It was Year 6’s turn to try baking in French this week.
First they learned the ingredients and quantities in French, then they translated the recipe.
Finally, they had to follow the recipe to make trays of delicious butter cookies.
They are researching their favourite recipes now to send to our partners at the Institution Jean-Paul II in Rouen.
The inter house Live Lounge competition was held last term with pupils from Martyrs entertaining pupils, parents and staff on the first day. Year 7 began with a lovely group song and were followed by Holly Pilkington on the violin playing Gymnopedie.
Holly Pooley then made everyone smile with “Isn’t she Lovely”
and Lucy and Isabelle played “Hey Soul Sister’ by Train.
Finally, Sam and Alex performed piano with no music: Bohemian Rhapsody and Bach Prelude I.
The next day was the turn of Scholars.
James and Mr Lacy opened with a piano and saxophone duet followed by the Year 7 girls who sang ‘True Colours’ accompanied by Mrs Pugh on the guitar.
The tempo then changed slightly with a drum solo by Alexander, which got the room rocking. The session ended with Lucy singing ‘Valerie’. Well done, Martyrs and Scholars and thank you for all your efforts.
Mrs Crouch and Mrs Buttery began their Principal Adventures with Reception by focusing on the theme of The Farm. We read some stories and did some activities in class before our day out to Thornton Hall Country Park.
Farmer Chris led the day which included: learning about honey bees; meeting the hens and collecting the eggs; running to the top of a hill to look at the amazing views; meeting the longhorn cattle and the donkeys followed by an exciting farm safari.
After all this activity it was time for our picnic. When we had filled ourselves up and got warm, we met the horses and the llamas and went to make up some feed for the lambs and the cattle.
Once we had finished feeding the animals it was time to stroke the rabbits and guinea pigs before going on the giant slide and getting lost in the maze.
The best thing for many though was being able to swing on the ropes and climb the straw bales and get as much straw in our hair as possible! Everyone had a lovely time and Mrs Buttery and Mrs Crouch enjoyed getting to know more about Reception.
Last term year 7s and 8s enjoyed using their creative skills to choreograph gymnastics routines. Year 7 have worked on sports acro using counter balancing and counter tension to build symmetrical and asymmetrical structures at differing levels with their bodies. Along with using linking moves such as leaps, rolls and turns to perform a routine.
Year 8s have taken on the challenge of Rhythmic gymnastics. The class have learned new skills using the various apparatus such as ropes, hoops and balls. The pupils have been encouraged to be creative and innovative in their choreography and we have seen some fantastic ball skills from our footballers utilised in their performances. Then year 8 learnt about the key elements such as rolling, throwing, trapping and collaborations in groups.
A thoroughly enjoyable half term seeing a whole new skills set from our pupils. Our pupils have all improved their body control and understand the importance of core stability not only in gymnastics but in all sports and activities. Well done!
During the final week of our Easter term we hosted our annual House basketball event. Organised by Mrs Smith and our professional coach Steven Gayle. Players from years 3 to 6 took part in the prep event.
All of the expert coaching the pupils have received from Steven was evident in the games. Special recognition must go to Year 6 pupil Charlie who displayed excellent knowledge and application of the rules along with taking on 3 players and executing the perfect lay up shot. Year 3 pupil Caspar was a star moving the ball well through the court and having an excellent jump shot technique.
Final scores were:
Year 3/4: Martyrs won 10-2
Year 5/6: a draw 8/8
Prep final score: Martyrs win 18-10
The senior event was toughly challenged with the ball moving end to end in both the KS3 and 4 games. Those that had attended the lunchtime clubs excelled and dominated the game showing excellent movement and refined skills.
Many shots were score from outside the key and a variety of shooting techniques were applied. Well done to all involved, the final score was Martyrs won 28-20.
During the Easter term Year 9 have worked on a scheme of sports leadership.
They spent 4 weeks planning a fun and informative session to teach to Year 3 & 4.
The session had to include a thorough warm up, skills based drills and a conditioned game encouraging the use of the learned skill.
Activities included football, badminton, rounders and hockey.
The sessions ran well and our prep children thoroughly enjoyed them.
They were tough critics and rated them on the thumbs up, thumbs down scale.
Special mentions must go to Roman, Robyn and Emilie-Anne who had planned their lesson to perfection. Their football session was given the thumbs up by each and every prep pupil.
Also Max, Matthew, Betsy and Louis who showed excellent care and attention to those individuals that were struggling. They differentiated the drills to ensure success to those who were struggling.
What a great session for all involved showing the true inclusive spirit of Oakhill.
Greek club have been learning about the tradition of dyeing red eggs at Easter time in Greece, traditionally using onion skins. Καλό Πάσχα! (Happy Easter!)
Year 3-6 pupils took on the challenge of our new cross country courses on Wednesday. It was a cold and drizzly day but this did not dampen anyone’s spirits. The nerves were evident in the start line for the first girls race but they were reassure that they were well prepared from their training in there lessons. All was at steak to set the inaugural course record. The course was tough this year with many more up hills than previous years. Lilly-Ella led the race from the start with an excellent pace up until the final incline. Zara had excellent technique and a magnificent race plan taking over Lilly-Ella on the final bend. Fantastically fast sprint finishes were given by Nellie, Gee and Mairead changing the whole result of the medals table. Well done girls, some really strong disciplined and well thought out race plans were evident.
Girls finishing results were :
GOLD: ZARA PYCOCK
SILVER: NELLIE WILSON
BRONZE : GEE RISHTON
Next came the boys race which was slightly longer than the girls. Including all of the same up hill challenges but also a full lap of our enduring top field. The boys were all fired up on the start line with the adrenaline clearly pumping. This was an Unbelievably fast race with Edward leading the first lap of our bottom field at breakneck speed. On the second incline Billy-Roy showed his natural prowess and fantastic technique taking over the pack and leading through onto our top field.
Our Year 6 boys ran tactically sticking on his shoulder throughout. They had saved a little burst to take over on the final down hill of the course and all three of our medal winners showed sheer grit and determination battling it out for their medals over the last 150m. A fantastic sight to observe. Sheer grit, determination and digging deep was evident.
Finally boys medal results were:
GOLD: ISAAC DUNN
SILVER: TAYLOR BEAUMONT
BRONZE: NOAH HOWSON
Every single pupils completed the run and should be extremely proud of themselves as we are. Some of our Year 3 and 4s had tiny little legs and so the course was extremely difficult but completed it proudly none the less. Special mentions should go to Elisia from Year 3 who smiled the whole course giving a Queens style wave to all of the lower prep spectators each time she passed them and also John-Charles who kept Mr Edgar his guide on his toes throughout the whole race and never gave up.
Well done team Oakhill, true sportsmanship and peer support was shown by all. Thanks must go to our Cross country fanatic Mrs O’Kane who acted as pacemaker for both of the races. Meaning that she has completed all 5 of Oakhill 2019 cross country races. Well done Mrs O’ Kane who was awarded a special recognition certificate and medal.
Year 6 were hot on the trail of the Pendle Witches this term.
After studying the local history story that makes our area a tourist attraction, they followed the trail around Aitken Wood in Barley to discover which witch the plaques represented.
We managed to decipher most of the clues and learn something about these legendary people who lived around these parts over 400 years ago.
We finished our visit with a picnic and an Easter egg hunt which was a great way to end the term!
For the final week of BMX club, Year 6 headed to the new BMX track at Barrowford, the latest addition to the Stephen Burke Sports Hub.
Pupils have perfected their skills on our own BMX track in the Oakhill grounds each week, and put them to good use on the new course which features a variety of humps, jumps and berms.
They had a great time exploring and finished off going head to head with timed laps. Well done everyone.
Year 5 have gone Mr Men crazy – à la française. They have had a lot of fun designing their very own French version of the Mr Men and Little Miss characters. They have painted book covers and then each child has written a mini-book which describes the characters and tells us all about what they like to do. The male characters included M. Bizarre, M. Positif and M. Musique whilst the female ones ranged from Mme Sport and Mme Désordre to Mme Calin and Mme Chevaline. We have really enjoyed reading all about the characters you have created. Well done, Year 5!
Year Three were invited to the home of Francesca last week to take part in an afternoon of Easter related activities. The weather shone on what was an ‘Egg-cellent’ afternoon. All the children took part in an Easter egg hunt, craft activities, games and a Hunt-the-Cross sticker activity.
Combined with yummy cakes, drinks and some free time chilling out in the sun the afternoon was a big hit with everyone. Mrs Brett planned the whole afternoon and got across the message to Year Three that Easter is about eggs and new life but that it is also about Jesus dying and rising again.
Many thanks to Mrs Cort and especially to Mrs Brett for welcoming the class into her home and putting in so much time, money and effort into what was a great time.
Year 7 have finished their castles and delivered fantastic presentations on the design and build of their castles, as well as their historical understanding. As you can see, they look fabulous and they have shown super team skills, working and encouraging each other and learning to share resources and delegate tasks. Well done, Year 7, brilliant work!
Year 5 pupils wanted to combine their ever-developing French language and ICT skills with their Mother’s Day cards this year. They thought of many adjectives to describe their mums, translated them into French and then chose an apt Word Cloud design to produce the final card. Well done, Year 5. You certainly put a lot of love and thought into your cards. We hope your mums loved them!
The Year 10s recently returned from their trip to Copenhagen where they were given the brief of taking photos which showed something cultural about Copenhagen or which demonstrated some aspect of the school trip. Please see the amazing entries below. I think the judges may have a very difficult job choosing a winner!
