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ISSUE 4 - July 2022

Reward Point Winners

At the time of writing, a staggering 613 Oasis Academy Sholing students are on track to be awarded their bronze, silver and gold badges. This means that approximately 75% of students in Year 7-10 should be coming home with a badge to wear with pride. A huge congratulations to them all.

Game On

Our Girl’s Football Activators have been working hard on their Game On Programme all year and before the end of term our students will have the opportunity to present to a panel made up of Youth Sport Trust and Game On representatives. Once they have completed their presentation they will receive their Youth Sport Trust Award. The presentation is a chance for them to showcase what they have been working on this year and it is a really exciting opportunity for the girls!

The team - Millie Bennett, Phoebe Patrick, Amelia Sturgess, Emily Colverson, Erin Ward, Megan Salmon, Mia Trudgeon, Grace Benge, Sienna Nanson, Sophie Lee

STEM Football Festival

England's women's team leverage students' interest in football to teach the science behind the ball.

In the build-up to UEFA Women’s Euro 2022, 14 students from Oasis Academy Sholing participated in an interactive STEM Football Festival held at Southampton Solent on 16th June.

The day comprised of multiple activities, each carefully designed to enrich the school curriculum, aiming to inspire a new generation of footballers, whilst exploring the science behind the ball and challenging perceptions around women and girls’ football.

Oasis Academy Sholing students were given the chance to engage in debate around sensitive issues within sport such as BLM, disability and sexism. Students also had the opportunity to create and submit competition entries to push for equal access to football in a response to a call from the England Women’s football team to #ChangeTheGame.

Students also engaged in activities exploring the roles which biology, maths and physics play in the success of an elite sports team, such as reaction and power tests. To finish the day students spent time meeting inspiring role models including members of The Football Association (FA), Southampton Saints FC and other locally based STEM organisations.

Emma and Courtney said;

“It was a fun day, with lots of great opportunities and we got to hear some great advice and motivation from lots of amazing women. We also got to have a go at some football skills and find out how data analysts, physios and coaches use science in their jobs”

“The STEM Football Festival allowed students to see science, technology, engineering and maths in a different light. It’s been so useful to use a context such as football to help students explore sometimes complex topics” Mr Amos, Teacher of Science.

Women's Football European Championships 2022

Year 9 Student Emma Pinnick has been the flag bearer for all three group games held at St Mary's Stadium between:

Norway v Northern Ireland

Austria v Northern Ireland

England v Northern Ireland

Emma's role includes being on the pitch before the player's walk out and then waving the flag as the team's line-up. She has then remained there for the national anthem before heading off to the stands to take in the game. This has been a fantastic experience for Emma, who got the role through her Youth team, Stoneham Football Club.

Kilmato

This term we launched Kilmato at Oasis Academy Sholing. Kilmato is all about reducing our CO2e.

We asked our students to look at the academy menu each day and to choose a dish with less than 0.5 CO2e. We gave them a loyalty card and asked them to collect 1 stamp for each low CO2e meal they bought.

Congratulations to Kiaran Shotter who is our latest winner of the £25 Amazon Voucher for collecting his stamps for choosing Low CO2 Meals.

Supporting our Community

As part of our Community Hub pledge, our canteen team have been making donation of vegetables to help with the Fare Share campaign. Donated food can be collected by parents from our reception.

Ben is flying high at Air Cadets

Congratulations to Ben Cole, in Year 10 who attends the RAF Air Cadets. This month, Ben was invited to a presentation evening where he came away with 2 awards - Best Recruit and Cadets Cadet; voted by his fellow Cadets for his help and support. We are very proud of him.

Does your child take part in activities after school? We would love to celebrate their successes. Please contact your Head of Year so we can feature them in future issues of COAST.

1000 cards for 'Thank a Teacher Day'

Year 7 Academy Parliament

15 of our Year 7 Academy Parlimanet students visited the Southern Universities Network Student voice conference. Along with representatives from Brighton Hill, Brune Park, Eggers and Swanmore, or students discussed school improvement projects including making the academy more environmentally friendly, how school can support student’s mental health and supporting LGBTQ+ within schools and academies. Despite being amongst the younger students to attend, they really held their own, and were an absolute credit to the academy. Well done to:

Miles W, Sukhmani K, Caleb G, Demi-Louise H, Owen R, Finn F, Oliver H, Ollie M, Tegan S, Ben C, Jayden T, Hayden C, Rafael GS, Freddie G, and Aaron L.

New Directions

A huge well done to Brandon T, Kayden K, Summer H, George M and Violet C, who this year have been participating in the New Directions project. This has seen them working with local dramatists, musicians, dancers and poets, to create a performance piece, which they performed at the Mayflower MAST on 21st June. All of the students also received their Arts award for their involvement in the project, well done all!

Thank a Teacher Day

Our new Senior team were hard at work back in May, sorting through nearly 1000 thank you cards given out for nation Thank a Teacher day. It was lovely to read the comments of thanks and gratitude, showing the huge impact our staff can have on the lives of our students.

Year 7

I cannot believe how quickly this year has gone, it feels like only yesterday I was meeting the Year group for the first time, and now they are already 20% through their time at OAS! The year has flown by, and as we break up for Summer, I wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate our Year 7 students on a fantastic start to their time at secondary school. They joined at a time of national uncertainty, with much of their final years at Primary school being disrupted by Covid, but they have hit the ground running and settled in incredibly well. I know that they will continue to shine next year as they head into year 8.

