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As usual please log on to the Parent Portal and remind yourself of all the important updates and messages that have been posted this week.
Note from our Head
Dear Oakfield families,
Last week saw our school value of Curiosity alive and well at Oakfield as we welcomed former pupil Sigourney Bell to the official opening of our STEM (science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) room on Monday. Sigourney is a former pupil of Oakfield who left us at the age of 11 to join Sydenham High School. She is currently a third-year PhD student at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute at the University of Cambridge. Her PhD focuses on paediatric brain tumours, with the long-term goal of creating new therapies for children with very limited treatment options.
Alongside her PhD, Sigourney is a co-founder of Black in Cancer, an organisation with two key goals: first to empower and encourage future Black Cancer leaders and second to reduce cancer disparities through education and advocacy. She was also honoured in 2021 as a Forbes 30 under 30 member for her work.
Sigourney led an exciting and interactive assembly, demonstrating how an object's density can change through the 'Dancing Raisins' experiment. She then taught a lesson with Year 6 pupils during which they learned how to extract DNS from strawberries - a highly stimulating and challenging experience which links well to the work they are doing with Mrs Lambert Carter on forensic science as part of the Year 6 Diploma.
We have also enjoyed seeing Courage and Challenge celebrated in the realm of Sport, with our Under-11 Girls' Football team winning the ISA London South Regional Championships, and four pupils travelling to Nottinghamshire at the weekend for the National Finals of the ISA Cross-Country competition.
Thank you to our Head of Learning Success Mamianna Hansen for pioneering a remarkable neurodiversity week to open the minds of adults and children alike in understanding the diversity of how different people think and behave. Neurodiversity is all around us and should be recognised and celebrated as such. Thank you so much too to the Oakfield parents and families who came into school to talk about their experiences in this vitally important area of life - I know the children gain enormously from this.
It is truly inspiring to see the children's character development through opportunities such as these, building those transferable skills of teamwork, co-operation, resilience, critical thinking and problem-solving. I am so proud of all their achievements this term (there are more than a few in this single newsletter alone!) and I hope everyone has a well-deserved Easter break ahead of an exciting Summer Term to come.
Moyra Thompson
BIRTHDAY BROADCAST
We have 2 weeks of birthday broadcasts to bring you - and the final editions from Kingston and Edith. You did so well this term to bring much mirth and scientific rigour to our birthday broadcasts!!
MUSIC: SUMMER SESSIONS
Now Spring is truly in the air, it is time to start our (perhaps prematurely named) Oakfield Summer Sessions. Children will be performing fortnightly on their instruments at the Rio Clarke Arena, with parents invited to come and watch at pick up time - performances will be about 10 minutes. There will be more details to follow, but if your child would like to perform, please speak to their instrumental teacher to start working on repertoire.
Hopefully many of you managed to check out our first Session on Tuesday which featured a double bill of Minims and Junior Choir, performing both individually and as a combined force of singing power.
If you didn't see it you can check out their rendition of 'Lean on Me' below and see their version of 'Out of Time' by Blur on our Oakfield YouTube channel!
Drama: Shakespeare Season
The Year 6s performed a dress rehearsal in front of the rest of school demonstrating the amazing effort and talent they have put into the production - what a great warm-up for their public performance at the Albany in Deptford on Tuesday!
BRITISH SCIENCE WEEK
This week at Oakfield we have been celebrating British Science Week. We had a wonderful assembly delivered by Sigourney Bell, a PhD student at Cambridge University and ex Oakfield Pupil. She carried out an exciting experiment, showing how the carbon dioxide in fizzy water makes raisins dance. We also presented prizes to the winners of our 'Growth' poster competition; they were:
- UF- Rafael
- Year 2 – Leo
- Year 3 – Annabelle
- Year 4 – Iris
- Year 5 – Thea
- Year 6 – Holly
Overall Winner - Matilda
Monday last week also saw the official opening of our wonderful new STEM room. Some of our Year 6 children took part in a workshop, learning how to extract DNA from strawberries - check out the vid below for some highlights of the morning.
