End of Term Newsletter Michaelmas Term 2022: News & Events

Bradfield College Prep Schools’ Science Challenge

In September, our fantastic team of Year 5 scientists; Mukadasa, David, Abigail and Theodore, returned inspired from a wonderful afternoon at Bradfield College. The team competed against 23 other Prep schools in practical challenges in Biology, Chemistry and Physics, followed by some tough quiz questions.

The team’s resilience, communication and impressive collaboration saw them successfully identify unknown plant specimens under a microscope, negotiate with maggots in a choice chamber, make their own loudspeaker and become chemical detectives.

The team excelled at providing thoughtful answers and were thorough, highly skilled and innovative in their practical work. They were a credit to our school throughout the event and epitomised our ‘cor ad cor loquitur’ motto during the day, helping other groups with kindness and being considerate to demonstrators and support staff.

Although not victorious this time, the team scored very highly and left an excellent impression with Bradfield colleagues.

Runner-Up Award For Cathy

Congratulations to Cathy (Year 4) who was awarded Runner-Up in the KS2 category in this year’s Bellevue National Poetry Competition.

The theme for the 2022 Bellevue National Poetry Competition was ‘The Environment’ and pupils and parents were invited to draw, sing or even rap their own poem.

Click here to watch Cathy’s poem

Well done to all our pupils who entered the competition – there were some fantastic entries submitted.

Primary Maths Challenge

Back in November, our budding mathematicians in Year 4, 5 and 6 took part in the Primary Maths Challenge. This challenge uses problem solving to help develop pupils’ reasoning skills and extends and challenges even the most able mathematicians. The actual maths required is not difficult, but it is how they can apply their knowledge that is tested.

The results are now in and 5 pupils were awarded Bronze certificates, 8 pupils a Silver Certificate and Theo, Jayden and Yusuf achieved a Gold Certificate.  Theo’s score secured him a place in the Bonus round which takes place in February. Best in Year 5 were Alex, David, Henry and Joel, all achieving Silver, as did Rory in Year 4 (best in Junior Prep).

Well done to all those that took part and all the best to Theo for the next round.

Orchestra Day at Radley College

On Tuesday 8th November, 13 of our pupils took part in a wonderful orchestra day at Radley College.

Our pupils played really well, joining over a hundred other children from a variety of schools, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. After an intensive day of sectionals and full orchestra rehearsals, they proudly performed to their parents in a fantastic concert. Repertoire was fun and varied encompassing ‘Shape of you’ (Ed Sheeran), Brahm’s ‘Hungarian Dance’, The ‘Dr Who’ theme tune and Grieg’s ‘In The Hall Of The Mountain King’. What a fantastic experience!

Remembrance Day at The OPS

Thank you to our Year 8 Pupil Exec for leading our poignant Remembrance Day Service on Friday 11th November alongside Mia and Charlie. Well done to Kingsley who performed The Last Post and thank you to Charlie for bringing in his Great Grandfather’s medals which he proudly displayed during the two-minute silence, observed by all pupils and staff.

Year 5 pupils also held a special Remembrance assembly before they left on their trip to Reading – well done to Theodore who performed The Last Post.

In the lead up to Remembrance Day, pupils in Year 1 created their own poppies to form a fantastic display and in Forest School, pupils designed their own poppies made from items found in the woodlands.

Raising Awareness

In November, our OPS community came together as we celebrated Odd Socks Day, raised awareness for World Diabetes Day and supported ‘The Great SPOTacular’ for BBC Children in Need.

The Xmas Factor

The Xmas Factor production was a perfect example of how impressive OPS pupils are. It was the second of our “pupil-led” shows (following on from The Christmas Carol last year). This means that almost every element of it was run by the pupils themselves; from props to costume; from set design to backstage; from lighting to sound – it was incredibly impressive to see how our children threw themselves into developing their skills of collaboration and challenge whilst rising to every opportunity given to them.

Actors learnt all about auditioning, comic timing, staging and the importance of being part of a cast and crew. Their impressive efforts culminated in giving the audience an absolute comical treat to kick off the festive season! It was a delight to direct them and I also thank staff and parents for their support.

Year 3 and 4 Production of ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’

Years 3 and 4 presented a real treat with their exciting production of ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’.

A cast of 34 Year 4 children and 31 Year 3s were able to convey Roald Dahl’s famous wit in a courtroom setting. Goldilocks (Lily), who sang her solos beautifully, was on trial for her crimes. She looked like a little innocent – could she really be the brazen crook who’d broken into someone’s house, who stole the porridge from under the noses of the splendid Three Bears (Arthur, Annabel, Greta) and broke a precious chair belonging to Baby Bear?

A highlight of the show was the song ‘Innocent or Guilty?’ which was highly charged with plenty of high-octane singing and gestures from the children.

This was a show with clearly spoken, but tricky lines, charming dancing from all of Year 3, superb singing, amazing acting and real pace!

The cast were just the ticket in their resplendent costumes and they were delighted with the response from their audiences.

Many thanks go to an extensive staff team for their help, practical skills, adaptability and support and to the audience for £81.93 which went to The Catholic Children’s Society.

See below for rave reviews from some of our parents:

Mrs C: “It was a great show yesterday and we really enjoyed it!”

Mr I: “I really enjoyed the show yesterday, the kids were all brilliant, really well done for pulling it all together.”

Mrs F: “It was such a great performance. They all did brilliantly.”

Mrs E: “Thank you for yesterday’s performance of ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’. We thought it was wonderful, a great show and all the children and the teachers worked really hard.”

Dr T: “Such a great show last night!”

Mrs B: “Well done on the play – it was great.”

Mr Q: “Fantastic show! What lovely voices the children have. Well done team!”

Mrs B: “Goldilocks was brilliant. Thank you!”