Oaklands News

Community Unity Opportunity

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From the Headteacher’s desk

Lead Stories

From the Headteacher 2

A Million Buttons

Update

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Work Experience Student reports

4-5

Comenius Trip Visit to Italy

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Challenge Week Reports from the week

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Young Carers Report from festival

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Street Sense Group in school

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The Class of 2012 Goodbye Year 11

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Duke of Edinburgh Expeditions

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Enterprise Week Student activity

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Language Leaders Students involved with Year 6

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‘Jubilympics’ Celebrations in school

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Year 12 Physics success with Astrium

Dates for next year

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Battlefields Trip History report

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Attendance Every day matters

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Leavers Fond farewells

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Open Evening 24

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No doubt many of you will have picked up in the media that there will be a resurgence in the teaching of gram-mar, punctuation and spelling in schools, - not that it ever went away at Oaklands. One aspect of our lan-guage that I often see taught is metaphors and similes. A simile is a comparison using the word ‘like’ or ’as’ and a metaphor describes something unrelated by drawing a similar comparison. As we approach the Olympics our assemblies in school are full of comparisons between the aspirations for our students and the Olympic and Paralympic values.

Comparisons can be dangerous as they are a relative measure: how often do we compare ourselves against other people? We lose sight of the notion of personal best. We are pressurized, through media portrayal, to be the same as or better than others.

Well, it can be quite liberating if we take a step back and acknowledge that some people will do things better than us and accept that God made us unique and for a rea-son. With this thought we move from comparing or judg-ing ourselves relative to another, to being absolute. It is the absolute measure that is important in the eyes of God.

We are what we are for a reason and God wants us that way. At the end of a very busy term where we have been formed by our experience, let’s ask for the grace to see ourselves as He sees us. In the words of St. Cath-erine of Siena, “If you are who you should be, you will set the world on fire.”

Busy Year

Throughout the year a large number of students have been involved in the extra curricular life of the school. I would like to express my thanks to the staff who work tirelessly to provide the extras that enrich the experience of students at the school. Over the summer we have stu-dents and staff visiting Borneo and Iceland, please keep them in your prayers. If you have followed Oaklands News over the year you will have read about the numer-ous and varied range of activities and events that have taken place. I was very pleased to see the large num-

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Since our interview with BBC South Today on 19th June we are now close to our 1,000,000 button target. We are really grateful to everyone who has been involved in the project so far. Shortly we will be visiting the company who we hope will supply the tube in which the buttons will be displayed. We have yet to finalise the design for the memorial; however, we are certain that we want it to be for the community, as the community have been responsible for donating the buttons. We are quite clear about this. This needs to be bigger than just Oaklands if it is to have an impact beyond the school. We want other schools and groups to come to Oaklands to see what we have done. When I was in Year 6 in my primary school I would have been inspired to see our collec-tion of buttons, I hope other children will have that chance.

Over the next few months we are go-ing to finalise the design and purpose. Mr Sumba, our teacher, has said that he wants the students to steer the project. By September we will be able to share the design with you and then the process of finding all the materials will start.

Alice Windebank 10 St. Vincent

A Million Buttons Update Students

bers of students taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme (See page 15). My thanks to Judith Hoar and her team for making this happen.

Student Success

It has been a pleasure this year to receive students who have made exceptional pro-gress in the classroom, overcome adversity or represented the school. It has been a de-light to write home to over 180 families offer-ing congratulations and recognising their child’s endeavours at school. Our statistical analysis also shows that student behaviour at Oaklands is at a very high level. I am also pleased, that despite the hard economic cli-mate, students who left last year continue in education employment and training.

Charity

The work undertaken for CAFOD has been exceptional, over £10,000 has been raised by the school community, alongside over £2000 for other local charities. In the Au-tumn we will update you with the progress of

the project in Korogocho. Our Genocide memo-rial Buttons Project has just about reached its target, (see above) the students involved with this have some definite ideas as to how this should progress in the autumn.

New Bishop

I am sure, like the school, you have been wait-ing for the appointment of a new bishop to Portsmouth. Mgr Philip Egan will be the 8

th

Bishop of Portsmouth. His ordination will occur towards the end of September. We look for-ward to welcoming our Bishop-elect to Oak-lands. Please hold him in your prayers.

Finally

Please take time to read this packed edition of Oaklands News, the term dates for 2012-13 are contained within. Thank you for your prayers, support and encouragement over the last year.

Matthew Quinn, Headteacher

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Oliver Latta and James Watson spent their Work Experience at David Lloyd in Port Solent. This is what they said about their experience. I have spent my Work Ex-perience at David Lloyd Gym in Port Solent. The hours were varied, on some occasions I have had to be in at 8:00 am and depend-ing upon the routine, I fin-ished as late as 5:30. Work experience makes you real-ise that working for a living is harder than it looks. To the club members it all looks very calm, but behind the scenes everyone is working very hard to give the members the best pos-sible experience. Over the week I have experienced a variety of activities; I have been up in the gym, shad-owing a personal trainer, I have helped out around the pool. (I was surprised that every half an hour they had to check the chlorine lev-els), I was also fortunate enough to help out with a swimming lesson. I have served at the food and bev-erage counter taking food out, wait and serve custom-ers and clear tables. The team at David Lloyd take pride in their customer ser-vice, for me this meant I had to be as friendly and welcoming as possible. One task I was given was answering the phone, this was not as easy as I thought it would be, particu-larly when members were enquiring about member-ship. When I was unable to deal with the query I put the

Year 10 Work Experience Students

member on hold and put the call through to the cor-rect department. I was apprehensive at the beginning of the work placement but it has been an exciting experience. Not only is David Lloyd a great gym it is a fantastic place to work, the staff have been very helpful, kind and sup-portive. I have definitely de-veloped my people skills during the week. Olli Latta 10 St. Martin I also had a placement at David Lloyd, this was my second experience follow-ing a week at Lift Master in Alton. I have been at David Lloyd now for 2 days. Yes-terday morning I started on the food and beverage counter, this taught me about the importance of customer service, you have to be polite. I had to serve the food and clear tables.

