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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,
The amount of heavy traffic on the South Circular cannot escape anyone’s attention, and this only seems to have gone up post-lockdown. The potentially negative impact on the health of children and adults who live and work near busy roads is an issue that we as a school community must address in mindful and innovative ways, and we are therefore delighted to announce a newly-formed Clean Air for Oakfield Group.
There is a message from the group in this newsletter about some of the things which are planned to coincide with Clean Air Day next week, and we do hope Oakfield families engage with the suggestions set out for the day itself and beyond.
In the short-term there are some changes that the school (in conjunction with Property Services at Education Development Trust) and group are looking to effect, particularly around green screen fencing and new access gates along Croxted Road on both sites, along with extending hedges at the front of the Pre Prep. The school monitors the Defra website regularly to check on local air quality, and this week we had an air quality assessment visit from Clear Water - we await the findings, which will be shared with you. In the longer-term the group is looking to secure greater influence and lasting policy changes from our local MP and TFL to improve the situation on roads around Oakfield.
Thank you to the Clean Air for Oakfield Group for championing this cause and we look forward to updating everyone on the various initiatives and progress as it happens, so that we can all breathe a little easier.
Wishing you all lovely weekends to recharge your batteries before another jam-packed week commences from Monday.
Moyra Thompson
BIRTHDAY RECORDING
Clean Air Day on Thursday 17th
WEAR SOMETHING BLUE AND DONATE £1
Dear Parents and Carers,
The parents and staff of Oakfield have formed a group - Clean Air for Oakfield - to bring awareness to the issue of pollution around our school and to put measures in place to encourage parents, children and staff to reduce pollution.
June 17th is Clean Air Day!
The class teachers will be collating posters/letters from the children to send to our local MP and Transport for London.
We would be grateful if parents and carers could:
- use public transport if possible.
- make every effort to walk, cycle or scoot to school in the mornings, to help reduce traffic.
- consider parking a little further away and walking or scooting to school, even if it's every other day.
- talk to the children about what we can do to make a change.
On June 17th, we invite all children and staff to wear something blue and request a minimum £1 donation towards this worthy cause.
Your donations will be used to:
- start adding more greenery to the Pre-Prep front entrance
- purchase air-purifying plants for each classroom
- add to our fund to buy hedging for the Pre-Prep car park to match Prep.
Please feel free to forward any further suggestions, donations and letters to The Clean Air for Oakfield group on the following email address: cleanairforoakfield@gmail.com
In addition we would like to encourage parents to write your own letter to urge TFL to:
- Place a yellow box junction and rainbow crossing at the intersection in front of our school
- Prioritise the electrification of buses along the South Circular
To make this easier for everyone, we will be providing contact details and a template letter next week.
Thank you so much for your efforts to keep our air clean for the benefit of our children.
Clean Air for Oakfield Group
Supporting the computing curriculum and supporting online safety session for parents on Thursday
As part of Computer Week on Thursday 17th June (6.00pm – 7.00pm) Oakfield and London CLC will be partnering up to offer the parents of Oakfield pupils a chance to join us for an online session all about the computing curriculum and online safety.
This is a great opportunity for parents to learn about the computing curriculum and how it is evolving as well as gain knowledge on staying safe online.
All details and Zoom links have been sent to you via the Portal but here is a reminder of what will be covered below:
Part 1:
Supporting the computing curriculum:
This 30 min session with a short presentation and Q and A time will explain some ways parents can support their children in the three strands of the primary computing curriculum: computer science, information technology and digital literacy.
Part 2:
Supporting online safety:
This 30 min session with a short presentation and Q and A time is to support parents in keeping children, young people and families safe online with reference to sources of help and advice across a range of topics.
If parents have specific questions about either topic please could they submit in advance to Mr Roye at aroye@oakfield.dulwich.sch.uk
We look forward to seeing you on Thursday!
