Loading

STEAM

Dear OFS Community,

Mr Chatzianastasiou and his team of Year 8 Scientists quite literally lit up the Hall and added a fearsome ‘thump’ into the mix to launch STEAM Week! Our Science, Technology, English, Art and Mathematics departments have come together to show the creative opportunities that arise when we open our minds, rather than constrain them.

I would love to know some of the untold stories from the past two years as countries, pharmaceutical companies, research teams and individuals collaborated to seek a vaccine that would solve a global humanitarian disaster.

As I watched Year 8 pupils demonstrating the transference of aerosols by releasing beachballs, balloons and finally bubbles, it struck me that we are a remarkable species; we can collaborate and answer the greatest challenges through shared values and visions but we can also show unimaginable ignorance.

The power of the mask!

I do wish that all world leaders had to spend time in schools to remember the importance of the foundations!

The Week

What a fun filled STEAM week we have just had! Stomp rockets, soap making, Greenpower Gala, Maths Competitions, Art workshops, Virtual Reality Sessions, Science Demos, Career talks, bath bomb making, an explosive assembly, Poster competition, Pre-Prep classes visiting the Science labs, parents running STEAM career days, external speakers visiting us, Science demonstrations in Middle School, Science shows for each year group and the list goes on and on! There was a huge buzz around the school and it was lovely to see all subjects & sections STEAM-ing with cross curricular links and ideas!

Bath Bomb making on Thursday was awesome - Amber
Soap making' was very enjoyable and memorable. I never knew how to make soap, so it was a new experience for me. Thank you to Mr Amaslidis for running this activity for us! - Jyena
It was one of the most fun-filled weeks at school! My favourite part was learning how to make a bath bomb. - Riya
It was very fun and messy which I liked a lot! - Shanahia Wu
I really enjoyed STEAM week as I was able to help in the Assembly and help with the Reception visits to the Science labs. It was a great experience and I am really grateful for being chosen to do these fantastic jobs with amazing peers of mine. I know it was our last STEAM week and it was a great way to end our last Year at Orley Farm - Aaryan Patel
I absolutely loved STEAM week as I got a chance to present an experiment to the year one students. Watching their faces light up was amazing. - Lakshya Sibbu
I thought the whole steam week was amazing. The talk from the teacher of Habs was very informative, and the VR was very fun and interesting. I took part it the middle school demonstrations and I also found that a great way to get to know the children of younger years. - Aariyan Kumar
I really enjoyed presenting the elephants toothpaste to the year 4s and enjoyed all the practical lessons this week. - Liam Shah
The STEAM week poster competition was my favourite part. As I love drawing, I created an evolution poster with vibrant colours and intricate details. Thank you for offering us those opportunities! - Sayan-Veer Parekh
It was a great experience and I had so much fun! - Chloe Marsh
I really liked the assembly that Mr Chatzianastasiou and the Year 8s run on Monday. I especially liked the big explosion at the end of the assembly. - Subhaan Khan
The science poster and the ethanol flammability experiment in Wednesday's assembly were my favourite parts! - Tanav Kumar

It’s been an incredible week packed with STEAM led learning and I would like to thank everyone involved, teachers and pupils, who ran forums, talks, workshops and so much more!

Spring Concert

It was such a pleasure and privilege to enjoy live music for the first time in over two years – Music Concerts have been the most impacted in these times with huge disruption in teaching, rehearsing, practising and performing due to the changing government rules!

The standard and level in performance was simply amazing – a parent
It made me realise the really important parts of the Orley Farm experience – seeing just how relaxed and comfortable the children are when performing was amazing, so composed – another parent!

I would like to thank Mr Ford for putting together a beautiful evening that allowed all of us to breathe and appreciate the power of live performances - the final number had a 'last night at the proms' feel about it...

Green Power Gala Night

We had our second Gala night since launching our Green Power initiative, in order to thank our sponsors and the OFA. There was a very professional update from pupils with live links from the greenscreen studio and interviews and speeches in the room.

There was an auction, a raffle, photo opportunities and plenty of bubbles and canapés to rival the Formula 1 glitz & glam…a very slick evening and a huge thank you to Mr Du Plessis and the Green Power Team for hosting an extraordinary evening!

OFS Netball Tournament

On Wednesday, we hosted an ambitious event bringing 31 teams together from 9 schools with 320 pupils participating. We combined a Netball Tournament with a festival to celebrate missed opportunities from the past 2 years. Unfortunately, this was also the day when a mild tsunami hit Harrow!

However, absolute credit to all of the girls who simply threw themselves into every game with full commitment despite the conditions! Thanks to Miss Godet and all of the coaches for making this event happen!

Yr7 History Trip

The sun shone down on our step back in time to the Norman castle and village in Stansted Mountfitchet. Here year 7 could immerse themselves with the sounds, sights and smells of life in Medieval England ...

The activities bought the castle to life - Kumayl
You could feel the texture and reality of medieval life - Tanav
Great interactive exhibits - Harshil
It really gave me a good picture of all the different aspects of medieval life - Nikhil
I thought it was fun but quite scary - Fahris
A very fun experience, I learned a lot - Henley
Very fun because of the animals - Shayan
It expanded our knowledge of medieval times - Niam

Maths Challenge

15 schools joined us for the OFS Maths Challenge - a very intense afternoon of mathematical problem-solving that required knowledge but also flexibility of mind, curiosity and collaboration in a pressurised situation! Well done to our home teams who came 3rd and 4th.

A great group of puzzles to challenge my brain - Krish
A fun and enjoyable experience - Kian
A physical and mathematical workout. I really enjoyed the competitiveness of it all - Zaki
Brings out the fun in Maths - Vaidehi
My favourite House Point was awarded by Mrs De Freitas for a Latin translation - well done Vihaan!
I saw that a display in the Natural Science Museum was incorrect so I wrote to them and they replied and thanked me saying that it would be corrected. Mrs Farrar was so impressed that she awarded me an 'Initiative' sticker - this was my favourite out of my 146! Well done Aaran!
Mr King awarded me a House Point for my commitment on the Games field - this was my favourite out of the 114 - well done Samuel!
Having never played Rugby before, I was proud to be awarded a House Point for tackling - Well done Tanav!
Of 1020 entries to the Turner Warner History Prize , Charles was placed 63rd. He was also awarded 'highly commended' certificate. We are immensely proud of Charles, his genuine love of History, as well as his capacity to enjoy learning, absorb knowledge and communicate it clearly and enthusiastically.
You may recall that we have experienced success in this field before - in 2020 there were 1036 entries; Ibrahim Kahn was placed 204th and Parag Puri was placed 106th. They set the bar high and Charles smashed it - Well Done Charles!
I loved overhearing the comments of wonder and joy from parents as they left the Spring Concert. It has been amazing to host events that can never truly be replicated, even through the pixels of live Zoom & MS Teams links. However, the real joy is seeing your children thriving through ‘performance’ as they feel the feedback from their audience…this is priceless!

Tim Calvey