One of the first activities was the Health and Safety Brief-ing; they taught me what to do in an emergency, for ex-ample, fire, or if a customer had an injury. Today I have been up in the gym, shadow-ing a personal trainer. The trainer was delivering a fit-ness programme. This after-noon I will be going into re-ception. I have enjoyed both experi-ences and have leant a lot about the world of work. Both placements have been very rewarding. Of the two, the experience at David Lloyd has provided the most variety. The world of work is different to school because you mix with other adults and are therefore treated like an adult and are expected to behave and respond like all the other employees. The hours are longer and I am tired when I get home. James Watson 10 St. Clare

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Esme Scott, St. Margaret, spent her Work Experience with the National Trust at Uppark House and Garden, South Harting, near Petersfield. Here are some of her comments on her

experience.

I chose to come to Uppark because I am thinking about going into conserva-tion as a career. Uppark seemed at-tractive because the National Trust is such a major player in the field of con-servation.

I was nervous as I walked up the drive to the house for the first time but the big smile of the House Steward as she opened the door put me right at ease, despite then spending the rest of the morning looking at health and safety issues! Since the house was open dur-ing the afternoon I took the opportunity to look around it in detail. In particular, I was asked to compile a report relat-ing to what children and young people experience when visiting. The Trust is currently focusing on this area.

Every morning I cleaned items of value with conservators, then in the afternoon I was introduced to a range of tasks including dusting the frame of a painting, answering visitor questions, researching the Trust’s profile on social networking and compiling graphs on light levels and relative humidity. I was privileged to spend time surveying Uppark’s print collection [see picture] in depth and detail to look for evidence of peeling. It is only on show to the public once a month.

Working for the National Trust is not about the money! I discovered that those who work at Uppark do so because they love what they do, the people they work with and are passionate about the col-lection. It is completely different to the commercial sector and appeals to the type of person who cares more for heritage than money.

My experience has inspired me to follow my aspirations to go into the world of conservation. It has been a very broad experience and I was sur-prised how close I was allowed to be to the artefacts. In the future I hope to take advantage of training pro-grammes that the National Trust is currently developing for young peo-ple.

Esme was asked by the National Trust to write a blog on her experi-ences. Watch out for this on the Up-

park Blog site!

http://upparkgarden.wordpress.com/

Year 10 Work Experience Students

Congratulations to Ciaran Baird of 10 St. Stephen who successfully fended off over 70 other gifted and talented Year 10 stu-dents to win the annual South Downs College Poetry Competition for Schools. Entrants, who came from schools across Portsmouth and South Hampshire, were invited to submit a poem on the theme of “Paradise” allow-ing them to explore a variety of re-sponses. Ciaran’s entry was judged to be the best and was commended by the judges for his “quality of thought and level of skill”. Ciaran can now bask in the glory of having his poem published in the in the annual poetry anthology and, more materi-ally, was rewarded with the winner’s prize of a cheque for £50. Well done Ciaran!

Bard of Year 10 Mr Adam

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Day 1. Tuesday, 29th May We are off! Finally, after months of antici-pation the day has come when we travel to Italy. I am so excited! I can’t wait to see Mattia, Francesco and Alessandro. Hope-fully I will learn some Italian, learn more about their culture and best of all, eat their

food. pizza and pasta :) Joe Walsh

After leaving school at 11:00 o’clock we started a three hour journey to the airport, stopping twice for a break. It was my first time on a plane so I didn’t know what to expect. I nearly left my passport at security check and nearly forgot my bag in duty free. We queued for the plane for about an hour, then I got

onto my first flight. The landing and takeoff were fine. I then met Francesco and went to his house. By Joe Hurd.

I was so excited because I knew that I was going to share this wonderful, educational and eye opening experience with my best friend Sophie! I can’t wait till I meet my host and her fam-ily - she seems very nice. by Martha Noble

Day 2. Wednesday, 30th May Wow! Last night I met my family - they are lovely! We went to see some shops and then bought pizza. I had Margarita. Sebastian

(the father) taught me how to eat it. Today, we got up at 6:30 am and had some nutella on bread, then we said goodbye to the mum, walked to the bus (we were the first on). When we got to school, we got onto a double decker - that was very nice! Whilst on the bus, we told our tales about our evenings. by Verity Flood

We drove to Foggia, an alternative energy farm. There, we learned about solar panels and wind turbines. After, we went to Castle del Monte, had lunch, then looked inside the 12th century castle. It is an amazing building and I bought a souvenir for my parents. I spent the rest of the afternoon with Davide’s cousin, who has a degree in English. We looked around Trani, including the cathedral, castle, then had an amazing ice-cream in the square. At 8:30 pm we walked down into Trani and had a pizza with Joe, Azzurra, Sophie and Martha and their partners. It was a great day!. by Liam Colclough

So far on this trip, I have learnt a lot about Italian cul-ture, their language and alternative energy. by Joe Walsh

Day 3. Thursday, 31st May Today we went to a farm to learn about agritourism and the importance of local food. We made our own mozzarella and went through all the different stages, including milking a cow.... by hand. I was the first to volunteer and it was amazing!. by Molly Edge

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Comenius Trip Students

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We then visited Alberobello. We saw special houses with dome shaped roofs. They were made out of stone so that when the tax collector came they could take them down because houses without roofs did not pay tax. by Verity

Flood

Day 4. Friday, 1st June Today, we visited their school, and sat in on a Biology lesson, which was very interesting. After that, we put to-gether a presentation on the meaning behind the Comen-ius project. At the beginning of the presentation our part-ners had to give some facts about us and it surprised me how much my partner knew about me! It was nice to hear

everybody’s interesting facts. In the afternoon we had a ‘treasure hunt’ around Trani and found out many interesting facts about the beautiful city.