As always, a particular ‘Well done’ to all of our stars of the week for the past half term:

Congratulations also goes to our students who have maintained 100% attendance for the whole year. We also have a large number who were it not for Covid would also have managed 100%, so a big well done to those too.

Jakub D, Rafael S, Lily-Maie O, Neeya P, Adisa P and Eve T

We have had a number of different sporting events over the past few weeks to celebrate. Athletic Sports day was well attended with a number of school records being set (which you can read about elsewhere in this edition), and the in school sports competition day was greeted with much excitement from the students. Finally a particular well done to Stanley S and Eva E who were selected to compete at the Hampshire athletics Championships in the 600m and 80m respectively. Very well done both.

Back in June, we took 140 of our students up to Kidzania in London, to try out a range of different professions, and to learn about the importance of hard work and employment. Everyone had a great day and some students even managed to spend their earnings in the gift shop.

Finally, a brief word about next year. Tutors will be moving up with their tutees and remain your first point of contact, however I want to welcome Mr MacDonald to the Year team who will be replacing me as Head of Year in September, as I am moving to take up a post as Head of History at a school in Fareham. I would like to thank parents for their continuing support this year, and know that the year group are in safe hands going forward. It has been a pleasure working with Year 7 and getting to know them, and I wish them every success as they continue to grow and excel as they move through school.

I hope you all have a lovely Summer

Year 8

What a busy year this has been, and the last term has been full of activities and causes for celebrations.

With the warmer weather and the return to sports competitions it is incredible to see the number of students that are embracing the opportunities to be part of sports clubs or those that have been selected to city competitions. I was delighted to see the number of Year 8s that were selected for the school athletics day which led to many being selected for the City Championships. Unfortunately, weather was not on our side and on the day of the City Champs was unseasonably wet. I hope that this will be able to re-arranged, but alternatively I am sure that next year they will be able to demonstrate their skills against the other city schools.

The Big Ideas project continued with one of the Year 8 teams going to the National Final. Although they did not come first, the suggestions that they have made are being piloted in school and tweaks made before being introduced to everyone. It is an absolute pleasure to see the students being active in the school community and wanting to give back.

In addition to this, there were a number of Year 8 ambassadors involved in the Year 6 transition days. They demonstrated how excellent they are at being role models and I can definitely see some future leaders amongst them.

Our Year 8 thoroughly enjoyed Sports Day, having fun and breaking records. We love that Sports Day is a little different here at Sholing, with a variety of indoor and outdoor events for all. We also have the Year 8 performances of Shakespeare to look forward before the end of term, showcasing their acting and music skills. If this isn’t enough to pack into the last fortnight of term, we also have our annual achievement afternoon and rewards festival. We are definitely making the end of this academic year a busy one!

Although there are many students that I would like to recognise, the tutors would personally like to mention: Dylan Whicher, Destiny Lynam, Georgia Hall, Reggie Somerville, Dominik Gorski, Caitlin O'Brien, Max Harrigan, Macey Cherry, Kimberley Gray, Matthew Collin, Aliesha Tyler, Zachary Harris, Erin Ward, Samuel Rowlinson, Alan Moody, Annika van Leeuwan.

I would also like to take this opportunity to say goodbye to both the students and the parents. I have been at the school for 7 years and I have seen many changes in this time. This year group will always be the year group who’s first experience of secondary school was in bubbles. Only this year did they have the experience of moving around the school to all the different locations. With all the strangeness of the first two years of secondary school the group have flourished and looking back on what they have achieved this year shows that they are contributing and being recognised within the wider school community. I wish each and every one of them the best of luck in the future.

Year 9

Year 9 passed the half way point in their time at Oasis Sholing back in February and are now reaching another milestone, the start of their GCSE courses in September. I take every opportunity to remind them of the purpose of school – to help them be the best versions of themselves that they can be and was so proud of the number of different students in the year group who have been nominated for subject awards, to be awarded at the achievement afternoon in the last week of term.

As we look to celebrate the end of term and reward those who have done well, I will mention the following students, who were the first in the year group (at the time of writing) to reach 100 housepoints this term and in doing so have become eligible to attend the rewards event next week: Kornelia Bem, Stephi Knell, Jessica Morgan, Samuel Jackson, Sayeeda Shahin, Mia Holman.

The students below have done a fantastic job in keeping their attendance at 100% this year, and there are many others who have only been prevented from coming to school by Covid or other entirely unavoidable absences, so it’s a big well done to all who have attended every possible school day.

Heidi Barrett, Benjamin Davidson, Skylah Geddes, Yasmin Ladher, Konrad Lejman, Eddie Lin, Maya Moffatt, Ian Moraru, Jakub Neter, Kiaran Shotter, Keira Williamson

As students enter Key Stage 4 they will find themselves with a new timetable, perhaps with some new subjects, and in all likelihood a new tutor to support them through the next critical stage in their education. We wish you a relaxing summer break.

Year 10

A huge congratulations to the Year 10s on their very first Mock exams that took place in late June. Understandably the students were nervous and unsure of what to expect, however, they certainly rose to the challenge! Mock Exams help the students get used to an exam setting and the gist of typical questions they may get asked, this in turn prepares them for their actual GCSEs. Mock results will be coming home shortly.

