oakdale post: easter 2015

OAKDALE POST: EASTER 2015

Welcome to the “Oakdale Post”—keeping you up to date with recent events, successes and news!

Thank you to all parents/carers for their continued support this term and the school wishes all

families a well deserved and restful Easter break. Please remember

pupils return to school on Monday 20th April 2015.

Dear Parents and Carers,

As this term draws to a close, I am full of admiration for our children. They have embraced their learning with enthusiasm and determination. You will see some excellent examples within this edition of the Oakdale Post. Thank you to all the parents and carers that have supported their children in the projects, but also for taking the time to visit and enjoy the exhibitions and assemblies this term. We are very proud of the increasingly high standard of learning produced by Oakdale pupils with parental partnership!

As the country moves towards a General Election, we are mindful to continue to teach pupils the importance of living in a democracy. Pupils at Oakdale are provided with many opportunities to adopt British values, such as democratic elections for School Councillors, or voting to name the school chickens! We continue to ensure all our pupils become responsible citizens.

Finally, may I wish you all, on behalf of the Staff, Governors and Pupils a very Happy Easter.

Mrs Bissell

Headteacher

SUCCESSFUL LEARNERS, CONFIDENT INDIVIDUALS, RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS

World Book Day:

A tutor in role drama improvisation created all sorts of commotion on World Book Day in

Year 4.

An empty leather wallet was found discarded on the floor in the foyer. Miss Horlock

reported this at 8.00am that morning. Left inside was a strange old fashioned photograph.

A group of nine World Book Day characters including “Cat in the Hat,” “Bad Girl” and “The

Mad Hatter” amongst others were interviewed and hot seated to find out what happened

that morning.

The jury concluded it was Hiccup from “How to Train a Dragon” played by Jack Bozic.

The reason? He needed the leather to cut himself a new pair of shoes! Proof that

imagination is still alive!

“I was Storm Trooper. Mrs O Connor (Gangsta Granny) pretended to be the jury. I think she

was the criminal really all along.” Jacob Welch

By Mrs O Connor.

Reading Volunteers:

A huge thank you to all of our reading volunteers who have given up their time to support the learning of our Year 6

pupils:

Mrs Brignell, Mrs Turrell, Mrs Chester, Mrs Dodd, Mrs Brocklesby, Mrs Shave, Mrs Wells, Mrs Midwinter, Mrs rocha,

Mrs Wilisher, Mrs Flynn, Mrs Richard—Karanja, Mrs Suman and Mrs Bartlett.

Ms Allen

P A G E 2


New arrivals.

After a long wait and much preparation, Oakdale Junior School is now home to

four wonderful chickens. The young hens have settled in very well with one

laying eggs within the first two weeks. Myself, Mrs Allen and Mrs Brignell have

grown very fond of the hens and pay them several visits a day. Mrs Brignell has

also been kind enough to keep a diary log of the chickens’ antics which will be

kept up to date by the upcoming chicken club members. The children of

Oakdale Junior have been captivated by the birds and have started to

enjoy opportunities to observe and study the creatures.

The children have been given the opportunity to vote on the names of the

birds and the winning names will be revealed to them shortly.

Mr Bailey

Comic Relief:

The pupils wore an array of red accessories to complement their school uniforms including: noses, hair, faces, hair bobbles, badges and wigs! As a school we raised £355.75. Well done to everyone! A special well done to Sophie Mitchell (5AH) who raised £8.15 by completing a sponsored silence.

OFSTED said: Teaching

assistants are effectively

used to meet pupil

needs.

Sainsbury’s Active Vouchers: Sainsbury's Active Kids vouchers are back. On Wednesday 28th January Sainsbury's launched the Active Kids vouchers for 2015. The ambassadors for the event are Daniel Sturridge, England Striker, Paralympic Sprinter Jonnie Peacock and Ellie Simmonds, Paralympic Swimmer. Last year, Oakdale Junior School collected around 16,000. The items obtained as a result are being enjoyed by the children as part of their curriculum lessons. They are also being used during their break and lunchtime play. It would be great if in 2015 we could beat this target. Vouchers can be collected at any Sainsbury's store and online until 5th May. Please post vouchers collected in the box which is in the reception area.