That evening the teachers organised a disco on the beach. The venue was beautiful and the party was even better than the one we prepared in England.” By Azzurra Moores

Day 5. Saturday, 2nd June I woke up at 5am and got dressed. I finished packing everything and said a sad goodbye to Mery’s family. Mery’s dad drove me to school

and we said goodbye! :( We got on the coach and set off for the airport. by Rosie Dean

I hope I can go back to Italy soon to see Miriam, her friends and family. When I get home, I will put my pictures on Facebook and add all the Italians I am not yet friends with. I cannot wait until Miriam comes to England in the summer!!! by Hayley Butler

Once I got home I was glad to see my Mum, but I do miss everyone and I look forward to going back. by Martha Noble This project is also important as it is our gen-eration who will have to sort out the great mess of global warming and through this trip we now know how. by Joe Walsh

Thanks to Mrs Broadway, Mrs De Luca and Mrs McConn-Finch.

Linguistic Olympiad Mrs Corker

Earlier this year, 23 students from Years 8 to 12 en-tered the national heats of the Linguistic Olympiad. There are two tiers to this compe-tition: Foundation and Advanced. All 23 of our students entered the Ad- v a n c e d tier. The most successful nat iona l ly then compete at an international level. The nature of the competition is to test linguistic ability through ‘code-breaking’ and logic exer-cises using obscure or dead languages. This year was even more successful for our stu-dents, with more awards being gained even though the number of entrants has trebled na-tionally over the last two years. 1100 students entered across the country and the following students were in the top 200 in the country:

Esme Scott 10MG achieved 78/95 = Silver Award Joe Hurd 8VP achieved 74/95 = Silver Award James Tizzard 11TE achieved 74/95 = Sil-ver Award George West 11TE achieved 73/95 = Bronze Award Hannah Homer-Ward 10CL achieved 67/95 = Bronze Award Esme was very close to the Gold Award, which would have placed her in the top 65! So, if fancy your skills as a code breaker...see Mrs Corker

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Year 7 Creative Challenge Students

“We are but stuff that dreams are made on, and our little lives are

rounded with a sleep” after this exhilarat-ing week we think everybody needs a good lie down (especially the teachers!). As you know, the first week of July was Challenge Week for everyone but we’re going to tell you about Year 7. The task for Year 7 was, within a school week (not including Friday), to put on a production of ‘The Tempest’ by William Shake-

speare. Year 7 were split into 10 groups and given one scene each. Why don’t you have a look at our diary?

Monday: As a group we looked at our scene and read out how some lines might be spoken. Now it’s time for some... ZUMBA! We learnt some Zumba steps and a dance that we would perform to our parents on Friday. The Tempest was set in the Middle Ages where they did a lot of calligraphy so we learnt how to write in

that style. Afterwards we put them all in Prospero’s (an enchanter in the play) magic spell book! We then had the Oddsocks Theatre Company come in and show us how we could change a boring scene into a good or better scene. They asked us what they should be doing so the end product was our idea.

Tuesday: In Art we created costumes, crowns, ruffles, leaves for trees and blankets, all for our play. We then went back to our class-rooms and re-hearsed the

scenes that we were going to perform. We went to drama and played lots of warm-up games. On other days we also watched The T e m p e s t and acted it out our-s e l v e s . T h e n

we re-

hearsed the songs Fame and Proud in Music.

Wednesday: We rehearsed our scenes in our classrooms. We then went and prac-ticed some lifts with Mr Janes. One of them was the tyre lift. Other groups that had not done any Drama or Music then went to those lessons and others re-hearsed.

Thursday: Today we had the dress re-hearsal. Some of us went with Laura, from Chichester Festival Theatre, to see if we could put some movement into our scenes and also learnt the HACKER which the New Zealand rugby team per-form before a match.

Friday: We had one final dress rehearsal before the performance everyone had been waiting for, and we rehearsed with costumes, props and microphones. Sud-denly... it was time... for ... The Tempest! The show went brilliantly and we per-formed the two songs that we learnt ear-lier in the week and performed our ZUMBA dance. For the rest of the day we relaxed and watched the rest of our films.

“Wow Solenn wasn’t that a tiring week?” “I thought it was fun and I can’t wait for next year!”

By Jess Fitzjohn

and Solenn Margottin 7 St. Clare

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Year 8 St Aignan Trip Students

During Challenge week 2012, a group of year eight students spent a week in the French town of St Aignan in the Loire Valley. Leaving early Fri-day morning and travelling by Brittany Ferries, it was a great experience which taught us the history of Paris, how various types of wine are made and how we should try the wide range of foods we were served during our

stay. Another lesson taught was how to spend money wisely, as there was a lot to buy!

During the seven days, we learnt many things, we swam at the local pool, visited a Trog-lodyte museum, where we learnt about silk production. We tasted wine and enjoyed a boat trip down the river Seine and we shopped until our wallets and purses were empty! We stayed in the town’s ‘centre de séjour’ where we were well looked after by the centre staff. Who cooked for us on a daily basis. We visited the chateau of Valençay. This is a trip of great value which the Year 8s will remem-ber and (in my opinion) is definitely worth the money.

Many thanks to Mr Shaw, Mrs Eyre, Miss Ferrari and Mr Wyatt who kindly gave up their time to accom-pany us.

Cebastian Nunez—Year 8

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Year 8 Innovation & Enquiry Students

This year Challenge Week was a great experience and the best yet. On the first day of Challenge Week I went to Thorpe Park. I went on Saw ,the Swarm, Colossus, Nemesis inferno and Stealth. My favour-ite ride was Stealth, as it went really fast and went very high. However, it was over very quickly because

of the speed of the roller coaster.

On day two of Challenge Week I did a Tech Inquiry Challenge. I chose to do the food brief so my group and I made Colossus cakes which were very nice. We then put our business idea to the Dragons but did not succeed in getting to the final.

On day three I did the Science CSI activity in which my group had to crack codes, retrieve evidence and find out the murderer.

On day four we completed the Maths Inquiry Chal-lenge in which we cracked codes and finished our poster on the crime and the murderers. The mur-derers were Mr Mathews and Mrs Cartwright.

