The children of Lower Kindergarten at Oaklands raised over £500 for Children in Need in  November by selling home baked cakes and wearing their spotty pyjamas for the day. Thanks to all parents and children.

2C and 2S put on separate performances of ‘Billy the Bus’. The children were fully involved with preparation for the play including the design of the back cloth. Congratulations on two very good performances.

During the Spring term, children in Years 3 to 6 knitted squares to post to South Africa.  The squares were due to be sewn into blankets for AIDS orphans all over Southern Africa.  We posted off 10 boxes of squares amounting to nearly 2000 squares.  It takes about 49 squares to make each blanket.

Recently we received two letters of thanks from two different charities who benefitted from our squares, and a photo of a bus of 30 children, some of whom we helped with our contribution.

We would like to extend a huge thanks to all our lovely knitters and to Alyson Rees who helped organise the postage.

In March, Year 5 visited Bancroft's School for their Science & Engineering Fair.  We had a most instructive and entertaining morning learning about Senior School Science.  One of our girls bravely volunteered to be blindfolded and to sniff various boys!  The point was a serious one and we learnt that animals use pherenomes for various purposes, including letting their young know when to feed, and finding a mate.  She chose the boy wearing Lynx aftershave!  We also learned that sound can travel down a string with cardboard cups at each end, strung the whole length of the Great Hall. 

The Chemistry Lab. was the highlight of the visit, with exciting bangs, smells and flames.  Chemicals which react with one another were mixed to thrilling effect and two six formers assisted the chemistry teacher most efficiently.  We then visited the Biology Lab. and chose to either plant up a seedling or to make a bug badge.  At the end of our morning we made rockets and fired them onto the cricket pitch.  An exciting introduction to senior science with two hundred pupils from various local schools attending.

The whole school took part in a Hindu Day - it was a fantastic day which was led by parents and included 4 different assemblies.  The children dressed in Hindu costume and tasted traditional foods.  Other activities included face painting, playing the drums, colouring Rangoli patterns, and learning about Hindu Gods. Parents also helped to dress both the children and the teachers in costume.
 

In October we were delighted to welcome Forest School’s Chamber Orchestra to Oaklands. The first part of the afternoon was a workshop involving both orchestras, followed by a concert given to Years 2 – 6. During the concert the pupils from Forest played music by Vivaldi featuring two trumpets, a vocal duet from Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel” and a piece called “Beach Buggy” which featured a very large tuba!

Our Oaklands violin section then stood up and played “Hiding in the Long Grass” accompanied by the Forest pupils – they played beautifully and received a great round of applause. The afternoon’s concert was rounded off by both orchestras playing together,The Titanic Theme. The combined forces made a fabulous sound together and everyone listening agreed that it was a most enjoyable and inspirational occasion. Many thanks to Forest for bringing their pupils over and we hope we can to do it again!

In September Years 3 & 4 enjoyed two days of challenging activities and an overnight camp on the school field.  The pupils said they enjoyed putting up their tents and serving dinner and the problem solving activities and games.  They got slightly wet but had a great time.