LiFe Link 10

Hello one and all! We hope that this tenth edition of the LiFe Link Community Newsletter finds you happy, healthy and looking forward to Spring. This edition is jam-packed with all the activities that we have been involved in over the past term. Enjoy reading about our achievements, and do not hesitate in reaching out should you wish to contribute to the next issue.

• Vice Principal’s Round-up
• MHST Drop-ins and Signposting
• OUM Scheme
• Cyber Ambassadors
• Student assemblies – LGBTQ+ and My Difference Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
• Bluestar Community Assembly
• Art Workshops
• Cyber Training
• Celebration Events and Rewards
• Sports Fixtures
• Theatre Trip
• Saints Outreach Work
• The House of Maths Years 7 and 8
• Upcoming Events/Dates for the Diary

Thank you, as always, for supporting our wonderful Academy.

Liz Lea liz.lea@oasislordshill.org

Assistant Principal for the Life Curriculum and Personal Development Senior Mental Health Lead

Dear parent/carer,

It is such a pleasure to be given the opportunity to write to our parents as we near the end of the Spring Term. This term we have been working hard with students, teachers, support staff and community to ensure that we can provide an excellent learning environment for learning at Oasis Academy Lords’ Hill. This term we have reviewed books and reset our expectations to ensure that students can take pride in their books and can maximise their learning opportunities. This work was recently validated in a recent Oasis Trust visit that recognised this positive change, and we will continue to ensure that the learning experience within our school is excellent.

We have also been developing our reading strategy and in tutor times we have been reading with students on set texts. One student commented that they ‘enjoyed listening to others read as it helped improve their reading too’. We recognise that reading has a direct impact on outcomes and so we have invested in a number of reading platforms to secure this outcome. In Year 7-11 to access our unique online library, Reading Plus and Bedrock Learning through their iPads, so that they can immerse themselves in reading to develop their literacy and vocabulary. Excitingly, we have formed a Reading Champions Group who are working with teachers and students to ensure that the they can have access to lots of popular fiction.

Last week we ran our Year 9 Guided Choices evening in preparation for students choosing the GCSE subjects they would like to undertake in preparation for Year 10. At this event we had local colleges and apprenticeship leaders in attendance to enable the students to glean some specific post 16 advice so that they could feel properly informed about their important GCSE choices.

After Easter we will be embarking on the formal GCSE Year 11 exam period and wish the year group every success as they prepare for these assessments to mark the end of the time at Oasis Academy Lord’s Hill. Over Easter teachers will be running subject based revision sessions and we hope to see all Year 11 students in attendance as they prepare for this final stage of their learning before they embrace their college course and future opportunities.

As a school we continue to promote and uphold our vision of ‘Excellence by all, for all’ and we expect all students to be proud, kind and determined and be the best version of themselves. Our priorities for this academic year continue to:

• Ensure the quality of education is consistently good
• A culture of safeguarding throughout
• Be the academy of choice

I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support as parents and wish you all a calm and enjoyable Easter break.

Alex Lowe, Vice Principal

MHST Drop-In

Each Monday and Wednesday break 2 there are opportunities to pop along and speak to Chrissy or Hayley about any concerns or questions you may have around mental health and wellbeing.

We are based in the Personalised Learning Centre, room 2.20.

Confidentiality Notice

What we discuss will remain confidential – i.e. no one else will know about it. School, parents, and anyone else will only be told that you have spoken to us with your permission. The exception to this is if we are concerned for your safety or the safety of somebody else – We have a legal (and moral!) obligation to share information relating to safeguarding. If we feel it necessary to share information based on risk management, we will tell you who we are going to speak to and what we are going to share with them.

Following a successful start to the Oxford University Mentoring Scheme in the Autumn term, the success of the programme is going from strength to strength. The Year 10 students who were lucky enough to be selected are gaining lots of cultural capital, a greater understanding of the pathways available to them post 16, and an understanding of how the information they learn in school fits into the wider context of community and career.

We are scheduled to have a second mentor begin work with further groups in our summer term before the programme is renewed in the new academic year.

Mr West – Futures and Transitions Coordinator

Oasis Academy Lord’s Hill students attended the Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner Safer Internet Day Conference on Tuesday 7th February. The event drew together schools from across Hampshire at King Edward VI School in Southampton for workshops on internet safety, and to award the young people for their work highlighting the issues of online safety and cybercrime.

The Cyber Ambassador Team from Oasis Academy Lord’s Hill won the prestigious award for ‘Best Pathfinder Initiative and Campaign’.