On day five there were lots of different activi-ties like a marble run and making a code breaking machine before seeing the final of Dragons Den. Challenge Week taught me a lot of life skills. It was a week never to for-get. Ted Wells 8 St. Margaret

The omens were not good on Monday morning it was already raining when we got on the coach. We

arrived at Tile Barn in the New Forest late morning. When we arrived we were told what we would be doing for the first day. On Monday I participated in Camp Craft, planning a short hike and first aid, we also played football. On the first evening I helped cook dinner which was Spaghetti Bolognaise, it was so nice I ate 5 portions! By the time we all retired to bed we were all rather wet and damp. On Tuesday we did a short hike of approximately 10 miles, this was difficult because of the weather and tested our spirits. However, it was character building. On Wednesday, I participated in kayaking, archery and rock climbing on an artifi-cial wall. The instructor was ‘awesome’ and gave us all lots of confidence. On Thursday we completed a long hike, this took most of the day. We saw a lot of wildlife including deer, the weather improved; I actually got sunburnt, probably the only time this year! In the evening we held a talent show, I sang (very brave), other students were signers and magicians. Friday we packed up and came home. The weather did not have an impact on my enjoy-ment, I learnt a lot of new things, I managed to complete activities that I did not think I could have completed at the beginning of the week. I would thoroughly recom-mend the experience to any stu-dent in the future.

John Clarke 9 St. Dominic

Year 9 Camp Students

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Year 9 The Island Students

The Year 9 Challenge Week theme was The Is-land. We were given a brief where we were on a cruise ship sailing to New York. Suddenly the ship sunk and we ended up on a desert island. We were forced to work as a team to start a new civili-sation. There was no chance of rescue.

On Monday we were briefed about the week ahead and we were di-vided into groups. The first day was about getting to know our teams as we were mixed up across the year group. We created our own identity documents, we named the island and started work on the basics of how to survive in a hostile environ-ment.

Our spiritual health on the Island was important. We all know about Christianity, but what about other faiths and traditions? So on Tuesday, we visited different places of worship; we went to Southampton and visited a Hindu and Sikh temple to give us inspi-ration, because not all the survivors would be Christians. On Wednesday we went to the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum. We learnt about how people with primitive technology built houses. This was useful for the Island because our construction tech-niques would be quite basic. On Thursday we developed our Island, this included writing a constitution, a national anthem, drawing a map and designing a flag. We began to in-

clude and incorporate what we had learnt earlier in the week. On Friday, despite the torrential rain (in fact it felt like we were on island in the middle of a tropical storm.), we had to build a shelter. We were given a pack of basic survival equipment, this included string and a waterproof sheet and six bamboo canes. We had to forage for the rest of our materials, so we were set lose in the woods around the school. We found branches and leaves for thatching and some old doors. Outside of our camp we built a spiritual centre. Even though it rained all day we had a BBQ, where we cooked sausages.

Overall the week was enjoyable, it was an oppor-tunity to work with other students who we do not normally mix with. I had my eyes opened to differ-ent religions and customs.

For me personally, I learnt that we do not need material possessions to make a community. You can survive on the basics!

Azzurra Moores 9 St. Clare

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Over the weekend of 29th June to 1st July the Oaklands Young Carers Group attended the Young Carers Festival at Fairthorne Manor. It was our second visit to the annual festival and a welcome return fol-lowing a superb weekend last June. This year, fifteen students accompanied by five members of staff, were lucky enough to be part of what was a hugely enjoyable and well deserved weekend. Our group was just a small part of the festival, which welcomed over 1800 young carers, who travelled from as far as Kirklees in West Yorkshire. The festival offers young carers a weekend of fun and relaxation in the company of other young people who have the role of caregiv-ers for their loved ones. Once again we were treated to an abundance of activities at Fairthorne Manor. Young carers are given the chance to try their hand at such activities as rock climbing, abseiling and kayaking, all un-der the supervision of trained staff and volunteers from the YMCA and The Children’s Society. Eve-nings are filled with colour and music as the excellent radio station, YCFM, puts on a late-night disco to accompany the thrilling fairground rides. On Friday evening there was a stunning firework display to welcome everyone, ensuring that the festival literally kicked off with a bang! The Young Carers group here at Oaklands has grown to unprecedented numbers over the past twelve months and it is a continued pleasure for myself and the other volunteering members of staff to be but a small part of the support group for these most admirable of young people. We are expect-ing numbers to swell again for the next academic year and the challenge of raising funds to ensure we can take as many young carers as possible to experience next year’s festival will be greater than ever. If you would like to support the Young Carers Group, please contact the school for details of how to do so. More information about Young Carers in the UK can be found at www.youngcarers.net.

Young Carers Mr Jones

On Monday 16th July stu-dents from

the Sixth Form had a great day hosting the famous ‘Oaklands Penny Fayre’ for Years 7-10. This year the Fayre was held in the hall. The stalls had something for every-one including the classics of ‘Hook the Duck’ and ‘Penny Roll’. Many of the Year 7s enjoyed the new experience. The stalls were crowded all morning with eager stu-dents: ‘Splat the Rat’ was very popular par-ticularly as the rats held pictures of staff!!

Although students had lots of fun, let’s re-member that the Fayre raised over £420 for the ‘Faith in Football’ charity.

Penny Fayre

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It was the first day back from Challenge Week and we were lucky enough to see a theatre company perform a

show on Road Safety.

It was very good because it was funny and everything in it had a meaning. It was amaz-ing that each of the actors played three different parts. It was really surprising at the end when they told us the play was based on a true story. I thought that it was good that they made it funny because if it were not humorous, it would have been boring and no one would take the message from it. The message that I learnt was ‘always concentrate at the roadside’.

Monica Baird 7 St. Margaret

Today, Monday July 9th was a

surprise. After we had re-ceived our Tutor Awards a theatre company , who had come from Liverpool, put on a production on Road Safety. It was funny and realistic, that is what made it so powerful. It was based on a real story in which some teenagers were messing about and as a result a life was lost. The messing around turned into a serious event. The actors did a really good job of showing how a family is affected after losing a member to an accident. It taught me that it’s not just the driver who causes accidents; it can be the pedestrians not paying attention.

Joseph Marinaccio 7 St. Margaret

The Monday after Challenge Week Years 7 and 8 were able to watch a theatre company per-formance. It was about Road Safety and how accidents happen. I thought it was excellent be-

Between 2005 and 2010 there were over 2500 child road accident casualties in Hampshire.