Jolly Jar Collection
For those of you who have experienced the OAFs Summer Fair, you will know that the Jolly Jar stall certainly draws the biggest crowds. In absence of the annual event this year, Year 6 will be injecting some 'fun of the fair' to the school day instead. A date is yet to be confirmed but all children will be invited to participate in the Jolly Jar raffle.
This relies on donations from our Oakfield community so we hope that everyone in the Prep (years 2- 6) can support us by donating 2 (or more) jars to help with our fundraising initiative. Simply cleanout an old glass jar, stuff with packaged sweets and if inclined, decorate with stickers! (Please remember to wash and sanitise hands before filling!)
Year 6 will gratefully collect your donations from both Prep gates (at morning drop off) on Wednesday 16th - Friday 18th June.
YEAR 6: OAKFIELD DIPLOMA
We are sharing lots of things about the Oakfield Diploma on our social media platforms - especially Twitter and Instagram - that aren't on the newsletter. So get following us!
And Year 6 parents and carers can tag us @OakfieldPrep and use the hashtag #OakfieldDiploma2021 to show how their children have been engaging with the subjects and activities which are part of the Diploma.
This week they had a wonderful talk from Squire & Partners architect and Oakfield mum Federica Beattie who explained about all the different kinds of projects architects can be involved in, how design and function should marry in perfect harmony, and showed us a behind-the-scenes look at their amazing office in Brixton!
And on the subject of architecture Cosmo in Year 5 put together this fantastic digital design using CAD which is just what professional architects use to bring their building ideas to life in 2D and 3D. Well worth his Roll of Honour!
There was also a talk from Jon Hiliger who is a Met police office and dog handler who talked about the very different challenges and responsibilities involved with being a member of law enforcement
Just before half-term we had a talk from textiles designer, illustrator and children's book author Lisa Stickley. She has very kindly offered a 20% discount to Oakfield families for all items in her lovely online shop. Just use the discount code 'oakfield20' at checkout.
REFUGEE WEEK
Next week is Refugee Week and there will be a special guest in ex-child soldier-turned-rapper-actor-activist Emmanuel Jal to commemorate the occasion. More info to follow next week!
YEAR 2
Year 2 have had fun during Mathematics this week, looking at Symmetry.
The children know a shape or pattern is symmetrical when it is identical on both sides. If they place a mirror on the central line, or the line of symmetry, the reflection should look identical to the original shape or pattern. They enjoyed doing this to complete shapes and drawings.
Take a picture! In art the children made a ‘viewfinder’ to look at objects outside and to draw them.
The viewfinder allowed the children to isolate a scene or ‘crop’ it within a rectangular area. The artwork was very impressive!
In English the children are focusing on the story 'Oi! Get off our train' by John Burningham. They started this week with reading and discussing the story and writing sentences to include great punctuation and connectives.
Year 1
The children in year 1 enjoyed researching their family histories and creating some wonderfully arty family trees. The children presented their research to the rest of their class. It was so fantastic to learn about the diverse families we have in year 1.
UPPER FOUNDATION
This week we have been talking about the traditional tale, How Anansi got his Stories. We worked together to make a Pie Corbett class story map and then re-wrote the story ourselves. In relation to our topic, we have been looking at various environments – valleys, mountains and grassy fields and how they differ in different countries. The children had to see if they could tell the difference between the landscape of Kenya and the UK. We have also made spider webs with patterns inspired by African Textiles.
We have finished the phonic Upper Foundation curriculum and will now spend the rest of term revising and consolidating our learning of all taught sounds.
Next week we will focus on the Celtic tale of Finn McCool and Benandonner. We are going to be making wanted posters and will also spend some time learning about the Giant’s Causeway.
Please ensure that your child has a sun cap, sun cream and a raincoat in their rucksack at all times. Please could you also ensure that you are applying an initial layer of sun cream in the morning every day before the children come into school.
