Oak-TreeNEWSLETTER€¦ · dishes and desserts. There has been a large range of new dishes available on the three-weekly menus throughout the term, all of which have been very well

Oak-Tree NEWSLETTER SPRING 2017

www.oaktreeschools.co.uk @OaktreeSchools

1

ITEM

Group Principal’s Message ................. 1

Coopersale Hall LEPRA Workout ........ 1

WE Day ............................................... 2

Braeside Hot Lunch Launch ................ 2

Oaklands First Aid Training ................. 2

Normanhurst’s The Tempest .............. 3

The Oak-Tree Festival ......................... 3

Super Food Heroes ............................. 4

Coopersale Hall Pancake Races .......... 4

Charities Supported ............................ 4

Oaklands Assemblies .......................... 5

Braeside Maths Challenge .................. 5

Summer Events ................................... 5

Loughton Young Artists ...................... 6

Key Trips ............................................. 6

Young Voices ...................................... 7

Forensic Science Workshop ................ 7

World Book Day .................................. 8

Oaklands Multi-Sports Festival ........... 9

Chartwells Cooking Event ................... 9

Ski Trip ...............................................10

Local Prep Cross Country ...................10

Prize Giving Dates ..............................10

Oaklands Zambia Project ...................11

Easter Celebrations ...........................11

Oak-Tree Mental Maths Challenge ....12

Normanhurst Science Week ..............12

Sports Day Dates ...............................12

Normanhurst Spring Visitors .............13

GROW Project ....................................13

Coopersale Hall Bikability ..................13

The Oak-Tree Schools Parents’

Associations .......................................14

Coopersale Hall LEPRA

Workout

The whole school took part in a Zumba-

style workout on Friday 10 February to

raise money for LEPRA, a charity that

aims to fight disease, poverty and

prejudice. A community fundraiser

visited the school to lead the workout.

The children were sponsored in order to

take part and were all extremely

enthusiastic! It provided a lot of

entertainment and the children raised

an incredible £2,099 for the charity.

Group Principal’s Message

It never ceases to amaze me quite how

much gets packed into a relatively short

term, and it’s only when looking back

that it becomes clear as to how much

has been achieved. The Spring Term

was as busy as ever, with a huge variety

of events that were organised to

enhance the children’s education and

add to their learning experience.

More and more joint schools activities

are being arranged for the children to

come together from Braeside,

Coopersale Hall, Normanhurst and

Oaklands either competitively or

collaboratively. In terms of competition

we had an inter-school Maths Challenge

and cross country races, while children

worked together with events such as

the WE Day, Young Artists, World Book

Day and the Italy Ski Trip.

There are so many highlights from last

term, but for me two stood out above

the rest. Firstly, being part of a near-

8000 choir for Young Voices was an

incredible experience and the audience

enjoyed the energy that the children

created. This was an amazing

opportunity to perform live at the O2

Arena. Secondly, the Oak-Tree Festival

of Music & Dance was a fantastic

evening with songs, dances and

performances from small and large

groups. To start and end with a 300+

Oak-Tree Choir was so powerful and a

fitting end to an excellent show.

The Summer Term’s diaries are equally

full and I’m looking forward to the

events that will be taking place after

Easter.

Issue 2

PAGE



2

WE Day

On Wednesday 22 March all four of

the Oak-Tree Schools attended the

WE Day Celebration held at Wembley

Arena. The schools travelled together

to celebrate the efforts of the pupil

charity representatives, who worked

as a team to raise money and

volunteer their time. The pupils

listened to inspirational speakers,

such as Kate Winslet, Jessie J,

Margaret Trudeau and the CEOs of

Boots and Virgin Atlantic, who spoke

about issues such as mental health,

the environment, physical well-being

and body image. There were also

performances by The Vamps, Connor

Maynard, Jessie J and Fleur East.

Young people who had made a change

in their local community were invited

onto the stage to speak about how

and why they decided to give their

time to help others.

It was lovely to see pupils from our

four schools mixing and discussing

how they had been inspired to take

their role on the charity committee

further.

The children certainly enjoyed dancing

to the performances and celebrating

together!

