With Black Friday sales right around the corner, it's a great time to teach children about financial responsibility but how, exactly? In this week's #WakeUpWednesday guide and the latest episode of their podcast National College are offering top tips on educating children how to spend and save wisely. Download here >> https://ow.ly/c0XW50UaIRs Listen here >> https://ow.ly/SoTR50UaIRq

This week Oakfield has been buzzing with creativity! Year 2's classroom was transformed into an art gallery on Tuesday so the children could look closely at famous artworks and sketch some of the still life paintings into their art books. Year R painted beautiful poppies for Remembrance Day on Monday and made their own versions of 'The Starry Night' by Vincent Van Gogh. Young artists in the making! Year 4 designed and created their own product packaging to store and preserve food with instructions for the consumer, while Year 1 have been colouring Rangoli patterns for their RE topic of Diwali. For Geography, Year 2 used an atlas to find information for Mrs Leach's quiz on their topic 'Let's Explore the World'. Year 1 drew their own maps of Totton and where they live; thinking about the school, houses and roads. Year 1 also had a very fun PE lesson; jumping and hopping to avoid asteroids and practicing their left and right with the 'Cha-Cha Slide'! For English, Year 5 have been writing their own amazingly descriptive versions of 'Zelda Claw & The Rain Cat' using alliteration and personification, as well as figurative and powerful language. Year 6 studied the poems 'Flanders Fields' and 'The Sentry' to gather ideas to include in their own war poems, which were powerful and moving. Meanwhile, Year 3 have started a new text for writing; 'The Papaya That Spoke'. They discussed what a papaya was and what they thought it looked and tasted like. Then they cut one open and shared it between the class... the majority found that they really liked it! We had a very informative assembly from Y4 this week who all delivered their lines confidently and impressed us with their maths skills. Both Year 1 and Year 2 have achieved their class Dojo targets and will be enjoying their chosen rewards on Monday! Well done! This week's Boomreader's champions are... year 4 again! Congratulations! Monday was Remembrance Day, and I was so proud of how well the older children behaved at the service at the Cenotaph in Totton. They listened respectfully and showcased the Oakfield Values to everyone there. The lower year groups also listened quietly to the service held in school. We've raised lots of money for The Royal British Legion through your generosity (exact amount TBC). We rounded up the week raising money for Children in Need. The School Council decided we could 'wear something comfy' in exchange for 50p. We've seen some amazing outfits, including lots of cosy onesies, dressing gowns and pyjamas, and of course, Pudsey Ears! Our catering team made us some special Pudsey cupcakes to enjoy at lunchtime for school dinners. Thank you to all for your donations. Have a lovely weekend Miss Bray

Children in Need The children all looked comfy and cosy as they came into school this morning raising £115.69 for Children in Need. Thank you to Charles and Parker for coming in early to be ready with the collection box. They also counted up the money while warming up with a hot chocolate! Lots of children joined the school council at lunchtime to see which team could find all the pieces of Pudsey and put him back together the quickest. Our winning team was Team Pudsey!

Teaching cycle safety to children empowers them to ride responsibly, reducing risks while out on the road In advance of Road Safety Week, the next NOS guide and the latest episode of the #WakeUpWednesday podcast explain how to keep kids safe when they set out on two wheels, helping them ride with confidence! Download here >> https://ow.ly/CQ8E50U5T5Q Listen here >> https://ow.ly/yiXL50U5T5O

Oakfield Academy have been remembering those who gave their Tomorrow, so we could have our Today. Our KS2 children attended the service at Testvale Park run by Totton and Eling Royal British Legion, and our School Ambassadors Arthur and Imaan laid a wreath at the cenotaph. The children listened respectfully to the service. KS1 held their own Remembrance service at school and learned about what the poppy symbolises. We have a beautiful display of poppies along our fence, made out of plastic bottles by our very talented teacher Mr AJ, which the children and parents have been admiring. We'd also love to share some of the thoughtful poems that Year 6 have written to honour the commemoration, based on their studies of WW1.