Reminders:
- 16th June: CLC Computing Workshop
- 17th June: Under the Sea Perform Workshop
LOWER FOUNDATION
What a wonderful day we have had, fluttering, slithering, buzzing and crawling in the sunshine!
We had a really fun, imaginative Perform Workshop, made honey sandwiches and created buzzy bees!
We are truly Mad about Minibeasts!
SPORT
London Playing Fields Challenge Cup Report
by Monty, 6AH
Last Sunday, my team from Dulwich Village Football Club played in the final of the London Playing Fields Challenge Cup.
This knock-out campaign started last October with a preliminary round against Danson Sports FC, which we won 10-0, with me scoring two goals. In the first round proper, we beat Petts Wood Condors with another convincing win, this time 6-0. Next up were Dartford FC Blacks, one of the best and most physical teams in South East London. I scored to take an early lead within the first ten minutes and although it was a tough game, we ended up winning 5-2 and we were in to quarter finals!
Our next opponents were also from Dartford FC, this time the Orange team. It was another tough game, but we won 3-0, and I scored another goal. This took us in to the semi-finals, where we faced Dynamo Youth FC. In a nervous game, we came through as eventual winners, 2-1, in a closer match than we had hoped for!
We then had two weeks to prepare for the final, with one league game to play in between, against the league leaders who were also going to be our opponents in the cup final! We arrived at their ground and were shocked at how tall they were for eleven year-olds! Two of their defenders were taller than their manager! They might have been physical but we proved to be the more skilful side, beating them 2-1. But would this mean we had a better chance of beating them in the final, or would they come back stronger and looking for revenge?
In the final, a good size crowd gathered around a pitch bigger than we had ever played on before! Our nerves were soon eased with a goal in the first minute, followed by two more in quick succession to put us 3-0 up within five minutes! We couldn’t believe it, but the rest of match was much more hard fought, and they managed to get a goal just before half-time. In the second half we defended well but suddenly they pulled another one back! Luckily for us, it was ruled off-side by the assistant referee and we managed to hold on until the final whistle. Full-time score Dulwich 3-1 Welling United.
It was a great cup run; played six, won six, scored 29 goals and only conceded four.
ISA Virtual Athletics Finals
As the ISA Athletics Finals couldn't take place in person this year a sun-drenched Oakfield Prep played host to some fantastic performances in track and field. Everyone gave their absolute best
Oakfield Bake Off
Do click and donate for Oakfield Bake Off - the efforts are absolutely outstanding!
Our Year 6 Leavers have been tasked with immortalising an Oakfield memory in a 'baked' form.
In the absence of being able to sample their mouthwatering creations, please let your imaginative tastebuds run wild and click on the creations you think are worthy of commendation.
We're sure you will be wowed by their creativity and skill. So please go ahead and indulge in a sugary feast with your eyes!
Your support will help them raise funds for their all important send-off from Oakfield; the Year 6 Big Wave Goodbye.
HOUSE NEWS
House Points:
4th Ruskin 95
3rd Webster 220
2nd Pearsall 245
1st Baird 295
Oakfield's Got Talent
We have a new exciting event in the calendar for this half term...Oakfield's Got Talent is back!
The date is set for Wednesday 7th July so get practising your act. Get you applications in by posting your name and the title of your act in the House Point post box in the hall during the week beginning 21st June, auditions will take place with your House Leader the following week (beginning 28th June).
The House point totals are really close, every house point really matters, so join in the fun and show us what you can do. Look out for posters around school advertising the event.
Credits:
Created with images by diapicard - "birthday cake candles" • oo11o - "heart clouds sky" • StartupStockPhotos - "student typing keyboard" • cocoparisienne - "hands cohesion together" • Tama66 - "castle sunset evening" • jplenio - "tree nature wood" • kewl - "valley mountains landscape" • anncapictures - "tartan track athletics track and field" • moshehar - "step architecture outdoors"