Braeside Hot Lunches Launch

Pupils enjoyed some delicious food on

Monday 23 January at the official

launch of hot lunches at Braeside.

Junior and Senior pupils ate their food

in the two school halls after collecting

it from the catering team at the newly

installed serveries. Choices included

chicken tikka, samosas, rice, jacket

potatoes, vegetables, soup and salad,

as well as lots of other delicious side

dishes and desserts. There has been a

large range of new dishes available on

the three-weekly menus throughout

the term, all of which have been very

well received.

Oaklands First Aid Training

Year 6 had a visit from St John’s

Ambulance on Friday 10 February,

who taught them some important first

aid skills. Everyone took the course

very seriously and learned techniques

that could help others and save lives.



3

The Oak–Tree Schools

Music and Dance Festival

All four of the Oak-Tree Schools came

together on Wednesday 29 March for

one of the biggest events in the school

calendar - The Oak-Tree Music and

Dance Festival. Children and staff had

been preparing their pieces since the

start of term ready for this ambitious

event held at the 1000-seater

Walthamstow Assembly Hall.

The majority of children from the four

schools’ Years 3 to 6 took to the stage,

as well as many of the Braeside and

Normanhurst pupils from Years 7 to

11. Well over 300 pupils took part,

coming together for a joint choir at

the start and end of the show. The

programme was varied with singing

performances, dances, an orchestra,

rock bands, a ukulele group and large

choirs. The children really enjoyed

performing in front of so many people

in such a large venue.

This was a fantastic evening that

helped showcase the varied talents of

the pupils from the Oak-Tree Schools.

Normanhurst’s The Tempest

Junior and Senior pupils combined to

put on an excellent production of

Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ over

several nights to a large audience

earlier this term. Blending a traditional

interpretation with some modern

twists, the young actors and actresses

performed with huge enthusiasm to

produce a fantastic show.

As well as the large cast performing on

stage, there were many pupils

involved with the production behind

the scenes to make the set, costumes

and props - all of which added to the

production.

Well done to everyone who took part

- we’re looking forward to next year’s

performance already!



4

Charities supported this term

Great Ormond Street

Hospital

Book Aid International

Brain Tumour Research

Comic Relief

Marie Curie

WE Charity

Debden Garden Project

Guide Dogs for the Blind

Nordoff Robins

LEPRA

Loughton Foodbank

Wynaud Trust

...and many more

Super Food Heroes

All four schools had very special

visits this term from two food super

heroes. The schools’ catering

company, Chartwells, organised the

fun visit from Brainy Broccoli and

Sadie Sweetcorn as part of its focus

on healthy eating and the

promotion of vegetables.

The characters were used to

encourage the children to eat their

vegetables, and coincided with a

special Mexican food menu that

included chicken fajitas, homemade

salsa, hummus, guacamole and

other vegetable-based dishes.

Brainy and Sadie certainly made

lunchtime even more exciting!

Coopersale Hall Pancake

Races

Pancake Day was on Tuesday 28

February this year, and with such a

sunny Spring day there was the

perfect morning for some

competitive pancake races.

All children were given the chance

to test their running and flipping

skills in the races, with some of the

older children helping the younger

children with their races.

Thank you to everyone that took

part, including all of the families that

gave their support and also to those

who helped to run and organise the

event.



5

Summer Events

Braeside

Thursday 18 May - Junior Peri Concert

Coopersale Hall

Thursday 4 May - Transition Prom

Wednesday 10 May - KS2 Prom

Thursday 25 May - KS1 Prom

Tuesday 13 June - Tiddly Prom

Wednesday 14 - Thursday 15 June - Lion

King Performance

Normanhurst

Tuesday 23 May - Peri Music Concert

Tuesday 27 June - Music Showcase

Oaklands

Wednesday 28 June - School Production

Oaklands Assemblies

The children have been putting on

some thought-provoking and

entertaining assemblies to parents

this term. Each assembly had a

special message to tell and all had

some lovely singing and dancing,

with many incredible costumes.

Garden Room taught the audience

all about frogs, the solar system and

the story of the Gingerbread Man.

