams had a lot to live up to. I am proud to say that both teams represented Oakwood fantastically and managed to come first and second! It was a close run between our two teams as they both finished on the same points so in the end it came to down to goal difference. Both teams had the same goals against difference but the Year 3 team pipped the Year 4 team to the title by winning by having scored one more goal. The trophy therefore stays with Oakwood for another year, well done boys!

Thank you to James for his photography during the tournament and the rest of Year 3 for supporting the teams so well.

News Bites...

2011-06-22T20:05:00.001+01:00

Don't forget our new blog page where the latest news video from Espresso is published...

It's the Climb!

2011-06-22T15:48:00.000+01:00

Year 6 cannot escape the rain this week!

No matter where they are in the country, the weather hasn't stopped their adventurous activities and their amazing teamwork!

Down at Woodmill, they climbed - not easy in the rain...

...they also made their own towers of crates and climbed those, at the same time learning the skills of belaying for their team members and how to use equipment like a grigri safely.

They were also archery stars and several members of the groups scored bullseyes!

They were complimented on their behaviour and how quickly they learned new skills by the staff.

Well done, Year 6!

Busy Bees

2011-06-22T15:34:00.005+01:00

This week Year 3 have been busy bees learning all about bees! The Soroptimist International Virtual One in partnership with The British Beekeeping Association and Rowse Honey are running a bee project for children to help them find about about bees and the conservation of bees for the future. We have learned about the different types of bees, the anatomy of a bee and the different jobs that honeybees do.

Today we have created some fantastic art, using pastels to draw a bee.

Look out for some more buzziness from Year 3.

Beaming Smiles, Tired Boys and Technical Difficulties!

2011-06-22T15:21:00.007+01:00

Yet more fabulous lifetime memories have been made over the last two days here at Knapp House.

All children (and staff!) are well and having a FANTASTIC time. Over the last 24 hours children have been surfing; body boarding; hiked along the coast; abseiled down trees; been 'ringo'ing, powerboating, speed boating, tunnelling and crabbing. To say we have some happy, excitied campers is an understatement- there are lots and lots of beaming campers around here. Everyone has risen to every challenge thrown at them and been a credit to themselves and the school. Needless to say a good night sleep was had by all last night with lots of exhausted children fast asleep well before lights out (especially the boys!)

We are having a few technical difficulties here especially with uploading photographs but would like to reassure everyone that we are photographing and videoing everything and will publish these to the blog as soon as we can. In the meantime we have a brief selection of photographs from yesterday and this morning for you to browse.

Tunnelling and Crate Stacking

Crabbing at Appledore Quay

Fairthorne Day 2

2011-06-22T10:54:00.002+01:00

Finally, the photos from our exciting Day 2 at Fairthorne Manor are here for you to see!

You will see some of our sing-a-long at the evening bonfire, some of the obstacle course, a few more abseilers and even a few of the beautiful bluebells in the grounds.

Memories to treasure for years to come!

If Everybody Had An Ocean...*

2011-06-21T13:13:00.000+01:00

The sun came out! It didn't rain! The surf was up!

Everyone from Oakwood went down to Westward Ho!** this morning for a spot of the sport of surfing. Wetsuits on, surf boards and body boards firmly attached, they braved the icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean. (They actually weren't that icy and the wetsuits keep you warm as long as you keep moving).

Action shots are courtesy of our friends at Fryern who let us borrow their waterproof camera!

(Watch out for the pirate!)

*A special Knapp Prize for this reference. Mrs Worley, you're not allowed to enter as you will just Google it!
** Another Knapp Prize for why Westward Ho! has an exclamation mark...

Near a Tree by a River...*

2011-06-20T22:55:00.002+01:00

We have wifi! Which means we can show you just a little bit of what we have been up to today...

First of all, two groups went up a tree in two different ways. The first way was the hardest - they had to climb, ably supported and belayed by faithful members of the group. The second way was the easiest, an express elevator to the top, powered by pupils. The only way down was to free abseil, so any fears of heights have been well and truly conquered...

The other two groups went ringo riding in the Torridge Estuary - there are no "close up" photos of this, because by the time the talented photographer had reached the bay, the tide hadn't gone out far enough to get round to see them. Even Mrs Collins and Mrs Adams had to wade through rockpools to get back! But we think you will agree, these photos show just how spectacular the setting is...!

(The sheep is just the obligatory Knapp House Photo Of A Sheep, which we have to include every year...)

*A special Knapp House prize for the first person to comment about the title of this post!

Welcome to Sunny* Devon

2011-06-20T18:05:00.000+01:00

We have all arrived safely in Devon!

The staff were able to stock up on fuel at the Cartgate Picnic stop in Somerset, where everyone had a loo break and a run around.

We got to Knapp at about 12.30 and had a quick lunch.

Then we were straight into our activities: tree hoist, initiative exercises and a coastal walk (at least 20 miles, Ms Dowle and Mrs Collins say!)

Photos to follow if we can get a decent wireless connection!