We've started this Autumn half-term with a bang! Year R have been making some beautiful paintings of fireworks, as well as exploring their new mud kitchen area! The children spotted a crane outside of school and were inspired to work together to create their own building site and crane! This week was 'RE week' and each year group have been learning about different religions. Year 1 have been decorating cards, designing fireworks and making diva lamps for the Hindu Festival of Light; Diwali. Year 2 made their own Advent wreathes, acted out the Nativity story, and discussed why it is important to the Christian faith. Year 3 focused on Guru Nanak Gurpurab, a celebration of the first Guru and founder of Sikhism. There's been some very imaginative learning going on... Year 1 went on a space adventure in PE and used apparatus to help them balance. While Year 4 were thinking about what it might be like to go through a portal to another world... acting it out in pairs! Year 5 learned about John Montagu, AKA the 4th Earl of Sandwich (the alleged 'inventor' of the popular snack!) and discussed their favourite sandwich fillings! They've also been hard at work researching facts about their chosen animal and writing them up beautifully into an information text. Year 3 have discussed 'Fairness' and have been categorising scenarios on cards as fair or unfair. Year 6 were visited by the Hampshire Fire Safety team who delivered a presentation about ways to prevent fire and stay safe at home. They learnt about potential risks, the top causes of fires, the fire triangle and actions to take if you notice or detect a fire; to ensure everybody is safe and protected. They also delivered our first class assembly of the year, delivering their lines with confidence and setting a high bar for the rest of the school. Our Boomreader champions this week are Year 4, congratulations!

Come view our amazing school! We can be found tucked away in Sylvia Crescent, just off Salisbury Road by the Co-Op. We'd love to meet you and your child!

Anti-Bullying Week is right around the corner, and this year's theme is "Choose Respect" When disputes arise among children, insults and rudeness can sometimes follow and it's vital for us to show them a better way. Working with the Anti-Bullying Alliance themselves, National College is bringing you expert advice on how to do exactly that. Download >> https://nationalcollege.com/guides/choose-respect Listen >> https://tr.ee/mppP2QEa1w

Looking for something to do with the children this Half-Term? Check out these suggestions from local businesses. https://www.southamptonrocks.co.uk/ ************************************************************ Spotlight UK have 225 free places for High Score Arcade this Saturday either 12.45-1.45, 1.45-2.45 or 2.45-3.45 for children in school years 5&6. This is open to all children on a first come first served basis. Anyone wanting to book must email Jessicariley@spotlightuk.org and not just turn up to avoid disappointment. --

Even as adults, it can be tricky to handle disappointments and setbacks and to move on from difficult emotions. That's why we should do all we can to nurture those skills from an early age. This week's guide from National Online Safety and the latest episode of the #WakeUpWednesday podcast offer top tips on building emotional resilience in children!

It's been a cracking week of activities in Forest School this week! Year 2 had earned enough campfire points to have a treat, with hot chocolate and s'mores! They listened beautifully to instructions on how to stay safe around the fire and took turns to toast their marshmallow. Year 5 picked our school pumpkins, planted daffodil bulbs, and created dens and shelters; while Year 6 used their forest-craft knowledge to create some fantastic monkey bars, which were sturdy enough for Mr Cooke to try out! Year 4 found a Barn Owl pellet and examined it with a microscope and magnifying glass to discover the owl had been mostly eating field voles... tasty! There's been some beautiful colour-blending happening in Year 2, and Year 4 have been painting some lovely autumn leaves for their Harvest art. In Year R, they have been exploring shapes and numbers to 5, and the children were very good at recognising 'how many' there are without counting! Year 1 have been busy junk-modelling, den-building, fruit shopping, and learning about the Six Stages of Life. For Science, Year 6 had fun enacting the circulatory system in the playground and Year 3 have labelled the main bones in the human body on a skeleton (and on each other!). And in Maths, Year 3 showed their excellent addition and subtraction skills while thinking about place value, and Year 5 were fantastic at using formal subtraction to solve the riddle of what was inside Mr AJ's metal trunk... they even solved a ten-digit subtraction problem! Wow! We rounded off the week with our Summer Reading Challenge Celebration with stories, bookmark craft and ice lollies!! Miss Bray