Lots of other science activities have been taking place across the school.
In 6ML, we looked at how amino acids link together creating polypeptide chains. We discussed how proteins consist of one or more chains of amino acids.
Our Year 6 forensic scientists took part in a lesson on forensic toxicology, where they carried out presumptive tests to see if samples contained specific chemical traces.
Neurodiversity Week
Oakfield pupils and staff took part in a week of activities aimed at developing understanding of Neurodiversity and embracing difference.
Neurodiversity Celebration Week is a worldwide initiative which challenges stereotypes and misconceptions about neurological differences. It aims to transform how neurodivergent individuals are perceived and supported.
Schools, colleges, universities and workplaces are invited to recognise and celebrate the many talents and advantages of being neurodivergent, as well as creating a more inclusive culture that celebrates difference and empowers individuals.
During the week, pupils had the valuable opportunity to listen to and share the experiences of nuerodivergent individuals they know in society.
Pupils took part in a special assembly, listened to stories and shared in group discussions aimed at dispelling common misconceptions. They have also researched the lives and achievements of successful neurodivergent individuals, (including their parents!)
Oakfield would like to extend a special thanks to all the parents who gave up their time to speak to the pupils about their personal experiences. We hope that through this valuable experience, together we can work towards building a more inclusive society which values difference and celebrates individual strengths.
Useful websites for further info:
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zrdtt39
- https://www.qlmentoring.com/
- https://www.sienacastellon.com/
- https://www.neurodiversityweek.com/
Year 5 had a variety of opportunities to speak about neurodiversity. We have had the chance to talk about strengths as well as to navigate some of the misconceptions we had. It was brilliant to hear all that the children knew as well as learning more.
The children prepared pieces of research about well-known adults who have spoken about their neurodiversity including Naia on Simone Biles and Felicity's work on Emma Watson below.
One of our LSAs said that the way the talks have been presented, and the responses from the children in varying age groups, have been so enriching. The children have shown the knowledge and understanding that all the children have of neurodiversity. The comments in assembly are, also, worthy of celebration.
SPORT
ISA National Cross-Country Championships
Well done to Oakfield's 4-runners that qualified and took part in the ISA School's National Cross Country Championships on Saturday 19th March at Worksop College in Nottinghamshire. The event is the highlight of the cross country running season. To qualify runners had to finish in the top-10 of their Regional Race. Thank you to the Parents and Grandparents that accompanied me on the trip.
Individual Results
- Year3/4 Girls- Aja 37th
- Year 3/4 Boys- Rory 31st
- Year 5/6 Girls- Miller 52nd
- Year 5/6 Boys- Conor 26th
Just qualifying for this event is an achievement in itself!
Did you know Paula Radcliffe MBE, former British Long Distance runner, who was previously the fastest female marathoner of all time. Her first race at a national level came as a 12-year-old in 1986, when she placed 299th in the English Schools Cross Country Championships. Then in 1991 Radcliffe won the English Schools 1500 metres title!
U11 Girls Football
We are so proud of our U11A Girls' Football Team! They are now the new ISA Regional Football Champions! On Friday 11th March the girls travelled to Elmers End and played in a number of matches, despite the rain and tough competition, they won every single one!
British Schools Gymnastics Competition
On Sunday 13th March a number of the Gymnastics Squad took part in the annual British Schools Gymnastics Association Competition. Everyone did so well and a special mention to the U9 Boys Team 1 who got gold, the U9 Boys Team 2 who got silver and the U11 Boys who got gold! Well done to you all!
Year 3 Football
Spring sunshine, lots of parents (and grandparents), and hot coffee whilst watching our Year 3 boys playing football against Thames Christian School. What else could you want on a Monday afternoon? Thank you to William for taking some photos too.
