an event which welcomed a very special group of local residents into our school.

It’s no surprise to me how well our older students have embraced the challenges of the Duke of Edinburgh Award, including the successful completion of the overnight final expedition in the summer. However, I’m partially proud of their achievements in thevolunteering section of the award; each coming up with such innovative and heart-warming initiatives to make a difference, and showing great commitment to carry them out over the months of their projects.

We strive to show our young people that with hard work, determination, good deeds and kind words,they really can have a positive impact on their school, local and global community – and I’ve no doubt the world will be all the better for it.’Mrs Segrove,Principal

AUTUMN TERMNEWSLETTER2017

‘I often talk about the benefits of being a relatively small school such as Oakbank. One is that our staff get to know our students incredibly well; understanding what makes them tick and how to get the very best out of them academically. We see the positive results of this approach in the progress of every child who is taught here. Another is not so easy to measure but is no less important in the development of the whole child: being a member of a small community school provides our students with both the confidence and the opportunities to feel they can make a validcontribution to the world around them.

One area we have been particularly focusing on this term is the House System and how it fosters a sense of shared endeavour. Students come together in weekly House assemblies and are encouraged to earn House points through their positive attitude to school, as well as through inter-House competitions in areas such as sport, Literature and the Arts. This rewards system allows students to celebrate their own individual achievements but also appreciate their contributionto ‘the greater good’. Each House has recently elected a charity to support this year, but we also have aCharity Team who work incredibly hard to raise funds – as well as awareness – for a range of good causes. These highly committed students strive to make a positive change to those in need across the local and global community. Their hard work over the lastacademic year has raised an incredible £3,372.

Another group of dedicated students with acommendable sense of civic responsibility are the Community Club. We’ve previously featured some of their projects including the Macmillan Coffee Event and the Easter Fair. Please see their latest report about

CHANGE THE WORLD

With thisphilosophy at the

heart of our approachhere at Oakbank, I’m

reminded of a quote byanthropologist Margaret Mead:

‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizenscan change the world. Indeed

it’s the only thingthat ever has.’

Morgan Gavaghan (11M) Coloured Drawing

Shonrae Pierre-Spence (11K) Painting

Joe Lawes (8K) Photography

Malachi Griffiths (11H) Photography

Ella Munro (11K) Black & White Drawing

BEST IN SHOWWell done to all the talented students who submitted works into this year’s Swalllowfield Show. Here are just a few of the prize winners.

1st

1st

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1st

1st

STEP INTO STEM

WIDENINGHORIZONS:DESIGN IT,MAKE IT CLUB

‘Step into STEM was an amazing opportunity for a group of Year 10 girls held at Reading College. It was an interesting way to promote Science, Technology,Engineering and Maths to girls as these fields arelargely monopolised by men.

We started the day with an eye-opening talk about Physics and Chemistry with Jocelyn Bell Burnell award winner, Dr Jess Wade, from Imperial College London and Dr Clare Murray from the Diamond Institute.They completely altered our views on Science bymaking it fun – we even had to act as atoms! Followingthis was my favourite part of the day which began with looking at the toilets… The girls’ toilets were completely disgusting and old fashioned so Adey Moir from BW Construction set us the task to design a new toilet and the winning design would be used to totally transform them!

After a delicious lunch, we headed to our next challenge with Cisco showing us the Internet of Everything. We split into small groups of Oakbankand Reading Girls’ students to design our very own app which we then had to present to the rest of the class. This not only broadened our interest in STEMbut also strengthened some fundamental soft skills such as exam technique. To end a fantastic day we were taken to a room full of engineers who we talked to and gained amazing insight into their jobs.

Some of the jobs we heard about were reallyinteresting and it has made me rethink what subjects I’d like to take for A levels so as to not exclude these kinds of career opportunities. Thanks to Mr Combstock and Mr Prendiville for taking us on such a great trip.’Cerys Nolte, Deputy Head Girl (10K)

‘I really enjoy Design Technology withMr Jeary and ‘Design It, Make It’ givesme the opportunity to get involved with even more practical projects on top of our normal lessons. We’recurrently designing table tennis bats which involves researching thedimensions the bat needs to be and creating it as a template on a 2Ddesign software package. At this stage, we can decide details suchas the colour and any patterns.The next step is to transfer thedesign over to the laser cutter tocreate the bat. We’ll work on avariety of different projectsthroughout the term.’Fletcher Morgan (9K)

COMMUNITY MATTERS large bow. When the residents arrived, they were happy to share stories about their eventful lives with all of us, and enjoyed watching the Oakband perform a range of songs showcasing our musical talent anda variety of instruments like guitars and keyboards.