Year R have had an intruder in the classroom... The Tiger That Came to Tea! That pesky tiger has been having secret tea parties in the classroom and pinching all the food from the role play area! The children have made some beautiful tiger masks, and special posters to tell the Tiger to Keep Out! They've also been working together to set a trap for him... the tower will fall on his head, and he will be caught in the cage!

This spooky season, plenty of young people will be breaking out the popcorn and giving themselves a fright But let's ensure that what they're watching is appropriate. This week's guide and podcast episode from National Online Safety offers expert advice on horror films and age ratings Download here >> https://ow.ly/gCJU50TLKP5 Listen here >> https://ow.ly/IOA050TLKP4

Despite the very wet and windy weather this week, everyone has been working super-hard at Oakfield! Year R have been learning about emotions, and used the 'Colour Monster' to express which colours might reflect their feelings. They've joined the rest of the school on the main playground each lunch time and are really enjoying playing with the older children, who are looking after them beautifully and showing them The Oakfield Way. Year 1 have been busy writing their Goldilocks stories, feeding numbers to hungry crocodiles and practising their sounds. While Year 2 have been examining famous artworks to spot the primary and secondary colours; and thinking about how the pictures and colour choices made them feel. They had a very busy time in OWL with a colour scavenger hunt, and making mud cakes for a birthday celebration. They earned enough campfire points to be treated to s'mores in next week's session! Year 3 have made some excellent mammoth collages for their topic of the Stone Age, and Year 4 have been learning about which teeth do what and eating apple to test that for themselves! They've also been learning about the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, and column addition in maths. Year 5 have also been having fun at OWL... building dens, creating theme parks, checking our pumpkins are growing nicely in the allotment, and spotting all the fungi that has been popping up all over the school grounds! They've writing some amazing sci-fi stories and testing how friction affects a toy car's speed down smooth and rough slopes. Year 6 have demonstrated fantastic resilience and determination when approaching long multiplication in maths, considering how WW1 impacted both civilians and the soldiers in trenches; listening to primary and secondary sources of information to inform their understanding. They've explored new vocabulary in the information text 'The Scarred Wolf', and identifying synonyms and antonyms of these words. Boomreader winner: Well done to Year 4 Miss Bray

More top-tips from National Online Safety! In today's digital landscape, it can be a challenge to safeguard children from the many hidden dangers of the online world . So what can we do to help shield our young ones from harm? This #WakeUpWednesday, we're bringing you expert advice on how to use parental controls on devices Download >> https://bit.ly/3z7vPkZ

