2023-2024
Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award Qualifying Expedition 26th – 28th April
Ten of our students successfully completed the qualifying expedition for their silver Duke of Edinburgh award at the weekend, which involved camping in the Peak District for two nights and walking 40km over three days. They also had to navigate their own way across open countryside, pitch their own tents, cook their dinner and breakfast and carry with them anything they used so that they were totally self-sufficient.
Despite two very cold nights and torrential rain on the Sunday morning, they all got on with the job in hand without complaint and kept each other's spirits up. Everyone stayed on track and showed great teamwork in camp. Their assessor was very impressed with them and said “every student was a credit to the academy over the weekend”. They worked really hard both in preparing for and over the course of the expedition and should be proud of themselves and the skills they have demonstrated. There was also lots of fun and laughter along the way! What an accomplishment. Well done all of you!
Handball Cup 2024
On Wednesday 24th April, 40 select students participated in the Redhill Trust Handball Cup at University of Nottingham. We competed against 9 other trust schools, where al students performed to the best of their ability. They showed fantastic sportsmanship across the day and all showed the perfect OAKWOOD student. We look forward to competing in the same tournament next year.
GCSE Poetry Live, 29/01/2024
Our Year 11 learners attended GCSE Poetry Live at the Royal Concert Hall to hear inspiring performances from some of the poets from the GCSE course.
Miss Sanderson and a keen group of Year 11s headed into Nottingham and enjoyed a day filled with poetry from some of the leading contemporary poets; Simon Armitage, Imtiaz Dharker, Daljit Nagra, Carol Ann Duffy and John Agard. Each poet performed a range of different poems, both from the GCSE anthology and from other bodies of work, and talked about the topics they covered in their words. As poetry is a spoken art form, learners were able to experience the poet’s work in the way it was fully intended. As a result, learners gained a more in-depth understanding of the poems and poets they will write about in their GCSE’s.
After each poet head recited their work, the audience had the chance to ask the poets questions about their poems, which offered our learners further insight. One of our students, Ellie Pickering, was brave enough to ask a question in front of the auditorium of thousands. Learners also benefitted from a masterclass exploring how to approach unseen poetry by examiner Tony Childs.
TOA Enrichment with Lisa Williamson, 19/01/2024
Lisa Williamson joined our Year 8 Enrichment students for a range of activities throughout the day which included re-writing stories and designing their own film trailer. Students worked incredibly well with Lisa and we look forward to welcoming Lisa back next year for Year 7 Enrichment.
DT House Egg Challenge, 18/01/2024
The DT Department hosted their annual House challenge on 18/01/24. Teams from each House competed to design and make a parachute and pouch that could protect an egg that was dropped from the C Block balcony.
Teams were graded on how well they worked, how well it protected the egg and how accurate their aim was. The results are below:
First Place: Virtus = worked well as a team = egg saved = 680mm from target
Second Place: Robus = worked well as a team = egg smashed = 1170mm from target
Third Place: Animus = worked well as a team = egg smashed = 1300mm from target
Fourth Place: Certus = worked well as a team = egg smashed = 1420mm from target
Thank you to all students who took part in this activity.
Food Royal Navy Visit, 17/01/2024
Lisa Williamson joined our Year 8 Enrichment students for a range of activities throughout the day which included re-writing stories and designing their own film trailer. Students worked incredibly well with Lisa and we look forward to welcoming Lisa back next year for Year 7 Enrichment.
TOA Enrichment with Lisa Williamson, 24/11/2023
A select group for Year 7 took part in their first "TOA Enrichment" event today with Lisa Williamson, author. They did a range of writing workshops during the day and all the students conducted themselves in a fantastic manner, showing the excellence of an Oakwood Student.
BTEC Level 3 Sports - Team building (Ninja Warrior)
This activity was rewarded to the BTEC Level 3 Sports students for their hard work, determination and being successful in the first term. This was a great way to continue/reward the students' commitment to the course and their overall grades.
Black History Month Celebration Day
Accordion Title
The Oakwood Academy was proud to host the Royal Navy who came in to deliver a two-hour session for Miss Clark's hospitality and catering class. The children were given the 'Ready Steady Cook' challenge by the Navy, who bought a range of ingredients for the children to cook with. Firstly, the children were broken down into teams of four, two cooking the main course, two cooking the dessert. Each team had a recipe and a set of instructions to follow with a timer on the board.
The children's enthusiasm was ignited by the colourful display of leadership by the two Navy chefs. Every student had their sleeves rolled up and accepted the challenge. The highlights, of which there were many, were the Navy presentation at the end of the session, the Chicken Kievs and sticky toffee puddings and, over everything else, the vegetable stock in a can. Overall, the Oakwood Academy and the students involved would like to wish the Navy many thanks and look very much forward to working with them again.