Our visitors drank tea and coffee made by thestudents and ate the tasty homemade treats. Many teachers dropped in during the afternoon and made conversation with our visitors as well as supporting the students. It was a fun event as we could meet people of an older generation and entertain them. It was thoroughly enjoyed by all participants and we are very pleased that Mr Douglas invited us to be involved.’Eve Allen (9M) and Fletcher Morgan (9C)

‘Following our school motto: Challenge, Commitment and Community, a group of enthusiastic Year 9students – Maddie, Eve A, Jess, Catherine, George,Oscar, Harvey R, Callum and Fletcher, organised a traditional afternoon tea event for the local residents and carers of Shinfield View care home with help from Mr Douglas and Mrs Idedia.

Under the guidance of Mrs Idedia, we helped prepare a range of refreshments such as delicate sandwiches and pretty cakes. We also helped decorate andprepare the drama studio, transforming it into atraditional afternoon tea setting with floral tabledecorations, white linen tablecloths, lace napkinsand a calm atmosphere. Even the chairs were carefully covered with cloth and were embellished with a

‘Our residents were made

to feel like the most important people in the room when we visited

for the afternoon tea recently. The food was absolutely amazing and it was clear a lot of effort had been put into every detail fromthe décor, food and even the entertainment

which was laid on. Your students were friendly, polite and very attentive – the school should

be very proud of the pupils they have.I am sure our residents can’t wait for

another invite in the future.’Laura McSoley, Shinfield

View Care Home

EXTENDED PROJECT QUALIFICATION

WIDENING HORIZONS:YEAR 7 SILLY SCIENCE

We were so proud to hear that every student whotook part in the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) has received a pass mark from Grade B to A*. EPQis an additional opportunity to gain an academicqualification and is regarded highly by colleges and universities. The project generally consists of adissertation on an academically based topic of thestudent’s choice. There have been projects focusing on the Effects of Social Media on Society, The Women’s Liberation Movement, Nature Versus Nurture andThe History of Computers to name a few.

American Crime and Death Row‘The topic I chose was American Crime and Death Row. I chose this because I’m interested in the topic and I wanted to find out more about Death Row and why some American states think it is still appropriate to

have the Death Penalty for criminals, as I think that it is inhumane in this day and age.

When I completed the project I felt happy because what I created was a good representation of the work and effort that I had put into the last year. Before the EPQ was completed, I had to do a presentation of my findings to the other people in the EPQ, which included quizzing me on what I could remember. An example of these findings is that I discovered that only 31 states still have the Death Penalty and that prisoners can be killed in five different ways: lethal injection, hanging, firing squad, gas chamber and electrocution. I recently discovered my result of my EPQ project. I received a B grade which I’m extremely pleased with as I wasn’t expecting to get such a high grade.’Elliott Scott (10H)

‘Science is my favourite subject so this club is a great choice. In one lesson, we made rockets by mixing together vinegar, water and bicarbonate of soda. The chemical reaction made the rocket launch upwards. We’ve also created structures with spaghetti and at the end of the challenge, the structures were tested for stability and height and Miss Woods gave a prize for

the highest stable structure. In chemistry experiments, we’ve made slime by mixing borax, vinegar andcolouring and we’ve also made rainbows in test tubes by learning about acidic and alkaline mixtures. At the moment we’re working on projects to invent things that would make people’s lives easier.’Ben Mitchell (7K)

YEAR 7 TEAM BUILDING DAY‘First of all, we got on the mini bus. There were 16 of us in total so we managed to fit in just fine. Mr Ellis drove – honestly I mean, you wouldn’t expect a child to drive, would you? Well, hopefully not. When we arrived, we were welcomed to the activity centre bya man called Jeff.

The first activity was probably the hardest which is sur-prising because you would expect the hardest to come at the end. It was an obstacle course – a hard one.It involved challenges such as taking poles out of a bucket and putting them in places where we could climb on them, a log that moved when you tried to hold it steady and even two ropes positioned in the shape of an ‘X’. That was called the ‘X-factor’.

