Please take your time to log on to the Parent Portal and remind yourself of all the things that have been posted this week, thank you.
Reflections from the Head
Difficult to know whether last Sunday’s gymnastics at Lady Eleanor Holles was an extension of the previous week or an early start to this week. We know for certain that it was St Patrick’s Day and we know for certain that it was a triumphant day for our fine gymnasts. Mr Heasman can be justly proud of his young stars and he can deservedly soak in the reflected glory that comes from the commitment and dedication that he pours into the training and support for the children. It takes a huge amount of expertise and effort to equip the gymnasts with the ability and confidence to perform at these levels. It also takes enormous feats of organisation to prepare and oversee these competitions. The passion and dedication is palpable leading up to and during these events and it was lovely to receive so many compliments from the supporters, parents, his colleagues and the event organisers. Congratulations and thank you.
After the rain that greeted us on Monday we returned, albeit briefly, to the milder temperatures more readily associated with spring. In between, the children have not been still long enough to catch rain drops or rays of sunshine. A ‘mixed-bag’ Assembly on Monday contained a wonderful ensemble performance of the William Tell Overture, followed by a presentation from Mrs chandler about all things Maths. It was great to celebrate our confident musicians, the Maths Challenge Gold and Silver Medalists and to reflect on ‘World Maths Day’ too. We also welcomed the Headteacher and Registrar from Herne Hill Prep who visited Year 1 and Year 2, enjoyed music lessons and saw ICT and some Art. We are looking forward to building our relationship and the opportunities to share best practice, collaborate on projects and enjoy combined training sessions in the future.
On Tuesday I was privileged to spend the day with Year 6 at London CLC. We learned about coding and programming robots (EV3) Lego Robots. The opportunity was amazing and the children were engaged, inspired and very quick to learn and experiment. Observing their interactions and resilient learning proved how important it is to seek fresh, dynamic experiences and to create innovative teaching environments to stimulate our leaders and minds of the future. Year 3 and 4 set sail their production of ‘Pirates of the Curry Bean’ with their Dress Rehearsal on Tuesday followed by stellar performances on Wednesday and Thursday. The catchy songs and superb performances had the audiences rocking in the aisles with laughter. A pun-tastic, treasure of a show!
We were delighted to have with us, on Tuesday evening, Desmond O’Connor, an Education Psychologist who spoke to us about managing expectations and enabling our children to learn happily and be the best that they can be. He talked about learning potential, learning behaviours, strategies to support the different kinds of learners that we meet and offered tips for recognising pinch points and which ‘battles’ to manage differently! ‘ Blissful Parents, Blissful Children’ (www.oconnorassessment.com). We held mid-year progress sharing at Parents' Evening for Nursery, Lower Foundation, Upper Foundation, Years 1 to 3 and Year 6: we also included Sport, Music, Art and Drama for the first time. The OAFs Committee met on Wednesday and thanks again to them for supporting the Nursery and Lower Foundation Cake Bake Sale today.
Thank you for your understanding and support during this morning’s ‘Security Practice Exercise’. These role-play and crisis management scenarios are an increasing part of life in schools, hospitals and corporate institutions. The safety of your children is paramount and we are grateful that you trust us with your most treasured possession every day. It is essential therefore that we can run exercises like this so that they become as familiar as fire-drills are for the children. I know that schools across the country are running similar exercises as well as practising ‘lock-down’ procedures for all staff and pupils. A fact of life for us all and excellent practice by those who operate such drills. Ours worked smoothly: the staff were great and the pupils very safe and very happy.
Oakfield: future proofing your children and ahead of the curve again. [Follow and share us @OakfieldSchHead]
Patrick Gush
Headmaster
This week we have been continuing our learning about travelling to Space. We have loved exploring different ways of travelling on the moon by making lunar modules and creating space pictures using Tux paint in ICT. We have looked at the features of each planet and painted them. We wrote letters home as if we were astronauts in space which the children adored. In Maths we have continued to explore doubling and have focused on halving and sharing equally.
Thank you to all of the parents who attended Parents' Evening. It was lovely to see so many of you and to get a real chance to discuss your children's progress and development. With regards to the Engage App and the Portal- please ensure that you are using these and checking them regularly for notices. This is a central point for all the information that your children need, including their weekly calendar, timetables, and reports. Please ensure that you have read their mid-year February report, as this clearly sets out their targets for the following term.
I know my fractions!
Year 1 have been learning all about fractions.
The children have enjoyed folding paper and tortilla wraps into halves and quarters!
Annabel “I know how to halve my tortilla, oh look now it’s a whole again!”
Nikayla “This is fun! I’ve got two quarters and that also makes a half! I hope we get to eat these!”
Bubbles everywhere!
“This is the best day ever in my whole 6 years!”
The children loved playing with different bubbles outside this week. We have been looking at making predictions and then seeing if we were correct.