The Year 2’s show was about the

Great Fire of London, with some

impressive fiery outfits. Year 4

transported the audience back to

the Egyptian era and the assembly

was full of facts and Egyptian

themed dances. Year 3 gave the

important message about

preserving the rainforest.

Well done to all of the children!

Braeside Maths Challenge

Well done to the Braeside senior

maths team, that consisted of Year 7

and 8 pupils Alisha, Abi, Ajwaj and

Amaarah, for taking part in the

Regional Final of the prestigious UK

Mathematics Trust Team Challenge

Competition.

The competition was hosted by

Bancroft’s School in Woodford Green

on Tuesday 14 March. The pupils were

accompanied by their Maths teacher

Mrs Alahi, who helped supervise the

teams.

The competition promoted the pupils’

mathematical dexterity, teamwork

and communication skills. The

Braeside team performed extremely

well in a tough field of 27 other local

schools, tackling questions where

speed, maths and strategy were key.

The pupils thoroughly enjoyed the

event and will be back again next

year!



6

Loughton Young Artists

On Friday 20 January some of the

GCSE Art pupils from Braeside and

Normanhurst had their work exhibited

at Loughton Arts Centre, with families

and friends invited to a private

viewing as part of the Loughton Young

Artists competition.

The gallery was packed with artwork

and the quality of the pupils’ work

was clear to see. It was a wonderful

selection of art on show by both

schools’ talented pupils.

The gallery stayed open to the public

from Saturday 21 to Friday 27 January.

The panel of local judges that visited

the exhibition to select the winning

artwork were extremely impressed

with the quality of work. It was

difficult for them to choose the

winners as there were so many

worthy recipients.

First prize went to Maya, Year 11 at

Normanhurst, for her spectacular

resin composition entitled ‘Evolution’.

As well as the innovative use of

unusual materials, the judges felt that

the piece reflected much research and

an effective way of presenting her

view of evolution.

Second prize went to Bilal, also in Year

11 at Normanhurst, for his piece

entitled ‘Paradox Balloons’. The

judges felt that the technique was

original and that the balloons were an

innovative idea showing an ability to

come up with something refreshing

and original.

The judges also selected two pieces

from the exhibition that were ‘Highly

Commended’. These were awarded to

Christina, Year 11 at Braeside, for her

‘Innocent Beauty’ and Jade, also in

Year 11 at Braeside for her piece

entitled ‘Memories’.

The prize giving ceremony took place

on 21 February at Loughton Gallery

and cash prizes were presented to the

winners by the Mayor of Loughton.

Key Trips

Pupils were able to go on some

fantastic trips this term. Thank you to

everyone that made them possible.

Fitzwilliam Museum Roald Dahl Museum William Morris Gallery

St Albans Chafford Gorge Science Museum IMAX Theatre Wembley Arena Crystal Palace Mini-Golf National Portrait Gallery London Aquarium

Discover Children’s Story Centre

The Jewish Museum Royal Gunpowder Mills Loughton Fire Station Jane Austin’s House Epping Field Studies Centre British Museum Forest School

‘Memories’ - Jade, Braeside Year 11

‘Evolution’ - Maya, Normanhurst Year 11



7

Young Voices

On Monday 6 February around 130

children and 15 staff from Years 5 and

6 at Braeside, Coopersale Hall,

Normanhurst and Oaklands had the

opportunity to perform at the

annual Young Voices Concert at the

O2 Arena.

Young Voices is a concert made up of

children from schools across the

country who come together to form

one of the largest school choirs in the

world.

It was an incredible experience with

around 250 of our parents attending

to watch the Oak-Tree children sing

along with 7700 others to a variety of

songs. Tommy Callaghan from the X

Factor and dance group Urban Strides

also performed live on stage.

Funds raised this year will be in aid of the Nordoff Robbins Charity, which uses the power of music to transform the lives of some of the UK’s most vulnerable and isolated children and adults.

Well done to all of our amazing performers, and thank you to all of the staff and parents who made the event possible.

Forensic Science Workshop

Pupils from Normanhurst, Oaklands

and Braeside joined forces on Friday

10 February for a Forensic Science

Workshop held at Normanhurst

School.

This was an opportunity to encourage

the children to further develop their

cognitive, deductive and reasoning

skills. The children from Year 5 and

Year 6 were tasked with solving the

mystery, ‘Who stole the Summer Fair

money?’, based on forensic evidence

and various clues left behind.

Working in teams, the groups had to

identify, collect and analyse evidence

that included finding and matching

fingerprints and footprints. With much

deliberation and discussion the groups

deciphered the evidence to pin-point

and identify the correct ‘culprit’. This

was an excellent afternoon with all

pupils working together to learn about

the work of a forensic scientist.



8

Braeside

World Book Day

World Book day was back in March for

its 20th year much to the excitement

of all the children! The annual

celebration of authors, illustrators and

reading is marked in more than 100

countries around the world. It was the

perfect opportunity for pupils to

celebrate their favourite books by

dressing up as some much loved

characters. They also received a book

token with which they could redeem a

book from a special selection at a local

book store.

There were some fantastic costumes

on show. Well done everyone!

Various book-related activities took

place throughout the week including

an animated retelling of ‘The

Gingerbread Man’ in Braeside

assembly, acted out by the Early Years

teachers. Oaklands raised a fantastic

£129.30 for Book Aid. Normanhurst

held a story writing challenge for

certain year groups, and children from

Normanhurst and Braeside got

together for a drama workshop at

Braeside Seniors based around Roald

Dahl. There was even a visit from the

much loved author Jeremy Strong

during which children were able to get

their books signed.

Oaklands

Coopersale Hall Normanhurst



9

Oaklands Year 2 Multi-Sports

Festival

On Wednesday 8 February both Year 2

classes took part in a ‘Multi-Sports

Festival’ to complete their topic for

PE. Over the term they have been

learning, practising and performing

various activities including football,

tennis, hockey and basketball. Skills

from all sports were put to the test

and it was clear that the children have

been working hard in PE by the high

standard in all the activities.

The Year 6 pupils acted as ‘House

team buddies’ and played very

important roles helping to support the

younger children and keeping score in

all of their events.

There was an overall house winner

and congratulations went to the

children in Sycamore who achieved a

collective highest score to edge out

Holly, Willow and Beech.

Chartwells Cooking Event

On the 27 and 28 March food

nutritionist Fay Yeng from Chartwells

visited Braeside and Normanhurst and

transformed the school halls into

studio-style cooking areas. Pupils in

Years 6 to 9 were in the audience to

learn more about healthy eating.

Fay discussed the four main food

groups; carbohydrates, protein, fruits

and vegetables, dairy and highlighted

their nutritional values with the pupils

in the audience.

It was then time for the cook off

between two teams. The Red Team

cooked with fish and the Green team

cooked a vegetarian dish. Each team

had one teacher and two pupils.

The Red Team had to cook Thai

Fishcakes and spiced noodles and the

Green Team a tasty cauliflower and

chickpea curry with spiced couscous.

The two teams had only 15 minutes to

cook their meals, and while the clock

was ticking Fay called groups of pupils

up to inspect the teams’ preparation

and cooking skills.

The time flew by and in the last few

seconds both teams had to dish up

their meals and display them on the

table. The judges tasted both meals

before the audience held up their

green or red cards to decide the

winner. The Red Team won at both

schools having cooked what was

judged to be the tastiest meals!



10

Prize Giving Dates

Braeside

Friday 7 July - EYFS Celebration of the Year

Friday 7 July - Prize Giving

Coopersale Hall

Tuesday 4 July - EYFS Celebration of the Year

Tuesday 4 July - Prize Giving

Normanhurst

Monday 3 July - EYFS Celebration of the Year

Thursday 6 July - Prize Giving

Oaklands

Wednesday 5 July - EYFS Celebration of the Year

Wednesday 5 July - Prize Giving

Braeside and Normanhurst

Joint Ski Trip

The first ever joint trip abroad with

Braeside and Normanhurst was a

tremendous success. Around 35

children and staff enjoyed a week of

skiing in Italy, Cessana, during the

February half term break. Most of the

children (and some staff) had very

little skiing experience, but with an

excellent ski school they soon found

their feet and most were able to

develop their skills.

With regular fresh coats of snow the

children were able to enjoy their

skiing, as well as playing in the snow

during their lunch breaks.

Evening trips included a local Italian

pizzeria in the nearby town and a

local crepe outlet. Other evenings

were spent playing pool and card

games, chatting together and taking

part in quizzes.

During the prize giving on the last

night all children were complimented

on their behaviour by the centre staff.

This was an excellent trip!

Local Prep Cross Country

Several local schools took part in the

Local Prep School Cross Country

Competition held at Coopersale Hall

on Thursday 2 March.

All four of the Oak-Tree Schools were

involved, bringing strong teams of

pupils ready to race.

There were some tough competitors

but everyone ran extremely well on

what turned out to be a very tricky

course. The final incline was

particularly exhausting! It was lovely

to see all of our pupils working

together and cheering each other on

to the finish line throughout the

competition.

Well done to everyone who took part

from each school, and especially to

Coopersale Hall for coming 2nd in the

Girls’ Year 5 and 6 relay!



11

Oaklands Zambia Project

On Monday 23 January Oaklands

welcomed Alison and Nigel Brown,

trustees of the Wynaud Trust, to

speak to children during an assembly.

They talked about an aspect of their

charity work in Zambia – working with

a village clinic to encourage

attendance by expectant mothers.

Aided by some Year 6 helpers the

story of a mother-to be was acted out.

Since the Wynaud trust became

involved with this village clinic,

attendance by expectant mothers has

increased and they now have the

highest attendance levels in the

vicinity.

Oaklands has adopted the Wynaud

Trust as one of their charities for a

long term project. Initially the school

will be fundraising to enable more

baby bags to be assembled, as the

charity needs 200 bags each year.

The first fundraising event will take

place shortly.

Easter Celebrations

Easter is usually such a happy time of

year and each school marked the

occasion in a slightly different way.

Braeside – FOBS organised an Easter

Egg Hunt for the children in the

playground. Hunting for special

tokens, the House with the most

tokens was the winner. After the hunt

the Easter Bunny gave everyone a

special Easter Egg treat. The Easter

bonnet parade on the last day

produced some spectacular exhibits!

Oaklands – The OPA organised a visit

from the Easter Bunny for all children.

Classes took it in turns to meet the

bunny and receive a very special gift.

To make the day even better there

was beautiful sunny spring weather.

Coopersale Hall – FoCHS planned a

visit from a collection of weird and

wonderful animals including a skunk,

tarantula and two baby lambs. There

was also a visit from a very special

Easter Bunny! On the last day of term

there were Easter services in the hall

for all year groups, which were

extremely well attended by parents.

There were some amazing colourful

creations for the traditional Easter

bonnet parade that marked the end of

the term.



12

Sports Day Dates

Braeside

Wednesday 21 June - Sports Day

Coopersale Hall

Monday 12 June - Infants Sports Day

Tuesday 13 June - Junior Sports Day

Wednesday 14 June - LK Sports Day

Thursday 22 June - UK Sports Day

Normanhurst

Thursday 25 May - Sports Day

Oaklands

Friday 26 May - Sports Day

Oak-Tree Mental Maths

Challenge

A representative from each of Years

3, 4, 5 and 6 from all four of the Oak-

Tree Schools gathered at Oaklands on

Monday 6 March to take part in the

Oak-Tree Mental Maths Challenge.

The atmosphere was tense as the

children competed against each other

for their schools. The pupils were

read 20 questions and were given

either 5, 10 or 15 seconds to answer

each one. Each year group took their

turn before the scores were counted.

Once the final scores had been

counted it was revealed that

Coopersale Hall was the overall

winner, with the team winning 3 out

of the 4 rounds.

Well done to all those involved!

Normanhurst Science Week

Science Week fell between the 10th

and 19th March this year and

Normanhurst took the opportunity to

mark the event at its fullest. The week

started with an interactive assembly

where children made ice-cream and

‘Elephant’s toothpaste’.

Throughout the week a wide range of

activities were organised including

Years 7 and 8 trying to build the

strongest structures possible whilst

making bridges out of spaghetti.

There was also a visit by

neuroscientist Dr Sarah James from

University College London, an

interesting workshop during which

pupils got to try their hand at being an

archaeologist and digging for fossils.

There were craft activities and a visit

from an almost life-sized dinosaur!

Several trips were arranged

throughout the week including visiting

the dinosaur trail at Crystal Palace and

visiting a dinosaur-themed adventure

golf, both of which were fun and

educational.



13

Normanhurst’s Spring Visitors

During Science Week the children

were excited to have a clutch of five

duck eggs arrive in Reception. Over

the week they were able to observe

the changes to the eggs and it wasn’t

long before all five hatched. Junior

children visited the ducklings regularly

and watched them grow a little bigger

each day. The grand finale was to give

them their first introduction to

swimming at the end of the week.

It was a lovely experience to have the

ducks in school and the children were

sad to see them leave to take up

residence on a friend’s farm.

GROW Project

Over the term Normanhurst WE Day

Ambassadors have been spending

some of their free time volunteering

at the community garden in Loughton.

The project is called ‘Grow’ and aims

to bring people together to grow food

and flowers while also meeting new

people and learning new skills.

The pupil and teacher volunteers

managed to plant 18 new shrubs and

also cleared a lot of green space to

create a blank canvas for the

community to work with. All of the

volunteers worked very hard and

many of them wanted to stay longer

and do more!

The following visit saw the volunteers

assist with the moving and creating of

raised beds that were left ready to

grow an assortment of food. In time

the area will be transformed from an

overgrown plot of land to a vibrant,

inclusive community garden.

Coopersale Hall Bikeability

This term saw Year 6 pupils taking part

in a Bikeability course at Coopersale

Hall. The first stage was Level 1, which

taught them to control and master

their bikes in a space away from

traffic. This part of the course was

conducted in the playground. Once

everyone had passed and the pupils were confident on their bikes, they

were ready to take part in the more

advanced Level 2 that took place on

the local streets. This gave the

children supervised experience of

cycling on roads and dealing with

traffic - ideal for short journeys such

as cycling safely to school or to the

local shops.

Well done to all of our confident

cyclists - you did extremely well!



14

Oak-Tree Schools Parents’ Associations

Our Parents’ Associations were very busy last term arranging a number of events for pupils, families and friends.

Braeside

FOBS arranged a lovely Easter Egg Hunt for all the pupils to mark the last day of term. A lot of

thought went into the event and there was even a visit from the Easter Bunny who gave all the

children an Easter treat! There have been some committee changes recently and we would like

to thank the outgoing committee and welcome Karen and Adrian Adams and Polly Wells, who

are already hard at work organising a range of events for the Summer Term.

Coopersale Hall

FoCHS arranged a lovely day during the last week of term by inviting a variety of animals to the school. Children had the

chance to interact with creatures such as skunks, a tarantula and some tiny lambs.

The Easter Bunny also came, much to everyone’s delight. Earlier in the term

children in Years 3 to 6 were treated to a production of Hamlet by the Young

Shakespeare Company as part of the school’s World Book Day celebration.

Normanhurst

The NSPA have been very busy this term organising a range of afterschool events for the different year groups.

Kindergarten to Year 3 had a lot of fun at their Mini-Disco night, while Years 4 to 9

had enjoyed the two different film nights complete with snacks. On Sunday 19

March many families were welcomed to a fantastic Easter Egg Hunt held at The

View Visitors Centre, which was a fun-filled day out for everyone.

Oaklands

The OPA arranged a visit from the Easter Bunny at the end of the term, much to all of the children’s

delight, along with a fun-filled Easter Disco for all year groups. The OPA also agreed to purchase 25 Apple

iPad Air 2 32 Gb tablets and cases, together with an Apple Mac Mini. This has been a long-running project

and all children will benefit from the educational apps, tools and research facilities that will be valuable

learning tools to provide more opportunities for the children’s education.

The Oak-Tree Parents’ Associations are always looking for parents to get involved with fundraising or events. Please don’t

hesitate to get in touch with your committee if you would like to meet new families, contribute your ideas and work

together to make a difference to your child’s experiences at school.

Documents

Oak-TreeNEWSLETTER€¦ · dishes and desserts. There has been a large range of new dishes available on the three-weekly menus throughout the term, all of which have been very well