St Dunstan's Swim Gala
It is so good to be back making a splash again at a Gala - it has been such a long time! A special mention to Scarlett who came first in her race!
SPORTS STARS of the WEEK
They are our BSGA Gymnastic Team Medals, Year 5 Netball Team (Runners-up at the Alleyn's Netball Tournament) and our U11 Girls Football Team, ISA London South Girls Football Champions.
Oakfield’s future rugby stars; Themba, Daniel and Henry . It is great to hear about their weekend rugby exploits with the old Alleynians RC
YEAR 6
Neurodiversity
Year 6 thought about how neurodiverse we all are! We created our own mind maps around a brain, noting down many of the things that make us unique. At the end of the lesson, we celebrated how different they all were from each other.
World Maths Day
We celebrated World Maths Day with a variety of different mathematical logic puzzles, including some sudokus! Miss Francis won the staff puzzle competition showing how the Year 6s skill must be rubbing off on the teachers!
Wellbeing Diploma
Year 6s kindly helping the Year 1s read storybooks to demonstrate how helping others is a great way to improve your own wellbeing
Y6 and Y5 SCIENCE MUSEUM TRIP
Year 5 and 6 went to the Science Museum last week to continue our learning about Space and Light. We watched A Beautiful Planet in 3D and explored the diverse and varied exhibitions. We loved learning about foods astronauts eat in space and even seeing the tiny piece of the moon! The children watched, listened and interacted with all that the museum offered. What a brilliant day!
YEAR 4
What a brill Year 4 production - congratulations to all the children, staff and supportive parents who made it happen! It was an energetic and truly fabulous performance and the huge round of applause stood testament to the work that went into their brilliant production of 'What's the crime, Mr Wolf?'. Drama at Oakfield continues to go from strength to strength.
YEAR 3
Science
Art
This half term, Year 3 has been studying the work of Barbara Hepworth.
First, the children looked at Barbara's sculptures and thought about what natural shapes they represented. Using charcoal and chalk, they created sketches of the objects from which Hepworth drew inspiration.
After that, we decided to observe some objects from nature ourselves. We found out that artists create lots of 'studies' when they are planning a new project and so, after selecting shells as our project focus, we made careful observational drawings and water colour paintings, looking carefully at the shapes, textures, patterns and colours of shells.
Finally, it was time to create our own abstract shell sculptures in clay. We coiled and rolled, twisted and pinched and smoothed, recreating these objects from the sea. Once the clay was dry, we painted colours and designs onto the work, with beautiful results.
YEAR 2
Art
Last week was full of engaging learning opportunities for the Year 2 children. They were visited by a professional artist Natasha Mann who organised a fantastic workshop for them. We learnt all about natural pigments and how to make egg tempera. The children were engrossed in learning about her story of becoming an artist and loved learning about the science behind making different paints. Did you know that natural pigments can be taken from minerals, earth, plants or insects? This workshop also consolidated their learning about art in Ancient Egypt. The children admired a photo of a painter’s palette inscribed with the name of Amenhop III from Upper Egypt and learnt that the Ancient Egyptians were the first ones to make synthetic paints such as Egyptian blue. The children were fascinated by the process of using pestle and mortar to grind rocks and earth to make paint. They used the egg tempera to try and paint their own wooden Easter eggs.
‘’This is so cool!’’ A number of children said.
SCIENCE
We embraced Science Week in Year 2 and planned a trip to Belair park. The children were learning about microhabitats and searched for minibeasts in the sky, under rocks and logs, leaves and on bark. They loved discussing the different organisms they discovered and used a magnifying glass to help them spot even the tiniest of animals. The sun was shining and scientific minds were busy exploring. What a fantastic trip!
YEAR 1
For Science week, and as part of Year 1’s ‘Let it Grow!’ topic, the children enjoyed taking part in a workshop all about planting vegetables and being more friendly to our environment. They made recycled paper plant pots and learned how to make a watering can from a re-used milk bottle! The children enjoyed getting their hands dirty and planting some vegetables outside too.