12-19 year olds are more likely than

other road users to be killed or seri-

ously injured in a

road incident

Worryingly, 42% of Capital FM listeners in Hampshire aged 12 - 16 who were surveyed, admitted to 'sometimes' using a mo-bile phone whilst crossing the road. With almost 1 in 5 teenag-ers reporting they've been involved in a road accident or "near miss" on their way home from school.

Why is this? It is likely that you are travelling more independently now and as a result you can be easily distracted by your friends or hand-held devices. Talking and messing about with friends, texting, talking on a phone and listening to music are all dis-tractions that make pedestrians less safe.

Visit the Hampshire Website for advice on how to stay safe on the roads. http://www3.hants.gov.uk/streetsense

Street Sense Students

cause they got our attention by adding humour. At the end they told us that this was based on a true story and they gave us impor-tant information about safety. Leaving the hall it left me thinking about what they told us and how dramatic and realistic their per-formance was.

Michaela Richards 7 St. Margaret

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The Class of 2012 Mr Quinn

Ending Year 11 is something we do in style at Oaklands. It starts before the examinations with the Year 11 Mass and tee shirt signing (See edition 386) this is always an emotionally charged day. Students then ‘knuckle down’ to their examinations.

The Prom The Prom is then a fitting end to all the hard work. As in pre-vious years, the Year 11 Prom was held at the Historic Dockyard in Portsmouth. A team of students led by staff have been working for a long time to arrange the evening.

Unicycles a first this year! The evening started at about 6:30; students were dropped off in a variety of different vehicles, from stretch limousines, London double decker buses, classic cars to top-of-the-range 4x4s. This year’s unusual transport to the event in-cluded a first for Unicycles. The students were almost unrecognisable in their glamorous ball gowns and tailored suits. Fortunately, the weather was kind, and students could linger on the red carpet for a celebrity style photo shoot. After photographs had been taken by a sea of proud parents and school staff alike, students sat down to a three-course meal and later danced the night away. The students behaved impeccably, they were a credit to themselves, their families and the school. Mrs Moya Cozens, Head of Year who will be retiring this year, said, “It was such a big night and a real treat seeing all the students dressed up. I genu-inely didn't recognise some of them, it was a complete transformation. I am very proud of them all."

Journey into adulthood

The Prom is an important event in the lives of stu-dents and for many of them it is one of the events that marks the start of the jour-ney into adulthood. The Prom is a fitting tribute to the class of 2012; well done to all the students for giving the evening a special atmosphere, you deserve nothing less.

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Since last Octo-ber we have had

eight participants from Year 12 aiming to complete their Silver Award and sixty partici-pants from Years 10 and 11 attempting the Bronze Award. The Award consists of four sections (Volunteering, Physical, Skills and Expedition). All participants were expected to complete three sections (Volunteering, Physical and Skills) in their own time. It has been encouraging to see the range of activities undertaken from volunteering at the local hos-pice to helping out in charity shops to improving in a range of sports from football to dance to martial arts and learning a musical instrument, knitting and gaining leadership/

coaching qualifications.

The Expedition section entailed the participants attending a number of training sessions including how to pack a rucksack, First Aid and emergency procedures, campcraft, navi-

Duke of Edinburgh Silver and Bronze Award Groups

gation and route planning. All this led to the prac-tice expeditions in May. The Sil-ver groups spent three days out in the New Forest practising their skills while the Bronze groups stayed closer to home for two days on the South D o w n s . H a v i n g mastered

the neces-sary skills to

be self suffi-c i e n t t h e groups were ready to embark on the assessed expeditions. The two Silver groups

and four of the Bronze groups undertook their expeditions last weekend in what must be some of the most challenging weather conditions for July on record. The Silver expedi-tion took place on the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset although sadly the group did not get the op-portunity to admire much of the natural beauty of the area while the Bronze groups were again located in the South Downs area. All the groups passed with flying colours and are to be congratulated on maintaining their good humour throughout a very soggy weekend. If nothing else they all learned the importance of good wet weather gear and the need for strong plastic bags to protect the contents of their rucksacks! The other five Bronze groups are undertaking their expedition this coming weekend and we hope for an im-proved weather front for them! These expeditions could not take place without the assis-tance of a group of dedicated volunteers who have given their time freely to attend courses to gain the necessary qualifications as well as training the par-ticipants in expedition skills and supervising the walks and expeditions. Continued Page 16

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16 Community Unity Opportunity

groups did not declare their true profits to avoid tax. (There may have to be a ‘Leverson’ style enquiry!) Con-gratulations must go to the hot dog business (Ella Pafford, Olivia Mead, Sian Madden and Robyn Kin-neavy) which gained the award for the most profit. On the whole we all had a great time and learnt a lot about running our own busi-nesses. Well done to all teams who competed

The winning team writes

In Business Studies everyone had to get into groups and decide on an idea to take forward to Enterprise Week.

We all had to develop three ideas; and evaluate the advantages and disadvan-tages of them all and then choose the best idea. The majority of the groups sold food or sweets and some provided a service, for example, car washing.

As a group we decided on Hot Dogs. This was based upon our pri-mary research. During the week at break and lunch time we split into teams of two. One team would be making the hot dogs whilst the oth-ers would be selling them.

At the end of the week we had sold over 440 Hot Dogs with a revenue of £226. We made a profit of £166 once our 20% tax was paid and we had accounted for costs and stock.

Overall we had a successful week and were pleased to be awarded the winners prize, despite the problems of running out of stock and not having enough time to make the Hot Dogs.

Enterprise Week Students

2012 Enterprise Week for Year 10 Business students began on 18th of June with a wide variety of busi-nesses offering computer gaming, car cleaning, shakes, cakes, hot dogs and popcorn for sale. How-ever, our team thought it would be original and set up a photo key ring business. The business would focus on providing a memory of life at Oaklands presented in a key ring picture. On the first day we were very nervous and didn’t know how our product would be perceived - would people like it or would it be a failure? By the end of the day we had made a comfortable profit and felt more confident about the week to come. Sure enough we had a suc-cessful week and managed to win the award for the most Innovative business.