Are bubbles all round? How are bubbles made? How can we blow bubbles best?
On Monday Year 2 had a fantastic visit to Dulwich College to see Ernest Shackleton's boat James Caird. We were inspired by the story of Ernest Shackleton's bravery and resilience!
We asked our guides lots of interesting and thoughtful questions that we had planned in our Humanities lessons beforehand. Our trip really brought our new topic 'Explorers' to life and we are very lucky to live so close to such an important piece of history.
Jack and the Beanstalk
In Year 2 we have been reading the story of 'Jack and the Beanstalk'. We thought of some questions that we would like to ask Jack about his adventure and his experience meeting the big, bad Giant! We then took it in turns to play both an interviewer and Jack.
Year 6 Trip to London CLC
Year 6 had a fantastic time figuring out how to program Lego EV3 robots, whilst on their trip to London CLC.
Mutiple challenges activated many thought processes, allowing the children to try out different combinations until they succeeded. Could they make the robot travel forward and back 20cm without knocking over their lego figurine? how would you make the robot make a square?
Variables, decomposition, sequencing and debugging were just some of the skills the children put into together and they worked brilliantly in teams too! Miss Down
On Sunday 17th March, 58 of our Gymnastics Squad took part in the BSGA - British Schools Gymnastics Association London Region Novice Competition.
We had gymnasts from Years 2 to 6, for some of the children it was their first competition and everyone did very well!
The results:
U9 Boys L1 Team: 2nd
U9 Girls L2 Team: 4th
U9 Boys L2 Team: 2nd
U11 Boys L1 Team: 2nd
U11 Girls L2 Team A: 2nd
U11 Girls L2 Team B: 3rd
U11 Boys L2 Team: 1st
A big well done to all of the gymnasts who took part, we are proud of all of the gymnasts.
A big thank you to all of the parents who came to watch and support our gymnasts!
ISA Cross Country Regionals
On Wednesday, 24 of our Oakfield Cross Country runners took part in the ISA Cross Country Regionals. Everyone ran extremely well and a big well done to Daniel Owen who came 2nd in the U11 race, and Monty Richmond who came 8th in the U9 race. This means that they have both qualified for the Nationals.
On Thursday, Oakfield competed in the ISA Indoor Athletics Regionals, at Riverston School. They participated in some new events, and everyone had lots of fun!
Mother’s Day Competition 2019
All the Mother’s Day portraits were sent off to the Dulwich Trader competition last Tuesday and I received this lovely email from Dan Rigby, the organiser, this week:
‘WOW - what a wonderful response, we received over 500 fantastic entries from 11 local schools! (Alleyn's Junior School, Dulwich Village Infants, Dulwich Hamlet, Heber Primary School, St Johns & St Clements, Paxton Primary, Oakfield Preparatory, The Villa, Harris Primary East Dulwich, Rosendale and DUCKS). Our judge, Julie Bennett, was once again blown away by the talent, creativity and passion on display.
Thank you all so much for your help in making this such a great celebration of local children's creativity.’
Well done to all the children for the fabulous work they produced but particular congratulations to Cosmo Bradly, who was the winner for our region.
Dulwich Trader will be displaying many of the portraits in their window over the next couple of weeks. Those that are not on show will be returned in time for the children to give them to their mums on the special day. Those displayed will be returned the week after Mother's Day.
Make sure you go along and have a look and celebrate our Oakfield artists, but remember, all of the work from years 2 to 6 will be displayed in the school hall on the 3rd April during our Creative Arts Concert.
Upcoming Dates:
Monday :
Oakfield does Strictly!
Parents' Evening Year 4 and Year 5
Tuesday :
Spanish Club Assembly (10:30am, Prep Hall)
LAMDA Rehearsal (3:45-4:35)
Wednesday :
Lower Foundation Trip to the Sensory Garden
Thursday :
Year 2 World Explorers Workshop
Parents' Evening Year 4 and Year 5
Friday :
6AH Class Assembly (10:30am, Prep Hall)
Saturday :
ISA U9 Boys Gym training Session (9.00-9.55am, Prep Hall)
ISA U11 Boys Gym training session (10.00-10.55am, Prep Hall)
Sunday :
ISA U9 Girls Grp1 Gym training Session (10.00-10.55am Prep Hall)
ISA U9 Girls Grp2 Gym training session (11.00-11.55, Prep Hall)
ISA U11 Girls Grp1 Gym Training Session (12.00-12.55pm, Prep Hall)
ISA U11 Girls Grp2 Gym Training Session (1.00-1.55pm, Prep Hall)
Credits:
Created with images by Ankush Minda - "Lets bring our child out once again.." • qimono - "earth globe moon" • Kelli Tungay - "Back to School" • AlexanderStein - "paperclip clip office" • padrinan - "green art wood" • alex1983 - "cup medal diploma" • annca - "tartan track career athletics" • Tim Arterbury - "When inspiration strikes"