January 2015
In this issue
Page
Headmistress’s Message............................... 1
Swimming Gala at Forest School .................. 1
Garden Room ‘Traditional Stories’ ............... 2
Year 1 Lego Workshop .................................. 2
Year 1 Maths ................................................. 2
Year 2 Story Setting Planning ........................ 3
Year 2 Poetry ................................................ 3
Year 3 Assembly ............................................ 3
ISA National Swimming Championships ....... 3
Oaklands v Coopersale Hall Netball Match .. 4
‘Ready to Read’ Meeting .............................. 4
Essential Works Notice ................................. 4
OPA Recycled Uniform Sale .......................... 4
Charities ........................................................ 4
Headmistress’s Message
Dear Parents
The children have settled well into term and are working hard
both in and out of the classroom. I hope that you have found
our new ‘drop-in sessions’ helpful. The children have been very
excited to show off their work and I know, from the many
positive comments received, that you have been surprised and
pleased at the amount and quality of the work.
Outside the classroom, our swimmers have enjoyed many
successes which you can read about in this edition. In our next
edition of the Oaklands Newsletter, you’ll be able to find out
how our football team fares against Coopersale Hall School.
I’d like to thank Andy Lawrence for being such a reliable
Lollipop Person for six years. Unfortunately Andy’s hearing has
deteriorated and he can no longer carry out these duties. Essex
have found us a new person by the name of Brian.
Cheryl Macnair
Website ......................................................... 4
Swimming Gala at Forest School
On Tuesday 19 January 2015, six girls from Year 5 and 6 represented Oaklands at the Forest School Swimming Gala.
All the races were fiercely competitive and very close. The girls were absolutely amazing, both in their race
performances and their team spirit. From Year 6, Natasha came 2nd in her 25m breaststroke heat; Kitty came 3rd in
her 25m butterfly heat; Riya came 5th in her 25m backstroke heat and Libby came 1st in her 50m freestyle heat.
From Year 5, Amy came 1st in her 25m freestyle heat.
Congratulations to both Amy and Libby who won the gold medal for being the overall winner in their event. Amy set
a new record of 17.30 seconds.
The 25m medley relay team, consisting of Amy, Natasha, Kitty and Libby came 1st overall in this event and received
a gold medal each. The 25m freestyle relay team consisting of Kitty, Lara, Amy and Libby also came 1st overall in this
event and received a gold medal each. This team also set a new record of 1 minute 15.56 seconds.
Twelve local schools in the area participated in the Gala. The Oaklands team won the cup for overall winners of the
Girls competition. A fantastic team effort!
They are looking forward to competing in the Bancrofts’ Swimming Gala later in the year.
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Garden Room ‘Traditional Stories’
The Garden Room children are currently enjoying our topic ‘Traditional
Stories’.
They have had the opportunity to try many new activities including; cooking
piggy biscuits, making mud houses and re-telling stories using story sacks.
During our Friday assemblies the Foxes showed us the healthy food baskets
they made for Little Red Riding Hood to take to Granny’s house.
The Moles also shared the houses they built for The Three Little Pigs.
We have now introduced the Star of the Week, where one child from each
group receives a certificate in assembly for something special they have
achieved that week
Year 1 Lego Workshop
As part of our new topic on Oaklands School and the local environment the children were very excited about their
visit from ‘Young Town Planners’, a Lego Workshop from Mrs Wood.
As soon as the children walked into 1T and saw the classroom set up as a Lego workshop they commented, ‘This is
awesome’ and ‘WOW! So much Lego!’.
Before working on their own buildings the children discussed important factors when making strong buildings. They
looked at foundations, eaves and overlapping techniques using the bricks. Each child chose a building for their new
town, 1T named theirs Oaklands Town because they built a school and 1S named theirs Rainbow Town because they
used a variety of colours. A fantastic day was had by all.
Year 1 Maths
In our maths groups this week we have been looking at adding coins.
Mrs Slaters’ maths group used the ‘dotting’ method to help them add coins to
10p successfully!
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Year 2 Story Setting Planning
Year 2 went onto the second field to think about what we could see, hear,
smell and feel in a forest.
We took clipboards with us so we could note down our ideas. We could feel
the rain drizzling on our skin and could hear the breeze whistling in our ears.
We will use our ideas to write a description of an enchanted forest story
setting.
Year 2 Poetry
The children in Year 2 have been writing acrostic poems, using their names, in their Literacy lessons. Their poems
were so fantastic that the Year 2 teachers have decided to enter them into the Young Writers ‘My First Acrostic’
poetry competition.
Year 3 Assembly
On Wednesday 21 January Year 3 pupils displayed some of their work in
assembly.
In Literacy they have been learning all about persuasion texts; they worked in
partners to write and direct their own television advert to perform.
Here are some photos of them rehearsing.
ISA National Swimming Championships at the London Aquatics Centre, Stratford
Saturday 24 January 2015
Following their winning performances at the ISA London North Championships in November 2014, three girls from
Year 5 and 6 were selected to represent London North at the ISA National Swimming Championships.
This event took place last Saturday, 24 January 2015 at the London Aquatics Centre in Stratford. It was a fantastic
venue for the girls to swim in and they did themselves proud.
Amy in Year 5 came 4th in her individual 50m freestyle race, Libby in Year 6 came 7th in her individual 50m freestyle
race and Kitty came 7th in her individual butterfly race. Libby and Kitty were members of the Year 6 200m medley
relay team who came 4th in their race, just missing the bronze medal. Libby was also a member of the Year 6 200m
freestyle relay team who came 7th in the race.
Amy was a member of the Year 5 200m freestyle relay team who came 2nd in their race and received a silver medal.
Congratulations to the girls on their brilliant achievement and performances.
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Oaklands v Coopersale Hall Netball Match
On Thursday 22 January the Oaklands ‘A’ and ‘B’ netball teams had their first match of the year against Coopersale
Hall School. The girls made a huge effort and worked hard during their two matches. The ‘A’ team won one of their
matches 5-4! Hopefully their first of many victories!
Keep it up girls!
‘Ready to Read’ Meeting
Garden Room Parents are invited to a ‘Ready to Read’ Meeting on Wednesday 4 February 2015 at 9am in the School
hall.
The meeting will last about 20 minutes and will give you an idea of how we teach phonics in the Early Years.
Drainage Works
Please be aware that important drainage work is being carried out during the next couple of weeks, which may
affect the High Road and, on a few occasions, access to the school from the High Road.
OPA Recycled Uniform Sale in the Science Room
Wednesday 28 January from 2.30pm to 4.15pm
The Mill Grove Family Centre sent thanks and best wishes to everyone involved for raising
£213 from our Carol Service collection.
www.millgrove.org.uk/about/
£153 was raised for Save the Children.
Thank you for all your donations.
Please see the Calendar page on the website for
forthcoming events.
www.savethechildren.org.uk/about-us
For more photographs of Events please go to the
News section on the website.
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