(*Weather Report: NOT Sunny! More Soggy!)

Road Safety Theatre

2011-06-20T15:52:00.003+01:00

We had a special treat at Oakwood today. 'Theatre in Education' visited to give us an entertaining show all about road safety.

Despite lots of laughs and songs, we learned some serious messages about keeping ourselves safe on the roads and in cars.

We learned to "Clunk Click" when riding in a car. This means clunk the door shut, and click your seatbelt in.

We also learned to 'Stop, Look, Listen, Think' and also how to cross the road safely when there are lots of parked cars.

Our two local PSCOs also attended, so will be keeping an eye out to make sure children are obeying the rules of the road when out playing.

Thank you to Theatre in Education for this fantastic show!

Keep up-to-date with the News!

2011-06-17T13:37:00.003+01:00

We have a brand new page on the blog which will keep you up to date with what's happening in the UK and around the world. It contains the latest news video from Espresso...

We use Espresso in school a lot. It contains thousands of videos, news articles and lesson ideas to support the curriculum and engage children when they work on computers.

More than just drums!

2011-06-13T18:43:00.017+01:00

We had a great time in assembly today when we were visited by our musical friend Alex Pope!

Alex taught us to use the oldest percussion instrument in the world - our own bodies - but also got us marching to the beat and taught us that percussion is much more than just drums.

All children can take part in public percussion performances by joining up the Showcase Performance Group and Alex certainly passed his enthusiasm on to everyone! We look forward to hearing some of our pupils perform in one of the group's future concerts!

Have a listen...

Listen!

From a caterpillar to a butterfly

2011-06-11T09:55:00.000+01:00

Before half term Year 4 had the wonderful opportunity of learning all about the life cycle of a butterfly. They vividly watched the caterpillars change over time and wrote an explanation of what happens in the process. There were many new and technical words to learn too!

Have look at our amazing photos, it really was a fantastic experience!

GO, GO, GO Joseph!

2011-06-10T16:32:00.000+01:00

With less than a week to go, full rehearsals for Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor® Dreamcoat are well under way!

Here are some "behind the scenes" shots of the first run through at the Oasis Academy Theatre...

The full performance is on Thursday 16 June! The Songsters are getting very excited!

(Lyrics by Tim Rice, Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. An Amateur Production by arrangement with the Really Useful Group Limited.)

Lights! Camera! Action!

2011-05-27T10:40:00.003+01:00

Year 4 had a wonderful afternoon exhibiting their home learning projects yesterday. The children produced some fantastic work, from 3-D theatres to writing and designing their very own play scripts. They really showed off their talents and new skills.

Thank you to all the parents who attended yesterday.

Congratulations Year 4!

Fairthorne Manor Day 1

2011-05-03T20:11:00.002+01:00

Year 3 have recently returned from a fantastic trip to Fairthorne Manor.

For many children, it was their first time staying away from home, so it was a real adventure! After settling in to their dorms and unpacking, the children had a chance to explore the site and take a peek at some of the exciting activities in store.

Archery, Arial Runway, an Obstacle Course and Abseiling were all on the menu, and the photos below show many of us braving a new experience:

After a tiring but fun-packed day, we all finished off with a hearty meal of pasta bolognese and doughnuts for pudding!

Watch out for the next instalment where you can see pictures of our campfire evening and the final activities.

The Orchestra "Stands Together!"

2011-04-27T11:10:00.000+01:00

The Oakwood Orchestra is coming on leaps and bounds!

All our Year 4 and 5 instrumentalists work with Paul Ibbott from Oasis Academy every Wednesday while the rest of the year groups have their music lessons.

We would like you to listen to how well they are progressing!

Listen!

Fabulous Football Team

2011-04-08T09:43:00.007+01:00

On Wednesday the 6th of April 2011, the OJS football team played in the Southampton City Cup final against Townhill Junior School. We had been expecting Fairisle Junior School, but Townhill had beaten them, coming back from 2-0 down in a thrilling semi-final.

We played at Staplewood (Southampton FC's training ground). We were 3-0 up by half-time and managed to hold that score till the final whistle, despite Townhill coming back a bit stronger in the second half. Mrs Rogers said "It was the best game all season!"

Thanks to Mrs Rogers and Paul for a great season and for helping us lift the cup for a second time!

Victory in the Southampton Cup!

2011-04-06T22:08:00.000+01:00

In beautiful weather at the Saints Training Ground at Staplewood, Oakwood beat Townhill 3-0 in the final of the Southampton Cup. Match report to follow.

Gone Google 2!

2011-04-04T10:46:00.000+01:00

We hope you've managed to see our Gone Google billboards around town, including the big illuminated one on the Millbrook Road!

Google has now published our story on their official Google Blog, so please have a look!

Road Hogs

2011-03-31T12:02:00.000+01:00

We hope to do a little more podcasting in future, so we're starting today with a quick recording of three of our flautists performing a piece of music called Road Hogs.

Listen!

What does it remind you of?

You can subscribe directly to our podcasts on iTunes by clicking: