Some of our students from Year 3 and 4 took part in Blackburn Speech and Drama Festival at the weekend and they all did exceptionally well and gained 1st place in the Group Choral Speaking 9 years and under competition. They had to perform 2 poems, Beautiful Soup by Lewis Carroll and Spring Morning by A. A Milne, both were recited beautifully and everyone did so well. The adjudicator of the competition commented on how the voices blended well together and there was excellent team work.
Year 4 celebrated their end of year tests and what better way than by making water rockets and taking them outside in the glorious sunshine to launch them. They learned about aerodynamics and the benefits of streamlining and how gas pressure causes the rocket to fire up into the sky. They were amazed at how high they went and we very nearly lost one on top of the large sycamore tree behind the all weather pitch. Our budding rocketeers are all reaching for the stars.
Year 2 have been studying and copying the work of the great artist Vincent Van Gogh.
They have enjoyed using different mediums to replicate his work in their own unique style.
From the results Year 2 have definitely got a few budding artists in the making.
Feel free to visit our gallery of pictures.
Year 2 have been studying life cycles in Science and have been observing caterpillars over the last few weeks. The children watched with excitement as the caterpillars got bigger and bigger before turning into pupa and hanging from the top of the container. We had to wait about 2 weeks before we saw any more changes but one day as we watched a beautiful butterfly emerged from it’s chrysalis and the children were amazed. We eventually had 4 butterflies and we fed them some apple, orange and a flower too. We felt sad when we had to let them go as we had enjoyed having them in class but we knew that it was the right thing to do.
Well done to all the children on completing their learn to ride course and working towards their level 1 bike ability course.
They showed fantastic effort by controlling their bike in and out of the cones,
group ride around the cones, emergency stops and how to get on, off and ride a bike safety.
Thank you to James at Go Velo for amazing opportunity to complete the course.
Year 7 pupil, Nicole’s car won the first heat of the race to the line at Oakhill School in March. Last Tuesday we travelled to Fulwood barracks in Preston for the regional semi final.
At this event, 20 teams were competing against each other including Oakhill. The Oakhill entry was unique amongst the others as the other teams had 4 students and we only had one.
Each team had 1 hour to design and build their cars before the actual race in the afternoon. Nicole was confident that she could complete her car in time and finished with a few minutes to spare. A great achievement for Nicole.
In the race Nicole’s car preformed really well but unfortunately was not fast enough to reach the finals. She was surprised however when she was interviewed by Radio Lancashire, the Clitheroe Advertiser and was filmed for an Army promotional video. Watch Nicole’s car fly to the finish line, below:
The Year 1 and 2 children participated in their own Olympic Games last week
competing against schools from Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley.
The children thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon resulting in Oakhill being crowned overall champions!
Year 6 were definitely full of life during their science themed assembly this week when they uncovered the secret of who was allowed into the ‘Alive and Kicking’ party and who wasn’t. Dressed as scientists, they illustrated the seven life processes common to all living things and remembered by the mnemonic MRS NERG.
They also looked at other ways of creating a healthy lifestyle like: keeping active; eating the right balance of foods; getting enough sleep; taking an interest in the world around us; and having good friends.
The children had made their own short ‘reporter-style’ video sequences to show how they are following healthy lifestyles themselves.
A special guest appearance by Lydia’s baby tortoise, Tilly, proved very popular!
Year 5 children were so excited for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and their impending wedding that they decided to make their very own congratulatory cards. These have been posted off to the Kensington Palace. We hope the royal couple enjoy reading them as much as the pupils enjoyed making them.
Children attending the KS2 Spanish lunchtime club have already been very busy this term.
This week, they have been learning about the Mexican festival of ‘Cinco de Mayo’ and that this is a celebration of the Mexican Army’s unlikely victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla, on May 5, 1862, rather than Mexican Independence, as is widely believed. They have thoroughly enjoyed making their very own sombreros. We are very impressed with their efforts.
In previous weeks, they have gone back to basics, learning simple greetings, numbers and colours. However, the lively and enjoyable games used to enhance their learning, ensure that fun and laughter is always in abundance.
You could even keep an eye out for the colourful rocks they have painted, demonstrating some of the new words they have learnt. Please post on our Facebook site if you manage to find any of them!
This year’s Leavers Meal was held at The Fence Gate in their private room. Pupils arrived by various modes of transport ranging from a Rolls Royce,
two red Ferraris and
an original 1966 MG B Roadster.
After enjoying a beautiful meal Head Girl and Boy and Deputy Head Girl and Boy, Phoebe, Giles, Molly and Tyler thanked the staff and even told an amusing tale about one or two!
To end the evening Mrs Crouch compared all the pupils to flowers and of course showed the obligatory baby photos of each of them which had been kindly and eagerly handed in by parents!
We are all incredibly proud of our pupils and it really was an evening to remember. All the staff at Oakhill wish them the very best in their upcoming GCSE’s.
Harrison and Matthew in Year 7 and Zakary in Year 4 took their chess interest and skills, initially sparked by the Oakhill lunchtime Chess Club, to the next level last week! All three were successful at the recent internal school competition and won places at the regional finals of the Delancey UK Schools’ Chess Challenge 2018.
A full day of chess awaited the three ‘megafinalists’, each keen to test their proficiency against other youngsters. Over 40,000 pupils took part in this year’s chess challenge and only the top 20% reached the Megafinal so we are immensely proud of their achievement. The Megafinal tournament comprised six matches, each against different opponents. All three boys played very well and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Harrison and Zakary scored a family double, as they came third and second in their respective age categories. This achievement means that they are considered to be amongst the very best in the region as they are in the top 2% who have now qualified for the Gigafinal. We wish them every success with the North of England final in July!
Our Oakhill team of Year 8 chemists headed up to Lancaster University for this year’s Salters Festival of Chemistry Competition. In the morning, Isabella, Betsy, Leigha and Scarlett had to work out which suspect “Stole the Cup” in the CSI style investigation.
They used paper chromatography and ion testing techniques as well as code breaking to decide what criminal the evidence pointed to. The afternoon session was the University Challenge where the girls had to try to produce the perfect spectrum by chemical methods.
It was a challenging day which stretches the most able of chemists and our girls did exceptionally well, being complimented on their practical skills and determination to achieve the right outcome.
Reception have made the most of the glorious weather in their PE lesson this week. They first had a treasure hunt around the school grounds.
The second half of the lesson was spent on the trim trail, they played fun games and their favourite part was timing each other and trying to beat their own times. They had great fun, let’s hope the weather continues!
Last Friday Year Three travelled back in time and spent the day as Victorians. They travelled to Quarry Bank Mill in Manchester-a restored Victorian mill. Everyone dressed as either posh or poor Victorians.
Everyone had a go at cotton spinning and weaving using techniques and tools from Victorian times.
In pairs they weaved a piece of cloth using a variety of materials. They discovered that lessons in Victorian times were very different from today. No whiteboards or Smiggle accessories. Instead just a slate board and a piece of chalk. Girls and boys sat separately. There was no talking and no eye contact with the teacher.
We all learnt many new things about life in Victorian times. Life working in a Victorian factory was hard, dangerous and exhausting. Everyone appreciated how the lives of children have changed for the better since those days. Many thanks to the staff at Quarry Bank Mill for an excellent experience.
The latest prep school cake sale raised £80. This will be split equally between The Downs Syndrome Society and The Deaf Society. The Prep Student Council very much wanted to support two charities that help two pupils within the school.
Many thanks to the children downstairs who provided the cakes and to everyone in prep who supported the event. The cakes that were left over and still in date will be donated to The THOMAS Group in Blackburn. The next donation to the group needs to be in by Tuesday 22nd May please. Donations of coffee, biscuits, cakes, stewing steak, mince and chicken can be left inside the entrance to the prep building or given to Mr Lowry.
Year 5 pupils are always ready for a challenge and this time they are putting their art skills to the test by entering a Lancashire School Games Cultural Competition. They have designed and created a piece of artwork, in the form of a flag. Inspired by sport, in particular the Olympic and School games, and their values, they have worked in pairs or individually to produce their own unique design. They have considered the values of respect, determination, passion, honesty, teamwork and self belief, and drawn upon their own experiences of school sport at Oakhill. The winning entry will be selected based not only on the skill and technique demonstrated by the children, but also the inherent meaning and inspiration of their final design. Well done, Year 5! We wish you every success.
Year 1 and 2 celebrated St George’s Day with an assembly all about the special Saint. They re-enacted the story of St George, recited the poem Jerusalem by William Blake and talked about how we can ask God for strength to overcome our fears.
The latest Prep School cake sale was a great success. £84 was raised which the Student Council has decided will go to The THOMAS Group in Blackburn. A big thank you to everyone who contributed cakes.
Senior Student Council have raised funds to buy a new picnic bench for Spring Wood, near Whalley. The woodland is popular with local people and Oakhill use the Wood for fieldwork, the school walk and running club.
They bought the bench in time for the spring when all the bluebells appear and 4 members of Council went up to help Paul Shoreman, who co-ordinates the woodland for the County Council, fix the bench in place.
Students had to be quite handy using the tools but were pleased to see the finished bench in situ to be enjoyed by visitors in the future.
Well done Student Council and thanks to Paul for his help.
Inspired by their teacher’s recent Erasmus-funded trip to Rouen, Year 5 pupils have relished the opportunity to take over one of the noticeboards in their classroom. They have decided that, each half term, they will focus on one area in France. As Oakhill is looking forward to hosting pupils from our partner school, Institution Jean-Paul II in Rouen, they have chosen Normandy as their first region. They have invested their own time in researching key areas of interest and summarised these on the board. They have enjoyed learning about the popular regional food dishes, looking at artwork by local artists such as Claude Monet, and studying the history of religion and the story of Joan of Arc. Well done, Year 5, you have certainly captured our interest and we look forward to seeing which region you choose next.
It certainly was a class assembly with a difference! Not only did Year 5 pupils put a twist when re-telling the traditional tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, they even performed the whole assembly in French! The dwarfs were transformed into sporty characters and entertained their audience with their comical lines and fantastic acting Snow White herself became a golf champion but true love still prevailed when the prince rode in on his horse and met his princess. The performance from every member of the class was absolutely outstanding and their routine use of the French language in the classroom was very evident in their authentic and confident pronunciation. We are very proud of you all. Please click on the video below to watch Year 5s amazing assembly. Well done!
Last Thursday Year 8 went on a Geography field expedition to Malhamdale to look at the limestone features and to climb the infamous Gordale Scar!
Despite the wind and rain, spirits were high and the pupils emerged onto the vast emptiness of the tops surrounding Malham Tarn.
A challenging two mile trek followed and we were rewarded with magnificent views towards Pendle Hill as we stood on the top of Malham Cove.
After a quick descent down the 398 steps back into the dale we briefly saw the nesting place of the Peregrine Falcons before heading back to Oakhill.
Oakhill School has risen to culinary heights with the appointment of a Chef to cater for pupils and staff alike. Mark Wilkinson, who joined Oakhill after Easter and has a prestigious résume´ having worked in Michelin starred and famous restaurants throughout the country. Mark is passionate about nutritionally balanced meals and encouraging young people to try new flavours and a very special recipe is causing quite a stir!
His career path is impressive and started at the Sharrow Bay Hotel in Ullswater where he worked for two years post graduating and brings with him the famous ‘Sticky Toffee Pudding’ recipe. His next posting was with John Burton Race at then 2 Michelin star ‘L’Otrolan’ near Reading. Mark rose from Commis Chef to Chef de Partie in this time. Paul Heathcote and ‘The Longridge Restaurant’ followed and this is where he feels he really honed his skills working with butchery, fish preparation, desserts, sauces and the appreciation of the provenance of local foods.
Meeting his wife Catherine at the Bailey Arms in Hurst Green and starting a family brought about new adventures. Whilst working with his wife in a Blackburn Care Home, Mark was awarded ‘National Chef of the Year in the Care Sector’ in 2007. The arrival of their second child bought another change, this time gaining a Teaching qualification at Harrogate College and ultimately being the teacher there for Level 1, 2 and 3 Professional Cookery. This year their third child was born in January and Mark really wanted to be near home, enter Oakhill and the opportunity to make a difference without working evenings, weekends or away.
At school all the dishes are freshly prepared and some of the favourites appear to be the fresh Fishcakes, the poached Salmon with Dill, Spinach and Ricotta Lasagna and fresh fruit tartlets. Furthermore, Mark has specialist skills in Patisserie and Chocolate work which will come to the fore in September when Oakhill celebrates it’s 40th Anniversary with a Ball catered by Mark and the team.
Everyone is enjoying the benefits of delicious, nutritious food in their school day.
Year 4 pupils are taking writing poetry to a whole new level by producing their very own poems in French! Oakhill is taking part in the national Laureate Education Project, Mother Tongue Other Tongue. This competition is officially endorsed by Malala Yousafzai, youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner and education activist.
The pupils have taken their inspiration from their own personal passions and so submitted poems on a variety of topics, ranging from sport to animals to food. The entries included Haiku poems, acrostic and rhyming poems and we have been very impressed with the standard achieved.
All entries were judged by MFL staff and four have been chosen to go forward to the North West finals. We wish a very excited Jamimah, James, Olivia and Ella the very best of luck and can’t wait to hear how they progress.
Year 5 pupil Lilly-Ella has had some fantastic news. After only taking up rhythmic gymnastics at Ribble Valley Acrobatics Academy coached by our Prep Head Boys Mum, Toni Connolly, two and a half years ago she has achieved her dream. Lilly-Ella has competed in the National Espoir competitions with her quartet of girls over the last two years.
The girls have had an amazing experience travelling up and down the country, where they have learned lots both on and off the carpet. Last weekend Lilly-Ella and her newly formed team went down to Stoke to take part in the National seeding’s competition, this year it was massive with 38 teams entered! The girls performed exceptionally well and achieved 6th place out of the 38 teams, meaning that they not only qualified for the National Espoir league but also they would be competing in the British Championships! This is the highlight of the clubs career and a dream come true for Lilly-Ella.