Up to 50% of all our profits were taken in tax (£310 in total) and this went to Fair Trade. However, we do sus-pect some unscrupulous

So special thanks to Mrs H Clarke, Mr D Drummond, Mr K Geddes, Mr P Hoar, Mrs G Martyn, Mr D Peake, Mrs S Richardson, Mrs N Riddle, Miss H Roberts, Mrs J Stirling, Mr P

Whelan, Mrs C Wise and Mr H Wrightson without whose support these activities could not take place. Finally, our sincere thanks to Mrs Judith Hoar who has co-ordinated the whole scheme this year.

It is hoped that the Silver group will complete their Award over the next academic year while a large number of the Bronze group are expected to complete their Award in the next few weeks. All participants are urged to upload their evidence as soon as possible so that their Award is com-pleted and can be forwarded to the Licensing Authority for final approval and accreditation.

Next year we are looking to recruit for the Bronze Award from the current Year 9 as well as for the Silver Award from those who have completed their Bronze Award and any direct entry participants from Year 12. If you are interested in taking part in the Award please read the Duke of Edin-burgh's Award noticeboard in the Hall foyer outside Mrs Oldroyd's office for further information and the dates of meetings to promote the Award.

D of E Continued Students

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17 Community Unity Opportunity

On 21st June, thirteen students from Years 9 and 10 taught thirty children in Year 6 from different primary schools. There were three languages that the chil-dren could choose to join in with: French, Spanish or Russian. The French group covered fashion, the Spanish group learnt about animals and the Russian group learnt how to say different types of food.

There were extra activities throughout the day including making nachos, pass the parcel and a prize giving at the end.

I was one of the leaders from the Spanish group along with Zoe, Amy and Luke. At the beginning the children made badges which they could decorate and introduced themselves in their chosen language. They learnt how to introduce themselves and simple but useful phrases such as good morning, thank you and goodbye. The group then learnt num-bers 1-10 and we had a competition to see how quickly each member of the group could repeat the numbers. The whole group seemed to en-joy the activity and used it again but with ani-mals.

Then it was time to go downstairs into B4 to make nachos! The group were keen to cook and it was a great success as all the dishes looked fantastic.

At lunch, the canteen had laid on a special international menu especially for the Lan-guage Leaders and everyone taking part. This consisted of lasagne, garlic bread and salad.

After lunch we had the prize giving ceremony with members of each group with the most stars awarded to them winning a flag of their chosen language group. Every participant received a certificate to commemorate their achievements. All the students said that they found the whole day very enjoyable.

Phoebe Meades, Year 9

On Thursday 21st June thirteen students,

three Year 9s and ten Year 10s bravely set

out to teach thirty Year 6 children the differ-

ent languages of Spanish, Russian and

French. Each language taught different top-

ics for the day: French taught fashion, Span-

ish taught animals and Russian taught food.

Language Leaders Students

The day consisted of two language sessions, one

learning and the other games. The Year 6 stu-

dents’ favourite part of the day was definitely the

nachos and the games even though a few of

them enjoyed everything. Sweets and stars were

awarded to the children who did well and at the

end of the day the children who got the most

stars won other awards. The day was about so-

cialising just as much as it was learning and the

students who taught had just as much fun as

Year 6s had learning.

Christhian Nunez – Year 9

The energy companies see the greatest number of incidents in-volving children with power lines

and substations over the summer holidays. This equipment is a necessary part of the community and countryside, essential to transport and bring-ing energy to homes and businesses. However, if care is not taken when near power lines and substations then children and adults can find

themselves in dangerous situations like these:

A fishing rod carried the wrong way can touch a power line Trying to retrieve a football from a substation

Flying kites near power lines

With the start of the summer holidays we would draw your attention to the Scottish and Southern Energy website www.sse.com selecting Corpo-rate Responsibility then Education and Safety Advice. Please keep yourselves safe this sum-

mer.

Take Care

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18 Community Unity Opportunity

‘Jubilympics’ Students

The school participated in the Havant Rotary Olympics be-tween 25th and the 29th June

2012.

To start the week, on Monday, Years 7,8 and 9 went into the hall for an Assembly with Mr Tindal. He talked about what part students would be playing in the Rotary Olympic Week. He gave us all the details of the Fun Run and the target that we were aiming for; we wanted to see how many times we could run, between Oaklands and the Olympic stadium in Stratford.

My year group, Year 8, participated during period 4. Fortunately there was no rain. I completed six laps of the track, other students managed eleven laps.

Over the rest of the week students were involved in many sports including Swimming, Hockey, Mountain Biking, Bench Ball. Athletics and Basketball. I was selected to play Hockey. On Thursday we left school at 9:15 and arrived at the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth where we went into the main hall for a talk on what would be happening across the day. We were then led out on to the Hockey pitch, we were given an area where we could place our kit. The rules were then described to us and, in particular, to the 10 minute games. We played seven games against other schools in the

Federation. Our team managed to win all the games, without dropping a point; we succeeded in winning Gold metals for the whole team. We ar-rived back at school early afternoon very proud of our achievements.

Our thanks to Havant Rotary Club for organising these games.

Ruben Shucksmith 8 St. Catherine

It was important for the school to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee, The Queen is very inspirational for children be-cause she has been our monarch for such a long time.

She is very influential and someone to look up to.

On 1st June we had our Year Assembly. Mrs Field recalled her memory of when she worked in Portsmouth at Knight and Lee and the Queen came to visit for her Silver Jubilee. Mrs Field said that as the Queen went down the street crowds were cheering and she watched from

a shop window.

After assembly all of Year 7 went out onto the sunken lawn, this was special because this is not normally somewhere we can go. We were each given a very tasty biscuit, they were all decorated in the colours of the Union Jack. Some people got into the spirit of the mo-

ment and put on Union Jack glasses. It was a very memora-

ble day.

Lydia Weedon 7 St. Dominic

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19 Community Unity Opportunity

Our full school uniform is available in Skoolkit in Market Parade, Havant. They also offer an online shop and the order is delivered by post to your home. We have a significant number of students from the Portchester/Fareham

areas and parents will be pleased to know that Skoolkit now stock our uniform in their Fareham branch also (23 Trinity Street). We hope parents will find this new arrangement much easier.