Year 4 Project Learning:

Year 4 started our “Blue Abyss” topic with an exciting trip to

Bournemouth Oceanarium. There the children learnt about a variety of

marine creatures and how they have adapted to survive in the ocean.

Some of the highlights were watching an Asian Otter stacking stones,

giant turtles feeding on lettuce and spotting the eels hiding amongst the

rocks! During this watery topic, the children have investigated the

science behind food chains, explored the zones of life within the ocean

and discovered how submarines work.

There has also been a big focus on creating art inspired by the sea.

Children have used their imaginations to create fish from milk bottles

and giant seashells using paper mache, worked together to create an

underwater scene and used the technique of batik.

Many of the Year 4 children have clearly worked very hard to create

their underwater themed games as their home learning project. They

have enjoyed playing these and learning more about marine life. The

topic finished with a popular visit by parents to see all the work

completed. Thank you to all parents/ carers who were able to attend.

Miss Knowles


St Patrick’s Day—March 17th:

As children in Ireland cascaded the streets in a sea of green, orange and white,

Oakdale Junior School held its own celebration to mark the day in Mrs Bissell’s

assembly. Mr Bailey gamely donned a leprechaun hat and beard whilst the children

were entertained by some traditional musical delights from Mrs Murray.

Having played the fiddle for only a year she bravely took on a traditional Irish hymn

followed by some jigs and reels on the recorder and tin whistle. Inspiration to us

all!

Mrs Ball delighted us with the traditional “Cockles and Mussels” and four children

in Year 4 did a mighty job acting out the traditional tale of “The Giant’s Causeway.”

Congratulations to Omar Sameer, Holly Sewell, Lucas McManus and Kacey Miles

for their hard work in rehearsals and for performing so well. Mrs O’ Connor

Year 5 Learning Project – Allotments.

This half-term the children in Year 5 have been learning all about the history and benefits of

growing your own food on an allotment. We are fortunate to be so close to Tatnam Farm

Allotments, so a visit there was an ideal way to begin the project. Each class was given a

guided tour by Mike Gotobed, the Chair of the Allotment Association. He was able to impart

a great deal of information and answer the children’s thoughtful questions. We were all

surprised to learn that bees are kept on the allotments and at the variety of fruit and

vegetables that local residents grow on their plots. The waiting list for the plots is currently

four years!

In addition, the children have also carried out a range of science investigations, planted their

own vegetables with Ms Morford, made and tasted a variety of vegetable soups, learnt about

farming around the world and learnt a range of art skills, supported by Ms Fricker, our in-

school art specialist.

As a finale to the project the children’s parents/ carers were invited into school to enjoy the

art exhibition the children had created and sample some healthy vegetable soup.

We are looking forward to tasting some of the vegetables the children planted later in the

year.

Mrs Vadgama

Cherry Tree Nursery:

During their visit the parents/

carers made a small donation to

Cherry Tree Nursery, a charity that

supports people with mental

health issues through horticulture.

They raised £9.26—thank you to

everyone who donated.


Orienteering

Children from Change for Life club embarked on

an Orienteering challenge at Upton Country Park

on Friday 13th March. Dressed in suitable PE kit

but with some Comic Relief red nose day

accessories. The 15 children from Years 4, 5

and 6 had a 15 minute practise session which

enabled them to use the electronic finger

dibbers and familiarise themselves with the map.

After this they then had 45 minutes to find as

many of the markers around the park using their

map reading skills. Ryan Freemantle and Harry

Brown came first out of the children for our

school as they were the only ones to get 20

without any mistakes although Grace Lee did

exceptionally well coming in a very close 3rd. All

had a great time.

Miss Davies

SPORTS NEWS: Badminton Festival Year 3 During the first week back after half term, all of Year 3 took part in an Intra- House Badminton Challenge. 40 sports leaders from Year 6 helped to deliver the six different challenges by explaining and demonstrating to the children what they had to do, keeping the scores as well as encouraging the children to do their best and persevere. Challenges included hitting shuttlecocks over the net or into a target, shuttlecock and zigzag relays as well as other hand eye co-ordination skills necessary for badminton. Everybody thoroughly enjoyed themselves, with many learning new skills. All the scores were added up, with the overall winners being Parkstone. Congratulations to Parkstone and a big thank you to the Sports Leaders for making the event possible.