Assistant Principal for Personal Development and the LiFe Curriculum, Liz Lea, said,

‘Our team produced a brilliant campaign, and we were delighted to see them win this prestigious award’.

The team’s nomination for the team read,

‘Our Cyber Ambassadors have made us very proud this year. Their campaigns have included a poster competition across the school community with strong anti-bullying messages and up-to-date advice around cybercrime. They also led assemblies themselves to students their age and older. In these assemblies, they articulated brilliantly the impact of bullying on others and the hurt caused by sexist, racist and homophobic bullying. The ambassadors were applauded by their peers at the end of their presentation with a genuine respect for the courageous way they spoke about these issues. The ambassadors also launched a new Worry Box initiative in school for students to speak about any bullying concerns they have observed or are experiencing. We could not be prouder of them in taking these brave steps as well as making a difference to the culture in the school.’

Accompanied by Miss Mapes and youth worker Thomas Banks, students participated during the day in workshops on internet safety, completed a fun scavenger hunt visiting different stalls from organisations taking part. At the end, the schools heard an inspiring presentation from the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner, Terry Norton.

Principal, Benjamin Bond, said,

‘I couldn’t be prouder of the team highlighting the issues of online safety and bullying. It is an important scheme for us to ensure our students are safe online. The team embody our ethos to be inclusive and to respect differences and we are delighted to see them win this award.’

Throughout January and February, two teams of brilliant students and I have worked on bringing the Academy two wonderful assemblies. I also got to speak about the 9 Habits. I’m passionate about living by them because they’re the ingredients to someone being successful in life and to thrive. I try to follow them whenever I can, but I still need to eat a slice of humble pie at times. (Please excuse the pun)

The first assembly which the E.D.I team (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) and I presented was about differences. We talked about the protected characteristics under which you are not allowed to discriminate against anyone and how being compassionate, one of our 9 Habits, can make a positive difference on someone. We also spoke about some of our personal differences, such as nationality and religion. I decided to share my own story on being autistic, gender stereotypes, and how they have impacted me throughout my life. Toxic masculinity is also a topic that I spoke about as it still impacts many young men across the world. I would like to thank Ewa, Amelia, Chineme, Sakura, and Anais for playing such important roles in this assembly. We won the prestigious HPCC Pathfinder award for this assembly and a Compassionate 9 Habit badge; it was a massive success!

The second assembly was held by the LGBTQ+ team and me. It centered around LGBTQ+ History Month, which was celebrated in February. We spoke about what it was like to be LGBTQ+ in the past, with many people being discriminated against just because of who they loved. We also gave some examples of past and current LGBTQ+ icons “behind the lens”, such as cinematographers and film directors. We spoke about being considerate to other peoples’ differences. I took the leap to come out as bisexual to my fellow students during this assembly. This wasn’t a difficult decision to make at all, really. I thought to myself, “if I don’t do it, then no one else ever will”, which gave me the motivation to do it. I would like to personally congratulate William, one of my team members, for succeeding in defeating his fear of public speaking. I’m so proud of him. I would also like to thank Amelia, Ewa, and Klaidas for also being awesome !

I wish to see more students join the E.D.I and LGBTQ+ teams and take part in activities such as this. If you’re passionate about stamping out modern problems and achieving equality for all, then both of these clubs are for you. We are planning on bringing you more assemblies and opportunities to get involved. I would like to say thank you to the team here at the Academy for giving me these opportunities.

Yours truly,

Bobby G

The 9 habits ethos should be present not only in school but also out in the community and when using public transport. This is how our students can show everyone what a wonderful school we have here at Lord’s Hill, how we live by our values and how we prepare our students to be trusted members of the local community.

The idea of having dedicated assemblies on this subject was born from this. This was also a very good opportunity to inform the students about the special partnership we have with the Bluestar company and about the fact that the school has now got access to the CCTV onboard their buses. The students learned that not only video, but also audio, is captured! It is important to be mindful of the elderly but also with younger children and their parents onboard any bus. They were also shown that the CCTV captures footage not just inside the bus but from the outside too from various angles. This is done to guarantee the safety of the people on board but also the safety of the people passing by.

A very good example of the 9 habits was displayed by our students on board of one of the buses when our students gave their seats to some elderly ladies who boarded later during the journey. This was celebrated during the assembly and students were encouraged to keep up with the good work and display the 9 habits as often as possible when they are out in the community.