Itchen College and City College very kindly welcomed our students to experience life at the College for the day. Students chose specific subjects that they wanted to try out in anticipation of them heading into further education next year. The subjects ranged from Uniformed Services, Law & Criminology, Psychology, Business, Hospitality and many more. It was lovely to see how engaged they were with smiles on their facesI

Another huge shout out for the Year 10 Senior Prefects. Public speaking can be extremely daunting, however, both the Head Boy and Head Girl delivered a fantastic speech about life at Oasis Sholing. This was followed with Alicia Weeks introducing the new Year 7 prefect team.

We also had our transition week here at Oasis Sholing welcoming our lovely Year 6 into the school. Our prefect team were assigned to a specific tutor and followed them around for the three days helping them get acquainted with life at Secondary School. The year 6 were certainly excited and now know them on first name basis in preparation for September.

Congratulations to: Alicia Weeks Year 7 Senior Prefect Lead and her Team.

Molly Symmonds, Leo Kelly, Chloe Oram, Brandon Talbot, Amelia MacManus, Brogan Woolgar, Lia Rose, Aysha Subashkaran

Finally, may I take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and long summer holidays, I look forward to seeing you upon your return in September where you will be Year 11!

Challenge and Ambition

We strive to find different exciting opportunities for all of our students to achieve their potential. Our high ability year 9 and 10 Scholars students have recently “graduated” from their Scholars Programme and commemorated the event with a visit to the University of Sussex where they had the opportunity to tour the campus, attend a workshop about the advantages of higher education and receive their certificates and be recognised for their hard work and success.

We have also had more of our year 10 students head to Southampton University to participate in a day long competition which challenged them to explore UN sustainability goals and consider a range of issues around global sustainability. Our amazing team came 3rd out of 10 schools in this National Competition.

Our KS4 high ability students have been committed to attending our weekly BOAST seminars where they can stretch and deepen their knowledge in a myriad of topics including: feminist literature, ethnic representation in the arts, the future of automated robots and the possibilities and limitations of NanoBiT technology. I can’t wait for our new schedule out in September!

Our Year 8 ambitious EXTEND students have continued to show leadership skills by taking on the role of year 6 supporters during our transition events. They have been commended for their fantastic attitude, empathy and sense of responsibility when helping our new students to settle in with OAS life and embody our vision. Well done to Taylor Hart, Timothy Hole, Olivia Flower, Emily Knight, Ellie-Mai Fisher, Alexander Dibden-Pine, Shiya Patel and Whitney Watling for your contribution to the school.

Our KS4 high ability students have been committed to attending our weekly BOAST seminars where they can stretch and deepen their knowledge in a myriad of topics including: feminist literature, ethnic representation in the arts, the future of automated robots and the possibilities and limitations of NanoBiT technology. I can’t wait for our new schedule out in September!

This section is written in the ‘Open Dyslexic’ font which is used increasingly in school to reduce visual stress.

Southampton Autism Support Service (SASS)

Oasis Sholing continues to host the Southampton Autism Support Service (SASS) drop-in sessions every fortnight on Wednesdays; these are a great opportunity for you to learn, make new connections and to find that you are not alone in your journey with your child.

Sensory Room

Our Sensory Room is up and running with some of our students accessing the space. The fibre optic carpet is a favourite of ours, and features include starfield projection, an infinity mirror and sensory wall panels. A space for short periods of calm for some of our SEND students, we will continue to add to the room next term.

Website

We have listened to parent feedback and have made some improvements to the information on our school website, including how we support needs; see ‘How we support additional needs at Oasis Sholing’.

Media Studies

Year 10s have been working hard and have just completed their first set of mock exams. They are looking forward to starting their Non-Exam Assessment in September of Year 11 where they will have the opportunity to create their own realistic media products choosing from film marketing, music videos, websites and more.

Star Students: Pierre Oakley and Summer McCash

It was great to be seeing our students perform once again this term. Southampton Music Service put together a wonderful All Secondary Schools performance at MAST Mayflower Studios and 8 brilliant students were able to perform in front of an assembled audience.

Caitlin Chappell, Oliver Hayward, Kiera Thorpe

Band - Toby Millard, Toby Stafford, Xander Giles, Jenny Kemp, Alex Safterie

In Year 7 students are learning how to use Garageband on their iPads. Oasis Horizons project is a great addition to Music allowing every child to access a fully functional Digital Audio Workstation that they can create, record and edit music on. By the end of the term students will have composed two small songs.

In Year 8 Music is teaming up with Drama to put on a Shakespeare performance where Music students will be composing thematic music to be performed whilst Drama students are on stage. Year 8 parents will be invited to come and watch the performances so keep an eye out for more information on that.

In Year 9 students are preparing for a songwriting competition. Students have written their own songs and are now getting into groups in rehearsing for the performance. Prizes will be available for the best band and best song.

Year 10 are focussing on their own musicianship. In their second component of the BTEC students do a personal skills audit and then choose skills to improve upon over a series of months. This gives them a chance to really focus on their own work and instrument.