Some pre-shopping reminders:

Blazers – remember that the blazer is a compulsory school garment and must be worn to and from school. Please ensure your son/daughter is wearing it when they leave the house (and it is not rolled up in their school bag!). This must be purchased from Skoolkit or the OPA

Skirts – Skirts should be navy blue, with sewn down pleats all around. We face an ever-present battle with our female students regarding the length of their skirts. Many girls roll up their waistbands and this results in skirt lengths which are not appropriate for a mixed learning environment. Please help us to help you – check the waistband before the girls leave home.

Trousers – boys trousers should be navy blue formal tailored trousers. CHINOS OR OTHER CASUAL

STYLE TROUSERS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE.

Shoes – students are required to wear black flat proper

shoes; girls’ heels should be no more than two inches.

There has been a recent fashion of boys wearing black

plimsolls or canvas shoes – this is not acceptable and

contravenes the uniform regulations.

Oaklands Par-ents’ Associa-tion are eager to

increase their stock of uniform to sell and would welcome any dona-tions of Nearly New Uniform; they are particularly short of skirts at the moment. Donations of freshly laundered uniform can be left at Reception or in Student Services. The Nearly New Uniform is a valu-able source of income for the OPA (all monies raised through this are invested into school projects) and in these difficult financial times it is more important than ever. If you would like to make an enquiry about purchasing second hand uniform please send an email to: uni-form@oaklands.hants.sch.uk and a member of the OPA will contact you.

Nearly New

Uniform

To celebrate the Jubilee, the His-tory Department decided to create a time capsule. Rather than bury it outside in the garden (where we suspect other time capsules have been buried and forgotten) the deci-sion was made to brick it up in a wall in the White House. A commemora-tive plate covers the spot for future generations. The time capsule will be opened in 2052, 100 years after the Queen’s coronation. The capsule contains a number of items relevant to this generation including pictures of the school, music from the charts, the school Mission Statement, Strat-

egy and copies of the Oaklands News. If you are in Year 7 you will be 52 when it is opened,

if you are in Year 12 you will be 58, if you are over 50, best not think about it !!

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20 Community Unity Opportunity

Physics Success

Mrs Arthurs (Physics Teacher), Michael Tickell, Michael Weekes, Dylan Clarke, Callum Stirling and Gary Barrows (Engineer

from Astrium Ltd)

In May the Oaklands Engineering project team, comprising of four Physics A-level Year 12 stu-dents, presented their project, A Black Box for a Mars Probe, to a panel of engineers from indus-trial companies and the Royal Navy. We have received very positive feedback from the assess-ment panel about the performance of the team.

‘Quality of Verbal Presentation: One of the best presentations we have ever seen. It showed a clear understanding of the subject- great en-ergy and was well structured.’ Comments about the team included ‘clearly a very intelligent and enthusiastic team.’

We could not have succeeded without the sup-port and encouragement from our industrial link engineers Gary Barrows and John Lowdell from Astrium Ltd. Due to the exceptional quality of the project we have been invited to the regional heats of the Big Bang Fair.

Term Dates Mr Quinn

Term Dates 2012/2013

Autumn Term 2012

Monday 3rd September* to Friday 21st December

Half Term:

Monday 29th October—Friday 2nd November

Spring Term 2013

Monday 7th January to Thursday 28th March

Half Term:

Monday 18th—Friday 22nd February

Summer Term 2013

Monday 15th April—Tuesday 23rd July

Half Term:

Monday 27th—Friday 31st May

*Monday 3rd September is an Inset Day and the school will be closed. There will be a phased start for Years 7, 12 and 13 only on Tuesday 4th Sep-tember. All years will be in school on Wednes-

day 5th September 2012.

In addition, the school will be closed on the following days: Friday 28th September and Fri-day 21st December 2012 and Monday 22nd and Tuesday 23rd July 2013.

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21 Community Unity Opportunity

At 8.30am on Friday 22nd of June, forty-one budding historians from Years 9 and 10 set out on what would be an emotional adven-ture to the trenches and cemeteries of the

First World War in Belgium and France.

After a rough ferry crossing to Calais, we made our way to Ypres, Belgium, the base for the duration of our trip. On the way to the hotel we stopped off at Hill 62, Sanctuary Wood Mu-seum. During our visit to the museum we not only saw many of the weapons and uniforms associated with the First World War but also the remains of a muddy frontline trench sys-tem. It was interesting for us to see just how small and tight the trenches could be as well as how muddy and wet the trenches were.

In the late afternoon we arrived in the town of Ypres where we discovered that, Mr. ‘Taylor’ as the Belgians had welcomed him, had kindly arranged for a European Rally Car event to be held in the town centre, causing us to walk to our hotel. Taking advantage of the lovely weather, many of us got changed into our sum-mer clothes before making our way to a local restaurant. After dinner, we settled down for a spot of bowling at the local bowling alley before heading back to the hotel and bed.

After an early breakfast, we made our way to the Menin Gate. As all students looked on with shock and awe at the size of the gate and the number of soldiers from the British Empire whose names are commemorated on the walls at Menin, some began the search for their war relatives. After returning to the town centre, we collected Nick, our tour guide for the day.

Nick took us on a tour of the Ypres Salient. Our first stop was to an old field hospital around Essex Farm Cemetery. It was here that we learnt about the effects of a gas attack on sol-diers and of the Canadian Doctor, John

Battle Fields Trip Students

McCrae and the origins of his famous poem In Flanders Fields.

After Essex Farm we made a brief visit to Yorkshire Trench where we were made very aware never to cross Mrs. Cozens, unlike a local Belgian driver, before visiting Langemark, the largest German cemetery in Ypres and Tyne Cot, the largest British memorial. Langemark appeared more like one mass grave as the graves were low and dark giving a sense of shame. Whereas, at Tyne Cot the graves appeared tall and white giving a sense of pride and sacrifice. It was also interesting and emo-tional to hear stories of the soldiers being awarded the Victoria Cross whilst also seeing the geography of the battlefield for ourselves. During our stop at Tyne Cot, several more students successfully tracked down their relatives and paid their re-spects.