UPPER FOUNDATION
Easter Story
This week the children were lucky enough to have two parents come in and talk to us about the Easter story. They showed the children a wonderful process of using fingerprints and paint to connect the story to images. This enabled the children to gain a deeper understanding of the story and the children really do enjoy having parents come in and talk to them.
Upper Foundation have also been recapping money this week. The children have revisited coin recognition and the understanding that coins are worth different amounts. They looked at the different shapes and colours and used pennies to calculate a total amount, reflecting different prices of flowers they could choose to buy.
ICT
For Mother's Day the children spent Wednesday creating heart-filled pictures using 'stamps' (clipart pictures) of items and objects important women in their life might like. The children had to think of what their interests, hobbies and likes they have and find the most relatable images. They scrolled, clicked and searched; remembering we click the left side button on our computer mouse!
We hope you like them! Are there any other items you would add?
JUNGLE GYM
Challenge, Care, Collaboration, Creativity, Courage and Curiosity!
So many of the 6 C's demonstrated when on the Jungle Gym this week!
LOWER FOUNDATION
FUN IN THE SUN
There has been brilliant collaborative play both inside and outside as the children have taken advantage of all the amazing resources on offer for both fun and learning..
NURSERY
Easter Bonnet Parade
There was an amazing show of Easter fashion on display in Pre-Prep this week with the children showing off their bonnets with a mini fashion parade - there was also an Easter egg hunt in the playground!
CLUBS AND ACTIVITIES
YOGA CLUB
HEDGEHOGS CLUB
In Hedgehogs club we took advantage of the lovely weather and explored the outdoors. The children worked in teams scavenging for signs of spring. When they found each sign of spring, they took a photo of it! They loved showing their photos to each other and comparing what they had discovered. This inspired some of them to create their own checklist and look for signs of spring on their way to school. It is fantastic to have a look at the world through a different lens from time to time!
HOUSE POINTS
It is now so close after House Drama - every point counts as we go into Summer Term!
Baird 12,582
Ruskin 12,922
Webster 11,256
Pearsall 12,928
ROLL OF HONOUR
Isaiah K - English
Beatrice S - For extending spelling/sentence work into paragraphs of creative writing on her own initiative.
Scarlett F - Algebra work in Maths
Girls' Year 6 football team - winners of the ISA Regional Championship: Elsie, Rose, Luisa, Ayla, Beatrice, Eliana, India-Rose, Rosie Sh
OAFs Quiz Night
Another exciting edition of the Quiz Night will be happening on Thursday 28th April at 7.45pm in the Prep Hall. Further information to follow but mark the date in your diaries now!
Credits:
Created with images by cbaquiran - "cupcakes candles birthday" • hulkiokantabak - "stage art dance" • elsimage - "smiling woman african american woman" • Maksym Dragunov - "Ukrainian flag" • Rawpixel.com - "Child Friends Boys Girls Playful Nature Offspring Concept" • anncapictures - "tartan track athletics track and field" • greymatters - "graduation teen high school" • BGStock72 - "Happy kids programming electric toys and robots at robotics classroom" • LIGHTFIELD STUDIOS - "selective focus of stage director and actress with screenplay in theater" • Maksym - "Architectural shadows. Sunlight architecture abstract background with light, black shadow overlay from window on white texture wall. Mockups, posters, stationary, wall art, design presentation." • Zamurovic Brothers - "Egg with pineapple leaves on bright white background. Minimal food concept." • fietzfotos - "trees park nature" • donterase - "bicycle bike old" • ELG21 - "lake nature travel" • bluebudgie - "frosted glass background psychedelic" • _Alicja_ - "numbers counting numbers education" • terimakasih0 - "abacus counting frame education" • Bits and Splits - "Red Carpet" • fotofabrika - "Clouds and sky from airplane window view"