Spirited Arts

Year 7 took part in an RS project called Spirited Arts this term. The concept for this year was God’s good earth. From all their entries the top 10 were selected for special recognition. Well done to the following students: Jakub Dziubany, India Worrall, Curtis Wilkinson, Luke Drummond, Sara Khan, Laura Witkowska, Finley Samaili, Gurpreet Singh, Hadifa Ayub and Megan Cotton.

Our Principal Mr Brown selected his top 4 entries. The winners are:

1st place Gurpreet Singh £15 Amazon voucher
2nd place Megan Cotton £10 Amazon voucher
3rd Place Laura Witkowska £10 Amazon voucher
4th Place Hadifa Ayub £10 Amazon voucher

Our RS stars for Summer term 2, who have an amazing attitude to learning and produce exceptional work are:

Year 10 Rubie Young and Emma Feaver

Year 9 Lily Corbin and Brook Heath

Year 8 Ayla Croucher and Jack Flower

Year 7 Lulani Joyce and Luke Drummond

A big well done to the 77 Year 8’s that attended the Coast fieldwork visit to Hengistbury Head on the 27th May. Excellent behaviour, glorious sunshine and tasty ice cream!

Well done to the Year 9 Geographers who won the internal rounds of the Geography Worldwise quiz to represent Oasis Academy Sholing competing against 7 other schools at BPS on Wednesday 29th June.

1. Alfie O’Toole

2. Leo Shacklock

3. Joseph Faulkner

4. Oliver Shipman

5. Filip Jurek

They placed 3rd overall, with some amazing flag knowledge. Thank you also to the following that attended the after school internal rounds and demonstrated great geographical knowledge.

Lisa Nicholls, Luke Groen, Layton Gillette, Skye Geddes, Evan Connolly, William Shipman, Luke Olden and Anton Krawczyk

Try these experiments at home this Summer!

By getting involved in these fun experiments, students will be better prepared for an enhanced connection to their curriculum on their return to school in September. We would love to see photo’s of any completed experiments, please send photo’s to: eden.amos@oasissholing.org.

Lava Lamp - Chemistry

This experiment links to our curriculum by exploring chemical reactions and the densities of different liquids.

Weather Balloon – Physics

This experiment links to our curriculum by exploring changes in pressure and the structure of the atmosphere.

Coloured Carnations – Biology

This experiment links to our curriculum by exploring the process of transpiration, evaporation and plants cells.

Cricket

Cricket is booming in school! We've had over 50 students attending training, two Hampshire Coaches lead extra-curricular sessions and a number of those received tickets to watch Hampshire v Sussex Men's teams at the Ageas Bowl to help inspire this new generation of players.

Girls Cricket - Mr Bentley

We had 12 students regularly attend cricket training, with Hampshire Cricket supplying a coach for weekly sessions. The enthusiasm and talent on show will hopefully lead to us being able to organise fixtures with other schools next year. The students were also buzzing after watching Hampshire men's team play live at the Ageas Bowl, a number excited by the autographs collected from the players, Hampshire have some new super fans!

Year 9 Boys Cricket - Mr Jordan

This was a new beginning for the year 9 cricket team who were all starting their very first cricket games. Although we did not manage to gain our first win yet. There were lots of firsts throughout the season, with some notable wickets and boundaries scored by an ever-improving team. The team performed fantastically well across the season, and I am looking forward to continued progress next summer.

Year 7 & 8 Boys Cricket - Mr Jordan

The new season came with lots of new and keen cricketers, highlighted by the fact 20 students represented the team across the league format. The team performed with enthusiasm and excelled across the season and can be proud of their achievements. The students involved have made tremendous progress in their bowling and battling and we will begin the season next year with confidence.

Aspire Club

This term, Mr Bentley has piloted the "Aspire Club", organised to hand-pick our best students in sports running that term for Year 7 students. An invite-only club which ran one morning a week before school with the aim of pushing the students to new levels. This will be expanded next year to include both Year 7 and 8 students and more boys and girls, the sports will rotate on a termly basis.

Aspire Cricket

Several students were Talent Identified by a Hampshire Cricket Talent ID Coach, with this came invitations to further training and a free ticket to a Hampshire game. They were also invited to the Aspire Cricket Sessions, run on Tuesday Mornings. Well done to the following whose commitment throughout the term really shone through:

Caleb Groom, Endeavour Poore, Haydon Clifft, Ezekiel Lawn

Aspire Basketball

Year 7s have shown great passion and enjoyment towards basketball this year, four students were selected with the aim of coaching them into game-ready performers in time for them to enter and lead the Under 14 Basketball team next season. Well done to the following, who will be the core of our basketball team next year:

Ellie Blunt, Finley Sumali, Kadir Yurt, Junior Grant

Athletics

Athletics Sports Day

Almost one hundred Year 7, 8, and 9 students were selected, from PE lesson performances, to compete in our Athletics Sports Day at Southampton Outdoor Sports Centre. On a very hot day, students were in fantastic form, performing extremely well with events including 80/100m, 150/200m, 600/800m, High Jump, Long Jump and Shot Putt. Several school records were broken along the way, well done to the following:

Y7 Eva Enaboifo - High Jump

Y7 Jay Taylor - Shot Putt

Y7 Stanley Shacklock - 600m

Y8 James Humby-Farmer - Long Jump and 100m

Y9 Vander Thompson - 100m and 200m

Y9 Leo Shacklock - 800m

The medal ceremony commenced, and students left with an array of Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. Their performances all culminated towards House points, with House Terra being crowned as our Athletics Sports Day House Champions. We would like to thank all the family members who came to support the students and create such a great atmosphere!