Firstly, thank you to everyone who contributed cakes or came to our Macmillan Coffee Morning – we raised £157.56 for the charity! We held our first official School Council meeting this week, with our elected Chairperson and Secretary. The first item on the agenda is for the Council members to gather ideas from their classmates of nutritious and balanced meal options that they'd like to see on the new school dinner menus, which will be changed early next year. They will also be sharing a new reflection sheet with their classes and providing feedback at our next meeting. In Year R, this week's topic has been 'The Tiger Who Came To Tea'. At the start of the week, the mischievous tiger visited the classroom in secret, and set up a tea party! Then it came back later to pinch the food in the role play area, so Year R have been looking for clues... They've also been designing some beautiful posters to put on the classroom door to keep that pesky tiger out! Year 4 have been learning about the digestive system; what parts it has and what each part does. They learned why the Anglo-Saxons came to Britain and what the consequences of that were. They've also been creating watercolour paintings, considering how the colours they use would influence the viewer. In Year 3, they have continued learning about their topic of the Stone Age, the food we need to keep our bodies healthy, and are transitioning from their topic of place value to addition and subtraction up to 1000 in Maths. They're also exploring contrasting and complementary colours in Art. In PE, Year 5 played a game of quoits (small bumpy hoops), working on their listening skills, following instructions and using encouragement to be good team ! They used foam and paint to make 'Oracle Bones', which the ancient Chinese Shang Dynasty used to ask questions of the gods by carving them into bones, before burning them and interpreting the cracks that formed as the gods' answer .... the jury is out on how reliable this was! They also created some beautiful ephemeral art using natural items they found in the playground. Year 2 have been Super Scientists, exploring which soap makes the best bubbles! They've been thinking about Self-Care, and working on their colour mixing by using different amounts of primary colour colours to create different hues. Year 6 delivered an assembly clearly and confidently to the whole school, to teach them about the important Jewish celebration of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (their RE topic). Year 1 have been learning how to make porridge, role played Goldilocks and the Three Bears, made bears houses, and painted colour wheels. They walked to and from Totton Library on Wednesday morning where they listened to stories, played a game, and even got stickers! We also welcomed Miss Hayter and Miss Bates this week who have been spending time getting to know the children and completing first aid training alongside some other members of staff. Our Boomreader Champions this week are Year 2 - well done, that's a third week in a row!! Miss Bray

Year 5 have been making some beautiful 'Ephemeral Art' this week, using natural items found on our playground to emulate the natural art style of the artist Andy Goldsworthy. Well done everyone... you were all very creative!

Chatting to others in a game can be a great way to connect as you enjoy your hobby together It's not always quite so wholesome, however. National College's #WakeUpWednesday guide and their latest episode of the podcast offer expert advice on the risks of in-game chat! Download here >> https://ow.ly/olvZ50TAgSJ Listen here >> https://ow.ly/ePvP50TAgSO

If you're looking for an infant or junior school place for your child, please come along to one of our Open Day or Evening sessions to see our school in action! Visit our website for more details: https://www.oakfield.academy/page/?title=Admissions&pid=41 You can find us in Sylvia Crescent (off Salisbury Road), Totton. We hope to see you there!

Another amazing week of learning at Oakfield! Year R formed a band and "wow'd" Mr Tupper and Mrs Nightingale with their amazing stage performance! They practised their agility and coordination in their first ever PE lesson with hoops and cones, made a house for a moth they rescued from the water tray, and have had fun drawing letters in the sandpit! Year 4 visited Butser Ancient Farm on Tuesday where they spun some yarn, did some archaeology, and helped to build a 'clunch wall' out of chalky limestone. The staff commented on how beautifully behaved they were... you've made the school proud! Year 2 have been making some 'Marvellous Mixtures' in science to discover whether things dissolve, mix, sink or float in the mixture. They achieved their first Dojo target this week and brought in a teddy to sit on their desk today as a reward – congratulations Year 2! In Year 6, they have been exploring the reasons why many young British men volunteered to join the war effort in WWI, including propaganda and peer pressure. They gave pursuasive speeches to their 'parents' about why they should join the war effort, and created their own propaganda posters. Year 5 have continued their learning about Forces, using a Forcemeter to measure mass, and how how much you weigh could change depending on which moon or planet you're standing on. Both Y5 and Y6 also took part in an online Climate Change conference with 50 other schools, discussing possible solutions to flooding, drought, food and plastic waste, and other environmental problems. They used their creative skills to design a humane method of deterring elephants from ravaging crops using junk modelling. Year 3 have started their topic on the Stone Age and have been reading The Stig of the Dump, have been innovating their story-telling in The Magic Faraway Tree. Meanwhile, Year 1 have been acting, singing, and drawing a storyboard about the fairy tale of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, and have also met their Dojo Target! Well done! Congratulations to Year 2 who stay as our Boomreader Champions for a second week in a row!