Lilly-Ella has also won a sporting excellence grant from Ribble Valley county council to contribute towards her training for the coming year. Please read the speech she wrote below, which she will read out at the presentation evening to the local counsellors about her love and experiences of gymnastics since she began in September 2015. We wish Lilly-Ella and her team lots of luck in their British Championship competition! Congratulations!
‘I started rhythmic gymnastics 2 and half years ago, after changing my mind about artistic gymnastics and finding the dismounts too scary when I was only 7 years old. I really wanted to take up lyrical dance but this was only done down south so rhythmic gymnastics was the local option.
After a few weeks I found I really struggled as I didn’t really know anyone at the club and didn’t feel involved so I begged my Mummy to let me leave. After discussion with the head coach who stated they had seen potential in me, I was asked to try for the elite squad and trial for a team. This was scary as many of the other girls had been training since they were 3 years old! But I took the chance and this is when my life changed. I went from training for 3 hours each week to anything between 12 and 20 hours! And I loved it. I made new friends who are more like family. Gymnastics is tough and tiring so we all have to support each other through the difficult times when all we want to do is cry and melt down!
In my first year I achieved a place in the National Espoir hoop team and I felt so proud to represent Ribble Valley after being at the club for less than 6 months, we qualified at nationals and learned so much that year. I was the youngest in the team at only 8 years old with my team mates being 12! This only made me want to work harder and get better. We travelled as a group with our parents to many locations and it was a special time. Learning just as much in the hotel and backstage about a sporting life and team work as we did stepping out onto the carpet in front of 24 judges! Throughout my first year I also entered various individual competitions both with the hoop and free routines.
Our coach hosted trials for my second year and our club entered two teams into Nationals this year. I was really pleased that our quartet all won a place and remained the same, to build on the skills, performance and team work we had already achieved. We entered 3 teams into the seeding’s competition and the Ribble Valley Raindrops as we are now known were the only ones to qualify. This added extra pressure as we felt we had to do it not only for ourselves but also for the other girls at the gym. We had another great year, but it ended sadly as our two eldest gymnasts had reached 13 years old so we knew they would have to move up to junior level.
This year we trialled for a 3rd time both myself and my best friend Olivia made our team with two new girls joining us. We are now known as the ‘sassy’ group because people say that we really turn it on when we walk onto the carpet to perform. Our aim was to make nationals for the 3rd year running but with the new apparatus of a ball and two newcomers who had not competed at national level we had to work hard, focus, remain positive. This Sunday we attended the National seeding’s, not only did we make Nationals but we qualified in 6th place out of 38 teams from around the British Isles including Gibraltar! Meaning that we have achieved a place in the British championships! This is a dream come true for our club and the highlight of my experiences so far. This year I cannot wait to travel further afield to represent the Ribble Valley and I look forward to every bit of hard work to make our team the best that we can be! It will be tough, tiring and I am sure there will be tantrums but I know that every bit of hard work will pay off and be worth it.’
All of our Key Stage 2 children were lucky to have the presence of the sun on the morning of the annual Prep Cross Country Inter House race. It was last Thursday on the hottest day of the year so far. The race took place in the morning so the weather conditions were perfect!
Our Year 3 to 6 girls ran first, the girls set off at great pace with many of our Year 5s leading the group. Once they got into the long straight of our top field they all began to bed in and put the race plans they had done in lessons into action.
Next up was the down hill bmx track the most technical part of the course where the brave stride out and take over on the specific bends. By this point Maisey was striding ahead and there was a battle going on between 4 other girls for the silver and bronze medals. Jamimah in Year 4 appeared from nowhere and took everyone by surprise, she employed an excellent race plan and executed it perfectly. Saving just enough to complete the race quicker than those she had tracked throughout the run. The final results were:
GOLD – MAISEY (YEAR 6)
SILVER – POPPY (YEAR 6)
BRONZE – JAMIMAH (YEAR 4)
Next up were our boys and as boys do every year they set off like a bullet out of a gun! Sprinting to get into pole position and be the first to make it to the first corner. Rauri pulled away leaving the majority of Year 5 boys battling it out in a bunch behind him. Taylor and Isaac battled through the course each swapping positions almost every 5 metres! Again it came down to tactics on the bike track and who had left enough to power out of the bonfire site! All of our contending boys gave it their all and the final positions finished:
GOLD – RAURI (YEAR 6)
SILVER – TAYLOR (YEAR 5)
BRONZE – ISAAC (YEAR 5)
Each year it is noticeable that our runners are getting stronger and the hard work that they put in in lessons is paying off. Every single pupil completed the course giving 100% effort and every bit of energy they had. I am really proud that they all finished with beaming smiles on their faces and were proud of their own achievements. Those who did not achieve medals or certificates are just as worthy as those who did as the main focus is self development and all achieved their target of improving upon their time or position from the previous year! Well done everyone, keep up the hard work!