City Athletic Championships

Unfortunately, torrential rain ensured this event was a wipe out! However, a provisional date of Thursday 29th September has been made to get this event back on. All the students who were invited this time round will get the opportunity to compete against the best athletes in Southampton.

Year 7 & 8 Hampshire Athletic Championships

Eva Enaboifo (80m), Stanley Shacklock (600m) and James Humby-Farmer (100m) all performed admirably against the best of the best in Hampshire this week. The standard was incredibly high and all three performed at the levels they had shown at Sports Day, where they all broke school records. All three will no doubt be invited back to Southampton Athletics Club to fine tune their performance and work hard to get the invite back to County level championships next season.

Whole School Sports Day

Every student from Year 7-10 were involved in our Whole School Sports Day on Tuesday 12th July. Staff endeavoured to put on a variety of events, with 21 activities being lead throughout the day, from Bake-off to Basketball, Old-style Sports Day to Art Challenge, Tennis to Carnival Games, Just dance to Escape Room, the wide-ranging selection ensured every student's taste was catered for.

Students were fantastic throughout the day, especially accounting for the hot weather, and it was great to see the smiles on the students faces. However, competitive spirit was also in the air as the points awarded for each activity led towards the House Cup. It was great to see the effort on display and we look forward to next year's edition already.

House Cup

With the completion of the Whole School Sports Day, came the accumulation of all the House points that had been earnt throughout the year. Students have competed in Inter-House Competitions, Weekly House Quizzes, Athletics Sports Day and the Whole School Sports Day, winning points for their respective House Team. The competition was fierce, and the lead changed hands multiple times throughout the year and, in fact, the final day. The results were as follows:

A super close finish, with the scores tied, our final result of the day pushed the result into Terra's favour! The first time the house has claimed the School House Cup!

Well done to all the students who helped contribute points to their Houses, we look forward to next year's competition!

Food Glorious Food

Year 7

To help our Year 7 learners appreciate the summer weather some more, we have been producing some summery dishes in the Food department.

Alongside our term topic of seasonal food, pupils have been producing a range of summery dishes such as granola pots, cheesecakes, strawberry mousse, and a range of summery salads

Our budding young chefs are super keen and are telling their food teachers that they are helping at home sharing their repertoire of recipes with their families.

This terms Foodie Heroes are: Eli Brown and Holly Bailey

Year 8

Great British Bake Off is the theme for our Year 8s this term. Pupils have learnt a range of different cake making methods culminating in them making a Dorset apple cake for their assessment.

It is great to see Year 8 pushing themselves every week to develop their skills and improve the standard of their cooking and presentation.

Well done to Year 8 for your excellent skills and outcomes during your independent assessment.

This terms Foodie Heroes are: Brian Witorozec and Taylan Hart

Year 9

In the run up to our fantastic Year 9s moving onto Year 10 and becoming GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition pupils, we have been challenging our pupils to make very challenging dishes

We have been making use of gelatine to make dishes such as fruit jelly and panna cotta, as well as baked items such as Victoria sponge cake and lemon roulade.

Thank you to all the Year 9 parents who have sent complimentary emails and photos of their child’s masterpieces.

This terms Foodie Heroes are: Mitchell Robinson and Grace Benge

Year 10

With Year 11 on the horizon and so the challenge of our non-Exam assessments, this term we set the Year 10s the challenge of a downsized NEA 2

Students have been researching a European country of their choosing and will be using that research to produce a dish and side that originates from their chosen cuisine within a tight time frame.

This will be a challenge that I am sure they will rise to, good luck Year 10!

All this essential learning is preparing them for year 11 when they will be focussing on their NEA work.

This terms Foodie Heroes are: Taylor Webb and Grace Andrews

Extra-Curricular

Well done to the 14 Year 9 pupils who accompanied Mr Ranger to Southampton City College for a taster day where they produced a range of street food dishes, the pupils produced:

Dish One: Nut free satay skewers and deep-fried pickle

Dish Two: Pan Seared beef wraps with pickled slaw and guacamole

I’d like to congratulate the 14 that came with me, you were a credit to the school and the chefs at City College were very complimentary of you all! Look out for pictures of your end products coming soon and other trips coming soon.

Spanish

Año 7 – MY HOLIDAYS

In Year 7 this Half Term we have been learning about holidays and different ways of saying where you have been, and where you would like to go in the future. A great way of starting the Summer! – We have also introduced the film “El Dorado” and students have enjoyed a glimpse of different cultures and traditions. How about putting all these skills into practice during the holidays?

Estudiantes Excelentes: Frazer Rielly & Lulani Joyce

Año 8 – AT the cinema

This term in Year 8 we have been watching the movie “Chico y Rica” and analysing the differences between British and Hispanic cultures. It has been a great opportunity to learn how to describe characters, different film genres and even give our opinion about the music. Students have enjoyed a new way of approaching languages through movies; let’s carry on with this and watch something in Spanish this Summer!

