We love learning outdoors at Oaklands all year round. May is especially fun, as every year we celebrate all things outdoors with our Outdoor Learning Week. This year it was Carnival themed as we linked in with the local West Pilton Community Festival. We had so much fun! We had visiting dancers, a maypole, tie dying, drumming, colourful spray painting in the woods, stories and more. Best of all, we had a whole school Carnival Parade with a visiting musician, Jed, who led us all in some high energy drumming and dancing through the woods.
Carnival dancing in the woods.Albi leading some Latin dancing as part of our Carnival themed outdoor learning week.It’s always great to be star of the week at assembly, even better when it is outdoors.It’s lots of fun learning to dance during outdoor learning week.Outdoor learning week – drumming in the woods.Circle time in the playgound showing off our communication skills.Outdoor learning week – assembly in the primary playgroundClasses showing off their carnival costumes round a maypole during outdoor learning week.Festival fun in the woods during outdoor learning week.
Have you ever wanted to come and have a look around Oaklands School? Well now’s your chance. Have a look at this video for a whistle stop tour of our fabulous rooms, resources and outdoor spaces.
This song can be useful when you are about to hoist your child. They may have started to prepare themselves for the movement, as they have recognised their sling is being placed around them, but hearing the song will tell them that they are about to be moved (and therefore minimise any anxiety they might be feeling.)
You’ll also notice the onbody signs for “up” and “down” at the end of the video. Your child will be familiar with these signs, so do use them at home – they will also help your child understand and feel more comfortable with what is happening.
We are hosting a bake sale and tuck shop on Monday morning 10-11am to raise money for Toilet Twinning. All welcome! If you would like your young person to buy something, send them in with some coins. It will be a social event with the opportunity to sit down and have a cuppa and a natter. Looking forward to some yummy cakes!
We are absolutely delighted to have won this year’s School Sport Award. We couldn’t be prouder of our young people who showed off their many and varied sporting talents when Sport Scotland visited our school. Have a look at the video to see some of their amazing talents in action.
Not only did we win the award, but we were also invited to the star-studded award ceremony in Glasgow which was a fabulous night out. One of our secondary pupils, Euan, represented Oaklands at the event. He looked extremely smart in his kilt and even made it into school the next day to tell us all about it. We’d also like to say a special thanks to our Sports Coach, Sharon Humble, whose hard work and incredible energy is the driving force behind this incredible achievement.
Next week (15-19 May) is Outdoor Learning Week at Oaklands. We plan to be outside as much as possible doing all sorts of fun things. Please remember to send your young person to school equipped for the Scottish weather – waterproofs, warm layers, sun hats, sunscreen…….!
Remember that school is closed for two weeks for the Easter break. We finish on Friday 31st March and return on Monday 17th April.
If your young person needs a little help understanding why school is closed, there is a social story below that you can download and print out for use at home. You can tick off the days on the calendar at the end.
Oaklands School 