Congratulations to our School Ambassadors who were voted by staff for their confident, engaging speeches. I know you will both be excellent role models and show the qualities and attributes of an Oakfield pupil. Miss Bray

Thank you to those who supported our Macmillan Coffee Morning today either through cake donations or coming along to and donating while enjoying a quiet cuppa. We also had a lovely card and donation from one of the residents in Sylvia Crescent after delivering leaflets designed by the School Council. Visitors were able to write a memory or wish for those affected by cancer and add it to our memory tree. This will remain in the reception area for the next few weeks. Thank you to the school council children who came along to help out - Charles, Pippa, Matilda, Eliot, Fraiya, Teddy, Charlie and Parker.

Wake Up Wednesday tip from https://nationalcollege.com/

It's been a fun and eventful week at Oakfield! Year 6 had a First Aid workshop on Wednesday, called'Mini-Medics'. They learned lots of key first aid skills, including CPR and the recovery position. They showcased the Oakfield Principles by asking considered questions, listening beautifully to the instructions given, and demonstrating their great understanding of blood, the heart, and the circulatory system. Year R have been busy learning new sounds in Phonics, and story mapping 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'. For their topic of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' they have been exploring healthy foods and doing lots of caterpillar-themed crafts! Year 5 have had an exciting trip today to Paulton's Park. They learnt about different types of forces that affect movement, such as gravity and friction. This included doing experiments in the laboratory with Paultons Educational Department Staff and their teachers; with the chance to go on some rides afterwards! Year 1 have been ordering numbers up to 20, and doing lots of activities linked to their topic about Harvest; including making their own combine harvesters! Year 2 have been exploring textures in science by getting mucky with foam and other materials, dressing up and decorating plates for their topic of Hinduism, and learning about primary and secondary colours in Art. Year 4 have been learning about The Food Chain and drawing pictures of predators and prey. They've also been exploring the Colour Wheel using watercolours. Last but not least, Year 3 have been learning how diet affects the human body and exploring warm and cold colours in Art using watercolours. On Thursday morning they visited the Vedic temple in Southampton to learn more about the Hindu religion and the god Ganesh. They watched the ritual of Aarti quietly and respectfully, demonstrating Oakfield's Principles perfectly. We've also had a group of Year 11 Work Experience students from Testwood School with us this week, who have been working really hard to support the teachers and children. Well done to them! Our Asda Cashpot balance is now over £300! Thank you so much to everyone that has signed up, it will really make a difference to the school. The class with the most reading on Boomreader is.......Y2! Congratulations!

It's been a busy first full week back. On Wednesday, some Y6 children bravely stood up in front of the school to tell us why they should be elected as our new School Ambassadors. They certainly made it a very difficult decision for staff, however, the votes have been counted and they will soon be finding out the result. Thursday was election day at Oakfield with each class voting for the children they think should represent their class on the school council. YR are now staying all day. They have learnt lots of sounds in phonics and are enjoying exploring the indoor and outdoor classroom. Y1 have made some delicious apple crumble linked to their learning about Harvest while Y2 have been learning their first Talk for Writing story 'Little Charlie'. Y3 are learning 'The Magic Faraway tree' and finding out about Ganesh in RE, while Y4 have been experimenting with watercolour paints. Y5 have been exploring 'weird' ways of reading while Y6 have been learning the story 'Kidnapped', exploring the language and grammatical features used for effect, including semi colons, italics and the selection of powerful verbs. New Forest Childcare have also been pleased to welcome back lots of children to their afterschool club where they have a different activity on offer each evening. If you are haven't signed up yet but are interested, there are leaflets in the reception area. A big thank you to everyone who has signed up to our Asda Cashpot, we currently have a total of £255! Next week we are welcoming some work experience students from Testwood School, Y3 and Y5 are going on school trips and Tuesday is individual photo day.