Estudiantes Excelentes: Sophie Lee & Kai’Lah Makinde

Año 9 – Festivals

In Year 9 we have been exploring different festivals celebrated in Hispanic countries, such as the Fallas, the Tomatina, Carnival, San Fermin, the Holy Week, or the Day of the Dead. They have had the opportunity to compare British traditions to those around the world and realise how different people celebrate in Spain and South America. Have you ever been to a Spanish Festival?

Estudiantes Excelentes: Iza Kurowska & Zuzanna Libicka

Año 10 – Revision

It has been an intense End of Term for our Year 10s. We started watching “Motorcycle Diaries” where we learnt about Che Guevara: We explored his life and how he became a revolutionary figure. After that it was time to revise for their very first Mock Exams. Well done to all of them, it was amazing effort! During the Summer you must work on the Grammar and Translation Booklet and revise Past Papers, we want to come back 100% ready!

Estudiantes Excelentes: Jessica Trewin-Parker & Brianey Blake

Año 11 – Good luck

The Spanish team would like to wish the best for the future to all the Year 11s that are leaving us this year. It has been a pleasure teaching you, and you will be greatly missed!

Buena suerte a todos y todas.

En classe de Francais

We have had such a busy year with all our learners across the years. It has been amazing to get back to our language classrooms and to be able to use all our language resources again!

Studying a wide range of topics has been an eye opener at time for our students with so much cultural input including French music and cinematography to cover.

Across KS3&4, we have covered the topics of Family, Freetime, School, Post -16, Holidays, Mobile Technology, Social Issues, Healthy living, Fashion and let’s not forget the topic of Environment of course!

French election week was also an interesting topic to look at for our KS4 learners as this is so different from the UK. The French display board has been placarded with food packaging from French produces for our topic of Food and has kept us feeling hungry at times.

Our last term was our Film study for all year groups and it is always fun to see that actually we can understand more than we think and see different aspect of life we don’t get to see when studying in class.

Comparing countries and cultures is always a fun way to learn and making us realise that we all live so differently from our close neighbours.

We are looking forward to next year already and especially June 2023 when we will be heading to Paris for our first residential trip abroad in a long time!

Our French stars will be announced during Achievement Evening!

In KS3, students have been studying a modern text or a poetry unit. These were the units that were the focal point of their most recent assessment. Years 7 and 9 have spent the summer term exploring unseen poems; Year 8 have studied the allegorical text, Animal Farm. To finish the Summer Term, Year 7 are exploring a modern novel—this is a great way to finish a year of rigorous learning and it is also an opportunity to reinstall the love of reading before we go on our summer break. Year 8 have moved onto a descriptive writing unit which is creative, precise, and exciting for our students. Finally, Year 9 are continuing their study of poetry, but they are now focussing on a whole movement: The Romantics. This is an interesting and challenging unit—a perfect way to end the academic year with our Year 9 students as they prepare to transition to KS4.

At KS4, our students have been studying or revising our rigorous GCSE texts. Year 10 are currently finishing their study of their modern text: An Inspector Calls. They have also had a lot of revision and have been challenged in their most recent assessments—their first mock series. They have really shown their maturity through this period, and I hope they have gained invaluable experience which will prove fruitful for their mocks in Year 11.

Extra-curricular

As a department, we have entered the Rotary’s Young Writer Competition for several years. This year, we have had another success as one of our Year 9 pupils has won the Regional Final of the competition and had been elevated to the District Final level.

Last term, we learnt that our entry had won at the District Final - meaning that Iza Kurowska competed against 150 other students and won the first-place prize. This is such an incredible achievement, and we are very proud of her success.

Since the last issue, we have also had another successful trip to the University of Southampton. For the past four years, we have had the opportunity to take part in a revision day hosted by the Department of Education at the University of Southampton. Not only does this raise aspirations for our Year 10 students as they are able to experience what it is like to be on a university campus, but it is also an invaluable day to help our students revise one of our most challenging GCSE texts. We look forward to another successful trip next year

Literacy

Reading Plus and reading for pleasure have continued throughout D.E.A.R time and tutor time in the final term. All students in Years 7, 8 and 9 have recently sat two reading tests to determine how much reading progress they have made during the year. These results will soon be sent home, but will be a great way for us to celebrate our advanced and diligent readers. A competition on Reading Plus will soon be coming to a close, with prizes for the winners and winning tutor groups.

Mrs Travers and Mrs Ridley are also extremely proud of how hard students in reading intervention have worked this term and how much they have progressed over this year!

Year 7

During Summer 2, the focus has been on proportion and the links between ratio, fractions and percentages. We have applied the understanding of all aspects of maths that we have learnt from the year and have become confident with the different skills. This half term, they have also completed their end of year assessments to check on the progress that they have made and identify areas of support needed for next academic year.

Our Stars

Charlie Colverson, India Worrall, Thomas Wilkins, Jayla McCormick, Junior Grant, Summer Cochrane, Ezekiel Lawn, Sara Khan

Year 8

This half term Year 8 have been focus on geometry specifically area and volume including of circles. The student's have had to become more confident with their use of a calculator and it is a excellent to see how many students are coming to lessons equipped with their own calculators. The end of year assessments show the excellent progress that the year group have made in mathematics and that they are prepared to continue to their learning in mathematics.