TAG RUGBY Having shown great commitment to their training, Year 5 and Year 6 girls and boys played in a triangulation tournament against Baden Powell and Longfleet Primary School, on Tuesday 17th March, with the hope of gaining entry to the Winter School Games Level 3 competition. They fought bravely, supported each other in play, defended hard but were not able to beat the opposition, however throughout they showed great sports person ship and should be proud of themselves.

NETBALL

A netball team from Year 3 and

Year 4 took part in a

tournament at Yarrell's School

on Monday 17th March. For

many of the girls, it was their

first competitive game against

another school. Valuable

experience was gained from

all, including knowing where

their positions are allowed to

go as well as moving into

space and dodging players.

They all enjoyed themselves.

Cross country

The cross country season was brought to an official close last Wednesday with the Poole and East Dorset Cross Country

Championships at Canford School. Eighteen enthusiastic runners took part in the 1.08 mile race around the grounds of

Canford under sunny skies. All runners successfully completed the course but there were some notable results from the

following pupils: Rita Richardson (Year 5) came 3rd in her race, Sammy Hicks (Year 5) came 6th and Olivia Taylor (Year 6)

came 9th - well done! Overall, our boys’ Year 5 team came 3rd. Congratulations to all runners that took part.

There is still a strong possibility of a race being organised for Year 3 and 4 runners after the Easter holidays; we are awaiting

confirmation of this but if it goes ahead, it will be at Baden Powell Junior School and either the second or third week back. A

letter will be sent out when further details are known.

Poole Festival of Running

Whilst the cross country season has finished, there is no need to put away those running shoes! Online entries are now

open for the 2015 Poole Festival of Running and it would be brilliant for as many children as possible to take part in the

Minithon Races on Sunday 7th June.

Traditionally, Oakdale has always entered a large team from our school and this has meant that we have often won the

prize for the most school entries. This has given our school hundreds of pounds to buy more sports equipment for our

pupils. Remember to write our school name on the entry form to give us a chance to win again in 2015!

Miss Bertenshaw


World Book Day: Thursday 5th March 2015. World Book Day was a great success this year. The children looked fantastic in their costumes (thank you for your efforts with this). Throughout the day, children took part in a variety of book—related activities including: drama, art based work and book reviews. We have even started writing a whole school story which will soon be published on the school website. The overall costume winners were: Serena Hill, Charlie Coe, Charlie Johnston and Harley Parris-Bryant. Thank you for your continued support.

Keep reading.

Miss Ward

BSO Came to Oakdale!

On Thursday 26th February, BSO Resonate Strings came to Oakdale.

There were two violins, a viola, , a cello and a double bass. The double

bass was massive! They played lots of tunes, including a mixed piece.

Sadly, the double bass was not in it. But it did involve a bit of audience

participation! Years 3 and 4 enjoyed instead of Singing Assembly.

Then, after breaktime Years 5 and 6 went in. Everyone enjoyed it! It

was fantastic—learning about all the instruments’ names. It was

brilliant, enjoyable and a fun day for everyone in school.

By Sophie Shave 6RH

Extended Writing Winners:

The following pupils produced the best

piece of extended writing in their English

set at the end of last half term. They

have all received a fountain pen for their

efforts:

YEAR 3: Noah Oseland, Caitlin Roe,

Reynie Barnes, Ruby Webb

YEAR 4: Patrick Gardner, Riley Allum,

Cordell Punter

YEAR 5: Charlie Moore, Joshua House,

Zara Revill, Finlay Lobban, Adja Kunta

YEAR 6: Oakley Richards, Zak Chine,

Callum Fender, Kayley Marriott

Well done to all of them!

Mrs Seddon

Year 3 Project Learning:

This term we have been learning about

deadly predators and it has been really

exciting. The best thing we have done

is make masks of our favourite

predator. We enjoyed sketching,

designing, painting and gluing our

masks—we made lots of mess! Come

into school to see our final products!