If you didn’t want to do one of the challenges, you could sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to a tree – it must get alot of birthday wishes! There was a Boys Vs Girlschallenge. The boys’ team was called ‘The Lads’ and the girls were called ‘#Girl Squad’! The boys won by one point. There was also a den building challenge.

I did feel really proud because I found the ‘X-factor’ rope challenge easy. It was also fun to hug ‘Lucky Larry’ the tree! It sounds a little weird hugging a tree but he brings you good luck – apparently he survived being struck by lightning which is pretty impressive. I would definitely recommend this trip. We really worked together for lots of the activities and we strengthened our friendships too.’Louise Berry (7K)

WIDENING HORIZONS:DEBATING CLUB

‘I really enjoyDebating Club. Every

week two people have a debateover a new topic while the otherperson is the chairperson, acting

almost like a referee to make sure everything is fair and decide who the winner is. The two competitors both

make an opening speech for twominutes, then go head to head

in a rebuttal. After this, theykeep issuing rebuttals to eachother and finally end with a

closing statement.

So far we have debatedabout whether animals should

perform, whether school uniformhas a positive effect on students’

behaviour and whether there shouldbe a united Ireland. I think debating isa really great thing to be a part of asit builds your confidence massively

(especially when you win)and it prepares you for futurelife. I have really benefittedfrom debating and woulddefinitely recommend it.’

Ella Bastow (7K)

INSPIRING FUTURES ‘As part of the More Able group, some students inYear 10 and 11 went to Oxford University. This wasto learn about what options we have after leaving Oakbank. We had a tour of the campus, ate lunchand took part in a Q&A session.

We had a chance to talk to undergraduates who are studying or revising for their upcoming tests. We also took part in a trial English lesson where we looked at different types of poetry and then we spent some time in a Criminal Law lecture and learnt about the difference between theft, burglary and robbery. This all took part at University College which is part of the city university that was built in 1249 and is thought to be one of the first universities ever built.

This trip was so we could get a sense of what university life is like in a city university rather than a campus such as Reading University. As someone who wasn’t sure about university, this was a really useful opportunity.’Alex Gessey (10M)

CfBT Schools Trust is a part of CfBT Education Trust which is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee. Company No. 867944; Charity No. 270901. Designed by cream-design.co.uk

ALL GOOD THINGSVolunteering is a fundamental part of achievingthe Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award. This yearour students have really put their hearts intoprojects to help make a difference topeople’s lives. They have worked atGuide and Scout Groups, helpedto coach young football teams,knitted hats for prematurebabies and taughtchildren to swim.

Homelessness‘Amber Wood (11M)

and I chose this project as homelessness can affect many

people from all walks of life. Weoriginally planned to help out at a

homeless shelter but we soon realised that we were too young to get involved in any ‘hands on’

help. Therefore we decided to help in two ways: to raise awareness of homelessness and to provide some other practical

support. Firstly, we contacted a charity called Launchpad which helps vulnerable and disadvantaged people to turn their lives around. We visited

Jason McMahon at the Launchpad premises and spent the afternoon seeing some of the brilliant work they do. We then delivered 400 leaflets to local homes to help raise awareness of the work Launchpad does. Mr McMahon kindly came to Oakbank and gave an assembly on the issues of homelessness.

For the second part of our project, we spoke to a drop-in centre called CIRDIC and they explained that their clients really appreciate coming to their centre for a bath and change of clothes. We decided to help by donating some toiletries so we set about raising funds and contacting different companies for donations. Sainsbury’s and Asda deserve a special mention as they were really generous in donating products. By the end, we’d managed to put together around twenty individual packs of toiletries, half for men and half for women. Each pack had around ten basic items such as body wash and sponges, but we also includednice body sprays and lotions as everyone deservesto have lovely things and feel good about themselves.We delivered the packs to CIRDIC and were reallyhumbled by how friendly and welcoming everyone was.

This project has taught me that homelessness is notjust about losing a roof from over your head but aboutlosing self-confidence and purpose. I’d like to continuehelping to combat this important issue in the future.’Eleanor Codling, Head Girl (11H)

Preventing Homelessnessin Reading