Our Stars

Amiel Theobalds, Macey Cherry, Adam Kopala, Libby Jones, Ben Waddington, Caitlin O'Brien, Zac Harris, Chloe Medus

Year 9

Year 9 have spent Summer 2 focusing on probability and representing data. Students have used their mathematical analytical skills to look at trends in data and to compare and draw conclusions. They have learnt different methods for displaying data and what information can be interpreted from this. The end of year assessments have highlighted key areas that will require focused teaching as they move into their key stage 4 learning. It was however very positive the number of students who came prepared with all the correct mathematical equipment ready for their exams.

Our Stars

Jack Baldwin, Quinn Crowshaw, Layton Gillette, Julia Fairclough, Alfie Gateshill, Lydia Court, Rodrigo Saboia Goncalves, Lily Corbin

Key Stage 3 Maths Club

Maths Clubs has continued to be attended well for student's who wanted extra support with their homework. Look out for details in the new academic year for where and when for the Maths Club.

Year 1O

Year 10 continue to work through the AQA GCSE Specification, with main focus on geometry. Given that the final exams for mathematics have two calculator papers, it has been important that the students are confident with the use of the functions and how to use them effectively. This half term has also been the first opportunity for the year group to complete past papers. These have proven quite challenging but the student's have embraced them well and are committed to continue to work hard ready for next year.

Connor Baulcomb, Grace Eldridge, Dylan Morrison, Millie Beaumont, Kayden Kabwik, Angelina Korobeinikova, Rahil Jamaranian, Sian Dyke

Year 11

After what felt like a long time to wait, the year 11s sat their final maths exams. The students responded well to morning masterclasses for the last minute hints and tips. The year group had the benefit of the advanced information which meant the students were feeling more confident and prepared and this was mirrored by how they felt at the end of each exam.

Now it is the difficult wait to see if they have got the grades that they deserve.

Jamie Dore, Isla Rossiter, Kyle Fontiveros, Holly Fielder, George Misselbrook, Demi Rogers, Reece Townsend, Summer Gatt

Maths Puzzles

The summer term in art has been full of new projects and refining skills.

Year 7 started a new project based on still life, researching the work of other artists, and developing oil pastel techniques.

Year 8 have been working on a project based around the theme ‘shoes’ refining essential drawing skills and creating their own designs based independent artist research.

Year 9 created a project on ‘Architecture’ responding with charcoal and chalk and exploring different types of architecture using cardboard and clay to create abstract sculptures.

Year 10 completed their mock exams and worked hard to prepare for their development, bringing all their research together and now aiming to create a final piece. We have been hosting recovery sessions for our year 10 Art, Textiles and Photography students on a Tuesday after school, keep up the good work!

The Year 10 photography classes have been working on a range of projects, consisting of themes such as, horror, whimsical, and comedy. The students have used their imagery to create unique and imaginative hand manipulated edits. The edits they have produced have been cut, torn, layered, sellotaped and mounted. We were also lucky enough to visit Itchen College and participate in some workshops. Our students loved getting into the darkroom and creating their photograms!

In addition, we welcomed Year 6 in transition week, who produced some fantastic outcomes by working in the style of Mark Herald, exploring mark making and texture within the bird shape.

Our Year 9 and 10 Art students enjoyed a Southampton Art Gallery visit, which featured some exciting exhibitions from local artists. Students took part in a workshop and an informative tour which gave insight into the vast collection held at our local gallery.

We love this piece of abstract Kandinsky style artwork by Adam Kopala

Greetings from Mr Parsons, Mrs Jeffery, Mr Dale and Mrs Sydenham. We are all incredibly proud of our students and hope that this gives you a little flavour of what students have been learning.

Year 7

So, just how bad did the Black Death impact on our Medieval village of Walsham? Student’s enjyoyed learning about the Black Death through the eyes of Master John, the village priest, John Wodebite, Edmund de Welles, Agnes Chapman, Olivia Crammer and Lady Rose Saxham. The Black Death, hit Walsham hard, but no differently than the rest of Europe. Around a third would have died from the pestilence. However, once the dead had been buried changes began to take place. England, Europe was beginning to change. Less workers, meant renegotiations on pay could be made. Villeins gained greater freedom and over a long period of time the Lord of the Manor had less sway!

When the Swiss historian Jakub Burckhardt wrote about global history in the 18th Century he reflected that the medieval period was ‘grim, violent, dark, bloody and barbaric.’ He coined the term ‘Renaissance’ and excitedly wrote about how a ‘rebirth’ in knolwedge spread through Europe between the 15th and 16th centuries. Burkhardt claimed that society began to think for themselves, and slowly turned towards science to develop their understanding of the world. We put this interpretattion to our students to see whether they agreed with our esteemed historian. Some did, citing that the invention of the printing press was the major invention that sparked these changes. However, some disagreed reminding us how the remarkable Adelard of Bath spent 6 years in Antioch painstankingly translating Euclid’s Elements from Arabic to Latin. So what, you may ask? Contained inside Euclid’s books contained knowledge of geometry and other exciting mathamatical knowledge. Within years of this book being reintroduced into Latin Christendom major changes in how Cathedrals were built. Some have argued that this is a sculpture of Euclid outside the catherdral in Chartres, France. It’s honouring the man that made possible these great structures to be built.