After dinner in the evening, we again returned to the Menin Gate to take our place for the Last Post Ceremony, during which six students were chosen to lay a wreath on behalf of all associated with Oaklands. It was a very different place to visit at night as all observed the si-lence impeccably despite

Continued page 22

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22 Community Unity Opportunity

many having a tear in their eye.

After an early breakfast and with the weather looking ominous we boarded our coach for the Somme and our eventual return journey to Calais. As the heavens opened we arrived in the town of Amiens where we collected our guide for the morning and began to experience the more conventional weather that the soldiers themselves would have experienced. After a brief visit to the mine crater at La Boisselle, we made our way to the largest British Cemetery in the region of the Somme, Thi-epval. Standing in the rain, we stood in silence attempting to understand the sheer size of the memorial at Thiepval whilst also hearing more about the Battle of the Somme from our guide. Afterwards, we moved to the Newfoundland Park Me-morial for the Canadian Soldiers at Beaumont Hamel where we once again experienced the geography of the battlefields and the close proximity of the opposing trenches before, for the final time, boarding our coach to return home

This trip really did bring history to life. It made the short distances that the hundreds of thousands of men would have died fighting for seem truly pointless. It also gave us a more in depth view on the ge-ography of the battlefields, the conditions the men had to live in and why the peace treaties after the First World War ultimately failed.

We would like to finish by thanking Mr. Tyler for his time and efforts in organising what was a truly great trip. We would also like to thank Mr Cunningham, Mrs. Cozens and Miss Sharma for giving up their weekend and accompanying us on the trip. Joe Walsh (9 St. Catherine) and John Clarke (9 St. Dominic)

Every Day Matters Mrs McConn-Finch

Question: What is the most effective way that

you can support your child through school?

Answer: Send them to school every day.

Research has confirmed that there is an undeni-able link between regular attendance and attain-ment; as a school we have always promoted the importance of good attendance. Recent Govern-ment changes focus also on Persistent Absenteeism (where a child’s attendance falls below 85%, which is the equivalent of missing approximately 25 days in school year – that is 5 weeks of school, almost a whole half-term!) We ask that you try, where possible, to follow these guidelines to ensure your child has optimum opportunities and development:

Do not book holidays in term time – the school does NOT authorise holidays (unless there are exceptional circumstances as defined by the Department of Education). If you have ex-tenuating circumstances please complete the Leave Of Absence form with details.

Try to make medical/dental appointments out of school hours

Phone or email school (absence@oaklands.hants.sch.uk) on the first day of an absence

Respond quickly to text messages requesting confirmation of an absence

Send a note in with your child on their first day back after an absence, outlining the reason

Attend the meetings requested by the Head of Year if your child is identified as a Persistent Absentee

Finally, be aware that research shows that an attendance rate of 90% is linked to one

whole grade of underachievement at GCSE.

Group Authorised Absence %

Unauthorised Absence %

Whole School

3.7

0.6

Year 7 3.4 0.4

Year 8 3.8 0.4

Year 9 4.4 0.5

Year 10 3.6 0.9

Year 11 3.1 0.9

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23 Community Unity Opportunity

A2 Level results will be available from 8:00 am on Thursday 16th August 2012 in the Sixth Form Block. AS Level results will be available from 10:00 am on Thursday 16th August 2012 in the Sixth Form Block. GCSE results will be available from 10:00 am on Thursday 23rd August 2012 in the Sixth Form Block.

Exam Result Dates

Working away in school, very often unseen by parents, is a team of Learning Support Assis-tants who help and support some of our most vulnerable students. At the end of this aca-demic year we are saying farewell to four members of that team who have been with us for various lengths of time, Miss Hannah Roberts (1 year), Mrs Laurel Cuffley (2 years), Mrs Sheryl Bunting (6 years) and Mr David Stretton (7 years). We wish Hannah and Sheryl the best of luck at University, Lau-rel good luck in the Primary phase and David a very well deserved retirement.

After eight years working as part of our Cater-ing team, Mrs Avril Berthoud leaves us to take up longer hours at a local care home. Everyone will miss seeing you in the Staff Room at breaktime Avril!

In September 2004 Mrs Moya Cozens joined Oaklands as a Head of Year, teaching His-tory, Law and more recently PDC. As an en-thusiastic Historian Mrs Cozens has enjoyed sharing the love of her subject with students leading trips to Fort Nelson, accompanying trips to Berlin, the Weald and Downland Mu-seum and the Belgian Battlefields. She has always fully supported Challenge Week activi-ties like Castle Building, Trash ‘n’ Fash and creating a new Island Life. As a committed Head of Year she has worked tirelessly to support and defend the interests of the stu-dents in her care. She leaves Oaklands on a high note following a very successful Year 11 Prom for a gentler pace of life in retirement.

Mrs Sue Field came to Oaklands in February 2001 as a trainee R.E teacher on the Gradu-ate Teacher Programme. Once fully qualified she quickly progressed in the Department be-coming Key Stage 3 Co-ordinator and leading various residential trips, not to mention the hundreds of boxes she organised for the Op-eration Christmas Child scheme over the years.

However, Mrs Field truly came into her own when she became Head of Year 7 in 2009. Since that time she has totally revolutionised the way in which Year 6 students are introduced to their new life at Oaklands. She and her team visit almost every Primary school to talk to staff and get to know each and every one of our new students prior to their starting with us, she has created new resources and systems which guide new students (and their parents and car-ers) through the huge step that is moving onto secondary school.

Under her guidance the institution of the Year 7 Teaching Mass came into being. With the help of our local Parish Priest, Father Kevin Bidgood, each Year 7 class is talked through every as-pect of the Mass as it is said which has in-formed and broadened their understanding. Mrs Field leaves Oaklands after eleven years to devote more time to caring for her family.

We thank all these colleagues for their con-

tribution to Oaklands, we will continue to re-

member them in our prayers and wish them

success and fulfilment in all they do in the

future.

Staff Leaving

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24 Community Unity Opportunity