3BE

Miss Fricker has been

supporting all year groups to

produce artwork to support

their Project learning.

Year 5 have produced

multi media pictures

and clay tiles

depicting different

vegetables and fruits.

Year 4 have created an array of milk carton sea

creatures and a colourful montage of different

sea animals using pastels.

FRIENDS OF OAKDALE JUNIOR SCHOOL: The Friends have been busy again this term. The children have enjoyed another successful movie night and for the first time the Friends organised the Secret Mother's Day shop. We decided that a Mother's Day shop would give the opportunity for children to buy a surprise gift for their special person on Mother’s Day. The Friends decorated the DT room as can be seen in the picture to enhance the experience for the children. We were overwhelmed by it's success and the team experienced what Santa's elves must feel like in the run up to Christmas. We wrapped over 600 gifts! I'm sure many of you would have received these gifts and enjoyed your surprises. Thank you to everyone that donated items to the Bags2School collection. Last Summer saw the chicken run being built and completed and now our four chickens have finally arrived(purchased/support by the Friends). The Friends latest venture is producing and selling the hand made planters which are on display outside of school. On behalf of the Friends and school I would like to thank Sydnehams Building Merchants for their continued support of our school for donating the wood (previously for our chicken run and vegetable beds) for our planters and Mr Andy Brignell for giving his time to make them. In the Summer term we are planning a number of events including a coffee morning, a community event where families will be invited in to help develop our next green space outside the music room and the Summer Fayre. Full details to follow. The Friends are busy working hard planning the Summer Fayre. Every year this has been organised by a very small group and last year was our most successful. We would really like to build on this but we need help! Before, on and after the event. We really need support from you! The biggest impact that you could have is to offer half an hour to an hour on the day to assist with a stall. If you can not make it on the day then maybe you could help the night before to set up, children welcome and pizza included! It's a family affair. If anyone works for a company that does £4£ such as Barclays Bank please get in touch as this is a match for match on our fundraising if you can assist with a stall. This term we have raised £150 for Bags2School, £200 from movie night and nearly £600 from the Mother's Day shop. All funds are being raised to develop the outdoor play and green areas around our school. Don't forget our toy, book and textile appeal! Drop your items in anytime. Please contact us on [email protected] if you have any queries.

The Friends wish you a Happy Easter holiday.

Ms Allen

Friends Association:

September 2013 my daughter Olivia joined Oakdale Junior School. My daughter Sadie (adult) was interested in joining the Friends

Association so dragged me along to their first meeting. I have to say I was reluctant to join, mainly because I have never been involved in

a school nor did I know anyone, members or staff. However, from that meeting I have never looked back.

I started as a member of the Friends and quickly realised that all the fundraising and organising of events was run by a very small

dedicated team of parents. They were all very welcoming and since my whole family have become involved in the Friends. Gaining an

insight to school life made me appreciate that giving a small amount of time here and there could make a real difference to the children’s

wellbeing and learning within school life.

Over the past 18 months my volunteer work expanded. Being a volunteer is not just fundraising and planning events, there are so many

other ways you can be involved. I now listen to and assist 12 children a week read, I help out with administration such as uniform, lost

and found property and help run after school activities such as Lego club. I am responsible for organising and running the healthy snack

trolley at morning break with the assistance of other volunteers and more recently I have become involved in the caring of Oakdale’s

four chickens.

In September 2014 I was elected Vice chairperson of the Friends, and my husband Andy is now the Treasurer.

When Olivia joined Oakdale I never envisaged that I would become so involved in school life. As a parent I have seen the impact and

benefits volunteer work can bring to the children. I feel privileged to work with the children, parents and staff at Oakdale and enjoy being

part of the school community. I would recommend anyone who can spare anytime to become involved in this friendly environment,

whether it is reading, helping with art, cooking, clubs or assisting me with the snack trolley.

If you would like to know more about being a volunteer please contact me on [email protected] or pop into school for a chat.

Mrs Carol Brignell.

mailto:[email protected]

oakdale post: easter 2015

Documents