Year 7 History shout outs goes to: Thomas Wilkins and Sara Khan

Year 8

Having been perplexed, dismayed and confused by Britain’s role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade students were pleasantly surprised to learn how the introduction of coffee and subsequent coffee-houses kicked of the period known as the Enlightenment. Students marvelled at the actions of Isaac Newton who seemed determined to prove once and for all that Aristotle’s belief that the gods were the source of lights that he could see in his mind was wrong. How did he do this? By placing a bodkin (needle) in his eye. He would later come up with the notion of gravity and spent his life dedicated to furthering our understanding of science.

Things were unfortunately, a little different across the Channel in France. Students read how Francois-Jean was violently executed for having a ‘livre dangereux’, a dangerous book. The Encyclopedie not only included scientific essays but also began to question how society should be governed. Not everybody, was impressed by the nature of ‘absolute monarchy’. The English has chopped of a king’s head in the 17th century, the colonists in America was championing for independence. Surely, this couldn’t happen in France. It did, ask students in Year 8 to tell you all about the causes of the French Revolution.

Year 8 History shout outs goes to: Ethan Smart and Louisa Adams

Year 9

Genocide is never an easy subject to teach. Ye t we would like to thank the maturity of our Year 9 students for their mature handling of this sensitive subject. When we planned this unit, we felt that it was important that we didn’t simply teach the Nazi atrocities that led to the Holocaust. We wanted our students to have a good understanding of the term ‘genocide’, the reasons that they occur and the 10 risk factors that make genocide more likely. Students sensitively learnt about how acts of persecution and discrimination in Nazi Germany eventually led to more violent acts of anti-Semitism that eventually led to the Final Solution.

Further acts of genocide were then studied, including the destruction of the Native Indian tribes of California in 1851 the treatment of the indigenous people of Australia and sadly many more.

We are looking forward to teaching many of our Year 9 students History over the course of the next two years. Have a great holiday and be prepared to go back to the realm of Elizabeth I in Year 10.

Year 9 History shout outs goes to: Toby Millard and Jennifer Kemp

Year 10

Sometimes conflict is inevitable. Well, that is the view of most of our Year 10 students who have continued to work well on developing their knowledge of the American West. The way of life of the Native Americans is now under serious threat by the many settlers that sought a new life ‘West’ in the 1850s and 1860s. The Native Americans have seen promise after promise be broken. Land and resources promised to them because of the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty hasn’t come into fruition. Instead, an endless stream of migrants, gold prospectors and homesteaders have entered their reservations threatening not only their existence but the existence of the buffalo. Enter, Little Crow, Red Cloud and Sitting Bull. These famous chiefs have other ideas and are prepared to fight for what is rightly theirs. There can only be one winner! Who will it be? Our students will have to wait and see as we will have to pick up the story of the Native American plight once more in September before starting our final unit on Weimar and Nazi Germany in the Autumn Term.

Year 10 History shout outs goes to: Beatrix Balasoiu and Jake Brice

BIG IDEAS

For our Big Ideas G.R.O.W.T.H team it was a very exciting morning on the 22nd June, it was the National Final at the Palace of Westminster and even the train strikes could not prevent this determined team from attending and taking part.

Since January, G.R.O.W.T.H. have been working developing a mental health project, providing safe places in schools and awareness days and activities centred around mental health. They have created an amazing project which is now being piloted at Oasis Sholing this term and into the next academic year.

But back to the National Finals, here are what the team had to say;

“We had an amazing experience in the national finals for the finals of the big ideas competition in London. We nearly couldn’t go because of the train strike, but luckily, we got there with time to spare! We had a tour of Westminster Palace, around the House of Lords. It was such an amazing experience and it was so interesting too! We got to see all the awesome statues and painting with a tour guide who told us loads of information. We then went to a conference room, where there were two big screens where we would later give our presentation. They gave us a tasty lunch, full of sandwiches and different crisps."

"The groups started presenting, and after 7 other groups, it was our turn! We were shaking so much but our presentation went well and the judges loved our idea. When it came to the rewards however, we were not so lucky. We didn’t win, but we are so happy for the other team that won. We are so grateful for the experience and the journey that we have been on. Thank you so much!”

G.R.O.W.T.H. did a truly amazing job at the national finals presenting in front of the judges, their peers and even some MPs dropped by during the day to say hello. There were many different ideas from firefighting drones to recycled plant pots.

G.R.O.W.T.H received one of the two highly commended for their projects during the event and we are truly proud of everything they have achieved and look forward in seeing their project come to alive over the coming weeks and months.

Well done to Grace, Darcey and Phocea.

Credits:

Created with images by nali - "good news label in yellow background" • Day Of Victory Stu. - "The musicians were playing rock music on stage, there was an audience full of people watching the concert. Concert,mini concert and music festivals." • Stillfx - "Hand in sky" • tonktiti - "Copy space of sand beach texture abstract background." • shaiith - "School chemical lab during the experiment" • YY apartment - "芝と白線" • ffolas - "Cutting Cake on Layers. Making Victoria Sponge Cake. Series." • tonktiti - "Copy space of tropical palm tree with sun light on sky background." • Pixel-Shot - "School blackboard prepared for maths lesson" • Nabodin - "leaves of Spathiphyllum cannifolium, abstract green texture, nature background, tropical leaf"