Mr Popescu, EAL Coordinator

At Lord’s Hill, the Classcharts rewards system is in full swing and there is a great buzz about the platform in school. We feel as though it’s important to reward the students where possible, and since the start of the year, selected students have been awarded with a Movie Club in the Theatre with popcorn and drinks and a Celebration Rewards breakfast with their Head of Year. Well done to all those involved!!! We’re already looking forward to the end of term Celebration Assemblies where many more students across the academy will be recognized for their achievements.

Football

Over the first two half terms the Oasis Lords Hill football teams have successfully played some fantastic football. The boys have competed in years 7-10 in the Southampton leagues and the girls have enjoyed some internal football sessions. It has been great to celebrate the football with both the PE staff and other Oasis Lords Hill staff as well.

The Year 7 team have been led by Mr Lucas and Mr Jolley and they have had a fantastic first season. They are currently in with a great chance of winning the league. The turnout for the Year 7 team has been massive and they have successfully recorded impressive wins against Regents Park (2-0), St Marks (6-0) & Woodlands. They have suffered just one defeat to The Hamble School (4-6). The managers would like to give special shout outs for their performances to Cody N, Alfie G and Harrison G.

The Year 8 team have been guided superbly by Mr Collins. They have played some really close matches and have performed very well against a variety of opposition. The boys had a great start with a 3-0 win, followed by a draw and a loss. Mr Collins has had a great turnout and the students have competed superbly against some very strong opposition.

The Year 9 football team have been led consistently by Mr Parker. They have enjoyed a good win against Regents Park (2-0) and they competed in a very close draw with The Greggs School (4-4). Unfortunately they suffered some defeats to Redbridge and The Hamble School, but the performances were very solid and the boys performed well. It has also been great to see Jacob A from Year 9 helping coach some of the younger teams and also refereeing some of their fixtures. The team has worked very well together but the 'shout out' performances from the manager, Mr Parker go to Kayden M, Tuncay S & Mateusz T.

This year girls football has continued to grow in strength with the support of Mrs Openshaw and Mrs Toppin. The girls football sessions have been strongly supported and the girls have been very competitive but showing great team spirit. Mrs Toppin is currently looking at organising some more fixtures against local schools.

Well done to all the players and coaches this year. There has been some great football taking place both in PE time and in the extra curricular clubs. We look forwards to enjoying the end of the season and moving onto into next year.

Mr Cook, Curriculum Leader of Physical Education

On Friday 3rd March 2023, some Year 10 Performing Arts students visited Barton Peveril College to watch the first-year musical theatre students in their production of ‘Made in Dagenham’. The afternoon was a fantastic opportunity for OALH students to visit a Sixth Form College and see what they have to offer. The students thoroughly enjoyed the performance, commenting on the performer's professionalism, and were very impressed with the talented musical numbers. We also got the opportunity to watch alumni OALH student Bobby Smart perform as one of the main characters ‘Monty’. Our students received a very warm welcome from the college and were even provided with complimentary programmes to browse through.

As we come to the end of another term, I'm drawing to a close the second influx of mentoring and group intervention students for term 2. Both enterprise groups are eagerly anticipating a trip to the training ground after Easter to celebrate their hard work on our programmes this term. We have also been lucky enough to have a player visit this term from first team - right back, James Bree, who conducted an insightful Q&A with all the students that have engaged with the programmes that the Saints Foundation have on offer throughout the year.

Sam Roberts, Saints Community Champion

Thursday 9th March was a busy day for the Year 7s and 8s with the arrival of House of Maths! As part of the academy’s aim to expose young people to maths in the outside world, a visit from Barney of House of Maths was arranged and all students from years 7 and 8 attended shows based around mathematical patterns, shapes and numbers. The pitch of the shows was perfect for the students, and everybody involved came away with a smile on their face.

With Student’s being offered the chance to not just watch but also participate in the shows, feedback was great! Both staff and students alike have raved about the shows and are already asking when they can happen again! With Barney providing such an engaging way of incorporating the world around us into maths lessons, this incredible resource will most certainly be returning to Oasis Academy Lord’s Hill and a similar experience is currently being sought for the upper year groups also. Thank you, House of Maths!

Year 11 Easter School

Thursday 20th April – Year 8 Parents Evening

Tuesday 25th April & Wednesday 26th April – Year 8 Into University Sessions

Thursday 27th April – Anti-Violence Workshops

Friday 5th May – Community Culture Day

Monday 3rd July – Year 11 Thorpe Park Rewards Trip

Friday 14th July – Year 11 Prom